Brew Day

“Does something smell funny to you? And did you just hear a popping sound?” I hadn’t brewed in a little while between Christmas festivities and the month-long sub-arctic temperatures in Boise. I was feeling a little rusty, and it was evident when my heating element blew. Ah yes, put water in first, THEN turn it on!  My buddy Matt and I applied a little elbow grease and kicked the day off by replacing the element.

Then temperature sensor was displaying 32.0°, indicating it probably wasn’t reading correctly and that there was a loose wire somewhere in the control box.

After some troubleshooting, we tracked down the issue: it was actually 32.0° outside. We discovered this by the time-tested method of, (much like smacking your TV or rebooting your computer) plugging the thing back in. By that time, it had warmed up slightly from freezing and displayed a different temperature. FrankenBrew, I love you. But I’m not going to be too upset when I replace you.

I fired up my propane burners/jet engines and finally started the brew day. Today on deck we had a Down-Down pale ale and a new variation of Hip Check IPA.

The brewing area at the Bogus pilot facilities is in the front of the, um, house. There are always people honking or waving as they drive by, giving us a thumbs up. Sometimes, drivers slow waaaay down, with a look that says, “what in the hell is that?” I often wonder what those people assume is going on in my driveway. Many people stop to chat, saying they’d seen us out there a time or two and just wanted to say hello. Today, a salesman even stopped by and I was left wondering how I ended up with 8 lbs. of beef at the end of a brew day.

52 lbs. of grain, 2 lbs. of hops, one entire tank of propane and several pints of previously brewed beers later we had two very happy beers bubbling away in their temperature controlled fermentation chamber. We’ll think hoppy thoughts for the next two weeks and then it will be kegging time.

In other news, talks are going pretty well on the three locations we’re looking at. And any one of them would be a great spot. There are a couple other exciting things that we’re working on as well, though I can’t say too much for a few months. Hang tight!

Until next time,

Collin