The First Brews and Opening

With eight brews down, I’m feeling extremely satisfied with how they’re turning out. Even a brewer with decades of experience would feel apprehensive in front of a brand new brewing system, so you can imagine I was tense and anxiety ridden. Luckily, Premier Stainless, the manufacturer of the system, sends an employee to do the first brew with you to help dial in the system right away. (Thanks to Adler, formally of Hops and Grain Brewing in Austin) I hit all my numbers and the Batch #1 Porter turned out great.

We knocked out four brews in five days. The wet hop was super fun with friends and family haning out and each taking a turn to help dump 140 pounds of Mosaic in the mash tun. Phil Meeker, formally of Iron Springs and now Triple Voodoo, was there to give me some tips because I had never made a wet hop beer before. People are really liking this one so I’m proud of it maybe beyond the other three beers we started with. But how does a parent pick his or her favorite child?

The last hurdle in my mind was the opening. Yeah, people be talking, but are they walking? Well, come Tuesday we were at capacity for hours and I even had to start working the door. Thank God it wasn’t like this!

Seeing people drink your beer is extremely gratifying. Like a painter selling a $5000 painting, or a musician playing to a sold out crowd, there’s finally proof that the product has value. Let’s just say I’m sleeping a little better.

-Tim