I’m Back…
Seriously,
It’s been almost three months since I blogged last. I’m pretty sure that no one noticed my absence. It’s not like I forgot how to write. It just seemed that everytime I sat down to type, I was exhausted from the brew day or there was something more pressing going on at the brewery that needed my attention.
However, it’s May 9th 2008 and I’m blogging DAMNIT!
So what should I blog about? There’s only about 400 things I need to say. So in no particular order here goes nothing. First and foremost, we’re expanding. Or at the very least, we’re trying to make the building smaller through addition. In the past month, we have added three used tanks from our good friends at Dogfishead. It’s not terribly important but we added a 120 bbl Fermenter a 150 bbl Conditioning tank as well as something known as Elvis.
Tanks for more beer are great. They are wonderful additions to our brewery. What is not a wonderful addition is the plumbing and installation required by all of these massive units. Vince has his work cut out for him in terms of getting these up and running. We also are swapping out the old solenoids left from the original brewery. They suck and our temperature controls need to be upgraded. When it is all said and done, we will have gained so much more control over our fermentations, I think it’s scary.
In February we acquired more oak barrels. Specifically, we added 100 new Brandy barrels and 50 more Bourbon barrels. Since then, we have filled 50 Brandy Barrels of Angel’s Share which we hope to release in time for Christmas. We’ll be filling the other 50 in the next month. This will mean a plethora of Angel’s doing their work all summer long at The Lost Abbey. Sounds divine if you ask me.
Did I mention that we bought a 2nd forklift? Nothing screams you’re growing like another forklift. It’s a real beaut too. 2002 Propane 4 wheel unit with custom rims and low profile tires. I’ve threatened the boys in the brewery that we’re gonna get the interior (read seat) Tijauna tuck and rolled with some sick new paint to match. Green metalic flake anyone? In order to accomodate the barrels, we needed this new lift as we have warehouse space across the street for storage.
A couple of weeks ago, the Craft Brewing World decended on San Diego. It was a chance for every local brewer to do their part and shine. We at Port Brewing hosted so many brewers. It was a special week for us. The highly anticipated Isabelle Proximus was launched. It turned into an amazing beer and we can’t wait to get the barrels reloaded and make more. The beer has been labeled and should see the light of day in late June- just in time for the summer swelter.
Last weekend, we hosted our 2nd Anniversary Party. In true Port Brewing fashion, we rolled out 3 beers for the weekend. The buzz around the brewery seems to be that the Cuvee tastes as good as last year AND don’t even get us started on the 2nd Anniversary Ale. If there’s one place there isn’t a hop shortage, it’s those bottles we filled- 11 pallets worth!
Perhaps the coolest thing we accomplished last weekend was the release of Inferno Ale. I have been dying (not literally) to get this beer (and more importantly) the label done. This has to be one of the most detailed pieces of label art out there. It’s too bad that Seans painting skills get shrunk to such a small scale. It definitely will be one of the coolest shirts we have when it’s all said and done.
I have put a moratorium on new beers for the next few months. Don’t ask me the timeline. I don’t have one. What I do know is that since January of this year, we have launched or brewed Moon Lit Sessions, Shark Attack, Port 2nd Anniversary, Serpent’s Stout, Carvnevale, Inferno, Hildegard’s Saison and Holy Water. It’s time for me to stop imagining and conceptualizing new beers every 20 minutes. I’m having a hard enough time keeping track of where these beers are.
We’re launching in the Bay Area at the end of the month so we’re working hard to load up on all of our year round releases at this time. Once we’re done with them, we’ll probably lift the moratorium and get back to what we do best- keeping crazy new beers rolling through the brewery. Sounds good to me.
Hopefully we’ll see you soon.