Author: Tomme

It’s officially Cinco de Mayo(the one day a year that American’s profess a “love” for Tequila).  Me, I love it 365 days a year so no big deal.  You’re not likely to see me get wasted today waving my pistola in the air.  Hoewever, I may actually drink more than my fair share of alcohol today because today, Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey turn 3.  Yes, you heard me right.  Today is the third anniversary of our opening.  It was a Saturday 3 years ago in 2006 when we opened the doors to this brewing project and set out to create beers “For Sinners and Saints Alike.

In a span of three years, we have accomplished so much.  In 2007 we won Small Brewery of the Year at the Great American Beer Festival and in 2008 we achieved the same accolade at the World Beer Cup thus becoming the first small brewery to hold the titles at the same time.   And, while these competitive victories have been nice, they aren’t the be all end all reason we exist.

Nope, we exist and have the opportunity to come to “work” everyday to make incredible beers because of the people who support us.  With that in mind, I thought today’s post should be about people and not about the tequila I am going to drink later today.  I should start with my partners Gina, Jim and Vince.  It was about this time in 2005 that we got together and started the conversation about building/ acquiring a larger production facility.  When Stone announced that they would be building a new brewery and selling off their old one, it just made sense for us to be here.  Our partnership is now four years strong and this company wouldn’t exist without them.

Without fail, this project would be doomed were it not for the support of my wife Maureen and our daughter Sydney.  Most readers of this blog know that Sydney came into this world a mere 10 days after we opened our doors three years ago.  In the span of three years, my wife has been tasked with raising our dauighter all the while her husband (me) has been raising another child (this brewery).  Crazy doesn’t even begin to describe this time in our lives.  Thankfully neither she nor I feels the need to get liquored up on Tequila waving our Pistolas in the air to celebrate this.

I also need to thank the people who run this brewery day in and day out.  To my brewers (including the ones who got us here and the ones who will be taking us places in the coming years) I hope we continue to offer a workplace that is anything but boring and rewards all of us.  To all the volunteers who put their time in over the last three years.  It never ceases to amaze me what is possible.  It was 3 years ago today that I was introduced to the concept of the Safety Nap by Teri and Sage.  Today, there’s less napping as the bar is a bustling hub of activity every weekend but they’re still here filling glasses reminding each of us that good beer brings good cheer.

Rome wasn’t built in a day.  We know this much to be true.  We also know that in three years we have exceeded even our wildest expectations for this space.  We’ve experienced some incredible highs and lows along the way.  The support of our customers and fan base has been overwhelming.  We couldn’t do this without you.  So on this Cinco de Mayo and our 3rd Anniversary of opening the doors here at 155 Mata Way, I raise my Pistola to the air in a one gun salute.  Thank you for everything these past three years.  Let’s Party!

It’s 4:11 on Monday the 27th of April.  They just fired up the bottling line about an hour ago and we’re now running bottles of Old Viscosity.  WOW!!!  What a feeling it  is to see this sucker run.  We purchased this 16 head filler back in December of 2008 and since then, we have been laboring over the rebuild and installation of the line.  In March, I hired Gordie to come run this thing and it appears that we’ll finally be able to do just that very soon.  The whole thing is surreal.  As I look to my left out my office window, I see bunch of guys(wearing safety goggles) filling bottle after bottle of our beer.  It’s just a test run and there are some sticking points to work out.  (This is Old Viscosity after all).  Yet, I see a levity in the step of my guys.  They know that this is the end of the crazy bottling runs that they have been tortured by. 

Yes, they will still be required to bottle beer.  However, this new setup will allow them to package an entire tank in one day AND apply labels at the same time!!! Get the *^#@ out of here.  Really!  Bottles and labels applied in one sequence.  Somebody cue the Jefferson’s as we’re moving on up here at the Lost Abbey and Port Brewing.  Sure, we aren’t home yet and there’s plenty of battles to wage with this new beast.  Lord knows old bottling equipment can be quite cantankerous.  But, today isn’t about fear.  Nope, today is about the promise of a better tomorrow with each bottle of our beer filled by a machine.  Mind you there’s still enough hand crafting going on out there.  We’re not that good yet.  But, it’s exciting to know that we’ve graduated and that each bottle from this line should be an improvement over our last setup. 

To those of you who have hung in with us, we say thank you.  To those of you just finding us, we say welcome.  Today is a great day.

Today we bottled beer on a machine.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a pint of beer with my name on it.

Those of you who follow life at Port Brewing know that we have two cats that patrol our brewery as part of our commitment to Bio-Dynamic Pest Control. Amarillo and his sister Cascade have been with us for almost 10 months now. In that time, they have assimilated themselves very well to brewery living.   On most weekends, Amarillo will assume his post and hunker down at the end of the bar. In many ways, he’s like Norm from Cheers excepting of course that the cat is neither witty nor does he drink. Yet, he anchors that corner of the bar quite well.

His sister Cascade has always been a bit more shy when the brewery is open and for the most part prefers to hide outside from the masses. Either way, they have been an integral part of our brewery since they moved in. They literally have put the pest control guy out of business. I for one am happy about their performance.

About 4 months ago, we noticed that Amarillo was showing Cassie some serious “Brotherly Love” and became concerned about his affections. As such, we dispatched him to the veterinarian where he was ceremoniously “nutted.” Sorry bro. Sometimes these things just have to happen. The operation was a success. Amarillo recovered well and has since gotten incredibly lazy. But then again, you can’t blame him…

Fast forward to about a month after his surgery when Cascade starts looking less gaunt than her brother and is on the prowl more than she ever used to be. I blamed lethargy and lack of nutter butters in Amarillo. Just sort of figured she was “picking up the slack” for her brother. Turns out, I was wrong. Somewhere on a starry night Cassie had gone out and found love in all the wrong places. She began putting on weight and the countdown began.

Last week before I left for Philly Beer Week, we watched as Cascade began prepping the brewery for the imminent arrival of the new additions to Port Brewing (side note, we have been adding tanks and equipment. I wonder if extra kittens running around qualify as a tax write off as well?) On Wednesday, I got a text from Monkey Mike congratulating me on being a Grandpa.

Seems that while I was in Philadelphia, our little “Cassie” (Cascade) gave birth to five new Port Brewing Kittens. And in an instant, my world changed. I became a Grandparent overnight. I’m 35 and way too young to be a grandparent. That’s what I texted Mike. Too late he said. You’re stuck with it. Then he proceeded to tell me that we have 3 new black kittens and two silver ones.

At this point in time, none of them have names. Tiernan (Terri and Sage’s daughter has first dibs on the kitties). She wants one of the silver ones. We’re going to keep the other silver one for the brewery. Sydney will be naming this one. That leaves three black kittens. Gina and Skye have decided they want one. This leaves us with two more kittens to find homes for.

Terri has decided that we’re going to have a raffle for the last two kittens.  The details will be forthcoming.  The response has been overwhelming.  I know that we’ll have zero issues finding these two little bundles of joy a new home.  It’ll be weird having a 3rd cat roaming the brewery.  But at the same time, it just didn’t seem right taking all 5 kittens out of the mix.

So, in the coming weeks, when you visit the brewery, please be mindful that we now have 7 felines living at the brewery.  I’m certain the bio-dynamic pest control division has never been stronger.  At least, we have the rodents shaking in their boots.  And for that, I am thankful for a bunch of new kittens around the brewery.