Taking Shape

Having made it back safely to Deutschland, it was time to get my little brewery put together. My Weyermann malt shipment arrived yesterday, so after buying a few odds and ends at the base this morning, I spent this afternoon getting everything in order.
Here are the results:

Parts shelf in the center, brew tower to the right.

330 pounds of grain waiting to fulfill their life purpose.  Specialty malts are in
the white drawer units in the background.

Here's the opposite corner.  The blue tubs will hold the bagged grain once
they're opened.

A few hooks in the ceiling hold various tools and manifolds.

As soon as I secure a couple more items, this brewery will be well underway.  My plan is to tinker and perfect an Alt, a Weizenbock and a Helles.  I'll do 10-12 gallon batches.  If I could rig up an exhaust fan in the window above the brew tower (and get a CO monitor), I could brew right in this room.  For now, I'll have to drag the tower out into the garage on brew days. 


Let me know what you think.

I have a call in to Bernhard to meet up with him in Kaiserslautern.  I brought back a bottle of Breakfast Stout and Harvest Strong along with a SFB beanie as a show of gratitude.  I'm interested to see what he thinks about the beers, as they are both a far stretch from what he's used to brewing.


Tschüss!

Where's The Heart?

Because, apparently that's where my home is.

I have two loves:  my family and my career.  Unfortunately, 6000 miles separate the two.

I'm just finishing up my first trip back to the states, and what a whirlwind it has been.  I've brewed three times, done four beer transfers, represented SFB at a beer festival in Madison, and had a nice birthday dinner for my father.  Now, I'm treating myself to a wonderful glass of Rodenbach Grand Cru and contemplating the fortune of my situation and the opportunities that abound. 

This journey is only just beginning.  Now that I have a feel for how this is all going to work (and thanks to my assistant Natalie, and the support of the owners of the brewery), I am truly looking forward to the future.  I am confident that brewery operations will run smoothly in my absence, and things seem to be falling into place on the other side of "the pond".  I'll be back in Germany on Thursday, and a grain shipment from Weyermann malt will arrive at my house on Friday.  At that point, I can fire up my home brewing setup and start tinkering with some of the things I've learned from my newest brewing friend, Bernhart.

Additionally, Mrs. Brewmaster has set up trips to Rome, Dublin and Vienna over the next three months, and you can bet I will try to check out as many breweries as I can during these visits.  These will be extended trips, but I think I can sneak in some 3-4 day ventures into Brussels, Heidelberg and Munich when the wife's not looking!

With that, I plan to regale you with continued stories of my adventures.  Stop in to the brewery to try the Doppelbock.  It's going fast.  Next month we'll debut our Envy IPA and I will be very interested in your feedback.  I won't be in attendance at the tapping, but we may do some technological experimentation and see if I can be there electronically!  If not, Natalie will do just fine.

Cheers!

While The World Slept

At least it seemed that way!

My Germany brewing experience continued in the form of a call from my newest freund Bernhard.  "Scott, I am brewing Monday.  Would you like to join me?" 
"Of course!  When should I meet you?"
"Can you be at Kaiserslautern at 4:00 am?"
"Ummm.  Yes?"

And so it was.

I met Bernhard at the appointed place, at the ungodly hour, and he packed me up into his car.  It was at this point that I learned that Bernhard is the Brewmaster for not one, but two Bischoff brewpubs, and we were going to the other in Frankenthal. 

I had no chance to consider my fatigue.  As we entered the Autobahn, my adrenaline flowed as we reached speeds in excess of 115 mph!  It was nothing to a seasoned veteran like Bernhard, but save an airplane or perhaps a roller coaster, I have never gone that fast.

Anyway, we arrived at Frankenthal and set upon brewing his Hell.  Again, a very simple recipe:  One type of malt.  One hop.  Bernhard is not one to be burdened by scales.  How much malt?  Oh, four and a half bags.

The malt was dumped through a cool trap door in the floor to the mill below:

From there, a grist elevator took the cracked malt straight to the mash tun.  The equipment at this location was exactly the same as the previous, however the layout was different.

The process was also very automated--same as last time.

As this was our second meeting, our comfort level with each other had increased and we discussed a variety of topics:  family life, politics, European economy, fishing, the direction of brewing in Germany, cabbages and kings.

Bernhard also showed me his other toy at this location:

Yes, this place also has a distilling license.  This copper-clad still is used to produce a variety of alcohols--whisky, brandy and a whiskey made from strong brewed beer.  Bernhard's whiskeys are aged in oak barrels for over a year, giving them a slightly brown color.  Alcohol runs about 40% abv.

It was another nice day. 

I'll be back in the states for ten days starting next week to take back SFBs reins and debut this year's Doppelbock.  Afterwards, when I get back to Germany, Bernhard is going to make the arrangements for me to spend some time with the Brewmasters of Bischoff Brewery.  He also mentioned a beer festival which involves the shooting and butchery of a wild boar.  How could I possibly turn that down?