Step up dude! Probably never a truer word said particularly for me the brewers apprentice. The leap from home brewing to serious pilot plant batch brewing may require a parachute. Don't get me wrong. It's bloody fantastic just a little technically daunting. Everything's easy when you know how eh? Well after an epic 9 hour session we finished putting down the first of what we hope will become one of our signature beers. A Roggenbier (German Rye Beer) containing an aromatic mix of Munich I (Weyermann), Pale Malt Ale (Barrett Burston), Rye Malt, Wheat Malt (Barrett Burston) and Caramunich II (Weyermann) looking something like this after milling;
Add to that Tettnang and Saaz Hops, the odd bit of boiling, pumping, fly sparging, stirring, draining, timing, measuring, checking, tasting, smelling, admiring our own work and continuous sampling of the best that Matilda Bay has to offer and you come out with something like this in one of our new 60 litre fermenters; Our soon to be known as Master Brewer, Jason Garratt, breathed life into yet another Boomers brew while answering a never ending stream of questions and suggestions from me, the apprentice. Next step? Well this Sunday the 13th of March (bugger off we're not s uperstitious) we'll add some German Wheat Yeast and we'll have life! Given a good week of fermentation we should be close to being ready for kegging and a crash chill. If this brew tastes anything like it smells hold all my calls! What have we learned? Well from my perspective a hell of lot and thanks to Jason's patience, passion for the art and good humour we're continuing to refine our act. Many new bits of gear still to be added, modified and tweaked for better performance and greater efficiency. Looking forward to getting our SABCO Chill Wizard from the States, building our Chill Room & getting our water utilisation sorted so stay tuned. What's next well my soon to be Master Brewer friend tells me he has a hankering for a Vanilla Mocha Porter. Sounds different enough to get my interest!
Jason at the helm
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