Starting a Brewery

Refrigeration and Gas Line

2006-10-11T09:58:00.000-07:00

I am purchasing a cold box to store the carbonated beers and aid with the fermenters. Since I do not have a filter, I will need to cool the beer down to about 40 degrees F.

As the beer is cooling from its fermentation temperature (which ranges from 58-68 degrees usually), the yeast and other protein particles fall to the bottom of the fermenter. The beer becomes clearer and I am able to rack (siphon) the clarified beer off the top of the yeast bed after a few days into the carbonating tanks.

My More Beer System runs off of natural gas. I will be making measurements to run a gas line to the garage around the side of our house. I decided to do my recipes at the house instead of the bakery as originally planned because I felt my equipment would be safer and it is much more convenient.

I should have some pictures up in the week with the complete design of this small brewery.
Cheers,
Brian

Ales and Hops (General Descriptions)

2006-10-03T23:32:00.000-07:00

Ales such as Stouts and India Pale Ales (IPAs) are fermented at warmer temperatures between 60°F to 68°F and sometimes as high as 75°F. Ale yeasts produce a form of foam on the surface of the fermenting beer. Because of this foam, ales are often referred to as Top-Fermenting yeast - though there are some British ale yeast strains that settle at the bottom.

Ales are ready to drink two to three weeks after the beginning of fermentation. Ales range in color from very pale to black opaque. England is best known for its variety of Ales. However, this style is becoming very common in the United States especially in California with the rapidly growing popularity of IPAs and Pale Ales that are very hoppy.

Hops are a flower used primarily as a flavouring and stability agent in beer, as well as in herbal medicine. Hops comes from the flowers of Humulus lupulus. The buds of these flowers contribute several characteristics that are very favourable and noticeable in beer for those who love hops or are hop heads.

Hops contribute a bitterness that balances the sweetness of the malt. They also can contribute aromas that are flowery, citrus, fruity or herbal. Finally, hops have an antibiotic effect that favors the activity of brewer's yeast over less desirable microorganisms and, thus, preserves the beer. Hop plants are grown by farmers all around the world in many different varieties, but are only grown in the Pacific Northwest in the United States.

Russian River Brewery's Pliny the Elder, Pliny the Younger, and Russian River IPA show the degree to which hops have become a main stay in the culture out here and the degrees to the amount of hoppiness that goes into their beers. Pliny the Elder (Double IPA) and Pliny the Younger (Triple IPA) have twice and three times the amount of hops as the the traditional IPA.
Cheers,
Brian

Brewing System Arrives Tomorrow

2006-10-02T16:09:00.000-07:00

The Brewing System from More Beer is arriving tomorrow. I am currently looking at possible spaces for the system to be stored and our recipes developed. I believe we will be renting a space out from a bakery in Miramar, California for the time being. My friend, Ryan, and I are checking out the space tomorrow to see if it suits the needs of the brewery.

I hope to develop the recipes and be able to produce a consistent product in the next 3-6 months at this location. Once this has been accomplished, I plan on renting my own commercial space and began selling to bars around the San Diego area. I am trying to keep my costs as low as possible and feel sharing a space for a very low rental fee a month is the only viable way to sustain the brewery in it's early stages.

I am still looking for a name. People seem to like Hack Brew where we would have the Hack Pack "8 pack" instead of the traditional 6 pack.

I am also going to purchase small fermentation vessels and Cornelius kegs for carbonating in the next week. Hopefully, we will be brewing in the next few weeks.

Keep the ideas flowing and thanks for all the support,
Brian

Conversion of Starch to Sugar

2006-09-28T15:40:00.000-07:00

The process of converting starch to sugar occurs in the mash tun. The mash tun is the first vessel in the brewing process where grain and adjuncts are mixed with water. Examples of adjuncts are wheat, corn, and rice. The mixture of grain with water is called the mash.

After mixing all the grain and water together to form the mash, the mash must be raised to a temperature range between 150-168 degrees F called the brewer's window. This is acheived by a burner run off gas below the mash tun or steam that runs through jackets around the mash tun. Alternatively, mixing 172-74 degree water with the colder grain usually results in the mash falling into the brewers window (this is more risky to do). It is less risky to start at an temperature in the 140's after all grain is mixed and then raise the temperatue gradually to your mashing temperature using a heating method mentioned above.

This is the most critical part of the brewing process because at this temperature range the starch in the grain and adjuncts is converted to sugar by two enzymes. WIthout sugar, there is no beer!! If the temperature exceeds 168, the enzymes will be denatured and no starch will be converted to sugar. If the temperature is too low, the enzymes will not be activated and no starch will be converted. Two enzymes alpha amylase and beta amylase are responsible for this conversion.

Once the mashing temperature is reached, the mash is kept at this temperature anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours depending on the mash temperature and the mash tun. This allows ample time for the enzymes to convert all the starch to sugar. To test for a complete converstion, a sample of the mash is taken and a drop of iodine is applied to the mash. If the iodine turns yellowish or clear, all starch is converted. If the iodine remains dark, all starch is not converted and a longer resting time period at the mash temperature will be needed to convert the rest of the starch.

Why is this important? The yeast is eventually responsible for converting the sugar to alcohol (ethanol). Yeast is uncapable of metabolizing starch or complicated sugars (carbon chains). With simple sugars like glucose, fructose, malto-triose, and triose produced during mashing, the yeast is able to metabolize thesee simple sugars, reproduce, grow, and produce the ethanol that is responsible for getting us drunk. I will talk further about the brewer's window and the difference between mashing at lower or higher temperatures in this window. Some Otter Creek Porter is calling my name, so I have to go.

Time to drink some good beer,
Brian

Possible Lectures on Beer

2006-09-27T23:34:00.000-07:00

I would like to do some written lectures on this blog covering varying topics on brewing and brewing related processes. I could even expand this to video lectures if it goes well and people find this information about brewing pertinent and informative.

If this is of interest, please let me know. I will do a small, written lecture on starch conversion to sugar in the next few days to give everyone an idea of what I have in mind.

I am hoping that I will also get suggestions from everyone about possible topics that I could lecture on and we could all discuss. Some topics are still open to debate like the "protein rest" and other topics are constantly evolving that others might now no better than I.

I believe that we can have some great discussions about beer in general and look forward to hearing from everyone!
-Brian

Picking the Appropriate Small Brewing System

2006-09-27T22:02:00.000-07:00

I spent some considerable time looking into affordable, new brewing systems (mash tun, lauter tun, and kettle). I really didn't want to mess around with old brewing systems that are usually very worn and prone to many more problems than new systems.

I found very nice brewing systems producing 4 to 7 barrels or 8 kegs to 16 kegs respectively at a time. These systems were horribly expensive usually in the range of $30,000 to $50,000. With insufficient funding, these were out of my range and my choices were very limited. I was suggested by other well respected brewers and home brew marts to check out Sabco Industries and Beer Beer and More Beer that provided brewing systems but on a much smaller scale for afordable prices.

The Brewing Magic systems from Sabco were nice and somewhat expensive, but could only produce about one keg each brew. I was looking to produce at least 3 kegs per brew in case my brewery does take off. This way I will be able to keep up with demand for a while, while I find a new system that is capable of fulfilling the bigger production demands. More Beer offered exactly what I was looking for.

While More Beer has many brewing systems, I picked the biggest one, the B3-4000, that is capable of brewing up to 3 kegs at a time. I have provided a picture above of this system. I did upgrade the brewing system with a lot of extra options. I got the stainless steel upgrade for the entire system to perserve the longevity of the brewing stand and connectivity parts. I also purchased the control panel with digital smart systems that maintain sparge and ramp ups in the mash tun. I will talk further about the upgrades, sparging, and ramp ups later.

The system is expected to be delivered sometime in the next week. I ordered the system in June, so it did take some time for More Beer to manufacture the system mainly due to welding delays and shipping delays of the kettle that is manufactured in Italy. The cost was $5,500 after all the extra options. If you are planning on getting a small brewing system like this one, count on it taking atleast 2 months before you receive it.

Some might question is this system too small production wise to start an actual brewery. Well, Dogfish Head Brewery in Delaware, started a brewery with a system that produced one keg at a time at first. This success and very inspirational story is recorded in "Brewing Up A Business" by the founder of Dogfish Head Brewery, Sam Calagione. I strongly recommend reading this if you are a beer enthusiast, an entrepreneur, or if you enjoy inspirational stories. I also suggest signing up for their free newsletter on their website that comes out monthly because they are always doing interesting things with their beers.

Although the system was expensive for my budget and took up most of my available funds, I feel the brewing system is the most important part of starting my brewery. I have to produce consistent and professional beer on a small scale and this system will allow me to do that.

Cheers,
Brian

Starting a small brewery with very little funding

2006-09-27T17:55:00.000-07:00

I started homebrewing because I absolutely love beer especially good ones. After homebrewing for several years and assisting with cellaring at a fruit winery, I decided to go to the American Brewers Guild based out of Vermont. The course focused on all aspects of brewing with an emphasis on biology, chemistry, and engineering for all the brewing processes from malting to packaging. I already had a strong background in the sciences having graduated with a BS in Chemistry from Vanderbilt in Nashville, TN and this definitely helped me understand the concepts much more thoroughly.

Having a formal education in brewing makes someone very attractive to employers in the brewing industry. This advantage allowed me to quickly find a job with Karl Strauss in San Diego, California. I chose to come to San Diego because lets face it, San Diego is awesome and the brewing community is very strong with nearly 30 microbrewies in the San Diego county area.

While the American Brewers Guild gave me a great education, Karl Strauss gave me the hands on training that I needed to become a successful commercial brewer. I learned nearly everything in the two years that I was with Karl Strauss and even formulated my own recipes for the Citywalk location in Los Angeles.

I left to go back to pick up my MBA at USD, which I am currently doing. However, I have always wanted to be a brewery owner and have some great ideas. Although I am only 24, I have a wealth of knowledge and believe I am ready to start a small brewery.

The main purpose of this blog is to invite everyone to follow on my journey to stardom in the heavily competed San Diego beer market. The catch like most people is that I have very little funds to get started, less than $10,000. Can it be done? We will see?

I will update this blog a few times a week or even more if a lot is going on. I will take you through all the experiences that I have and will explain exactly how I plan to make money with so little up front funding.

I would also love to answer questions regarding any brewing questions! I feel that a lot of sites out there don't give the proper advice when it comes to a lot of brewing questions. I feel like I have quite a bit of expertise and quite frankly I love making friends and enjoy talking to others about brewing.

Lets get started!
Cheers,
Brian