Surprise! I'm back. This summer was a bit crazy and the Blog got left in the dust, but here I am to pick up the dregs.
Well, what has happened since the end of May? Lots, and even more.
We now have an assistant brewer, Jerid Saffell, he has taken charge on several Peeks and has made great progress in the cellar and will take some brewhouse responsibilities.
I have moved from the Schlafly Taproom to the Bottleworks and been brewing on the complete opposite kind of system that we have at MBC. Our MBC brewhouse is a 1.5 bbl, two vessel system of the most manual nature imaginable (other than having to chop wood to fire the kettle). While at the Bottleworks it a 6 vessel, 22-30 bbl variable capacity, computer controlled operation.
A big distraction (or is that inspiration?) is the now immenent wedding. I'll be tying the knot next month and Jerid's wife is due to deliver shortly thereafter. So we are trying to pack the place to the rafters with beer...just in case.
We have released several new beers: Gemutlich Keller Oktoberfest, Pooka Pumpkin Ale and Hop Seeker Fresh Hop American Strong Ale, and I'm very proud of how they all turned out.
We attended the St. Louis Brewers' Heritage Festival, St. Louis Microfest, Augusta Bottoms Beer Festival, Parkville Brewers' Festival and the first Schlafly Fresh Hop Festival.
MBC has won two awards, in the Sauce Magazine Readers' Choice Poll we snagged an Honorable Mention and we took the title of 'Best Beer' in the Riverfront Times Best of St. Louis edition for our Black Sky Stout Porter.
Halloween is coming soon and while we've released plenty of treats already, there are more to come, like Autumnal Blaze Strong Amber Wit on 10/28, Jerid's Hop Goddess IIPA on 11/4, Jerid's Evil Pumpkin Imperial Porter on 11/11 and Funky Friday's first appearance on 11/13.
Well, time to go check on the mash of this American Barleywine. Its gonna me a monster!
