Another Month Gone

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.  The problem is that I am not very good at writing professional sounding pieces, I excel at lighthearted BS.  At some point soon, the blog is also going to transfer over to the site as well, but I need to get up to speed on how to work it (blogger is idiot proof).  Here is the link: www.payettebrewing.com

Where I left off last time, the sewer was missing.  Well I found it, right where the second company told me.  I still have some issues with the company that did the initial camera work, they are giving me the money back for the work they "did" but I will still never use them for any work in the future.  The remainder of the rough-in plumbing work went smoothly, passed inspection and got filled back in.

Actual sewer line with all the new stuff going into it

View of the plumbing work from upstairs

The concrete guys came in and got done in a hurry.  The guys were great and I enjoyed them doing the work, I did find it funny how the whole job worked.  They worked their butts off to get the concrete from the truck into the holes, but then, had to sit around and wait for it to set up for a while so they could go smooth it out, then do it again.  It looked like the definition of "hurry up and wait."

Early morning concrete delivery

Its nice not to have any holes to fall in anymore

Trench drain and waste water sample port

Part II of this post will go up tomorrow (maybe Thursday), it'll give you something to look forward to

Update for the Week

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."  I am working my ass off to get this going, but at times even to me it looks like nothing is happening.

The much talked about building permit is very close, in fact I could have had it by now, the problem is that I question everything.  I didn't agree with an assessment they gave me, talked through it with them and they are going to take a look at it.  In the end, I lose some days, but might save some money; worth it as long as the assessment doesn't go up for some reason...please no.  I expect to have some awesome jackhammering pictures up early next week.  Most of the work is should take about two weeks (four +) and there are six weeks until my equipment arrives, so I am feeling okay about it right now.

I attended the Boise BeerFest on Friday, I enjoyed it except the part about the car getting towed.  That is an entirely different rant though.  The complaints about the crowds that I heard prior to attending were a non-issue on Friday.  Probably just the right amount of people there from an attendees perspective, never had to wait in line, had plenty of space to walk around and talk with people.  It was great to hear a lot of people who probably don't drink craft beer get excited for different beers and get exposed to a bunch of different breweries, great for the industry.  Call me a snob or whatever, but personally it wasn't the type of festival that I like attending, more the type of festival that I would like to serve my beer at and talk to people about beer.  The festival was great for what it was, which sounds like a total slight, but I assure you that is a compliment.  I already like the sound of my own typing too much and now is not the time for me to write a dissertation on beer festivals.  Reading back over what I wrote, I sound very critical, but I did think it was a great event and should shut up and be happy we have a great festival here.  Thanks to Rick at Brewforia and everyone else that helped for putting the work into the event, can't wait to pour beer next year.

Stuff 'n Things

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 hire an architect to deal with this stuff, so I understand why they talked with him, but 95% of the problems so far have stemmed from a lack of understanding of how breweries work.  So far, I have been the only person with the ability to shed light on that aspect of building a BREWERY, so am eagerly awaiting the fallout from this.  All I really want to do right now is get a jackhammer and go to town on some concrete...frustrated much?

The logo is new, you probably noticed unless you read the blog in Google Reader or something.  Individual beer logos, tap handles etc are all in the works and will be shown here first...or on facebook...or twitter.  An actual website is getting built, so everything will seem more "official" soon enough.

Boise Beer Fest starts tomorrow, I recommend everyone attend, but I have never been before, so don't know what to expect.  Comments I have heard from people hit both ends of the spectrum, so we'll see tomorrow.  I will put up my thoughts on it sometime next week including the answer to the question on everyone's mind..."Why aren't you doing anything at the Boise Beer Fest?"

Mountain Man and City Slicker

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 Man and what I am dubbing, City Slicker.  The Mountain Man is my Barleywine that should clock in around 10%, not huge for a Barleywine, but plenty big enough.  The City Slicker is a new one for me.  It will be made from the second runnings of the Mountain Man mash, which is often called parti-gyle brewing.  The link explains it well, but basically efficiencies on a high gravity beer aren't that good, so there are a lot of residual sugars left in the mash, why not make a beer out of it?

Since the City Slicker is essentially a "free" beer to make because I already used the grains, why not have some fun with it.  True to the name, the beer is going to try to look the part, but in the end you find out it is way out of place.  My best description of the vision for this beer is a Double Mild IPA.  The beer is made from second runnings, which inherently means the beer is going to be low in alcohol, hence Mild.  The beer is also going to be overly hopped, hence Double IPA. Not the worst idea that I have come up with, but not a sure-fire hit either.

TTB, Construction and More

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.  Although I would like to, I can't totally blame the city for not having a building permit yet, I am sure that if I had certain pieces of information in my plan everything would be further in the process.  Yes, there were construction pictures in a previous post as I did get started on some things, but that is all on hold.  Why? Well that depends on who you talk to.  So here is what happened, the city found out that I started some construction without a permit and told me I had to stop or my fees would be doubled, hence work stopped.  Lesson #58, social media is not a good thing if you are doing something wrong, even if you don't know it is wrong.  That is the my bet on how the city found out I was demolishing stuff, but is no excuse.  Why did I start doing work without a permit you ask?  People with more experience in construction than me, told me that it was okay.  Which leads to lesson #59 of starting a business, listen to the people with actual authority not those who say they know what they are doing.  Maybe the advice I got is okay in some circumstances, but I will be dealing with the city for years to come and whether or not I like it, they have the power and I need to listen to them.

Most of my posts have been about pilot beers, which sucks for you because you read my vague information and don't get to try any.  There isn't much I can do about that right now unfortunately.  What I can tell you, I would say the recipes are 75% ready to go.  The Star Garnett is ready, as one would expect, it isn't perfect after one batch.  Two things I am working on for that are improving the hop profile and trying to figure out how to adapt some of the brewing techniques to a commercial scale.  Didn't help that I had a Hop in the Dark (best CDA on the market) right after trying mine.  While I am going to be double batching the beers I plan to release, it is also time to brew small batches of the Mountain Man, Jackalope and a Pilsner.

If you are wondering about lessons 1-57, you'll have to buy the book I'll never write to get those.

Gotta Hop

Demolition and Starting Construction

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 I am yet to put up a video this year, so here is some stuff for the eyes:

Recent day of brewing, kegging and carbonating, otherwise know as controlled chaos

Framed up mill room, looks kind of small in the picture, but it is spacious

Took out a wall in the tasting room, opens it up a lot, even if it doesn't seem like it in the picture.  Now making me re-think some plans though.

Making a new opening for moving stuff between the bays since the opening to the left will be blocked, thats the mill room in the background

The guys next door brought over their forklift to help put in the header for the new opening

Enough working though, time to get back to brewing, Mutton Bustin' Brown tomorrow

Gotta Hop

Update

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 be generous.  The next batch is going to be the first run at my Star Garnet Black IPA, but I'll save the details for the brew day post.

The brewing system is on order, I signed the contract and sent the deposit today.  The expected delivery is at the end of September, so a month or six after that I will be up and running.  I ended up ordering a brand new 15 barrels brewing system with 15 and 30 barrel fermenters, it is awesome.  My guess is that the feeling I have right now is similar to anyone who has purchased a house, stoked and scared because it is going to be awesome, but I also just spent a crap-ton of money.  I'll let you know if the analogy is correct if I ever have money to buy a house.

Another big meeting I had was with Central District Health Department.  They do the initial plan review before you can go submit for permits.  Besides the fact the meeting took forever (my architect said it was over twice as long as his normal plan reviews) it went great and once I bring back more information on Monday I should be good to go.  A building permit to start construction should follow, but I'm not holding my breath for that to be done in a timely manner.  For the record, I don't hate dealing with all the bureaucracy, it's just that...I'm not going to finish my sentence since this blog is public.

I am actually really busy right now, but when I take a step back, I think everything I did this week is a big exercise in "hurry up and wait."

Projected Brewery Opening: I'll let you know the week before it happens

Gotta Hop

Only Getting Better From Here

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 it.  I will, at the very least, have a carbon filter for the next batch.

The "oh shit" moment of the brew is when I realized that the drains were nice and blocked, probably what happens when the water hasn't been on in almost a year.  The toilets are on a slightly different line, so don't worry it wasn't that horrible.  As I was washing my mash tun, I came to find out that everything I was putting down the sink was coming out of the floor drain in the other bathroom.   Having water all over the bathrooms and warehouse is a great motivator to go purchase cleaning supplies, I needed a mop and squeegee sooner or later anyway.  So after I got all the stuff, I came back and noticed the drains had at least subsided to the point the looked like they worked and were dry.  I even poured water in them, just to make sure it was draining, looked like it worked.  Well, I tried to clean a little more and of course there is still a clog.  It is a fact, drains don't magically unclog themselves.  The second try wasn't one of my brighter moments, but I didn't want to call a plumber and it isn't like the mess could get that much bigger than it already was.  Cue plumber, and now the drain works like a charm, so the next brew should go smoother.

So the batch in the fermenter right now may or may not be any good, but its the only way to know how bad things can be right?

Something

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 the ass all by itself.  Don't need the details, but that being the first real taste of working through the bureaucracy, it frightens me for what it could be like down the line.  I just wanted to be able to use the bathrooms...

The biggest thing right now is working on the design of the brewery.  The layout of the building is not just a big rectangle, so deciding how everything will fit isn't easy. I like it because it is giving me a lot of options, but that is also the problem, figuring out which option is the best.

Last night I met with the guys from Behind the Menu, great guys, great website, great networking and on down the line.  Really though, if you are living in Boise (or not?) make sure and check out their site, I am excited to do some things with them in the future.  If you found me through them, then welcome, the blog archive is full of stuff, although mostly useless banter.

I don't have internet down at the brewery yet, a combination of being cheap and lazy, but will do what I can to keep posting stuff as I move forward.  The phone does wonders for Twitter, but is too much of a piece to blog or Facebook anything.

111 W 33rd Street

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 the permitting stuff for Garden City goes through Boise and the mailing address is Boise, so to be honest, I don't know what Garden City actually does.  I'm not trying to dog on Garden City, I just don't get it, maybe it is just my practical side talking out loud.

I put up an photo album on the PBC Facebook page with the "day 1" shots.  There is a lot of work to be done to get the brewery up and running, so use your imagination with the pictures.  I will probably also start using a Picasa or Flickr photo album since it can be linked up with the blog much better than Facebook, anyone use or like either of these?  I have to be careful with too many online things, I don't want to feel the wrath of you guys if I start to fall behind on updating everything.

The good thing for everyone in Boise is that now that there is a space, I will start to have tastings at the brewery as things get going.  Need to make sure the City(s) are okay with that first.  No more reading about the beer, time to start drinking it!

Feel free to stop by and check it out sometime.  **Disclaimer** I have no schedule of when I will be there, so stopping by is a total crapshoot at this point.

Gotta Hop

Signing Day IPA

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 real information, most of the details about the future location will be reserved for a following post.  I will reveal that I take possession of the building on May 1st, so the fun is really about to begin.  Now on to today's brew:

Signing Day IPA

Style: American-Style IPA 
Malt: American 2-Row, Crystal, Honey Malt, Munich
Hops: Amarillo, Centennial, Columbus
ABV: ~ 6.5%

This is the second of a series of IPA's for a tasting to be held at the brewery location.  Similar to the last, but different.  Still working on names for the different beers, mostly because I am torn on which direction to go with the overall branding of Payette Brewing.  Originally I was planning on focusing on the mountains, rivers and outdoor sports.  Now I have this  fascination with doing some sort of Idaho Cowboy theme, the tough part is doing it in a classy way and not coming across as "hick."  Once I get some initial concepts, I will share them to get your opinions.

Gotta Hop

Road Trippin'

Quick update now that I am back from Chicago.  I was actually in Chicago to drive a car from Chicago back to Boise, a drive which if anyone has done it before is both fun and extremely boring.  Of course I was able to do a few beer related things along the way.

While in Chicago, I managed to pick up three of the four bottles of beer that I was hoping to snag.  Only a few people might care or be impressed, but I managed to get a hold of a bottle of Bell's Batch 9000, Founder's Kentucky Breakfast Stout and Goose Island's Night Stalker.  Anyone who spends half as much time reading about beer knows those are good pick-ups and the rest of you probably just rolled your eyes thinking I have a problem...probably a little of both.  I also want to give a plug to a beer store in Chicago, Vrai Amour Wines.  That is the store that hooked me up with the Bell's 9000.  Matt and I had a great conversation with the owner about beer and got to talking about my plans for the brewery, after talking for like 20 min he said he had some 9000 in the back he normally saves for his regulars and said he would sell me one.  Thanks to Dave and sorry to the regular who isn't getting one now.

The first night of the drive back, I stayed in Kearney, Nebraska, which turned out to be a bit of a beer town.  The town of 30,000 had two brewpubs, although we didn't make it to one of the pubs, I managed to try some of their beers at Old Chicago.  I had a Brown Ale from Empyrean Brewing and a Lager from Platte Valle brewing, both solid beers.  No matter where you are in the US, you are probably closer than you think to good beer.

My other thought is from staying in Park City.  I had some misconceptions about the beer their because of the 3.2 ABW (4.0% ABV) law in grocery stores.  Note: When people talk about 3.2 beer, that is actually measured by weight as opposed to volume, so a bud light at 3.2% ABW is about 4.0% ABV, which isn't that far off from a bud light in Idaho that is 4.2% ABV.  Going into the liquor store, they had quite a good selection of craft beers, including a bunch of high alcohol styles like Barleywines and Imperial Stouts.  So don't be discouraged about finding good beers in Utah, they are there, just in the liquor store.

The coming weeks should have more blogging.  I am going back to Chicago next week for the Craft Brewers Conference and will be blogging daily.  A few more emails, meetings and phone calls are all that really separate me from letting the fun really begin.

Gotta Hop!

Three Wheats

Now for the third edition of the wheat beer piloting progress:

Wheat Beer
Style: American Wheat
Malt: American 2-Row, CaraWheat, Munich, Wheat
Hops: Amarillo
ABV: ~ 4.2%
Playlist: New Music Brewday, checking out all the albums I have gotten recently

Not that it is any different than the current amount of blogging, but this will probably be the only post for about a week as I am taking a trip to Chicago.

Right now the details of the lease are getting sorted out.  I wish it wasn't such a pain to agree to terms, never thought it would be, but it is business and both sides are just looking out for their businesses.  It is okay for me right now that it is getting delayed a bit, because it is giving me a little more time to get the last pieces of financing to fall into place.  Don't hold me to this, but on May 1st, Payette Brewing will likely have a home!  (Not brewing, just have possession of a building to start construction in)

I was planning for these three Wheat Beer pilots to be the first official tasting at the new location, but it looks like I'll have to make a new series of beers.  Since IPA is the overwhelming favorite in the poll, plan on the first customer tasting panel to be for the future Payette Brewing IPA.  Details to come, so be sure to check back (once a week is probably plenty right now).

Gotta Hop!

About Lagers

If you haven't noticed, I haven't been making lagers and only have one (Pilsner) listed on the blog poll.  I have been ignoring a huge range of styles and it wont continue much longer.  Lagers are definitely overlooked by the craft beer community and I plan to make a few at Payette Brewing.  The reason that I haven't been making them is my current set-up doesn't give me quite enough control over fermentation to properly ferment and mature the different styles of lagers.  There is something about lagers that fascinated me, but right now I don't feel that I can do them justice. 

For all you fans of Pilsners, Bocks, Vienna Lagers and plenty of other styles, your beers will come, don't worry.

A Little Street Cred???

I wouldn't go quite as far as saying that, but today Payette Brewing got it's first bit of publicity!

A few weeks back, the guys from Uncle Boise contacted my about doing an interview with me and I gladly accepted.  I find it strange to read about myself and what I am doing from the perspective of another person, but I think the article is well written and does a great job telling my story.  Here is the link to the article:

Brewed Awakening - The Birth of Payette Brewing, Part 1
 
If the Uncle Boise guys are keeping up with blog, I want to say thank you and I look forward to sharing more beer with you and getting some more updates for future articles.

Tight name for the article/series by the way.

A year ago...

It's hard to believe that a year ago I was starting at the Siebel Institute, I had an awesome time there and learned tons.  If you have been reading the blog for the past year it may not seem that I have really accomplished much, which would be understandable.  I will say that I am both amazed at how far it has all come in the past year and frustrated that it isn't further along.  One of these days I will get to write some sappy post about finally opening, but until then I can just keep plugging along...still can't believe it has already been a year since Siebel though.

As for other stuff, nothing of importance that I can/want to share with the readers.  I have some more pilot batches in the works and always like to hear suggestions.  Not sure that I will get one brewed this week, so this could be the long post of the week.

In a non-beer related point, I am taking the Saints to cover (I should know better than to bet against Peyton but I have the same feeling I had when I took the Giants straight up over the Pats)

Stuff 'n Things

The broken record continues to spin...another week has past by and while I have made more progress.  With what I have accomplished, I either can't let everyone know what is going on or it will just be a bore.   There really isnt much of a reason behind this post except that I like to keep adding stuff.  Other brewery blogs that I follow often get forgotten for a month at a time, not the best way to retain readership.

The IPA is fermenting away, Brown is almost ready to get carbonated and I am working through a few progressions of the Amber recipe development for the next batch.  I also have ideas for tweaks in the IPA for next time, but I want to sample it before I make a new one.  See if my ideas for change are even needed. 

More to come this week...

Random Stuff

What was scheduled to be a big week for me last week, turned into a waste of a week when all of my meetings got canceled.  Frustrating, but there isn't much that I can do, but I plan on turning this week into a big week. 

I found a location that I really hope turns into the home of Payette Brewing.  I have to sort some things out before I disclose all of the information, but I assure you that it could be great.  I also need to figure out some of my timing between raising the remaining capital and signing a lease.  Things are picking up and these posts might begin to get interesting soon (Probably the 10th time I've said that).

The Mutton Buster I made last week went okay.  There is a new homebrew store in Boise called Brewer's Haven where I got all of my supplies for this batch.  It is probably the best homebrew shop that I have ever been to.  Only problem that I had was that their mill setting was too wide and as a result, my efficiencies were low and I missed my numbers.  Sparing everyone of the detailed explanation, it isn't a huge deal and for the next batch I will ask them to tighten it up a bit so I can get better extract efficiencies.  So the Mutton Buster is only going to be around 4% and probably too hoppy, who knows, maybe it will be better that way.

I have a few IPA recipes ready to go and I might make a two batches this week.  Expect more pilot posts this week.  After a few IPA pilots, a batch of Jackalope Imperial IPA will also be on the docket. 

State of the Brewery Address...

Readers of the blog probably understand what I am writing half the time, hopefully find me mildly entertaining and at a minimum know the name of the brewery that I am starting.  This first post of the new year should be all of the above and help give everyone an idea of where I am in terms of getting this shit going.

I am not one to make resolutions, especially ones like "I will write a brewery update once a week" because we all know there is no way that I will follow through on that one no matter how hard I try.  That being said, Payette Brewing Co will sell beer in 2010, no promises when though.

The number one concern for me right now is raising the remaining money needed to get this going.  Once I get the money, things will start to pick up a lot.  There are a lot of other little things that are getting sorted out right now in terms of location, marketing, financing and of course beers.

I continue to make pilot batches and some people have been able to sample different beers that are in the works.  Right now I am trying to figure out a way to have a tasting event, even though I don't have a location to have people come to.  Stay tuned for that, because getting all of you involved in the beer development is very important to me.  The votes coming in are overwhelmingly in support of an IPA, so I am going to turn my focus towards that very shortly.  I want to make another batch of the Mutton Buster Brown Ale, but after that, I will do a few consecutive versions of the Outlaw IPA. 

As far as the blog, I really plan on using some more media on here.  Pictures are the simple route, but I am planning on busting out the flipcam and putting together some vids.  The key to that isn't just taking video, it is getting my ass motivated enough to edit the video, add some tunes and post it (everyone who went to Steamboat last year knows how difficult it is for me to make a video).  Rest assured that once I get some footage, the PBC Productions videos will be gems.

Happy New Year and get excited because PBC is coming in o'ten (yes, you can say o'ten, it works, trust me, I substitute taught an English class once)

Gotta Hop

Last Post of '09 (maybe)

I am back after a nice Christmas trip to Chicago, not much new, but I can find a way to BS through a post. 

The day before I left for Chicago I had an unfortunate occurrence...the CO2 on the kegerator ran out.  I think I have a leak somewhere because there was no pressure on the kegs, although after getting new CO2, I can't find a leak so I dont know.  The problem was that it was Sunday (nowhere open to get CO2) and there was no pressure on The Caboose and Peppermint Chocolate Stout for a week.  I am hoping that it can be salvaged now that it is back on the CO2.  As I write this, I am drinking the Caboose, it is noticeable low on carbonation, but not totally flat.  We'll see how it turns out after a few days at pressure.

Managed a few brewery trips while in Chicago, both of which have been profiled on the blog before.  Had dinner at Two Brothers, meatloaf sandwich with an imperial stout and their hoppy rye beer.  The meatloaf and rye beer worked really well together.  I really liked how the restaurant specialized in "comfort" food, like macaroni, meatloaf, etc.  I am a fan of most of the beers Two Brothers makes.  There pub is not what I am looking at doing for PBC, but their production facility is quite impressive. 

Also stopped by Half Acre's tasting room, it was a different take on a tasting room that I have really seen before.  It was really more of a retail store than a tasting room, although they did have 6 beers on tap.  They gave us like 2 oz samples of all the beers, but we were not able to buy a beer by the pint.  They had bombers of two of their beers available, 6ers of one beer and growlers of anything on tap.  They also sold Half Acre schwag and had bombers from other breweries available.  My initial thoughts were that it was not a very lucrative way to set up a tasting room, but while we were there a ton of people came in and bought beer, so I could be wrong.  They were getting a lot of people buying their "Big Hugs Imperial Stout," which was quite good (it was more of an imperial coffee stout than imperial stout, but still tasty).

Might make more beer this week, but if we get some more snow I will find myself on the mountain.