Aloha............

For the next two weeks, my wife and I will be on the islands of Molokai and Kauai. I will be visiting a few breweries and will post my reviews at some point. So, don't expect too much until early July.

G-Free

In response to a request from a local restaurant chain, we brewed a gluten-free beer early last month. Last Friday, I filtered, carbonated and kegged out the beer which we call G-Free. The beer, which was made with 660 lbs of sorghum syrup also contains four pounds of coriander and four pounds of Orange peel. We used a Belgian White yeast strain and hopped it with EKG's and Czech Saaz. The coriander and orange peel are very noticeable on the nose and palate of the beer. It definitely doesn't taste like a normal beer, there's no doubt about that. I really haven't had many gluten-free beers, so I don't have a large basis for comparison. Light-bodied with orange fruit notes is about the best one-sentence description I could write. G-Free is carbonated to a fairly high level, so it has a nice thick, creamy head that lingers for some time. Not exactly sure when or if G-Free will be available at the brewery. It may only be available at the restaurant. With the G-Free in kegs, this means that our 15 BBL fermenter, used solely for seasonals/specialities is wide open. We're still kicking around ideas on what to brew next. Due to hop shortages and prices it doesn't look like it will be an IPA.

One Year in The Game

Well, I turned 1-year-old at the Oak Creek Brewing Company yesterday. The past year has moved fast and it hardly seems possible that 365 days have past since I started. I can't even begin to list all the things I've learned. It's pretty amazing. A year ago, I walked through the door not knowing what to expect or how things would go for me. Yesterday I walked out the door feeling good. I've got a long ways to go, but I feel solid about what I've accomplished so far. For the first four months all I did was bottle, keg and clean tanks. Occasionally I would be given the task of prepping the filter. Slowly, OCBC Head Brewer Jim Strelau started to give me more responsibility as I earned trust. At the end of a day around my six-month mark, he told me, "You now know enough to be really dangerous. Be careful at all times." Right around this time, I began to start a rather intensive brew-training program. I shadowed Jim and OCBC Brewer Zach Beckwith, taking notes and direction and most importantly asking a lot of questions. One day while working with Jim, he had to unexpectedly leave the brewery, just as the boil started. He came up to me and told me that he was turning the brew over to me. "You're brewing now and I'll be back later," he said. I remember asking him if he thought I could handle it. He replied, "I guess we'll find out." His reaction to my question wasn't harsh, it was honest and I think he said what he did to keep me level. I watched him walk out the door that day and thought, "Holy Shit...I'm in charge of this brew." Not too long after that, I was given my first solo brew day and a true shot at becoming a member of the brew staff. It's been a challenge -- this job is not easy. It doesn't involve sitting around sipping brews mid-afternoon. It's hard, dirty work.....but it's also the best job I've ever had.

Head Ramblings

After a fairly hectic end to last week, this one seems to be moving along a little easier. I'm right in the middle of a stretch of three consecutive brew days, which is always nice. It's great to hear all the commotion of the bottling and be in a different room with a legitimate reason for not being on the line. The "Team B" Bottling crew is doing about 300 cases of Amber and Gold Lager. Rumor has it that we'll be bottling again this week on Thursday or Friday. My beer is behaving very bizarrely today. I almost came to a boil about 3/4 of the way through my lauter, which is taking forever today. In fact it took two hours and fifteen minutes -- far slower than normal. My grain bed somewhat resembled a concrete brick. In the end, it all went fine and is likely just starting to ferment right about now. Our monthly mention in the Southwest Brewing News, written by Ben Jones, talks about our new Gluten free beer(G-Free) and a couple of our "Green" practices that we employ at the brewery. Be sure to check it out. We're also going to be pouring beer this Sunday, June 8, at the Taste of Sedona at Los Abrigados Resort and Spa. It's a good cause and will feature plenty of great food, wine and our beer. If you do go, make sure to check out Page Springs Vineyards and Cellars. These guys make excellent Rhone wines and it's also where we get our barrels for beers like Rare Earth.