Wahoo! Our Tanks Are Standing Upright!!

Kate, Alexa and Meredith at Skull Coast Brewery

Today was a huge day for Skull Coast! When Kate, Alexa, Meredith and I arrived at the Brewery the Applied Industrial Service team was working hard to install our kettle condensing unit (pictured below).

Skull Coast Kettle CondenserFor those that have following our blog, they'll remember how we can't vent the vapor from the kettle up through the ceiling, since there is a restaurant above us. 

Skull Coast Kettle Condenser being attachedThe Kettle condenser will take the vapor from the boil, convert it to water, and then send it either to the drains or back to the boiler (another option that we are working on). Sorry the photo is a little bit blurred, but this was kind of an action shot since the Kettle condenser was being swung into place and quickly attached.

Skull Coast Fermenters & Bright Tanks moved into placeIt should be noted that the images above and below still have the protective white wrapping still over the stainless steel. 

Skull Coast Fermenters & Bright Tanks moved into placeWith the Kettle condenser unit attached and the Mash Tun and Kettle/Whirlpool levelled, the Applied Industrial Services (AIS) team moved the four 30bbl fermenters and 30bbl bright tanks were all moved into their spaces.

Along Long and I checkout the Control Panel with Piping in background

While today was certainly a milestone, we still have much more to do.

The image to the right will show you all the piping that still needs to be connected (in the background). 

Besides all the wonderful equipment that has already been installed into the Brewery, one of our most prized possessions is our automated control panel (seen in the foreground).

This one single piece of equipment is a huge investment!

While the automated control panel costs more than a luxury car, it's well worth it! It was a very tough choice to add this to our equipment purchase, but it does two things for us:

(1) It gives our Brewster, Alexa Long, the ability to control the entire brewing process from one station, and

(2) It gives Skull Coast the ability to consistently produce the same brewing quality every single time.

Close-up of the Skull Coast Control PanelWith this single piece of equipment, we are on par with some of the larger boys. Not the Big Boys, of course. With the Big Boys, everything is computerized. But this piece of equipment gives us the ability to create the perfect brew, and then dial it in consistently every single time in the future.

Alexa, from the platform, can move the malts from the mill to the mash tun. Add the exact desired amount of water at the exact temperature. Keep the temperature at an exact level. Then, with one click transfer to the kettle. And so on, and so on, and so on! Everything exactly the same every single time!  

With the equipment now towering over us and completely in place, we decided that it was time go get some food and a few beers at Cresent Moon in Hickory -- which was fantastic!

 

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Typhoon Windswept Wheat IPA Brewed!

Yesterday, Skull Coast had the opportunity to brew its second batch for limited release until the brewery construction is complete. We want to once again thank Jason Howard and Howard Brewing for helping us brew for Bank of America Stadium and a very few select accounts.

In addition to Alexa Long, who once again helmed our efforts, we want to thank Meredith Pyron, Wendy Underwood and Chris Decamp for assisting in the brew. On a side note, I should mention Wendy and Meredith were not shrinking violets in the brewing process. They were both hauling 50 lbs. bags of malt up to the mash tun to be added, and seriously contributed in every single step of the process. Everyone was sweating it out. And, Chris Decamp has become an absolute machine! I mean that every sense of the word. He worked his ass off (sorry for the graphic language), but you had to see this guy in action to understand! He ran up and took the above picture in between tasks.

I couldn't be more proud of our crew, and the brews that our entire crew is contributing in making!  

Skull Coast in Reality TV Trailer

The Preservationist is a new reality TV show, exploring the historic preservation culture from the perspective of a young family from North Carolina, who’ve devoted their lives to preserving our nation's history through the preservation of its architecturally significant structures.

The TV show has been good enough to follow around the Skull Coast Brewing Company crew as we work to produce beer again, and build a brewery in a historic structure that will create jobs near Lenoir-Rhyne University.

The day the Skull Coast Brewing Company can open in Hickory, NC, will be a dream come true for our entire team. We can't wait! 

Tortuga Bay IPA - First Taste Notes

First of all, I want to once again thank Jason Howard from Howard Brewing for letting us brew in his new facility. If you get a chance to visit the Howard Brewing facility in Lenoir, I would highly recommend it.

He literally built it by himself. Today, he was doing his own plumbing for the keg washer. Everytime I visit, he is making another improvement or more construction -- by himself. It's kind of amazing! I am constantly in awe with him, and what he has been able to do by himself.

Okay, for the tasting notes on Tortuga Bay. I don't want to paraphrase Samuel L. Jackson, but I'm sure he would drop a few F-Bombs on how hoppy Tortuga Bay is. While the original thought was making a sessionable IPA, Tortuga Bay is shaping up to be a "Hop Tongue Tingler." It is also turning out to be a bit more than 6%. Due to the brewhouse efficiency (which was previously unknown), it might come in at closer to 6.3 to 6.5% ABV.

While Jason from Howard Brewing was a little concerned that he had missed his mark, I told him to, "Let it ride!" I have never known a craft beer customer that wanted a lower ABV.

Since Tortuga Bay will be unfiltered, it pours (right now) a hazy light green and faint orange. With close to 3 lbs. of hops per barrel, you can actually see the hops floating around in it. It has a huge nose! Monster. Seriously, big juicy hops. It's full-bodied, flavorful, but not sweet. It stays dry. The number of malts included keep it complex and tasty from start to finish. Crisp hops up front, and mellow drinkable malts in the middle, finishing dry and tongue tinglingly. We put the money into the hops, and you'll get your money's worth!

We have a few more days in the fermentation process, but we're hoping that it finishes as expected. Hang in there. We're close! 

"The Preservationist" Reality TV Series 1st Trailer

A little while ago, we mentioned that on occasion Skull Coast was being followed around by a reality television crew. The reality TV show is called, "The Preservationist," and Nathan Kirby is working with the developers to rehabilitate the Holler Hosiery Mill. Above, you will see their first trailer for the show, where a number of shots include our building (the above video still is the construction crew working on our space).

It has been an absolute pleasure working with Nathan and the TV crew. In fact, the TV crew came out to our first brew session at Howard Brewing to interview Alexa Long (during her first commercial brew), Mark Olson and Jason Howard. Chris Decamp and Kate Barattini also made appearances as brewing assistants. Overall, it was a great day!

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