Production Brewer turned Nano-Brewer

[Bigbre04]

And money.

Just got a new $3k cart pump. Everything is pricey right now, but we are seasonal, so we are squireling away cash for an expansion this winter when things slow down.

 

[Bigbre04]

Same here!
I do use it often but that is mainly because I don't know any other beer yeast that is happy sitting at 35+ oC

exactly. I didnt have to turn on my jackets while fermenting for the whole winter. Voss is also pretty neutral which is nice.

 

[Brewdomestix]

I love traditional lagers, they are honestly my favorite styles. They are also great since they really show how good a brewery/brewer is. IMO anyone can make a huge juicy ipa. Its the crisp, clean, clear lagers that are the real test of a good brewery. I personally lean towards a kolsch or a real pilsner(urquell).

Nova lager has done really well for its speed and flexibility. I have very few complaints about it. I make a good golden lager with it, but it has also produced a very good black lager as well as IPL that was delish.

Voss has been great, honestly. It is fast and reliable(as long as it does not sit in a brink for more then a week). I have gotten good fermentations with it out to 3 generations(it would have gone longer but i had big gaps between brew days). I have used Voss to make everything from Red Ales, to Juicy 8.2%abv IPAs. It is very neutral and clean IMO.

That being said, I am happy with 76% attenuation. The highest i have gotten with any yeast is 80%. I attribute this to my brewery equipment, not the yeast itself. I am constantly trying to improve my process, but i am currently limited by the stupid one vessel system that i have at the moment.

I have to agree with you about lagers being the measure. My first three batches of homebrew 40 years ago were lagers, two fails and one bare pass in the middle. Only another couple batches of other style beers has gone wrong in all that time. My advice to beginners ever since has been don't start there. I didn't go near (homebrewing) lager for many years after that until I had more experience and confidence following a few better brews (mainly darks which seem to come natural to me). As I shifted into trying other beers and got into some of them; lager slipped down my priorities but there is something about getting one crystal clear in the glass and tasting nice well chilled. Nothing else quite beats lager with Indian food (imho) so I make a batch occasionally and it obviously gets to mature quite well. Timely point as it so happens to be what I am scheduled to be brewing next in around five weeks.

 

[Ward Chillington]

For sure, our website is a work in progress. Untappd is supposed to be duplicated on there, but it obviously is not... That is 100% not my department, but I mentioned it to the people who are in charge of the internet stuff.

We make pretty good beer! Come check us out!

Hey welcome Bigb! I wish I was closer. You need to get your web designer to step up their game...they can start with a fix to your Facebook link. Twitter seemed to work.
What's the typical flight for your place look like?

 

[Bigbre04]

I have to agree with you about lagers being the measure. My first three batches of homebrew 40 years ago were lagers, two fails and one bare pass in the middle. Only another couple batches of other style beers has gone wrong in all that time. My advice to beginners ever since has been don't start there. I didn't go near (homebrewing) lager for many years after that until I had more experience and confidence following a few better brews (mainly darks which seem to come natural to me). As I shifted into trying other beers and got into some of them; lager slipped down my priorities but there is something about getting one crystal clear in the glass and tasting nice well chilled. Nothing else quite beats lager with Indian food (imho) so I make a batch occasionally and it obviously gets to mature quite well. Timely point as it so happens to be what I am scheduled to be brewing next in around five weeks.

You should try the Nova Lager yeast its pretty nice. I am brewing a black lager today actually. It is similar to Schwarzbier. I love dark beers and drink them all year long, but being on the beach in the summer, in the deep south, they do not move very quickly.

 

[Bigbre04]

Hey welcome Bigb! I wish I was closer. You need to get your web designer to step up their game...they can start with a fix to your Facebook link. Twitter seemed to work.
What's the typical flight for your place look like?

Ya that is a challenge because do not have an official web designer, one of the owners was doing it but they are not good at it obviously. I will get them onboard to get that sorted soon.

I can take a picture of the a flight when one is poured. Right now we are using off the shelf boards and standard acid etched Juice/tasting glasses. I think they are 4 ozs each.

 

[Brewdomestix]

You should try the Nova Lager yeast its pretty nice. I am brewing a black lager today actually. It is similar to Schwarzbier. I love dark beers and drink them all year long, but being on the beach in the summer, in the deep south, they do not move very quickly.

Noted, thanks for the tip.

 

[Mont Y. Märzen]

Honestly, the beer does not leave my control. It rarely lasts longer then a month. I don't have to can anything. I don't have to deal with distributors or bars. My lines are always clean. My bartenders know how to pour a proper beer(mostly). The material costs and overhead are rather small, so the margins are very good.

Example: I under-carbed a few kegs of session IPA. I didn't have to buy them back from the distributor or worry about my taps being taken. I just had to freeze my ass off while shake carbing 3 kegs.

It sounds like you found a sweet spot between homebrew and micro and you get paid for it too!

With respect to the undercarbed kegs. Don't overlook Blichmann's QuickCarb. I know it is a homebrew-level tool, but I've used it to carb a 15gal keg for a festival in a few of hours. (Corneys take about 45-60min) Doing it in the cooler might even be faster, especially if it is already partially carbed — and you don't have to babysit it with a coat on! We have ball-lock adapters on a Sanke tap that worked fine, but we did have to pull the check diaphragm to use it with the QuickCarb.

 

[Bigbre04]

It sounds like you found a sweet spot between homebrew and micro and you get paid for it too!

With respect to the undercarbed kegs. Don't overlook Blichmann's QuickCarb. I know it is a homebrew-level tool, but I've used it to carb a 15gal keg for a festival in a few of hours. (Corneys take about 45-60min) Doing it in the cooler might even be faster, especially if it is already partially carbed — and you don't have to babysit it with a coat on! We have ball-lock adapters on a Sanke tap that worked fine, but we did have to pull the check diaphragm to use it with the QuickCarb.

I have never heard of this. I will look into it! Shaking in the cool sucks but it was my punishment for not getting it right when it was in the tank lol.

Ya we have a big expansion planned for this winter, including finally getting a Hot liquor tank and a new 3.5 BBL 2 vessel brewhouse, 4 more Unitanks and maybe a brite. Pretty pumped. Hopefully we can figure out how to squeeze in 8 more taps and additional cooler space.