Our new website was published today. Pretty pumped about it. Our friend Aaron really does a great job with this. I mean he has plenty of time being locked in our basement and all. We give him a little food and a 6 pack a day. I mean, what an incentive right. I'd be pumping out some code too for a free 6 pack of OBB a day. It's good beer!! If you like the new look, like us on facebook, leave a comment or something. Let us know you're there.
Some updates for you. We're...guess what...still waiting on the ABC Board to accept our application. Do they realize that they start making money the sooner we get a license? Placed that huge order for our kegs. That one really hurt the ol' pocket book. Didn't go stainless steel though. We're going to be using plastic kegs. Oh plastic...the Miracle Material. Still hopeful to get our beer out in May. Realistically, it will be toward the end of May, first of June. I hate to even speculate now though since we're not getting any real feedback from the State. I can tell you that we will not be making the brew fest, but don't worry, we plan to have our own brew fest when we debut. It's gonna be Epic! Dancing dogs, Fire Breathers, Walking Talking Black Bears, Fireworks...you name it, oh and BEER. OBB Beer.
Can't wait. You down with OBB??
Huntsville Alabama's Premier Craft Beer Brewer
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
Here's a challenge
Non beer related, but was out last night with Danny watching the games, having our "Business Meeting" over a couple Thomas Creek Pilsners. You know there's a lot going on right now for us even though we aren't brewing yet, and coupled with the happenings of everyday life, your cell phone gets used A Lot!
Mine got left in my wifes car at lunch. As much as I see people driving and talking and texting at red lights, it can't just be me, but the anxiety of not having access to the information super highway was unbelievable. What was I supposed to do sitting at the bar when somebody asked me a question and I couldn't google it to find out the answer. I was voted Most likely to Google it on facebook in 2009 and for good reason, Google and me, we know everything when we are together.
I'll challenge you to leave your phone alone for a whole day. Some of you can, not a big deal, but those of you that know who you are, bet you can't do it.
Now back to the beer...Kegging another round of ESB in the morning. This is our test batch we made for LMBC. New hops, new dry hopping method, new water, new beer! Excited to get a taste.
Cheers
Mine got left in my wifes car at lunch. As much as I see people driving and talking and texting at red lights, it can't just be me, but the anxiety of not having access to the information super highway was unbelievable. What was I supposed to do sitting at the bar when somebody asked me a question and I couldn't google it to find out the answer. I was voted Most likely to Google it on facebook in 2009 and for good reason, Google and me, we know everything when we are together.
I'll challenge you to leave your phone alone for a whole day. Some of you can, not a big deal, but those of you that know who you are, bet you can't do it.
Now back to the beer...Kegging another round of ESB in the morning. This is our test batch we made for LMBC. New hops, new dry hopping method, new water, new beer! Excited to get a taste.
Cheers
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Change is good...Right?
When we decided to go "pro" with brewing beer, we knew there would be challenges. Everybody should expect that right, but what about when a curveball comes like you have to change your recipe to meet production. Things you don't realize will always crop up...like suppliers running out of bittering hops in the quantity that you need in the middle of the year. Appears that the 2010 crop of hops was a little thin. Doesn't bode well for an up and coming brewery that is relying on someone elses facility and supplies to start their business. Turns out it would be much cheaper to use a different bittering hop and it helps logistically because it's already available at the brewery. What to do....
Decisions have to be made quick sometimes in this business. But making that quick decision to change your recipe doesn't neccessarily mean that you are sacrificing quality. Every ingredient is important in making beer. Hops don't get a pass when put beside any of the other 3 players. Water has defining characteristics as does yeast. Barley is probably the easiest ingredient to manipulate in the brewing process. Then you have hops, and in our case, bittering hops. You say bittering hops are bittering hops though right. 14% in Nugget is 14% in Magnum isn't it? Or is it?
Insoluble alpha acids are isomerized into more soluble iso-alpha acids during boiling, destroying the fragile aromatic oils you get when hops are added to the hot water. But are they really completely destroyed? Everything I've ever read tells me so. I've been told a lot of things in my life thus far though. I was told growing up that there were 9 planets, turns out there's only 8 now. I was told I shouldn't drink because alcoholism ran in the family, so I started a brewery. Hell my first wife told me she'd love me forever. I'm really glad that one turned out the way it did though, I have a much better one now. Point is...until we actually brewed a batch this week with different hops, I thought it didn't matter. Turns out it does.
Did it change dramatically? No, but it did change. Experimentation is a good thing. You don't learn if you don't experiment, unless you take everyone else's word for it. And where did they learn it from? Reading someone else's experience or experimenting themselves. I was terrified homebrewing that I wouldn't have everything sanitized from all the books I read, until that fear was removed when I had to stick my arm into a batch to get something I dropped in accidentally before primary. Beer turned out quality wise just as good as the previous one.
Luckily, our beer with Old Black Bear isn't in the market yet. We have a distinct characteristic we are going for, but don't mind a little change in the flavor before we get to the point production starts. To be honest, doesn't matter what kind of beer you put in front of me in a bar, I'm probably going to like it. As long as we continue to make the same beer once we get it out there we'll be fine.
Decisions have to be made quick sometimes in this business. But making that quick decision to change your recipe doesn't neccessarily mean that you are sacrificing quality. Every ingredient is important in making beer. Hops don't get a pass when put beside any of the other 3 players. Water has defining characteristics as does yeast. Barley is probably the easiest ingredient to manipulate in the brewing process. Then you have hops, and in our case, bittering hops. You say bittering hops are bittering hops though right. 14% in Nugget is 14% in Magnum isn't it? Or is it?
Insoluble alpha acids are isomerized into more soluble iso-alpha acids during boiling, destroying the fragile aromatic oils you get when hops are added to the hot water. But are they really completely destroyed? Everything I've ever read tells me so. I've been told a lot of things in my life thus far though. I was told growing up that there were 9 planets, turns out there's only 8 now. I was told I shouldn't drink because alcoholism ran in the family, so I started a brewery. Hell my first wife told me she'd love me forever. I'm really glad that one turned out the way it did though, I have a much better one now. Point is...until we actually brewed a batch this week with different hops, I thought it didn't matter. Turns out it does.
Did it change dramatically? No, but it did change. Experimentation is a good thing. You don't learn if you don't experiment, unless you take everyone else's word for it. And where did they learn it from? Reading someone else's experience or experimenting themselves. I was terrified homebrewing that I wouldn't have everything sanitized from all the books I read, until that fear was removed when I had to stick my arm into a batch to get something I dropped in accidentally before primary. Beer turned out quality wise just as good as the previous one.
Luckily, our beer with Old Black Bear isn't in the market yet. We have a distinct characteristic we are going for, but don't mind a little change in the flavor before we get to the point production starts. To be honest, doesn't matter what kind of beer you put in front of me in a bar, I'm probably going to like it. As long as we continue to make the same beer once we get it out there we'll be fine.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Hurry up and wait!
Wasn't long ago that I said it seemed like this was taking forever. Well guess what...nothing has changed. Latest news for Old Black Bear is, we are teaming with Lazy Magnolia to contract brew our beer now.
Seeing their brewery down in Kiln, MS (The Kill for those of you from down south MS) was a real eye opener. While working with Olde Towne would have definitely been more convenient being across town, it is obvious why their doors are closed now and we are glad we're getting OBB started with these guys. Mark and Leslie (Lazy Magnolia Owners) run a really tight ship. They have a streamline production facility that runs nearly all day every day.
Lots of cool things coming up in the beer world around here soon. We're hopeful that we can participate in most of it. All we can do right now is hurry up and wait
- Waiting on TTB again to approve LMBC brewing our label.
- Which we need before we finalize the contract
- Which we need in place before we purchase our kegs
- and before we can apply for our ABC license.
Seeing their brewery down in Kiln, MS (The Kill for those of you from down south MS) was a real eye opener. While working with Olde Towne would have definitely been more convenient being across town, it is obvious why their doors are closed now and we are glad we're getting OBB started with these guys. Mark and Leslie (Lazy Magnolia Owners) run a really tight ship. They have a streamline production facility that runs nearly all day every day.
Lots of cool things coming up in the beer world around here soon. We're hopeful that we can participate in most of it. All we can do right now is hurry up and wait
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Big things to come
All this waiting is really starting to get to us. We have so many ideas...we're making some great new beers in the bear cave. It's like we have a green thumb for beer. Everything we make turns out awesome. Just can't get it to everyone.
Luckily this weekend something finally came together...we have a big opportunity coming possibly. Can't wait, literally. Keep making tap handles in the meantime all the while wondering when we get to use them, besides on the side of my fridge which is awesome looking by the way. I have a picture on my phone actually....
Mind the mess..There's 2 taps now though. Have the ESB and Dunkel on deck. Let's see what's new...Licensed in Huntsville officially as of yesterday. That leaves our ABC license left. We're planning on a 8 ft tall wooden bear outside our building on the Square downtown. Don't know what the city is going say about that....it'll happen though.
Same Bear channel next week friends, I'm confident we'll be bringing you great news. Have a great weekend.
Luckily this weekend something finally came together...we have a big opportunity coming possibly. Can't wait, literally. Keep making tap handles in the meantime all the while wondering when we get to use them, besides on the side of my fridge which is awesome looking by the way. I have a picture on my phone actually....
Mind the mess..There's 2 taps now though. Have the ESB and Dunkel on deck. Let's see what's new...Licensed in Huntsville officially as of yesterday. That leaves our ABC license left. We're planning on a 8 ft tall wooden bear outside our building on the Square downtown. Don't know what the city is going say about that....it'll happen though.
Same Bear channel next week friends, I'm confident we'll be bringing you great news. Have a great weekend.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Tap Handles
Check out these bad boys. Have you ever gone to a bar, sat down and looked at the spread, and was like, I can't tell what's what? Well, not with Old Black Bear.
A little black paint, vinyl lettering, and a laquer dip and we hung em up to dry.
This is our ESB handle. You'll be able to tell it from across the room by the Orange mirrored emblem at the bottom. We started production on these this week after months of prototypes. Don't have the money to purchase them custom and really don't like the stock handles you get. We wanted to be unique just like our beer.
A little black paint, vinyl lettering, and a laquer dip and we hung em up to dry.
These are going to look good!!!
Small Setback
So things don't always happen the way you plan it...So far, with Old Black Bear, nothing is going to plan, except the beer we make. If we could only get it to the market. Just when we think everything is going perfect, Olde Towne decides to close up shop, leaving us with no brewery. I realize it's just business, but Damn, what horrible timing. You talk about a depressing couple of days Monday and Tuesday. To think that we were | | that close to brewing beer and planning the debut, then 1 weekend and all our ideas were turned around bassackwards.
We didn't letting it stop us though, and we now have 2 other breweries in the works to help us get our beer into the Huntsville market. We'll let you know who that is when we get the contract signed. Don't think we will make our April debut timeline, but we might be able to make May or June. Which will be good, it will be warmer and we can take advantage of the outdoors.
Once again stay tuned, we'll get there eventually.
We didn't letting it stop us though, and we now have 2 other breweries in the works to help us get our beer into the Huntsville market. We'll let you know who that is when we get the contract signed. Don't think we will make our April debut timeline, but we might be able to make May or June. Which will be good, it will be warmer and we can take advantage of the outdoors.
Once again stay tuned, we'll get there eventually.
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