Payette Brewing Co.

Last Post Here

2010-09-14T09:15:00.000-06:00

This is the last post for Payette Brewing Company at this site. The blog is being moved to the brewery website that can be found here. There is a new post there, but it is about as long as this. Update your RSS feeds of bookmarks so you can continue to follow the progress of the brewery. -Mike

Another Month Gone Part II

2010-09-02T10:00:00.002-06:00

The final thing that got finished last week was the pouring of the containment curb around the brewing area. The curb is put in one to make it easier to wash down and clean the brewing area. I don't have to worry about water going into the tasting room, bathrooms or anywhere else when I'm cleaning the brewing area. In the unlikely and tragic event that a fermenter valve breaks or gets opened

Another Month Gone

2010-08-31T18:00:00.000-06:00

Another month down and another month closer to opening. I will get to the construction updates in a minute, but first, some other stuff. The brewery website is now live, but before you go rushing off to check it out, I have to warn you about some things. One, it is awesome and two, it doesn't have very much information on it yet. I am working on writing everything to fill in all the blanks.

Concrete Removal Pics

2010-08-17T11:52:00.000-06:00

My arms are dead from jackhammering up the floor some more, so now is as good of time as any to get some pictures up. Not as fun as it looks Concrete saw, easy but messy workWe thought we were done...Future trench drain on the right, connection to the keg washer on the leftWhere the sewer was supposed to be I have more pictures and will post them as I get time

Real Work Begins and So Does the Rework

2010-08-16T17:14:00.001-06:00

The following is the information that two different plumbers gave me based on snaking a camera into my sewer: Guy #1: 3" line, 12" deep, runs straight out to the street Guy #2: 4" line, 24" deep, runs right for 15 or so feet, then turns towards the street Based on the information above, who do you trust? All that information tells me is that someone doesn't know what they are doing, but

Update for the Week

2010-08-11T08:52:00.000-06:00

Probably the only post for the week, but wanted to pass along some updates. As I look back at the process I have been going through to get the brewery open, I remember sitting on the other side looking in following other blog's about opening breweries. On multiple occasions I thought to myself "man, it doesn't seem like they are really doing much" or "you would think they would be open by now."

Stuff 'n Things

2010-08-05T08:44:00.000-06:00

Oh the elusive building permit...where are you? I might have a better understanding of everything before I post this, but right now it is still in the City of Boise's hands. My architect is meeting with them this morning to go over some things, which is a personal point of contention because I found out about the meeting on my own, nobody bothered to talk with the guy paying the bills. I did

Mountain Man and City Slicker

2010-07-29T10:22:00.003-06:00

The word on the street is that Payette Brewing could have building permits early next week, could be rumors, could be fact, only time will tell. In the mean time, I'm getting some good brewing in this week, today being my second double of the week. On Tuesday I made the Amber, which is not included on the opening list, but could find it's way onto it. Today I am brewing a batch of the Mountain

Pilsner

2010-07-22T11:34:00.001-06:00

In hindsight, I probably should have brewed a pilsner in the spring so it would be ready now, but at least I'll have this for football season. As I have mentioned before, it has always been my intention to make some lagers as I feel that they are very underrepresented styles in the craft beer industry. Pilsner Malts: Pilsner, Vienna Hops: Saphir ABV: 4.5% IBU: 25 Short post today because I

TTB, Construction and More

2010-07-21T12:10:00.000-06:00

What is new in the land of Payette Brewing Company...lots of stuff, mostly unexciting for you though. I had my phone interview with the TTB earlier today, meaning I am one step closer to getting my federal license. The way things are going, there is a distinct possibility that I will be the first brewery in history where it takes longer to get a building permit than the brewers notice.

Outlaw

2010-07-14T08:28:00.000-06:00

Outlaw IPA it is, names have been thrown around, but this is it. The names of the initial beers are located in the right hand column of the blog. I don't know that I will have all five available when I open, but those are the ones I will be making first. The Ales of No Return listed below are the first four of the big beer/one-off series that I plan to release periodically. More to come on

Mutton Bustin'

2010-07-09T08:52:00.001-06:00

About to finish up a rotation of the five beers I plan to have ready when the brewery opens. Mutton Bustin' Brown Style: American Brown Ale Malt: American 2-Row, Brown, Chocolate, Crystal, Victory Hops: Magnum, Amarillo ABV: ~5.4% It is a great feeling coming into the brewery to make beer and not do construction or fill out more forms for the city, that stuff is work, brewing is fun. Slight

Demolition and Starting Construction

2010-07-08T19:09:00.001-06:00

My progress seems like a bunch of baby steps so far, but put enough of those together and you actually get pretty far. This week I started doing some demolition work at the brewery and got a start on some of the build-out. I am waiting for a few things before some of the bigger work, like cutting in a trench drain, will take place. I feel bad because I haven't been putting up many pictures and

About the Name

2010-07-06T10:18:00.000-06:00

I get a lot of comments about the name of the brewery, Payette Brewing Company, some people love it, some hate it, some think the town, some the river. I have a lot of thoughts about the name and I obviously like it because I chose it. Like the town, county, river, mountain, lake, national forest, the brewery is named for Francois Payette, the fur trader that was stationed at Fort Boise and

Star Garnet Cascadian Dark Ale

2010-06-30T08:00:00.003-06:00

Bandwagon boarded... There is always the next big trend in beer styles in the brewing industry, some I am avoiding on purpose, some I'm planning on trying and in this case, there are ones I can't resist. The Cascadian Dark Ale, or Black IPA is not anything new, Stone has been making an excellent one for a few years and Idaho's own Laughing Dog was the first one I ever tried. Recently the beer

Update

2010-06-25T16:32:00.000-06:00

Everything is starting to move a lot faster and this is me doing my best not to ignore the blog. I mentioned in the last post that I got some new fermenters, they work great so far and I will put up some pictures next week after I get some more gear for the pilot system. I hope to brew a batch or two next week, but I injured myself the other day playing soccer and to say I "hobble" around would

New Pilot Fermenters

2010-06-17T11:30:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I got in two new fermenters for my pilot system and now its time to fill them up. The fermenters are stainless steel cylindro-conicals, complete with tri-clamp fittings or in other words, badass. They are basically little versions of the 15 and 30 barrel fermenters that will be coming in a few months. As happy as I am for getting these, it is going to do two things for you, first I

Stout Pilot

2010-06-12T14:00:00.001-06:00

Stouts don't scream "summer beer" but can be just as refreshing as some other lighter colored beers. This is a beer that I have neglected for a long time, partly because I feel good about the beer recipe. Today is as good of time as any to brew it again and start making some final adjustments on the beer. I have ignored the stout to the point I don't have any ideas for names for it, ideas?

USA vs England

2010-06-11T12:00:00.000-06:00

I don't know if there is any other opening match that I would want to see. Sure it would be great to have an easier group (I don't think that's possible), but I would love to beat England. The USA is going to have a difficult time with England. I expect a win, would be happy with a draw and realistically think they will go down 3-1. Here is the bottom line problem for the US in this game,

World Cup

2010-06-10T08:00:00.100-06:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, tomorrow marks the beginning of the best sporting event in the world, as a result, much of the communications coming from Payette Brewing Company will be soccer related. Brewery news will continue to be posted at the current rate of slow to quite slow. In a full disclosure brewery note: Depending on how you look at it, the World Cup starting means I fell short of my goal

White Pine IPA

2010-06-09T14:00:00.001-06:00

Other times I have written Outlaw or Pistol Flip, I am just trying out different names and seeing how they fit. White Pine IPA Style: American-Style IPA Malt: American 2-Row, Crystal, Honey Malt, Munich Hops: Centennial, Chinook, Columbus IBU: 60 ABV: 6.3% To fit the name, I am looking to get more of a pine character from the hops in this IPA than the last few batches which have been stronger

Back in Action

2010-06-01T12:35:00.001-06:00

After a May that took me all over the country, my travels are over for the foreseeable future, so now I am really getting down to business. First order of business for June, brew. For the first time in a while, the amount of beer in the pipeline and on tap is getting low. As with all the beers I have been brewing recently, I am trying to nail down the flavors for opening. The Payette Pale has

Firestone Walker

2010-05-27T08:37:00.040-06:00

This should have been written and posted about two weeks ago, but I am lazy, I mean busy, yeah. One of my buddies from UW got married the other week in Paso Robles, which at first meant two things: an awesome party and wine. A little trip to the beer mapping project and my eyes lit up, partying, wine and awesome beer! So when I got their on Thursday, I took myself on a little pilgrimage to

LB2

2010-05-25T08:16:00.006-06:00

Last batch was the first attempt at an Idaho-Style Farmhouse Ale, trying to marry a light session beer with a more complex Belgian-Style beer. Right now, the only thing I have learned from that batch is that my new water filter is TNT. I also found out I’m not a very good plumber. Before I get into why I’m not a good plumber (which is not a big issue in any way) I want to say that I know that

Fort Collins Brewery Trip

2010-05-24T08:30:00.000-06:00

Anymore, any sort of vacation I go on turns into a beer finding/brewery visiting/drinking adventure. This past weekend is no exception and the weekend trip to Denver took a one day detour into Fort Collins. The post is going to run kind of long because I need to cover 4 breweries and a lot of beers (25 to be exact). New BelgiumFirst stop in the morning was New Belgium. A note to anyone that

American Craft Beer Week

2010-05-19T09:00:00.001-06:00

This post is about 3 days later than it should be, sorry. You should know by now that this is American Craft Beer Week, I hope you are taking part in some of the great events around Boise and the rest of the US. Unfortunately PBC is not to a point where we can put on events, but rest assured that I am celebrating the only way I know how - drinking beer. For those in Boise, Matt at the Co-op

Revisiting the Wheat

2010-05-18T12:00:00.000-06:00

The kegs of Wheat Beer are dead and gone so now it is time to look back on the three batches. The biggest thing I learned was that I need to print out score sheets or something like that when I have any sort of side-by-side tasting. That was the plan, but that was the day I had some plumbing issues and by the time that was resolved I spaced the feedback sheet. Regardless of any written

Getting Political - H.R 4278

2010-05-17T08:30:00.001-06:00

This bill is probably recent news to most Idahoans, as Senator Crapo just became a co-sponsor of the bill. I have not seen much written locally on this yet, but I wanted to give everyone my bias news bit on the bill. Am I an authority on the matter, not really, but I am sure that I know more of the details than the self-proclaimed "experts" that litter the online newspaper comment sections.

Leaning Barn - Farmhouse Ale

2010-05-14T15:30:00.001-06:00

I decided on the name for this beer before I even figured out what it would be exactly. Anyone who has driven Idaho 55 from Boise to McCall has seen the Old Tate Barn that seems to inch closer to collapsing every year. I call it the "leaning barn" and even though that isn't the real name you probably know what I am talking about. It is technically called the Old Tate Barn, but most people

The IPA's Have It

2010-05-13T09:00:00.002-06:00

Okay, I get it, everyone likes IPA's. It isn't like there is a huge number of total votes, but it is a dominating lead by IPA (I am glad to see that over 50 people have stumbled upon the blog though). Any semi-regular reader knows that I have been working on developing the IPA recently. Right now it is almost nailed down, but now on to the real challenge...naming the IPA. Here is where I need

Only Getting Better From Here

2010-05-11T10:01:00.000-06:00

It is only fitting that the first brew in the space was a total Charlie Foxtrot. First off, the water. I am having it tested today to know exactly what's in it, but I am thinking this last batch could come out interesting. The water coming into the building has almost zero treatment, so has an "off" tinge to it and a mineral taste to it. Who knows, it might be excellent, but I wouldn't bet on

Baseline Beer

2010-05-07T09:50:00.000-06:00

I finally have all (I hope) of my pilot brewing stuff down at the brewery, so I am making my first pilot batch here. I am calling it my baseline beer because I have no idea what the water is like down here. I have checked the city reports, so I have an idea, but I need to see how it makes the beer taste. I haven't even mashed in yet and already know I need to get a carbon filter, which I was

Something

2010-05-05T14:47:00.000-06:00

I have turned into what I hate...a blogger that doesn't blog. No excuses, so I'm sorry. No real topic for today's post, just exercising the keyboard. The brewery is vast and empty right now, although I have started to bring stuff down there and hope to make a pilot batch down there very soon. I wanted to do that Monday, but I didn't get the water turned on until yesterday, which was a pain in

Post-Earth Day IPA

2010-04-23T08:06:00.000-06:00

The third of this round of IPA piloting is concluding today. I was going to make this yesterday and do a whole Earth Day thing, but then I realized that brewing is inherently not green. There are plenty of measures that a brewer can take to cut down on their environmental impact and I fully embrace those. I just have a hard time listening to some breweries advertise their "green" practices

111 W 33rd Street

2010-04-21T14:06:00.000-06:00

After months of never really saying anything, today I have actual, useful and exciting news, I have a building. I signed a lease last week and just got the keys today, so Payette Brewing Company has a home that isn't an actual home. If it is of any use to you, here is a link to a Google map of where the building is. The building is technically in Garden City, but the address is Boise. All of

Signing Day IPA

2010-04-14T08:31:00.000-06:00

I'm stretching a little for post titles, you'll understand shortly. Today is the first day of the regular signing period for college basketball, but that is a total coincidence with my signing day. The big news is that I am signing a lease today! Yes, after months of post with no real information or new, today I have some real news. To keep with the overall theme of secrecy and not giving any

CBC Days 3 & 4

2010-04-13T20:00:00.009-06:00

I just realized that these posts may not be super interesting, so decided on wrapping up the whole Craft Brewers Conference thing in one last post. If you really want to know more, then I will be happy to tell you all about it over some pints. The early seminars were sparsely attended to say the least (I didn't miss anything, so the under won), free beer can do that to people. Like the first

CBC Day 2

2010-04-12T08:15:00.002-06:00

This is the first legit conference I have ever been to and it is awesome, no better way to put it. After getting over the “star-struck” feeling early on of seeing all of the people I idolize in the industry, I got down to business and feel good about the state of PBC and what is in store. The seminars are hit or miss; the sales one was hands down the most valuable today. I went to one about

CBC Day 1 Part II

2010-04-11T08:15:00.002-06:00