Is anybody still listening to me? We have been JAMMING(sometimes marmalading too) and just trying to keep up with production has been crazy. Our January and February numbers were on par with last summer’s record months and y’all keep buying more, so I guess we’re doing something right. Anyway, just to scratch the surface on all the goings-on:
National IPA Challenge! Some of you might remember that we made it to the Final Four a couple of years back, and then got unceremoniously bounced out of the 1st round last year by Big Sky IPA(which as a small consolation to me eventually made the Final Four). Last week we whooped up on the seminal Goose Island IPA to advance to the “Elite Eight” and we’re feeling pretty good about how our beer stacks up to the field, so look out. Here’s the bracket so you can follow along with how Flower Power is doing!
New Stainless! Yesterday’s first order of business was to unload a flatbed truck laden with not one, not 2, but 3 brand new tanks. A 100-barrel fermenter(that makes 5 total), 100-barrel brite beer tank(2 now), and a whirlpool vessel for our brewhouse(this will help us brew more times per day and cast out better wort to boot). These were all custom made in Portland, OR for us and we had a bunch of laughs about how far we’ve come in the last few years. The real challenge was getting them into the building and standing them up, but by about 630pm we had finished without any excitement to speak of. That’s a good thing when you are moving 15 foot tall tanks that weigh 3000 lbs.
assessing the situation
Rigging gear. Manly!
Moving on to the real news at hand: we’re losing a couple of really important people here, Mike Smith and Jarrod York. Mike’s been here for 3 years now and now that I’ve finally figured out how to get him to do most of my dirty work he goes and gets involved with a startup brewpub in his hometown of State College, PA. Just kidding, it’s a wonderful opportunity for him and his budding family and we expect that he’ll kick a lot of ass with a project of his own. Jarrod came to us through the American Brewer’s Guild apprenticeship at the end of 2008 and never left. He’s also starting up his own thing in his hometown of Mansfield, PA(affectionately known to us as “Hicktown). Pennsylvania, you’re not lacking for good beer as it is…. WHY MUST YOU TAKE THEM FROM US?!?!?!?
But the good news other than the fact that we get to go bowling for their bon voyage party is this(and I’ve been holding it in): WE HIRED HUTCH KUGEMAN to replace Mike! For those who know Hutchie you know what a coup this is, for those that don’t BeerAdvocate mag got it right, he’s “..one of the best brewers you’ve never heard of.” We’re really excited and also a bit relieved that he’ll be able to start during Mike’s last week here.
For those who have been clamoring for me to blog more, is this enough for you? Hope so, cuz it’s all I got!
The Chief
