The Brewers Blog

They're here!!

Three of the biggest fermenters this state has ever seen.  Each one capable of producing 5,760 kegs per year (that's 17, 280 kegs altogether), as well as the biggest Bright Tank in the state (maybe the Southwest) at 240 barrels.  For perspective, the Bright Tank alone is equal to six of our current fermenters.

It was a sleepless night prior to their arrival; did we measure right, is the floor strong enough, is the door big enough, will the crane show up on time?  But the excitement of their arrival pushed us through.  All in all it was a pretty uneventful unloading, which is great.  Hiring the right riggers helps (thanks Marco Crane), and planning all details with back-up plans helped a lot too.  We only needed one back-up plan after all.  Once we saw the Bright Tank we had to re-think the door size.  Luckily the frame was easily removed giving us the proper wiggle room.

Sometimes you just get lucky, like with the placement of an existing Sky-light which doubled as a lifting port, through which we dropped the boom cable and lifted the tanks upright.

We still have some work to do; hooking up the glycol and the temperature probes, cleaning, passivating, all the stuff that never gets mentioned when talking about brewing.  Just not romantic enough, we guess, but it has to be done. 

And here's the funny part; it is our intent that you never notice what beer comes from the new fermenters or the old.  We're Brewers, not Vintners, we're charged with consistency above all else.  We don't get to brag that a certain beer is different because of where it was brewed or in what medium it was fermented.  We're not too worried though, we've got a great team that will ensure that your Kilt Lifter or Sunbru, or Hop Knot will always be how you remembered it.

Speaking of Hop Knot, the Double Knot is fermenting nicely.  We've dry-hopped it once already with another dry-hopping scheduled for Friday.  We had a sniff this morning when checking the progress.  We're not sure who said it but the words, "holy dank!" were uttered, and, "it's like rolling around in a bramble patch!"

Here are some quick facts about Double Knot for the geeks:

       Starting Gravity:  19.6 Degrees Plato

       Finishing Gravity:  We think it'll end up around 3 Degrees Plato

       Alcohol Content:  Around 9.2%

       IBU's:  We know the number but we don't think it's that important on a beer like this.  Let's just say it should be bracingly bitter.  We ended up using about 7.5 pounds per barrel.

Look for Double Knot to come out on or about the 5th day of February.