Corair Artisan Distilling moved into the space we moved out of and bought our 10bbl system. linky. They make some pretty cool stuff, have won some awards, and their flagship gin made Maxim's 100 Xmas Gifts list last year. I wouldn't know good gin if I saw it, though, so it just tasted like gin to me.

The first time they brewed at our place, before we moved out, they mashed a 100% rye recipe. Runoff was about 8 hours and had to be constantly stirred. Guess who did the labor on that?

I had some Ballast Point Gin this Spring and found it to be great. Anchor's Junipero Gin is great. Ironically, I tried it first in New Orleans but had trouble tracking it down in San Francisco.

I also got a bottle of Rogue Rum which I honestly thought had a pretty clear Tequila note. Not necessarily a bad thing, but not what I'm looking for in my Rum, ya know?

When I was at Ballast Point they showed us the distillery stuff. But they didn't have any bottles available at the brewery (had just started distributing them and said they were at a few stores we didn't end up going to).

The only "craft" distilled spirits I've ever had were at DFH in Rehobeth Beach Delaware and I still remember the tootsie roll flavored vodka. Was pretty good, crept up on you fast.

The other stuff reminds me of what RDH said, just the same to me. Not to the same extent as you would a beer person, but hardcore spirit drinkers are probably tilted as hell about "all the stuff tastes the same to me." Still, it's probably much easier to taste the difference in a beer

TR still coming btw, just been too busy to sort through 40 pictures. We brought back 5 gallons worth of growlers and that's kept me busy as well.

I used to hear rumors of a schnapps made by Sierra Nevada, but I got the impression it was probably only broken out at the company Christmas party or other special occasions. Definitely not available to the public. Sounded pretty tasty though!

I'm making final preparations for our first run Thursday. Just hoping the yeast gets here tomorrow and picking up a few odds & ends, like tubs to put spent grain in and some enzymes, etc. I spent last week w/Serge making sure everything worked and getting the feel for everything. It's steam-powered, which is cool, but different.

I'll probably be very busy this weekend, as the owner wants three different beers pouring a.s.a.p. Wish me luck!

Does anyone agree that a good strong IPA tastes like vagina?

It must be the yeast.










WAT

Does your wife/girlfriend clean her vagina?

Soliciting suggestions as to what to put on my business cards for a title.

I'm not a proper "brewmaster" yet, so that's out. I had considered "Head Brewer," but that just sounds dirty. The old brewmaster suggested simply "Brewer," but I think I deserve something a little fancier.

I'm considering "Chief Brewer" (or some related variation.) I've been introducing myself to the restaurant staff as the "Beer Maker Guy," which I reckon is a bit too casual, even for a ****** like me.

My old business cards for the Craft Beer Bar I was basically managing said "Knows Good Stuff." That doesn't quite fit for this job, but I'm not opposed to something along those lines.

If I pick yours, I'll send you a growler of one of the first three beers we're making this weekend.

TIA

Mark,

What about just using a play on the name of the company? Something simple like Brooksville Brewer would work until you actually become a "proper brewmaster".

Where I work they just add the word Coordinator to the end of every title they make up, therefore you should be the...

Beer Coordinator

Or

Brew Coordinator


Hows about...

Head Yeast Pitcher

not bad. not bad at all!

Beer Chef?

Find some old term for brewmasters used 100-500 years ago or something and just start calling yourself that, it'll catch on, people always like those old retro names and they will probably think you're really cool too

Also, good luck with the brewing. Please keep us updated, whether I have anything worthwhile to reply with or not, I like to read about it.

I think I'm going with "mmmm.... beer."

Checking in - brewed Thursday and Saturday. Doing another batch tomorrow and then I get to take it easier for at least 10-12 days while we grow more yeast.

I'll write a TR soon.

Last night I opened the evening with Victory's Golden Monkey. It is a nice Tripel style ale with a variety of spice and fruit notes.

I have had their Hop Devil and Old Horizontal previously. These two along with the Golden Monkey are all excellent. I look forward to trying more from this Downingtown, PA brewer.

Enjoying a Yards Philadelphia Pale Ale and listening to a nice Jerry Garcia show in honor of his birthday - it's better than I thought it would be - kind of a cross between Sierra Nevada (minus the heavier hop bite) and Magic #9. Light bodied and a bit of a citrus kick.

Don't they clean themselves???

Yes, I believe a healthy vagina cleans itself.

We put two batches in the tanks over the weekend, an American Red Ale and a Light Pilsner Lager. So along with the Strong Golden Ale brewed Thursday, that's three of the last four days spent making beer. I'm just gonna do some light cleaning today up there and take it easy tonight.

There's an old saying:

Just picked up couple sixer's of schell's hefeweizen. It just hit the stores here in MN. Awesome hefe IMO, had it last summer on tap and have been patiently waiting for it's release this summer. Very light mouthfeel, tasty banana and clove flavors. Beautiful golden color. Great summer brew!

Here's the unofficial particulars of 2/3 beers we made last week. I've just been cleaning, straightening and ordering supplies this week so far. We expect to keg these ales next week.

Google "Weeki Wachee" + "Mermaids" and you'll see where the name came from.

I had thought that Citra was a proprietary hop from Sierra Nevada. Guess I heard wrong, but a quick google search reveals that I wasn't the only one under this impression. The only time I've had it afaik is in their Torpedo.

We've used citra a couple times and just got a couple hundred pounds more in yesterday. Bought them from Hop Union, hadn't heard about Sierra owning the varietal.

Today I went and bought a growler of Foothills Barrell Aged Peoples Porter

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/foothil...ter/96748/3/1/

and Coast HopArt IPA - which is an excellent small brewery here in Charleston, SC.

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/coast-h...ipa/82132/3/1/

I've had the Coast before and it's delicous, I'll post reports by this weekend.