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Brewday is Coming!

After a long weekend putting together the racking, we’re prepared for the first brewday next weekend. Saturday will be fitting taps, thermometers, mounting the hose reel, first aid kit, fire extinguisher, and all the other bits. Then we’ll hang some posters, clean up the vessels, test everything, time the boil, and generally check things out.

Then Sunday, we brew. APA or blonde? A stout would be nice, in this weather. We shall see!

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The End of the Beginning

Today is the end of the beginning of Hoppy Collie. I’m sitting inside Simposio at 106 Fulham Palace Road, our friendly Italian restaurant, and the upstairs neighbour of our 200L brewery. The snow is coming down outside, while we wait inside for delivery of the shelving which will allow us to finally start brewing beer.

I bought the brew kit on the 15th of June, 2012. Preparation of the site, sourcing materials, getting additional fermentation vessels, adding plumbing, and other general work has filled the intervening months. I’ve filed seven months of nil production beer returns with the taxman, and have watched the brew kit sit for longer than I like.

But tomorrow is another day, and 2013 is the year of Hoppy Collie Brewery! With the shelving installed, there just some cleaning and light plumbing to do tomorrow. Sunday I’m brewing (along with my trusty assistant Viola) our first 200L batch of Hoppy Collie ExPat Pale Ale.

From next week, a very limited number of our bottles will be available to taste at Simposio. These are mostly trial brews, with different hopping levels, grain bills, and varied techniques (experiments mashing, sparging, etc). Our official launch night will probably come in early to mid February, when the first couple fermentations are coming mature. Hopefully we can get the Speakeasy (located in the rear of Simposio) ready in time for the launch.

Love, peace, dog cuddles, and good beer to everyone!

travis