And We're Back!

After a little hiatus from brewing, I was finally able to brew again this past weekend (thank you, wonderful wife)! I brewed up a Belgian Pale Ale (only my second Belgian beer) and an IPA. The BPA will be a toasty and biscuity beer with a slight Belgian yeast character and a bunch of late noble hop flavor and aroma. 34th St. IPA will be an easy-drinking (@ 5.5% ABV) IPA dry-hopped with Amarillo and Centennial hops. Here is the brewery in the early morning and the cooler at the end of the brew day with two 10 gallon fermentors full of soon-to-be beer!

Here's some brewing geekiness for you. This is the actual yeast culture I used to brew the Belgian Pale Ale...that's right, science is cool!

Before the brew day, I also installed some new burners that will make brewing a little faster. They are huge, 10 inches across and about 15 lbs. each. Cool.

And finally, my proudest accomplishment! Cameron Calloway Lowell....born February 28th, 2012! He is amazing and I love him more everyday. I don't usually throw my family life into this blog, but I think he is worth mentioning!

Tap Room (a.k.a. the other half of my garage) gets a makeover!

Along with all of the pre-baby projects, I have also given the tap room a face lift. I replaced my old keezer with a bigger one. Each batch I brew is 10 gallons, or two kegs worth. Therefore, I can now serve four beers and also have a backup keg for each of those beers all in one keezer...for 8 total. Believe me, I have been trying to stock up all of those kegs before the baby arrives. I encased the new keezer in beetle kill pine from our own Grand County. I also added casters and a chalkboard front.

I love the natural blue stain and
grain of the beetle-kill pine

This was during an early morning brewday!

A glorious sight!

My incredible wife gave me a rack and fancy beer glasses for Christmas and I just got around to hanging all of them up. The ones on the top shelf are 20 oz. pub glasses and the hanging ones are 16 oz. tulip goblets. Eventually, I will get around to etching them with the Lowell Brewing Co. logo (as of now). For some reason, I think this would be a good kitchen table project when the baby arrives! Maybe I'm totally off.

Awesome glasses and rack

On Saturday, I also brewed another 20 gallons of beer to fill the final kegs. I brewed an English Old Ale for my father-in-law...rightfully named Pops' Old Ale. It should finish out around 8.5% ABV as a full-bodied, malty ale for those cold nights. Five gallons of this will live in the oak barrel for a while. I hope he likes it! The other beer that was brewed was inspired by Jeff called Vernalis Black Ale. It is a black ale that should bridge the winter and spring seasons. Not too roasty, more chocolatey, light-bodied, spicy Chinook hops, and a floral aroma. For those times when it is getting a little warmer, but you still want a winter beer without the heavy body. I'm excited about this one, it will be delicious.
 

Vernalis Black Ale on the left and Pops' Old Ale on the right!

The other project was moving Mug, the English Barleywine, out of the barrel and into a carboy for clarification. This fella topped out at around 10.8% ABV and will be a good sipper. This will go into the keg later this week! 

So, I know that was a lot, but I have been busy! Hopefully all of this brewing will keep the taps pouring for a good amount of time while we are busy with the new baby. The revamped tap room will entertain all of the guests that will be dropping by! As of now, I have an IPA, Blonde, and Amber on tap. In the next week or so, I'll add an English Barleywine, Black Ale, and Old ale to the mix. I should be good for a while. I'll check back soon...probably after the wee one arrives!

The American Beer Revival

This is a neat little clip showing the history of breweries in America...most notably, how the craft breweries have risen again! Support your local craft brewery.






Cheers!

Hops and Dogs

I have seen a bunch of warnings about this lately and it is very important that all brewers know it. Don't let your pup near your hops! 

http://www.northernbrewer.com/connect/2012/01/a-warning-about-dogs-and-hops/

There was a time, about a year ago, where Moxie (above) grabbed a single hop pellet that had dropped on the floor in the kitchen. Soon after, he began panting and didn't stop for several hours. I now realize, after the event, that the hops caused his body temperature to rise uncontrollably and I am lucky that he didn't ingest more. He turned out just fine, but brewers beware! Never store or dispose of your hops (even used) where the dog can get at them...that includes the compost bin. This also includes homegrown hops in the backyard. Let's try and keep our furry brewing buddies around (I'm talking canines, not humans)!

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays, everyone! I hope you all have a great next couple of weeks. I got a Christmas present in the mail yesterday. OK, so I ordered it six months ago and it just happened to show up before Christmas...well planned.

Lowell Brewing Co. has now doubled its fermenting capacity to a whopping 20 gallons or 2/3 bbl with the additional fermentor! This will allow me to have two beers fermenting at the same time. I also have another project coming up regarding a new keezer that maybe I won't reveal until it is complete. Thanks, Micah and Jeff, for helping me out with some of the wood working!  I will be kegging the 4th batch of Busted Wing IPA tomorrow. It varies slightly from the previous batches as it has a little more hop flavor and is more heavily dry-hopped. Should be tasty. I also threw Muddy Huddy into the ring for the annual Mountain Sun brewpub Stout Month competition. If it wins, a 6 bbl batch will be brewed and served at all three locations...pretty cool! I'm not holding my breath though. I'm trying to finish all of these projects in the next month and get things in order so I can free up some time for the new addition to our family in March! I know I don't usually go into topics outside of brewing, but I have a lot to be thankful for in this past year. First and foremost, my amazing wife, Sally and the upcoming arrival of our first kiddo. I couldn't be more excited and truly in awe with the whole experience, notably the strength and loving nature of Sally. I have also realized how lucky I am to have the family that I do and how important every single one of them are to me. So, on that note, have a great holiday and I'll check back very soon. Treat yourself to well-made, craft beers this holiday season and appreciate what you have in life while you sip!