First Tap

Was able to try a few of our new beers out on friends last night and it was a resounding success.  We used a standardized beer tasting questionnaire from Beerology in the hopes of gathering helpful feedback for the next batches.  There was some great comments and all positive reviews.  Next time we’ll do a blind comparison with a “gold standard” of that particular style as the comparator. 

Our two latest beers are an American pale ale and a Cascade IPA.  The latter is part of an IPA series we’re doing featuring a single aromatic hop.  Our thoughts are to appreciate the taste of these aromatic hops solo before putting them together for a more complex flavor profile.  

In the meantime, we are working away on our business plan and have begun to talk to banks about financing.  Last week we were able to obtain the particulars for the Pegas Craft Tap and Novotap growler filling system (http://pegasdistusa.com/pegas-novotap/).  We first became acquainted with this system when we were in Russia a few years ago.  It’s a great system that allows a growler (both glass and plastic) to be filled under an atmosphere of carbon dioxide in about a minute with minimal waste (the Pegas distributor website states growler loss is as high as 30-40%).  The benefits for the consumer is that the beer tastes better longer and with the use of polyethylene two liter bottles it can be transported to the beach, fish camp, or camping without worrying about dealing with a large glass growler.  For the craft brewer  the benefit is that the quality of the beer will be preserved and there is a minimal amount of product loss due to foam over, etc.  

There are still some issues obtaining the brown polyethylene bottles (necessary to prevent UV damage to the beer) in the US but we have some ideas for a work around to this issue that will also tie in with our marketing plan.   

[caption id="attachment_83" align="aligncenter" width="130"] Pegas Craftap[/caption]

In the meantime we continue to brew.  Today we brewed another of our IPA series.  This one features Ahtanum.  Ahtanum has a decidedly floral presence with some spice and a bit of pine thrown in for good measure.  It isn’t nearly as popular as Amarillo, Centennial or Cascade for dry hopping and its aromatic properties but from what we could tell from today’s batch, it’s a tasty little hop. 

More to come.