Back To Brewing

It's time to brew more beer. We're signing up more and more people who want to drink our beer (free pending our federal and state permits :) so it's time to brew more High Board IPA. I always enjoy brewing the IPA because the raw power of so many hops is intoxicating. Also, I'm going to Yakima, WA next week with another local brewer (check out www.twobeersbrewery.com) to visit our hops supplier and hope to come back with some fresh samples of the 2008 harvest. Look for some pictures of the trip plus a story or two along the way. Cheers.

The Brewhouse

We've been spending an inordinate amount of time looking for a place to lease and for equipment. As any brewer will tell you, used brewing equipment is difficult to find and the prices are through the roof. Undeterred, we located a nice Bohemian Int'l Monobloc 10BBL brewhouse with a bunch of fermenters, pumps, a glycol chiller and various other gear at a nice price. So, we placed a bid on the equipment only to find out that the partner of the guy we had been dealing with took a down payment behind our back. So, now we wait to see if the brewery is sold over this coming Labor Day weekend. Our fingers are crossed.

On a side note, many thanks go out to the fine community at ProBrewer who quickly and thoroughly shared their experience and insight on the Bohemian systems. 

The Names

Things have been busy at the brewery but somewhere we found the time to settle on a couple names. They are: 

Duck Island Pale Ale: Our flagship beer is named after Duck Island in Green Lake, Seattle's most popular park. Duck Island was created in 1936 as a bird refuge of native willows and cottonwood. The island is used by ducks, hawks, eagles and great blue herons as a roosting habitat year-round. Duck Island Pale Ale offers a distinctive twist on the classic pale ale, using a select blend of organic Gambrinus pale roasted malt and Old World malts balanced with classic Northwest hops to achieve a heavenly beer of rich malt flavor and subtle hop spice. Duck Island is a refuge of flavor for beer lovers everywhere.

High Board India Pale Ale: Each summer in Seattle, winter-weary residents emerge from their dens to revel in the sunny days and long Northwest nights. A favorite activity is swimming at Green Lake and each summer, you will find old and young kids lining up to dive into the warm waters of Green Lake from the low board and the high board. The adventurous swimmers find themselves staring into Seattle's summer from the High Board. Our High Board India Pale Ale offers the adventurous beer lover a warm embrace of organic Gambrinus roasted pale malt splashed with a hand-selected blend of flavor malts and filled with the rich spice of Columbus, Centennial and Cascade hops. Fear not, for the High Board India Pale Ale is a session beer, eminently drinkable throughout the year as a reminder of the endless summer days ahead.

The Logo is Born

Well, our graphic designer, Dan Stuckey of Stuckey Designs, delivered the draft logo the other day and we fell in love. Even in the present draft stage, the design has all the elements we wanted; the fancy scrolling and banners, the great blue heron, and a real nice font to top it all off. The logo is hand drawn and shows the love that will go into each Green Lake beer. 

Thanks, Dan. Be sure to check out his site at www.dstuck.com .  

We welcome comments, suggestions, etc so fire away.