Nick is back! His jaw is still wired and his waist is shrinking but he is back to work at the brewery. His spirits are up and he dreams of what he will eat once he gets his wires off; carne asada, bbq, tacos, ribs, spaghetti, etc. He watches the food channel while sipping on protein shakes and clam chowder. It is good to have him back.
We have a new brewer! Dan Sattherthwaite is brewing with us. He has guided us since the beginning of the project, helping out where he can and lending his expertise and support. Well, now he is fully entrenched in the brewhouse operations. His bio will be on the website shortly, but in brief, he is a world traveler and seasoned brewer who learned and apprenticed in Germany and has worked at breweries all over including Mad River and San Francisco Brewing. He is constantly thinking of ways to improve the operations and improve our beer supply and production. He is a great brewer and today they will give his organic stout recipe a run in full scale production. Welcome Dan!
The brewhouse is busy. We were surprised with the popularity and immediate demand for organic beer in Santa Cruz. It became apparent very quickly that the brewhouse operations were going to have to increase and become more efficient in order to maximize the full potential of our equipment and space. Chad/Nick/Dan and Tom have been figuring out ways to brew more, bottle more, and stockpile beer so that it has the proper amount of time to mature. Last week they brewed 600 gallons and had success with re-pitching yeast (not an easy task with the airborne wild yeasts of two wineries, one bakery, top cropping yeast and no conical fermenters, for all you beer nerds). They have re-organized the brewery, figured out ways to run multiple crews while brewing, begun outfitting more equipment and so far there hasn't been a shortfall of beer or a change in the quality. Plus, after slightly adjusting the IPA recipe, opback filtering and dryhopping, Chad is finally happy with the new beer. It has reached the color, depth of flavors and finally the aromatic properties that he was hoping for.
Did I forget to mention that we have labels now? Thanks to Dave and Community Printers, we have full color labels and like everything else in the brewery - our bottles are hand labeled. They look so cool.
Also, we are in stores now! Well, one store and two pizzerias. New Leaf in Felton is our first store and it is so cool to see our beer on the shelves there.
(by the time I got back from San Diego, they had already sold out of the IPA and most of the Amber)
(Right between the 'big boys' - Stone and Lagunitas!)
We are also in a couple of local pizza places - Engfer's in Seabright and Redwood Pizzeria in Felton. We have had a bunch of folks come in and request our beer so we will gradually and cautiously begin distributing this week and the following. It is always nice to have the demand be greater - but on many levels it is also scary!
The brewery could use a few more employees but can't really afford them yet. So in the meantime we are putting the little guys to work.
(Ethan, aka 'Mini-Chad' showing a past pre-school teacher his keg moving abilities)
Business at the brewery is steady - but we are getting used to it. The questions are the same, "What is the difference between the Pale and the IPA? When will the stout be ready?" John and Scott are still the leaders in sales - how do those guys do it? They entertained a record number of folks on the 3rd of July. Tom wins the award for working the most shifts and dealing with the biggest losers! We even had to 86 a beer freak who not only insulted our beer and insulted us personally - but did so while drinking every last sip from his glass. Some people!
(Tom is laid back behind the bar, but watch out - that guy can ring the register like nobody's business!)
New things are always brewing - we should have growlers soon, t-shirts in all sizes and even some new beers. We are gearing up for back to back events in August and September, and starting to look at the possibility of a Beer Garden at the Swift Street Courtyard. Mark and Kelly Sanchez have returned from a family - 'beer and bread vacation' in Germany where they experienced the beer garden phenomenon. A place to bring your lunch, buy a beer and enjoy the day with family and friends... Sounds like a perfect match for Swift Street and Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing.
We celebrated with 7Bridges the success and symbiosis of both businesses over exquisite artisan cheeses from the new River Cafe which they specially paired for beer tasting. What a treat. It was fun to see the members of the cooperative and celebrate the hard work of both companies. We also provided the beer for the Actor's Theater fundraiser.
Meanwhile, back at Swift Street, life goes on, beer ferments and Prince, our local savoneur, continues to charm women...
