Happy As…

So, almost 3 weeks ago I brewed batch #1, a dunkel. Next day, I mashed in for a saison, and as the kettle filled, I switched on the burner and… nothing. While keeping an eye on the lautering, I frantically tried to diagnose and hopefully restore the burner to operation. Short version, nope, so 6 barrels of perfectly good on-spec wort went down the drain. Bleargh. Well, I had another burner that I planned to install eventually, just not yet. This one was an upgrade, modulating (ie variable) output instead of on/off. Swapped this one in, modified the control panel to work with it, and… didn’t work. Short version, after several years sitting on a shelf, someone damaged it because it was in their way. The damage wasn’t immediately obvious, so it took a while to sort out how to get it operating again. As of Monday past, it was back online, enabling me to brew #2a, Atmospherium Saison, #3, Michigan Weather Pale Ale, and #4, Venerable Pils. That last one was a 7bbl batch; with finer control of the kettle heat, I can boil about 8bbl. There’s still a lot of fine tuning and organization to do, but already this brewery is a real pleasure to work in, and it feels so, so good to be back in the mud.

As to the beers: Atmospherium is a saison featuring a portion of malted rye and Brewers Gold hops. Michigan Weather is brewed from 100% Michigan malt and hops; the sources and types will change from batch to batch, but will always be Michigan grown. Bonus: we have received the blessing of this guy. The pils is in the German vein, dry and bitter and more-ish. Lots more planned; can’t wait to have a full lineup pouring for everyone!