Tatton Brewery

Indian Summer.

2011-08-11T22:49:00.000+01:00

The all new Indian Summer is back next week - hoppier and more golden than last year - but still truly scrumptious! It's being racked off tomorrow so should be in the pubs next week after its matured a little. What with the children back to school, Indian Summer and lots of great Rugby to watch - September is starting to look like a good month for Rugby loving, 'father of two' beer loving brewers!

2011-06-18T12:39:00.000+01:00

Our van broke down this week - but beer has still been flowing thanks to friendly neighbours Terry Lifts who have kindly loaned us the use of one of their trucks. So if you see a blue Terry truck around with casks of beer in it - you'll know its Gregg, Andy or Chris doing deliveries! Hopefully normal service will be resumed next week.

Hoppy Birthday

2011-06-13T21:27:00.000+01:00

Cant quite believe its just a year ago that we were drinking our very first pint of Best in the Church Mobberley.Thanks for all your support throughout the year - its true to say we couldn't have done it without you!

To celebrate, we have brewed something special ; 'Hoppy Birthday' is a limited edition of one brew only. Its a 4.5% dry hopped straw colored bitter. Get it while you can. First casks go out tomorrow

White Queen : First pull

2011-02-26T12:27:00.000Z

From the beer engine in the brewery cellar - looks good, tastes... interesting. Tony next door says "Ooh, yeah - I could get pissed on that!" Unfortunately, my taste buds are currently recuperating from a bad cold, so relying on Lee, Andrew, Paul & Claire (and Tony) for opinions. Colin says "Hmm... well it tastes better than it looks." Off to market with this little piggy...

The sap is rising

2011-02-18T12:48:00.000Z

Brewing our version of a Belgian wheat beer today - rather experimental. This will be our spring seasonal, name to be announced imminently - in the meantime, our marketing blurb :

"Naturally cloudy, with a fruity, spicy aroma, this is our version of a Belgian wheat beer, offering low bitterness and low sweetness for a crisp, refreshing taste, and an intriguing whiter shade of pale in the glass."

What a wheeze this tasting note business is. Anyway, the usual spices plus one unusual one, reputedly with aphrodisiac qualities - mayhap to counter the old brewer's droop? Spring is here, the grass is ris'... Should be interesting as another brewer lamented his abject failure with this spice recently. Guesses on a postcard to..

Pump clip is a deviation from the regulars with the now-traditional graphical quirk - look for it on a pump handle near you in a few weeks - more to follow.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T17:35:00.000Z

The brewery Christmas tree guarding the fresh batch of Yeti brought down by moonlight from Cumbria last night.

I'm Dreaming of a Warm Christmas

2010-12-24T17:32:00.000Z

Blog hiatus due to being very busy making and selling the best beer in ... Knutsford. Tomorrow, The World!

Anyway, it has of course been a little chilly recently, giving us an opportunity to practice our engineering skills.

We have literally reverse-engineered our cooling system to turn it into a warming system : We add hot liquor to the cold liquor tank and switch off the chiller while continuing to pump the warm coolant around the rest of the system. This has worked quite nicely to warm up our "cold" room and a reluctant fermentation.

Where Can I Drink It?

2010-08-20T12:57:00.002+01:00

You can usually find one or more of our beers on at the Regular pubs listed below; we will also try to keep the list of other locations up-to-date.

Regulars :

Church Inn, Mobberley : Gold, Ale
Egerton Arms, Chelford : Best, Ale
Bulls Head, Mobberley : Gold
Rose & Crown, Knutsford : Gold

Others :
Bulls Head, Smallwood :Gold

White Lion, Disley : Best
Bridge Inn, Chester : Gold

Coming Soon (delivered) :
Rose & Crown, Knutsford : Ale
Mill Hotel, Chester : Best, Ale
Helter Skelter, Frodsham : Ale, Gold
Cross Keys, Knutsford : Best
Albion, Warrington : Ale,Gold
Church Inn, Mobberley : Best
Bridge End Inn, Ruabon : Ale, Best

Previously :
Blue Bell, Halkyn : Ale
Falcon Bearer, Knutsford : Ale
Bridge Inn, Chester : ("Best went down very well", "very popular")

Commercial Hotel, Wheelock : ("lots of nice compliments")
Bhurtpore Inn, Nantwich : Ale, Best (starts Tuesday 6th July)
Bus Route 76, Denbigh : Ale, Best (Saturday 10th July)
Dog Inn, Peover (Beer Festival) : Best, Ale
Crown, Lower Peover : Ale
Cheshire Game & Angling Fair, Peover ( Sunday 15th August) : Ale, Gold

Brew day again...

2010-06-27T16:33:00.000+01:00

Brewing the gold on Friday... just grain hops water and yeast.

We even made the news ..

2010-06-13T20:29:00.003+01:00

Knutsford Guardian.

Happy customers at the Church Inn - Friday Evening

2010-06-12T21:27:00.002+01:00

The Church Inn - they emptied the first cask in a couple hours - we restocked last night so they still have plenty of Best. Please vist - Stephen runs a great pub. The second picture of course is Gregg! Thanks to Terry for the Pics.

The first dray run...

2010-06-10T20:50:00.000+01:00

... Ok not quite the dray. In the back of the Volvo.

The fruits of our labour ...

2010-06-10T20:48:00.000+01:00

Fermentation

2010-06-03T12:10:00.000+01:00

We have it.

Smellivision.

2010-06-02T13:35:00.000+01:00

In go the hops! If you are in Knutsford now step outside and smell the aroma of the first commercial brew in Knutsford in over 100 years.

Mashing In.

2010-06-02T10:59:00.000+01:00

Wish you could smell this!

Loading up the grist case for the very first time!!

2010-06-02T09:34:00.000+01:00

Sorry about the picture quality.
It will get better throughout the day.!

Water Water Everywhere .. but not a drop to drink for another 6 days.

2010-05-28T16:28:00.000+01:00

Warning : Chronological Anomalies Ahead

2010-05-28T09:07:00.000+01:00

I have been trying to keep posts in order, but the lack of time to post recently means that some posts will be "retrospective" - to better serve you the customer, of course. Hope it does not get too confusing.

Water Brew today

2010-05-28T09:03:00.000+01:00

This is the process of running through the brewhouse procedure, but leaving out any raw materials (malt, hops, etc.) to ensure that we know where we are going and have what we need : liquor, heat. pumps, connections, controls, processes, quality control, checkpoints, fun - let' see how this goes...

Splash! @%~#!

2010-05-28T08:57:00.000+01:00

By the way, there may be a dearth of pics for the moment, as I just dropped my 'phone in the main sump.

It, Robot

2010-05-28T08:56:00.000+01:00

Automation Step 1 : We have installed the solenoid on the steam supply to the Hot Liquor Tank (HLT), the temperature probe in the retrofitted well, and connected them up through the control panel; the temperature in the HLT is now automatically controlled. Sounds minor here, but a significant step nonetheless.

3 Inches Right, 15 Feet Up

2010-05-21T00:14:00.000+01:00

The precisely-repositioned kettle stack fitted through the roof very nicely. Good view from up here.

Nothing exciting to add

2010-05-18T01:23:00.000+01:00

for now.

Apologies for the hiatus; a combination of hectic activity leaving little time for anything not absolutely critical to installation, and our hosting service disabling the blog and being unable to fix it. More stuff to come shortly.

Things That Do Not Help

2010-04-29T18:24:00.000+01:00

Sight glasses for the liquor tanks arrived today - broken. This is the second set; the first arrived at the tank manufacturers broken also :

Investigations to ensue - in the meantime we will have to settle for blanking plates on the ports and manage without volume indicators for the liquor tanks.

Somehow the bracket on the outlet port of our large sump pump broke :

Fortunately Clarke's have a replacement - all it costs is time and money.

Spot The Difference

2010-04-29T18:08:00.000+01:00

Before :

After :

Give up?

It transpired that the kettle stack was just impinging on the line of a purling, which would make it tricky to run it through the roof - so the second picture shows the entire brewhouse moved three inches further away from the camera. Half a day spent undoing connections, shoving a few tonnes of steel into millimetre-precise positions, then reconnecting. Yes, Mr Smart-Arse, you are right - we should have spotted this before the final positioning was set - Oops! # 537, I suppose.

This "After" picture provides a better perspective :

The rest of the stack will be on site at 7 a.m. tomorrow, and will be in position sometime in the next few days - assuming good weather for roof work. Of course, after three weeks of glorious dry spring weather, we have just returned to traditional Cheshire drizzle now that the stack is ready. Oh pook.

Little things... please me

2010-04-23T19:04:00.000+01:00

This insignificant pic means that we have full domestic plumbing - hot and cold running water and effluent pumped to drain. Complicated because there is no direct access to sewer, so we had to install a sump and pump and run the piping through the wall and along to an outside gully. Bigger things to come...

Oops! #2

2010-04-19T17:56:00.001+01:00

Yes, it does seem unlikely that this is only the second mistake that has been uncovered so far - perhaps it would be better numbered as i.

Anyway, this shows the back side (fnarr fnarr) of the diverter panel, with the pumps fitted. The route to one of the 2" ports is blocked, and we need to modify the supplied kettle wort-out pipe with a couple of 45 degree elbows - a tricky alteration as the point connects at three separate points. Ho hum.

Final plumbing design - probably

2010-04-16T09:39:00.000+01:00

This details the various connections and pumps between the brewhouse, liquor tanks, heat exchanger, & grist pump; all the internal brewhouse plumbing is already in place and not included here. If you spot anything missing, do let us know.

Old-fashioned tools in a new-fangled brewery?

2010-04-16T09:32:00.000+01:00

Just run the old washing machine successfully for the first time in 16 years - compliments to Hotpoint. We use this for washing cloths, overalls, yeast, etc.

A Banner and A Beast

2010-04-14T12:11:00.000+01:00

No longer hiding our light behind a bushel.

The beast is the pump for pre-mixing grain with hot liquor and pumping the wetted grist into the mash tun - it is a combination of Steel's masher and progressive cavity pump. I placed the cardboard box to give an indication of scale; useful, huh? 1.75m long, for those who like precise figures.

And now for something completely different

2010-04-13T07:49:00.000+01:00

Number 17 : The Grain Store

Very clean and shiny - for now. Not quite hermetically sealed, but definitely rodent-proof. Particularly pleased with the custom-built sliding door, thanks to a certain Texan gentleman.

There appears to be a box on legs in this picture; not a rodent, but certainly a pest of some sort.

Brewhouse plumbing part 1

2010-04-11T21:23:00.000+01:00

Most of the brewhouse internal plumbing has been connected up. Took most of Sunday, and I only stabbed myself a couple of times - our last two butterfly stitches saved a trip to the hospital. Detailed instructions & labelling by Specific Mechanical made the job fairly straightforward, though a few complications arose aligning the vessels because of the sloping floor.

Fabricators in on Monday to start work on external connections : grist case, hot liquor tank, heat exchanger, etc.

Brewhouse arrives

2010-04-09T14:13:00.000+01:00

Nerve-wracking but unloaded safely, thanks to the generosity and help of various neighbours. Now to connect it all up...

Liquor tanks delivered

2010-04-04T19:20:00.001+01:00

These 4000 litre tanks, hot (err... and cold) from the factory will hold brewing liquor (hot water) heated by steam, and cold water (for wort cooling) cooled by glycol. They are twin tanks, each jacketed and insulated for efficiency.

We managed to manoeuvre them into the brewery on the flat-bed truck, and unload with our fork-lift. Manoeuvering these tanks around and trundling them up the ramp onto the brewhouse floor was a little exciting, but completed without drama.

The brewhouse floor is starting to look a little crowded, but my carefully-planned drawing and repeated measurements assure that we will be able to fit everything - probably. Just hope we have none of those embarrassing metric-to-Imperial conversion hiccoughs.

Thanks to Tommy Stafford for his patience at both ends of the delivery, and his help unloading.

All metered up

2010-04-01T10:17:00.000+01:00

In terms of utilities at least. New water meter (our neighbours will be glad they are not sharing our water costs), and new gas meter for 400 kW supply. Next stop steam.

Gas dig started

2010-03-17T20:44:00.000Z

Ironically, too soon - had been told they would start on Friday. Not quite a pleasant surprise, as they had been asked to dig only on Friday to avoid disrupting traffic. Fortunately this has not been a problem - yet - and the landlord has been very accommodating. Watch this space...

What a mezz!

2010-03-16T09:36:00.000Z

Ha! I should write headlines for The Sun...

Anyway, last major construction work underway - the mezzanine floor is going up. The area with the smart red floor will be the grain room, and adjacent will be lab & kitchen. We needed to level the floor in the grain room to avoid 1-tonne pallets rolling downhill, and the mezzanine pillars had to be adjusted to compensate. Fortunately Alf was on site with his cutter and welding kit to save the day.

Ugly Duckling : a magical transformation

2010-03-08T13:58:00.000Z

Well, we cheated. We were recommended to talk to JBJ Insulations, and their quote to custom build a cold room was not much more than it would have cost us to clean up and insulate the Ugly Duckling. Not to hurt her feelings, but this is more handsome and much better insulated,. so she is now unwanted, available to a good home - well, any home, so if anyone wants a tatty, weatherproof lockable 20 ft. container, do get in touch.

Loaded for shipping

2010-03-04T00:21:00.002Z

The brewhouse has been loaded and is on its way; all fits rather neatly in a 40 ft. container. Now we have to start on the logistics of unloading it. I doubt our fork lift is up to it; anybody have a telescopic crane truck we can borrow for a day?

From paper to reality

2010-03-01T23:53:00.000Z

Just-about-final versions of the brewhouse drawings....

...and the real thing starts to take shape.

Excuse the brevity of recent postings, but I am starting to experience the reality of the old cliché "not enough hours in the day" - and as the other old cliché has it, a picture paints a thousand words, so complaints on a postcard to Anyone But Me.

First plant on the new floor

2010-02-21T22:05:00.000Z

Used the forklift to move a couple of the fermenters onto the brewhouse floor. A little tricky but completed without incident - apart from the nasty rubber tyre marks all over the lovely new tiles. Still, should only be a few days work to cut out the marked tiles and replace with new ones - fortunately we have some in reserve. Somebody suggested just cleaning them, but I hate half-hearted bodges.

Photographic note : The flash is reflecting off dust particles in the air in some of these photo's; a good illustration of why the beer vessels should not be opened after being sanitised.

Managed to have a little fun this weekend also - in what we hope is the last snowfall this winter.
The picture shows our snow sculpture designer and resident brewery graphics artist astride her lastest creation - the snow caterpillar. It was kicked down by some little yobs shortly thereafter; we managed to catch them and bury them under the caterpillar remains, but unfortunately the snow melted and it looks like they got away before expiring. Hanging's too good for 'em.

A Paper Molehill...

2010-02-19T09:14:00.000Z

...is the reason for the hiatus in blog posts. I have been ploughing through our accounts, diligently entering all our invoices into the accounting system. A lot of invoices, but fortunately, the expenditure is pretty close to budget - we have pinned down most of the costs and have avoided or covered most opportunities for nasty surprises, and are only about 3% over budget, well within our contingency. This is a pleasant surprise, and one I take no pride in, as we all know what comes before a fall.

This is all happening on our dining table, so no food for about a week or so. The little ones are taking this reasonably well, and for us biggies - well, I am thinking of writing "The Book-keepers Diet" - should be a nice little earner on the side.

This Is Not An Urinal

2010-02-13T06:51:00.004Z

Just a public service announcement, really. My multi-tasking motor broke down the other day while trying to track one too many urgent tasks, and I found I was about to relieve myself into our flip-top kitchen bin. Fortunately I caught myself* before the moment of crisis - and yes I was entirely sober. Perhaps I should have had a beer for breakfast.

* : Not in the zip.

Strata 2

2010-02-10T20:42:00.000Z

Finishing off the tiling : coving formed by hand between the tiles and bunding, then epoxy grout, and finally sand. Looks handsome, feels solid.

Prep work for the cask wash area - small sump under the grating needs a sump pump and rising main to carry effluent around the building to the main drain. The floor already falls to the wall, so just the back section needed to be built up to fall back to the sump; away from the wall, the "uphill" section thins to zero. Our neighbour will be happy, as this means flooding will no longer drain through the wall into his property. There is a little trouble in the foreground, but that is easily dealt with...

what a grey dray

2010-02-09T15:18:00.001Z

This will be our delivery vehicle for the short term. More affordable than a van, but a bugger to reverse - straight-ahead deliveries only. We shall try to tart up the livery a bit.

Strata

2010-02-04T00:34:00.002Z

First the bund wall formed from kerb stones : wet the floor with glue, thin layer of cement, screed (cement & sand) bed, another thin layer of cement, lay kerb stones & mortar - all done with care and precision. Our floor slopes a little, and as the bund is true to horizontal, the difference in screed depth between the downhill and uphill ends is very noticeable.

The next day the screed for the tiles goes in, on top of a layer of polythene - a "floating" flloor that will tolerate some movement in the underlying slab. The screed is laid to fall from the kerb stones to the central surface drain - skillful work. Expanded polystyrene between the fixed components (drainage channel, bund, etc.) and the screed allows for differential thermal expansion.

Half the tiles has been laid, again on a thin layer of concrete above the screed, and again with care and attention to detail. Next the tiles are vibrated down, swept with sand to fill the gaps, and finished with epoxy grout. Should be finished tomorr... err... today.

Disappointingly few problems.

2010-02-01T23:54:00.001Z

Kemtile are coming in tomorrow to tile the brewhouse floor - these are just a few of their supplies. Should be an interesting job. Somewhat nerve-wracking, in that if I have the dimensions for the brewhouse and fermentation area wrong now, it is too late! Maybe we can just find smaller tanks...

As the main water pipe was in the way (only about 40 cm. off the floor), we had to move it, by the simple expedient of four-and-a-half people and a fork lift raising a 23 meter copper pipe 2 meters up the wall. Only one break, and that easily repaired. I was expecting much trauma, but had to make do with anti-climax.

The pipe now runs along the wall at about 2.5 metres (these two pictures taken from the balcony above the office); we used spare MDPE (blue plastic) pipe for the vertical section. Much of the floor in this photograph should be tiled by the end of the week. Rated : Quite Exciting.

Boiler on site

2010-01-26T23:10:00.001Z

Delivered today, to be plumbed in later. Blowdown tank to left, feed tank on roof of (nearly finished) toilet - placed there to free up room around boiler and ensure easy access for regular blowdown and maintenance tasks.

Plenty of height in building (eaves c. 6m) means we can get the crane truck inside - a lot easier than manually shifting a 2.5 tonne boiler.

Oh, and the observant will have noticed that we have the floodlights back on now; it will be nice to not have to navigate by touch any more.

Scabble, scabble, toil and trouble

2010-01-22T19:56:00.034Z

Scabbled the floor where the boiler will go, then painted. Unfortunately it appears that I really should have put down a thinned first coat. As the surface after scabbling was very coarse, the two-part water-based epoxy went on very thick; came in this morning to get the plumber started on the toilet and the paint was still wet - toilet completion deferred to Monday.

Floor prep. machines : 3-motor vacuum, scabbler, and grinder; second-hand toilet optional.

Before...

...after scabbling...

...and after painting.

A Bare Convenience

2010-01-12T22:29:00.003Z

The brickwork for the toilet is done (dimensions for disabled use); when rhe mortar dries we can plumb, decorate and roof, and install the steam boiler in the corner behind it. Exciting, isn't it?

(Changed photo to better-lit version for viewing this blog without night-vision goggles.)

Water off, lights on.

2010-01-11T22:33:00.000Z

Our water got too fat - probably due to insufficient exercise - and burst our pipes. Fortunately, I had anticipated and turned off at the mains, but we still had a bit of a puddle. Minimal problems compared to the others suffered in this weather, of course. I did have to explain to our downstream neighbour where his flooding was coming from, but he was very understanding and weighed in with buckets and some pithy advice. Although the main supply is sound, we need a temporary repair for the auxiliary pipes that are not on the other side of a valve, so off to the plumbing supplies store next door : "Guess what I am going to ask for?" - "Err... go on then?" - "OK, well, I need some pipe repair tape." - "The sort that you wrap around the outside?" - "Yup, that's it." - "Oh, well that's all sold out." Told you so...

Good news - electricity supply re-connected - just needed main fuses replacing. I have been pursuing this for weeks, and eventually, after roaring in frustration at the imbecilic automated response menus on Scottish Power's telephone system, got through to someone on the complaints line who could actually help; she said today or tomorrow, and I was pleasantly astounded when a very nice chap called at 2000 hrs to say he would be round in 1/2 hour. Ten minutes furtling with fuses, and we have power again - see, wasn't that easy?

Toilet building tomorrow...

A drawing of the brewhouse - work in progress.

2010-01-09T11:32:00.000Z

This is being designed and built by Specific Mechanical Systems in Canada; it is a pleasure dealing with them : responsive, enthusiastic, helpful. We were first introduced to Specific kit at Rhymney Brewery in Wales, who also have a Specific Mechanical brewhouse; thanks to the Rhymney family for showing us around.

We are still working on details, as the brewhouse is extensively customised to our requirements. This is where we start applying the principles of efficiency, consistency and hygiene - hopefully we will get most of it right here as this is the biggest piece of kit and the core of the brewery.

Wood and beer : partners in craftmanship

2010-01-04T22:05:00.000Z

Andy has done a lovely job making up a bar tap for us, renovating and re-styling an old Angram beer engine; the brewery logo is reproduced on the base in clay. We need to match this level of skill, dedication and craftmanship in producing beers good enough to pour from it.

Unacceptable service on quote for connection upgrade

2009-12-15T13:09:00.001Z

Copy of e-mail to British Gas Connections :

Customer Ref. # xyz and uvw

In preparation for taking possession of a commercial property to install and run a small brewery, I asked British Gas (BG) to quote on upgrading the existing supply, as we needed greater capacity than currently available. I received a quote on 25/06/2009 for £-,---.91; I determined that the dig could be done more cheaply, and asked for another quote solely for connection and meter upgrade - i.e. without the groundwork.

This second quote was requested in September. I repeatedly called the BG project manager but there was no answer and the message box was full; when I spoke to a colleague, I was assured that the quote would be delivered.

On 2nd December I spoke to a person presented as a manager of the connections team, and he personally assured me that the quote would be delivered by the end of the week.

The quote was delivered 15th December. Unfortunately it is on exactly the same basis as the original quote (i.e. my request for a quote excluding groundworks was ignored), but at the higher price of £-,---.66.

Effectively BG has taken 6 months to tell me that connections costs have risen by 5%; this is farcical, as well as worrying for Mr. Darling - his budget does not seem to have accounted for inflation at 10%. For reasons beyond our control, we have been delayed in business start-up; otherwise, this appalling service from BG would have effectively put us out of business, as gas is a critical utility for the brewery.

With this degree of difficulty in merely obtaining a quote, I dread the prospect of actually having connections work done, let alone the continuing service and billing. There is now little prospect of us taking up British Gas as a supplier, much to the relief of my commercial neighbours - I note this "Special Feature" of the proposed work :

"The top surface material on private property is not reinstated to a permanent standard but is reinstated with a temporary material."

Coincidentally, I had a gentleman around trying to sell me domestic gas and electricity service from British Gas; I think he is now a little peeved with your business service for queering the pitch for his residential customer prospects.

cc: http://blog.tattonbrewery.co.uk

The Ugly Duckling : Ornithological footnote

2009-12-13T11:47:00.000Z

To illustrate the transformation we are expecting, two specimens from a clear crisp sunny morning in Tatton Park. We doubt the container will float this well, but the general principle stands.

The Ugly Duckling : Moving Pictures

2009-12-12T22:46:00.001Z

Shed, no tears - though Henry did feel the pressure.

Oops! #1

2009-12-09T23:28:00.000Z

Drainage channels on site. Upon inspection, however, the gratings that sit on top of the channel will not do; spent grain & yeast sludge will clog. The ones we want are not available in the U.K., so we start negotiating with our cousins over the pond...

The Ugly Duckling : Chapter 1

2009-12-09T22:16:00.000Z

This tatty chappy will be given a new coat and insulated lining to become our cold store for casks ready for the dray. Good deal and excellent service from Pennine Services.

Are the Visigoths next?

2009-12-07T20:19:00.000Z

Early start on site this morning to survey for boiler installation. Unfortunately we discovered a vandalised digger outside the neighbouring unit, which had itself been dented and spastically damaged. A few other properties on the estate had suffered similar mindless muggings, but no major losses.
Our contractors helped our neighbour break into his own office through the damaged door. When I asked the policeman who attended if, with the property vulnerable, the police could provide extra security overnight. Well, no. Remind me : what do we pay business rates for? Perhaps the Police Pledge will improve things.

Groundbreaking!

2009-12-02T23:02:00.000Z

Groundworks started, cutting the drainage trench and digging the inspection chamber.

We also dug up a rather neat Toyota electric forklift; now all we need is some electricity. If anyone can recommend a cheap, environmentally-friendly and efficient electricity supplier, we - and the rest of the nation - would love to hear from you.

Baby Steps - Refurbishment done...

2009-11-06T23:00:00.000Z

Following clean-up and a splash of paint, the premises are looking ready to be made into a brewery :

X for Exceedingly Exciting

2009-09-24T21:02:00.000+01:00

During a summer holiday in Sweden, the little horrors scavenged the woods for exotic fruit, and the cupboards for rare and mysterious ingredients; these they combined in an arcane ritual to produce the mythical X Cake. What does this have to do with beer? Well, yesterday we toddled off to those very nice people at Roosters to run a test brew, incorporating our own mysterious ingredients. Inevitably this experimental brew is now known as X Beer; with a little luck and some magic, it will be even more scrumptious than the legendary X Cake.

Hops go in to the boil...

...producing a lovely bright wort, thanks to Sam's diligence.

Pitching the yeast.

First report of fermentation after 24 hours :

1040 down to 1026 at 2.30pm Tastes fine, malty toffee. Lightish body. Nice malt finish. So far - so good.

X Beer will be casked and bottled for tasting in October; progress will be reported here.

First tangible progress

2009-09-05T14:25:00.000+01:00

We moved some tanks in last month - from Korea. Thanks to Sam and Mike for muscle, Terry's for the forklift, Colin for supervision and various urchins for not getting in the way too much. These tanks are made by Specific Mechanical; three stainless steel 20 hl fermentation vessels, and a 10 hl conditioning tank in shiny lacquered copper. We should have had a second pretty copper 20 hl conditioning tank, but that was damaged during decommissioning, and leaves us short of capacity. The silver lining is that the four tanks fitted in a single 40 ft. container; the air in the container was redolent of teak (flooring), and invoked nostalgia for Womble.

One of the little urchins recorded this video snippet :

The premises are pretty tatty at the moment; refurbishment is under way...