Brewers are awesome

In an effort to learn as much as I can about brewing on a commercial scale, I have reached out to several local breweries.  The first three brewers I've reached out to have been amazing!

David Larsen at Haven Gastropub and Brewery in Pasadena gave me a brewery tour back in December.  He showed off every element of the brewery - from grain storage to the bright tanks.  Dave's brewery has a very interesting network of passageways and a special lift between the grain delivery and the mill.  In short, it looked like a real pain to get the grain in storage.  But they're figuring out how to overcome this challenge.  I'll have a chance to brew with Dave on his 15 barrel system pretty soon.

Dave introduced me to Evan Weinberg at Cismontane in Rancho Santa Margarita.  Evan gave us an intro to barrel aging as he cleaned and filled a 15 gallon oak barrel with a Belgian ale.  Cismontane placed in the Del Mar Fair in 2011 in the IPA and Pale Ale categories - no small feat amongst a County of breweries known worldwide for their IPAs and Pale Ales.  I had a chance to poke around the brewery, try Cismontane's ales, and bounce a load of questions off both Evan and Dave.  On top of that, I'll be joining Evan from time to time to gain experience on the brewery floor.  This weekend is Cismontane's second anniversary, so show up and have a pint!

I ran in to Patrick Rue from the Bruery at Haven Gastropub in Orange in March and couldn't help but bug him about beer and share my story with him.  From there, I contacted his Director of Brewing Operations, Tyler King, for a brewery tour.  Tyler was a great help - he showed me around the Bruery and gave me an overwhelming amount of advice about brewery equipment.  He's a really smart guy and his beer is testament to that. 

 More exciting photos from the breweries (first two from Cismontane, third is from the Bruery, and the fourth is from Haven Pasadena):

Milestone Number One

Today, The Good Beer Company celebrated the first big milestone in the implementation process.  High five! We submitted the first tenant improvement plans to the City of Santa Ana Planning Department this afternoon.  Very exciting!

We know it's going to be a long process - with City department review, re-submittals, Commission and Council hearings to consider the project, but this is the first step towards sharing our beer with you.  In the grand scheme of things, this is a big step forward!

Pilot batch: Belgian Specialty Ale

This marks the first of many blog posts we'll make in the coming year (and perhaps beyond) in which we profile a pilot batch.  We want to be ready to pounce on some really exciting beers right out of the gate, so we'll be refining a few concepts until the brewery opens.  Who knows what Good Beer #1 will be, but it could be an iteration of one of these pilot batches... if not, at least we'll share some great beer stories along the way. 

Homebrew Batch #45:  Brewed five weeks ago, this Belgian specialty ale is delicious.  It fermented to a gravity of 1.001 and is 5.9% alcohol by volume.  It also sports a lofty 59 IBU's with a big portion of the IBU's coming from late kettle hop additions.  The hops were Citra leaf hops and they compliment the Belgian characteristics quite well.  The overall impression is a citrusy and bready Belgian beer with a dry finish.  Oh! This beer will be served at the Southern California Homebrew Festival in Ojai next month, so keep an eye out and let us know what you think!

More to come: Yesterday was a brew day at the pilot home brewery and all the carboys are loaded up.