March…April…MAY! Brewery update.
It's been utter choas at the brewery. Last minute equipment changes, legal hoops and construction construction construction. We're in the home stretch and can finally see a flicker of light at the end of the tunnel. Our brewhouse and fermenters arrived last week and everything is in place and getting hooked up. We're close to finishing out the look for our packaging and getting federal label approvals too.
All this to say we'll be brewing soon. We're not going to put a date on it, but know that we're doing everything in our power to get the job done and get it done right the first time. That goes for our finish-out and construction as well as our beer. We're a little picky about what we send out for you to enjoy, so we will not release the beer until it's exactly where we want it. That's just the way we do things around here.
In addition to the brewery itself, the tasting room is starting to slowly spring to life. We're trying to stay out of the way of plumbers and electricians, but the concrete floors have been prepped for stain and the bathrooms are getting a sophisticated coat of gunmetal gray paint. We're also repurposing the shipping crates that our equipment came in to make some tables and seating for the tasting room as well. Recycling at its best.
It's been a long year but we'll see you soon with a beer in hand.
Cheers
Progress Report: FeBREWary 2012
We got 29 days in February but we could have used 10 more. It's been a month of stops and starts while we wait for our construction permit to be approved by the city. Our fermenters and brewhouse are patiently waiting to be shipped from the manufacturer's warehouse to ours. Once the floor drains are cut and the floors are done we'll be able to accept delivery. In the meantime we're still ordering more equipment to make sure we can hit the ground running as soon as we get TTB and TABC approvals.
Febuary saw a sharp increase in staffing as we went from 1-3 employees. Trevor came on to head up sales and help brew and my wife Brenda came on board to handle all the financials. My dad braved 3 hours of traffic every day to come and spray 135 gallons of paint on the wall. Now the brewery look so fresh and so clean clean. It's truely a family affair around here.
The end of February saw a little action on the brewing side of things as we prepared for our first beer dinner at the Common Table. Franconia, Rahr, Deep Ellum, Peticolas and yours truely were all all part of a five course dinner highlighting the strength of craft beer in the DFW area. The dinner benefitted Open The Taps which is a consumer advocacy group working within the legislative process in Texas to help to loosen the restrictions that are stifling the growth of the burgeoning national craft beer movement in Texas.
We feel like runners crouched in our blocks just waiting for the starting gun. A little patience and we'll be enjoying fresh and unique local beer together soon.
Cheers.
Progress Report: January 2012
It's a new year and we're full steam ahead at the brewery. We have signed a lease on our building and we're cleaning it up in order to make a bigger mess when we start construction in a few week. The space is everything we could have asked for. It's a big open box. Now we just need to fill it. Our fermentation tanks and brewhouse should be arriving in the next few weeks and additional equipment has been put on order and will arrive in due time. Here are a few pictures of the building and the cleanup. Thanks to all our volunteers for taking the time to help.
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