The Perfect Storm 2007

In an earlier post I mentioned that malt prices were set to increase. We don't have a silo, we have 50 pound bags of grain, and a very small room in which to store them. Usually we have about 10,000 lbs of grain on hand at any one time. With grain prices increasing sooner than later Bill got one more order in before a very large increase, the problem was going to be fitting it in to the grain room, or more getting it in there. The room has lots of head space, but 50lb grain sack ain't gonna get themselves up there. Bill mentioned that he had a 10,000 lb grain delivery coming on Wednesday morning, and that help would be appreciated in moving it. The night before he worked late in to the evening consolidating the grain that we had on hand. We left late, he was back early and I got there about 15 mins before the grain arrived at noon. Lucky for us the rain came right when the grain did, well not really, added insult to injury so to speak. Lets just say we stacked, and stacked, and then stacked some more.

another view of all the grain and our great stacking job.

Afterwards we figured we could have gotten one more pallet in, that however would have been a logistical nightmare. We now have 20,665 lbs of grain. I wish I had some action shots, but we were too busy throwing bags and climbing around on the piles stacked to the ceiling.
Bill marked the high grain mark, like a flood line. We joked about having armed guards and maybe a guard dog on hand to protect this very valuable resource, don't even get us started about the hops, those are well protected with a series of booby traps and other scary devices.

On a totally different note, Male Escort anyone? It was dropped in our weekly drawing for a free lunch.

Give us a call if you need more info. I can't give out all the information here. I don't think more needs to be said except maybe sorry for the poor photo quality.

Pumpkin beer to arrive soon....

Our Hobgoblin Pumpkin Ale will be on draft soon. We have intentionally waited until now to release this beer, because if we didn't there would be none left for the appropriate time of year. Thanks for waiting you will be rewarded with one hell of a beer.

Meerkat IPA makes an appearance. Amarillo and Simcoe hops abound in this tasty beverage. Come on in, this one won't last long.

WABL turns two and the Elliot Bay Brewing Company is throwing a party at their Burien location, on Sunday the 28th from 3 to 6. Hope to see all you WABL's and who ever else wishes to attend down there. Kevin Sullivan, of Bottlework's fame, designed the Anniversary shirt which means it has to be good. Kevin is one hell of an artist. He does all the Brouwer's signs, in addition to those at Bottlework's. I am sure you have all seen his art at one of these fine locations.

We will be open at 9:30 this Saturday for the Huskies game as they take on Arizona St. Lets hope we play a good game and maybe even get another win. We played the Duck's better than expected, we even managed to score in the 3rd Quarter, something we hadn't done all year. I hope to see you there after the game to celebrate a win.

GABF and some other interesting notes...

This one will be quick.

GABF was quiet an experience, I am still recovering. We did not receive any medals. How this is possible I do not know. Bill makes some of the most amazing beer on the planet. Elysian manged to get 3. Fish Brewing got a gold medal. Look here for a complete listing of all the categories.

Old Rip Oatmeal Stout is now pouring. Come on in for some dark goodness.

The pumpkin beer that everyone has been awaiting should be pouring real soon, I believe that it will be available at Elysian's Pumpkin Beer Festival.

In other news the PI just published this bit of bad news that could soon effect us all.

Lets all cross our fingers that the effect of all this doesn't damage a business and community we all love too much. Gas prices, beer prices, food prices are all on the rise. Lets hope for better production next year. Hops heads hold on to your pallets. We will find a way to make you hoppy.

Look forward to seeing you at the pub for a pint real soon.

a few tidbits

Denver is around the corner. Bill and I will be there to represent all things Big Time. It should be one blur of a time.

Beers On the horizon:

Old Rip had been brewed. Just in time for the drastic change in weather, looks to be a long winter after the summer that wasn't. Expect its arrival in a week or so.

Oktoberfest has been brewed and should be on draft any day.

Our Pumpkin beer, Hopgoblin, will be brewed on Thursday. Look for it on draft around the middle of the month. Also if you are a pumpkin beer enthusiast you should not miss Elysian's Third Pumpkin Beerfest at their Capitol Hill location on the 2oth of October. I wonder if they will attempt the pumpkin cask again. It is always a hoot. Expect them to brew 5 or so different pumpkin beers.

Hop on Pop is now pouring under the name Fresh Powder. Our assistant brewer thought it up, and we agreed what else would a keg of Powderfinger Rye with Fresh hops be called. There is only a quarter barrel of it so if you are interested in tasting this make your way on down soon.