Tommy’s post about “Where to drink in Huntsville” got me thinking about how crazy opening a brewery has been and how fast we have expanded over the last 7+ years. Thought I’d share some of those memories with the forum and show off to those of you who don’t realize how big we have grown (we still have a long way to go!)
First “Commercial” Brew rig
Fermenting in Cold Room (90 gallon batches)
First Upgrade (12 bbl brewhouse fashioned from dairly tanks)
Manual Work
First 10 bbl fermentors (we used a stainless coil to loop glycol through to control temps)
I remember the day I announced to the forum I was opening a brewery and I know some of you thought I was crazy… maybe I was. I have been very fortunate to fall in with the right people. Couldn’t have done this by myself. Fortunately I do make some very good beer, so that helps.
Great story! Soon, I hope to check out your digs. It seems like yesterday that I was soaking in your comments on the forum, how to ferment lagers. I still do it the same. Congratulations.
That is awesome Keith, but Photobucket isn’t serving me pics.
You were so generous letting me swing through and saying hi. And sending me along with more than a few bottles. Huntsville has a very special place in my heart living for a short time in Decatur. Huntsville is inspiring!
Thanks to the OP for the interesting story and pictures. One question though if I may… I was perusing your website and noticed the pictures of the beers on the splash page. I was wondering if the people in your neck of the woods prefer beer with very little head. You mention European tradition but with that said I would expect at least a couple centimeters of thick dense foam.
While I hadn’t seen the webbite in a while I just went and looked at it and that is a picture of a “flight” of 2 oz samples, so yeah not the best subject matter. I’m not even a fan of “flights” because you can’t truly experience the beer from a 2 oz sample, foam included (it’s challenging to pour a 2 oz sample with adequate foam). Had you actually “perused” the website, rather than just glancing at the splash page, you would have seen plenty of pics of beer with foam. Anyways, thanks, I will get them to change the splash page.
Regardless here’s a few “real time” pics of yellowhammer beers. We like foam “in our neck of the woods.”
Keith
Having had some of your beers and frequently benefited from your freely shared experience on this web site, I can say that your presence here is valued. I’m glad you are booming at the brewery. And I wouldn’t blame you if you got your fill of ignorance and found better things to do with your precious free time than post in this forum. But I hope you don’t
Jim
Thanks man! I’m still here almost every day. The brewery has definitely changed the way I think about brewing but I still come here to get ideas and see what people think about different types of malts/hops, etc, so I still find this an enjoyable place to frequent.
