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A re-introduction

TAHammerton

Grandmaster Brewer
Joined
Apr 4, 2014
Messages
178
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Location
Wellsboro, PA
Hi, it's Tom here - previously from Hawaii. I have been going through some big life changes and have been off the forum for a while and even (gasp) stopped brewing for a few months!

I have moved from Maui to Wellsboro, Northern Pennsylvania and as crazy as that sounds it is good for my brewing! We bought our first house which has a full basement. I will eventually be putting in an all electric system down there but there are lots of house projects that have to get done first. It is a 2 acre property and I will be putting in some test hops in the spring with a long term goal to open a small hop farm which eventually will be around 20 acres and include a 3 barrel farm brewery. But that is still several years off.

In the mean time I have had the good fortune to meet Chris and Rob of the Wellsboro House Brewery. They are expanding the brewery to a 10 barrel system which should be up and running in January and have asked me to be their assistant brewer. As well as the normal tasks of cleaning and sanitizing they have asked me to be responsible for the yeast harvesting. I am very excited about the project and am very grateful for them to give me this opportunity.

So I am going to be very busy learning everything I can about hops, yeast and commercial brewing and you can expect me to be more active on the forum both seeking and sharing information.

I remember that someone commented on my IPA recipie and said I needed a hop farm as it contained 9oz of hops. Well my best IPA recipe actually contains 13oz of hops, so I guess I REALLY need that hop farm now! Well that process will start in the spring!
 
Congratulations! ... for the move, the house, the hops farm, the assistant brewer gig, et al. Exciting times!

I, too, have been months away from my cooler, kettle and buckets -- and just this week getting back at it -- but I have only a new fridge and fermentor to show for it.    :-\
 
Congratulations on going pro, Tom! Welcome to the CIP Fraternity!

You left Maui just in time, it seems. The Brewmaster for Maui Brewing just left to work at a 30bbl startup in Los Angeles.
 
Thanks for the welcome back!

Interesting you said Darren had left MBC, I will have to investigate. It seems they are having trouble retaining brewers at their new "beer factory" as one of the departing brewers described it. It can't be a very nice work environment as they built it in the hottest part of the island and only have 2 fans in the brewery. This summer must have been brutal as it was a record hot summer without the usual amount of tradewinds (all the hurricanes tend to actually cause a lack of wind). The original Big Wave IPA that Tom Kerns designed was a great beer, but the recipe and process has changed over the years and it is not quite the same - missing some nuances. Still it is remarkable what Garrett has achieved.

I've already got 2 kegs going, an ESB and a Wheat beer. I am not totally happy with the ESB as it has a bit too much raisin and plum than desired (too much dark crystal) and I used Cal Ale yeast as that is what I had which slightly over attenuated it and is missing a bit of the fruity character from a proper English yeast. The Wheat was brewed for my Father-in-law's 70 birthday party and was very well received. The previous version of that beer actually helped get me the job at the Wellsboro House brewery thanks to my wife bragging about it winning a gold medal at the Hilo Brewfest competition to the Owner when we were having lunch there. Nothing like being in the right place at the right time!

Yes there is going to be a lot of learning at the new brewery, not just CIP, but steam boilers and glycol tanks grain augers and all of the other fun stuff. Any reading suggestions?

Nice blog Scott, interesting stuff, keep it up!
 
TAHammerton said:
Nice blog Scott, interesting stuff, keep it up!

Thank you!  I find that doing the blog adds to my enjoyment of homebrewing.  It allows me to share my enthusiasm and document what I'm doing.  I tend to be a risk taker with my brewing.  I've actually never brewed the same beer twice yet in 25 years of brewing.
 
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