This week we ended up hitting a snag. I met with a local engineer and told him what we were planning on doing to the building and he told us that it was going to be 3 months before we were able to get our permits to start working on the floors. My jaw hit the desk. Up to this point I felt that I had everything worked out but man was I wrong. Anyone who is interested in opening a brewery and planning on making substantial changes to the building, I advise you to pull your permits FIRST!!!!!

In the midst of all this upset, our stainless fabricator is trying to negotiate with us about getting another system fabbed that will better suit our needs. As we have gone through the steps of trying to get started, we have made many decisions regarding which beers we will produce and how we want our equipment set up. Joe was in the boat alone when he started this project and since I have been involved we have been able to shed much more light as to what this project needs in order to succeed and be efficient as well. So, the changes to the system would be 5 fermenters instead of 6 with one being used as a bright tank until we have money coming in the door to purchase used/new bright tanks. The reasoning behind possibly dropping a fermenter is that it would allow us to cover the cost of some of the other equipment that would be in this package so we won't have to spend any more money on the equipment. Next, the mash tun and hot liquor would be separate tanks instead of a combi unit. The mash tun will be larger so instead of holding just 1200 lbs of grain max it will be able to handle 2500 lbs of grain max. This allows us to parti-gyle with one mash instead of conducting two mashes. A secondary kettle will be added next to the primary kettle. This will be for second runnings off the mash for small beer production(with the cost of raw material these days dumping product down the drain is just crazy). These changes will also change the floor plan quite a bit but for the best I feel.

Tomorrow(5-16-08) all our kegs are arriving. All 513 of them. I get to refresh my forklift experience. Looking forward to it because I enjoy driving the forklift. When moving large vertical tanks though, this is not as enjoyable as you have to strap the tank to the lift or risk scarring your investment. Pallets are easy...not near as stressful. Also, reference Joe's previous blog for next Friday's keg painting party.

Joe and Matt(J.J. Taylor Distributing) sampled the Stronger Scotch Ale(101K+OT) last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. I am going to be drinking it tonight so I will write another short blog tomorrow or this evening and give you my tasting notes on it. Thanks Joe for the kind words on ratebeer.com . Email Joe for the link on this beer. Did I mention that he liked it?

One more thing on the beer front and then I will close. The Guava Wheat, even though it is complex and interesting, will be reformulated to be a lager. It will roughly be a Munich Helles base beer with the addition of wheat and the odd use of Simcoe hops. I know...I know...sacrilege. My idea is that since Simcoe reminds me of apricots it will work well with the heady, peachy, mango-like note of the guava fruit. I am not making a hop bomb here but simply using the hops to accentuate the fruit. I think you will like it as it will be a unique fruit beer. Think of Aprihop but a lager with guava instead.
That's all folks. Keep checking back with us.

             Take care,
             Wayne Wambles
             Head Brewer
             Cigar City Brewing