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Where we've been:
We’ve been spending most of our time getting our
facility in order. Demolition is in full swing,
and construction is just getting started. It’s
hard to know how long it will take – I mean we
THINK we know, but we won’t KNOW until we know.
Make sense?
We were at Beerology for the second straight year
in early March. We were set up in the main hall
this year, which was great, as all of Buffalo’s
local breweries were set up in this same area,
including Community Beer Works, Pearl Street Grill
and Brewery, Gordon Biersch, Hamburg Brewing, and
Resurgence Brewing. This was the highest number
of represented Buffalo breweries in the same
immediate area as anyone’s seen in a long, long
time. Next year, we promise: There. Will. Be.
Beer.
On March 30th, we were at The Armor Inn Tap Room Brew
Fest. This first annual NY brewery tasting had a
great turnout. The intimate atmosphere, excellent
music and great beer had all the makings of a
stupendous event. Thanks to everyone that
attended.
Corey is back from his internships at Kuhnhenn
Brewing (Warren, MI) and Badger Mountain Brewing (Wenatchee,
WA).
Kuhnhenn is ranked as one of the best
breweries in the world, and Corey was lucky enough
to learn from them. The owners are currently
planning an expansion to a much larger facility,
including the addition of a larger brewhouse and a
new bottling line. Perhaps we’ll be seeing some
distribution our way in the future...?
After Michigan, Corey spent the last leg of his
internships in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
Badger Mountain Brewing is not only making great
beer, but amazing BBQ out of the tap room. During
the time Corey spent at Badger Mountain, he was
able to brew on equipment nearly identical to what
we've purchased. We can't wait to get brewing on
our own system.
What's in the fridge?
WHO: Jolly Pumpkin Bam Biere
WHAT: Saison, 4.5% ABV
WHERE: Dexter, MI
WHY: We picked this up while in Michigan; it is
occasionally available at Premier
Gourmet. Light and refreshing, this is a
great beer to enjoy as spring approaches. Highly
carbonated with a huge rocky, frothy head. Light
golden color, fairly cloudy. Aroma is spicy,
brett funk, hay, a bit of earthy hoppiness. Taste
is very similar, with a bit of hop bitterness and
light malt sweetness playing against the spicy
yeast character, which almost tastes like hay – in
a very, very good way. Well balanced, light yet
very complex, completely enjoyable.
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Blogging: Calm Before The Storm
We’re in the home stretch of opening the brewery
now. There’s still a lot to get done – but really
only one large thing, and that’s construction.
And this is actually the hardest part, because
we’re so close, and we’re anxious, and because it
won’t go any faster than it can go. Read
More...
What's brewing?
We recently brewed what we believe to be is the
final version of our planned summer saison. The
beer is still carbonating, but the fermenter
sample was fantastic, with just enough fruity
esters to balance the earthy funk thrown by the
Belgian yeast. We even had a guest appearance at
this brewing session as the Nittany
Epicurean showed up to document the session
and try a few beers.
We also quite ceremoniously brewed what we
believe to be the very last homebrew we’ll do,
which, as planned, was an old ale. Fermentation
is just wrapping up on this one, but we couldn’t
help ourselves and tried an advance sample last
week – rich, caramel, light chocolate, light dark
fruit. This beer might be wonderful. We’ll keep
you posted on how it turns out.
The next beer we brew will be at the brewery…
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