45 replies to this topic

[EWW]

The frosted glasses are to keep the taste panalists from evaluating the beer on sight.MolBasser

I figured that, but couldn't figure out why The way a beer looks wouldn't be important on a commercial scale. The whole you taste with your eyes first thing. Unless you are just controlling for that variable for some unknown reason.

[Deerslyr]

Do you guys really keep your hops out in the open like this or is this temporary storage?

Although I saw bales of hops still wrapped up in what looked to be a cotton cloth, there were several bins open. The room, however is refridgerated and cold. My glasses fogged up immediately on exiting the room. the smell however was incredible. IIRC, Basser said each bale was 200 pounds. I forgot to ask how much goes into each boil kettle, but its whole leaf hops so I would expect that they actually go through it pretty quickly.

[Deerslyr]

How many cameras were there? :blush:Seriously, looks like a great time.

I nearly missed this comment!

[CaptRon]

Do you guys really keep your hops out in the open like this or is this temporary storage?

I'm sure they go through enough hops each day where storage really isn't a problem. Especially being that the stack of kegs that he said that one of the fermenter's fills up and they brew three times that much each day. They must go through a shit load of hops there. I would be curious how many pounds of hops they put in to a single batch of SNPA as well as how many gallons one of those batches is.I envy basser, he works at a VERY cool place.

[Deerslyr]

I'm sure they go through enough hops each day where storage really isn't a problem. Especially being that the stack of kegs that he said that one of the fermenter's fills up and they brew three times that much each day. They must go through a shit load of hops there. I would be curious how many pounds of hops they put in to a single batch of SNPA as well as how many gallons one of those batches is.I envy basser, he works at a VERY cool place.

Basser put the capacity of one of the large fermenters in perspective... if you drank a 12 Pack every day for 64 years, you would (assuming your liver didn't give out) finish the beer produced by just one of the primary fermentation tanks. And... IIRC, the beer ferments in primary for 4 to 6 days, at which point it can be turned over again.

[CaptRon]

Basser put the capacity of one of the large fermenters in perspective... if you drank a 12 Pack every day for 64 years, you would (assuming your liver didn't give out) finish the beer produced by just one of the primary fermentation tanks. And... IIRC, the beer ferments in primary for 4 to 6 days, at which point it can be turned over again.

That's a lot of Carboy's.

[Deerslyr]

That's a lot of Carboy's.

Yeah... one 5 gallon carboy would be 4 days worth of beer!

[MolBasser]

What is this thing?

This is the inside of the east brewhouse lauter. The rake is what keeps the flow of wort even and also is used to remove spent grains. The tube above it is the sparge arm. It rotates in a circle to sprinkle sparge water on the lauter bed.

Do you guys really keep your hops out in the open like this or is this temporary storage?

They are just there for a day or so at most as we brew with them.MolBasser

[MolBasser]

I figured that, but couldn't figure out why The way a beer looks wouldn't be important on a commercial scale. The whole you taste with your eyes first thing. Unless you are just controlling for that variable for some unknown reason.

It is important, but there are certain times when you do not want panalists to judge on sight.MolBasser

[MolBasser]

I'm sure they go through enough hops each day where storage really isn't a problem. Especially being that the stack of kegs that he said that one of the fermenter's fills up and they brew three times that much each day. They must go through a shit load of hops there. I would be curious how many pounds of hops they put in to a single batch of SNPA as well as how many gallons one of those batches is.I envy basser, he works at a VERY cool place.

Each batch on the west side (main production) brewhouse is 200 barrels or so (usually 214-218 actually) which 6600 gallons or so.We brew about 16 brews a day, so that is 3200 barrels or so which is ~ 100,000 gallons of beer.Each brew gets roughly 150 pounds of hops.MolBasser

[lowendfrequency]

Awesome pictures and pretty awesome of Basser to offer the private tour. I was once given a private tour of DFH... it was one of the highpoints of my life honestly.I'm going to be passing through Chico this October. Maybe I'll have to give you a call

[Deerslyr]

Awesome pictures and pretty awesome of Basser to offer the private tour. I was once given a private tour of DFH... it was one of the highpoints of my life honestly.I'm going to be passing through Chico this October. Maybe I'll have to give you a call

FTFYFunny thing is, I thought I could have done better with the pictures and gotten much much more.

Edited by Deerslyr, 08 June 2010 - 10:29 AM.

[HERMSman]

Where's the photo of the Torpedo?My new favorite beer. I have gone through at least six cases since the release.

[Deerslyr]

Where's the photo of the Torpedo?My new favorite beer. I have gone through at least six cases since the release.

There were some things I couldn't take pictures of, and there were some questions Basser wouldn't answer beyond a very lawyerly vague "yes we use hops"...Just kidding (sort of)... in all honesty, I forgot to take the camera out when he showed us the torpedo, so I don't know if he would have nixed a photo.

[CaptRon]

Just to second or third this, it is really awesome that Basser does this. Thanks a lot holmes.*starts awkward clapping for round of applause*

[SchwanzBrewer]

Do you guys really keep your hops out in the open like this or is this temporary storage?

He did say that all those kegs represents about 1 days brew. I would guess that they go through a hopper of hops every day, so I doubt those would go stale.Cheers,Rich

[MolBasser]

He did say that all those kegs represents about 1/3 days brew. I would guess that they go through a hopper of hops every day, so I doubt those would go stale.Cheers,Rich

FTFY... :blush:The hops are never in the bins long enough to stale.MolBasser

[HarvInSTL]

Just to second or third this, it is really awesome that Basser does this. Thanks a lot holmes.*starts awkward clapping for round of applause*

I'll fourth this. I had a great time last year during his tour. Now if I ever get my pictures up

[BarelyBrews]

Molbasser, If its not too confidential what kind of mash efficiency does your brewery get? and does it change much by the style(s)of beer?

[Stout_fan]

What ever happened to the guy with the mullet that was working there?