Two Test Batches Under Our Belt

As we had hoped, Premier Stainless sent out Adler, a brewer/technician last Thursday and Friday to help setup the brewing system.  Before he arrived on Thursday morning, there was plenty to do: getting the tanks in place, setting out all the parts, connecting up the electrical connections, and making a temporary flue setup.  The permanent stainless steel flue was being fabbed, so we put together a galvanized vent for the interim.  The install on Thursday went pretty well.  Our electrician, Adam, and Adler finished up making the connections for the kettle burner and temperature and level sensors in the morning, so we were ready to start cleaning the tanks by the afternoon.  Cleaning took much longer than I expected, but the process went pretty well.  By the time we did a clean-in-place cycle of caustic, acid wash, and rinse on the brew kettle, mash tun, and fermentor, it was 8:00 pm.  A long but productive day.

Friday was brew day, which was much more fun, but took equally as long.  The mash water took about 4 hours to warm up, so we didn't really start the brew until close to noon.  Meanwhile, we set up the malt grinder and finished outfitting some of the other equipment.  Right after lunch we started the mash and things went smoothly from that point on.  Amazingly, our mash efficiency was in the 85%+ range which resulted in a 6% ABV Pale Ale to have enough sugar to end up closer to 7.5% ABV.  No problem there - greater efficiency is always a good thing - next time a little less malt needed.  By the time we got the cooled wort in to the 3 BBL fermentor and did a quick clean up, it was 7:30 pm.  It was a great feeling to see the wort in the fermentor churning out Lake Bluff Brewing Company's first beer.

After doing a thorough cleaning of the tanks again on Monday night, we brewed our Soft Tail IPA on Tuesday. The brew went really well, took far less time, and we hit the mash numbers right where we wanted to be.  A great second showing, and can't wait to see how they turn out.  It will be nice to have a week off over the holidays to recharge before transferring the Pale Ale to the Bright Tank for carbonation around the new year.  Still lots to do, so the "time off" is all relative.

Wishing you all a very happy holiday and a joyous New Year.

The Brewing System has arrived!

It has been a very exciting and tiring few days for us, but we're very happy to say that the brewing system arrived in good condition and is in the Tap Room being installed.  The excitement began on Sunday morning, December 12th, in the bitter blowing cold when the flat bed truck arrived outside the doors of the Tap Room at 16 E. Scranton Ave in Lake Bluff.  The tanks were loaded standing vertically on the truck, and we had our trusty engine hoist to get them off and into the building.  500 lb doesn't seem like a lot until you're trying to grab hold of a four foot diameter tank and lay it down onto the bed of the truck without damaging it or yourself.  Once we laid them down, getting the straps around the tanks and getting them off the truck wasn't too bad.  We pushed the hoist and tank (one by one) up the sidewalk and then came the fun.  Our carpenter had removed one of the front windows and jambs to allow the tanks to go into the Tap Room sideways, and we made up some supports for the tank to rest on.  Getting a 500 lb tank through a window with about a 1/2 inch of clearance was a bit tricky, but luck was on our side (along with a few great helpers - thanks Brett, Kurt, Dave and Bruce!) and we made it happen without any damage to the tanks or people.

After a couple hours of work, we had the truck unloaded and tanks inside the Tap Room.  There was a brief sigh of relief until we realized just how much work we still had ahead of us.  Sunday night involved painting and tiling in the kettle room, and moving all the brewing system tanks and supplies out of the way so the drywallers could finish their work on Monday.  Monday night we moved the tanks into the kettle room which felt really great seeing them in their final location and Tuesday began the work of getting the utilities installed.  Our great plumber, Steve from 3Q's, connected up the gas to the kettle on Tuesday and our electrician is working on the control panel, temperature sensors and burner control today.  I'll be back there tonight getting some temporary venting setup while our stainless vents are being fabricated.

The big news is that a technician from Premier Stainless should be arriving Thursday or Friday to help with the final installation, cleaning cycle, and brewing our first test batch over the next few days!  Will keep you posted on that, as it's still a bit tentative.  Cross your fingers!

Cheers,
Rodd and Dave

The journey has begun....

Ok, so we're finally getting around to starting a blog to get our thoughts and experiences down for people to share our adventure into the exciting world of starting a craft brewing company.  We hope you find it mildly interesting and probably more amusing as we feel our way through this, and hopefully end up with some excellent beer to experience here in Lake Bluff.

Things have been moving along pretty fast for the past 6 months or so.  Everything started with Beer Hoptacular, where we received great reviews on our home brewed recipes for Hard Tail IPA, a Bohemian Pilsner, and Black Squirrel Bourbon Stout.  With this support, a love of beer, and a desire to chart our own course in life, we decided to take the plunge to officially start the brewing company.

Before we knew it, we were zoned in Lake Bluff to open the tap room and had placed our deposit on our brewing system from Premier Stainless out of California.  We signed our lease at 16 E. Scranton in Lake Bluff and submitted for our Federal brewer permits.  We received our building permits back in October and it's been petal to the metal from there on getting the Tap Room space built-out and prepping for our first brew.  I'm happy to say that the drywall is being installed right now and the brewing system is scheduled to arrive this weekend.  After the drywall goes in, Dave and Rodd still have some work to do on the tile floor in the kettle room and get the walls painted before we drop the system in and connect it up.  Should make for a fun and busy weekend!  Hopefully we'll get the system up and running by mid-week and can get the brew on.

We can't tell you how excited we are to see things moving along.  What started out as a crazy idea is really coming to fruition now, and we are really appreciative of all the support we're getting in the community and beyond.  Stay tuned to our progress and before you know it, March will be here and the Tap Room doors will be open!

Cheers!
Rodd and Dave