We are back in construction following Thanksgiving.

We have passed inspection for our drain lines to the sewer and we have also passed inspection for our water supply lines to the interior of the building.

Today was spent grading the dirt to get ready for pouring of the concrete. They added #4 rebar to all the cut trenches and around the edges of the concrete that was cut away to slope to the drain so that we have added reinforcement.

The concrete contractor is also working on cutting out the lift that is in the floor in the north east corner of the building. It has to go so we don’t have a cesspool underneath from water and beer runoff (lets face it…it just isn’t sanitary enough for a brewery). They had the torch fired up and were cutting away but still haven’t removed the first pieces yet. Hopefully it will be gone by tomorrow.

I am hoping that repour will take place this week. If it does then we will bring in the electrical contractor to start running power. The concrete takes a week to cure so we will have to find other things to do in order to keep construction as seamless as possible and hopefully we can get a little bit of electrical work done while we are waiting on the concrete.

During our down week, I will be making 10 gallons of beer to go to the Atlanta Cask Fest in late January.

Following a long fermentation/conditioning time, we tasted the Saison with scuppernongs today. It has moderate notes of scuppernong in the aroma and spicy yeast byproducts. The flavor starts ever so slightly sweet and then moves into grape acidity then finally finishes with slight grape skin tannins and bitterness from hops that work well together with the spicy yeast byproducts lingering in the background and never quite leaving the flavor profile. It is a great beer for Spring or Summer. We haven’t placed it into our seasonal lineup as of now but we know it works and we know how to recreate it.

Our signs went up today. I pulled up just in time to take some pictures of them hanging the signs. They really stand out and look great. It seems much more official pulling into the parking lot and seeing them glaring at me from the side of the building.

 The third week of  December we are planning on erecting the cooler, putting the tanks into place, installing the boiler, installing the glycol chiller and lines, and anything else that we can fit in.

The fourth week of December will create a conflict due to the holidays. I doubt that we will be able to get many contractors or inspectors to come on site during this week up to New Year’s so that will most likely push initial production into early January, which means that you should see our first beers hit the bars in late January. At that point, you will hear a massive sigh of relief from both of us.

That wraps it up. There will be more to come as construction continues to move along.

            Take care,

            Wayne Wambles

            Head Brewer

            Cigar City Brewing