Olde Towne Brewing Company

On a quest to find a new place of habitation in Huntsville I decided to seek out the Olde Towne Brewing Co. (featured in Southern Brew News ...pick up a free copy at your local watering hole). Well it took a little map reading and help from my phat daddy via cell phone while he was at work (place of work not disclosed) in order to find them but it was well worth the trip. They are officially the only microbrewery in AL (defined as 15,000 barrels or less in production a year, just like a certain Sam started). Upon entering Melonhead and I were greeted by a certain older cat that when I questioned about beer availability gave us 2 Pale Ales straight off the line just before capping. Now this is how beer should be enjoyed when possible. Even Melonhead was licking her lips when greeted with a freshie. He then turned us over to a fellow War-Eagle-er who told us a little about the newly established brewery (ca 2004) and about the latest Beers Across America order of about 3000 cases of their pale ale and amber they had put out. They have a nice clean facility and he said it took 8 hours of non-stop bottling to empty their bright-fermenter (one ready to bottle and cap) in order to empty it. They have a line that runs about 50-55 or so bottles a minute with 4 guys running it (which was just the picture when we entered). By the way when I opened the door I thought there would be an open desk/secretary area but instead I walked right into the fermenting area which was a very nice touch especially when welcomed with a smile as some guy was video-taping the line. The younger cat (sorry didn’t catch any names) told me where to pick up all of their beers at a local BP but told me not to bother buying the Extra Pale Ale which I found puzzling. He said it didn’t sell well because it was more of their version of Coors, Miller, etc and the people buying their stuff wanted BEEEERRRRR. I’m sure the big boys started out this way before becoming commercialized. He said to pick up a sixer and try it but that the Pale Ale (made with 100% Cascade) and Amber were well worth it and also said they would be replacing the Extra Pale Ale with a Robust Porter due to slumping Extra Pale Ale business. As a partying gift he GAVE me ½ case of Pale and said to enjoy since it was all in the family “War Eagle”. Go by, visit, contribute and buy from this small brewing co. 214 Harmon Rd NE downtown H’ville, don’t bother calling, I tried and everyone is on the bottling line of loudness anyway, just pay 50 cent;) in parking and walk in.

Other Business

We are mad at work trying to come up with solid T-shirt ideas for our up and coming brew company. (Name not to be disclosed at this time to whack-os out there that would rather ride other people's coat-tails than sew their own.) However I have come up with some great ideas and with Junk's help hope to incorporate a little advertising into the whole mix. We also hope to have a good IPA going soon and some deuce doses on their way to AU. I also gagged down a 3-2 of Icehouse, which after the first 22 ounces seemed good, in order to have a good bottle for yeast starters on the high gravity stuff we may have coming out this winter. News from Terrapin to come..

Now Brew Batch #13

IRA hit the bottles tonight in our 2 hour bottling marathon. FG 1.002+0.00 @65F for 4.33%ABV. We bottled up 47 brown long necks, 2 clear and a mutt all with red crowns. The only problem is that I have labeled them in gold which didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, silver which is okay then back to basic black which seems to be the best so far. It seems to be one of those don't fix it if it ain't broke kind of things. Junk and I talked about how to divvy up the mutts for Red and such. Overall it was a great night of bottling with a clean kitchen at the end and a couple of Steam Styles to wash out our gullets. Which by the way will find itself in a head-to-head with Anchor Steam soon! (Stay Tuned)

Brew Batch #14 First!

Tonight Junk and I bottled 47 short-neck green with green crowns of EPA (and of course 2 clear). And they were a pain in the ass! I used the "old" Old Dutch Windmill bottles from brew batch #1 and I guess I had more patience with them then or something because the remainder of the sanitized ones are out on the curb waiting for recycling. I couldn't get a good crown seal on about 6 of them the first try. So the rest of you little bastards let it be known, as soon as you are in someone's belly will be chunked!! FG 1.012+0.00 @ 65F, which scared me at first because I am worried about glass hand grenades going off downstairs in about 2 days when the pressure builds up. This batch turned out amazingly clear with a great color. 4.85%ABV. We tried it out and it will be one awesome "Hey, how you doin'" session beer.

Brew Batch #13 & #14 Update

Junk and I managed to rack over both batches after having a nice long fermentation run. The color on these batches is quite impressive and will undoubtedly make up for any loss in ABV. Will order some new crowns tomorrow and hope to put another 100 or so in hibernation. May try a couple of the Steam Style while we are bottling these just to see where it is.

Brew Batch #14

English Pale Ale.
>1611hrs Live blog straight from the kitchen, the grain bag is steeping right now!
>1723hrs 1st Target hop addition for the 60 min boil.
>1836hrs It's in the final 20 minute ice bath. This will be the perfect 3 hour batch.
>1934hrs After smoking a little stoagie and talking future strategy we decided to pitch and sit the new batch outside with us to talk to as we enjoy some liquid bread welcome it to our new world!
I sit here as Junk cleans the equipment, he's becoming a master brewer quickly! After pouring out a lot of the wort in the gravity tube and making my butt pucker Junk managed an OG 1.044+0.002 @75F
The DWA (Designated Work Area) looks as though we never even brewed. On to the next batch. Nice, first-timer.

Brew Batch #11 Finally!!

Goes to bottle. We managed 48 long-neck browns with black crowns, 2 clear and 2 Grolsch pints. Damn I can really tell that I paid attention to the brewing details on this one! It will be February before we cut this one loose on the general population, but after a "flat" taste test, it's a keeper! Sometime soon we will reveal the label for this one, which will be my first labeled beer. I can't thank Junk enough for the bottling help and cleanup. I guess with an empty fermenter that means we are brewing again tomorrow! Holy catshit, go figure! Clue: this was originally to be the batch for the #1 hint (see previous post). Right now things are on track for A LOT of brewing, except that we are currently taking applications for a new Brew Mistress, basically a chick that likes hanging out with guys as they brew with no strings attached. She basically tries the girly stuff and gives us views from the split point of view;) FG 1.018+0.001 @ 71F to give 7.7%ABV. Now this wildcat is going to hibernate for a while, but you can expect that we break this kitty out for a stroke after Christmas.