Front Street Brewery

I trust everyone had a good weekend.  The weather was beautiful and the sun was shining.  Too bad the 53 gallons of IPA I put in one of the Jim Beam barrels will never feel a warm Wilmington breeze on a sunny weekend day.  It’s almost masochistic if you think about it.  We take a freshly brewed, wonderfully hoppy IPA and put it in the dark confines of an oak barrel…….put the barrel in the basement………cross our fingers and wait until October.  Poor little IPA……….he just looks so sad down there all by his lonesome.  It’s a good thing he’ll have a friend in a couple weeks.  I’m brewing a batch of Scottish tomorrow and once it ferments out I’ll be kidnapping 53 gallons and placing the barrel next to the IPA.  Only two more to fill up after that.  I’ll keep you all updated on what joins the Scottish and IPA, but a big dark beer aged on Tart Cherries seems to be the hot topic of conversation around the brewery…….anyone got a line on some good tart cherries?

As for an update on me and the brewery we have surely both been busy.  It seems to me lately that I often find myself traveling to brewery related meetings, events etc etc on the weekends.   Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending a North Carolina Brewers Guild meeting at Foothills Brewery in Winston-Salem.  This newly formed entity will help promote NC Breweries and their beers.  It was nice to see some old friends, such as Jamie from Foothills, Mike Morris from Big Boss and Dave Gonzales from Rock Bottom Charlotte.  It was also great to meet some new faces in the NC Brewing scene.  I also became part of the Legislative Initiative Committee for the NC Brewers Guild.  I finally get to put my hard earned Political Science degree to use.  My mom is going to be so proud.   I’ll be sure to keep all of you updated on any happenings from the Guild.

This coming Friday I’m traveling up to Fredericksburg, VA for the Blue and Gray Show.  I have attended this Breweriana show a few times in the past and have always had a great time.  I get to see some old brewing friends…….sample their beer and have them sample mine.  It’s just a great way to get your beer sampled by people that may never even make it to Wilmington. I’ll be sure to post some pics next monday from the event.  A few years ago I remember one of my brewing buddies trying to do the “lumberjack log roll” on an empty keg at 4 in the morning in a hotel room.  All stunts are performed by professionals and should never be tried at home.

As for what’s brewing this week…….We’ll be tapping our chocolate porter this week.  I’ll be brewing Scottish tomorrow and an Imperial Chocolate Stout later this week.  What can I say…….I’m on a chocolate kick.  I have a new idea that will help this beer be more chocolatey than any I have brewed in the past.  More updates on that next week. Back to taxes, waste water reports and organic certification paperwork.  Yes, even brewers have paperwork to do.   I hope all of you out in beer land are well.  Keep checking back for more updates and keep on drinkin’ my beer.

Cheers,

Kevin