8/28/2016 Brewster Brew at Palmetto Brewery

Another great Brewster brew day has come and gone. In my last post, I wrote about Tradesman Brewing Co and Tanael who came to brew with us. She invited us to brew at Palmetto the following Sunday. What I didn't know is that she is the Head Brewer at Palmetto Brewing Co. She went to school in Berlin for four years where she earned a degree in brewing  after which she was offered a job there. But she had family obligations so she returned to Venezuela. Wanting to come the US, she landed a job in Colorado. She moved here with her mother. She became a consultant nationally helping different breweries. Now working for Palmetto, she is designing their new brewery which will be located in the Park Circle area of North Charleston, South Carolina.

You cannot believe how grueling the work can be in a small brewery. Usually we are on the receiving end of the process. Until I joined the Brewsters, I never realized the talent and labor it takes to make great beer.  There's milling the grain. Unlike home brewing where you either buy it milled or have a tiny mill to crush the grain, the larger places have giant bags to crush and labor saving ways to transfer the grain to the mash tun.

In addition to dumping a few bags of smaller sacks of grain in the mill for the experience, Clint used a forklift to grind a mega-bag of grain. Then a pipe sucks the milled grain into the mash tun.

This is the mash tun where you mix the grains and temperature controlled water to make wort. Wort is kind of like a tea where you draw the sugars out of the grain. It's the liquid that you will boil.
After we drained the wort, we added more liquid to rinse the grains (sparge) and fill the brew kettle up to the required amount of wort. The panel on the right controls the temperature of the hot liquor tank, mash tun and boil kettle.

 While the brew kettle heats the wort to a boil, we prepare beets for color and we also have hibiscus to add for flavor and aroma.

Tana weighing hops.

Sara Gayle enjoying the smell of the hops.

We also selected and weighed the hops, smelling them as Tana explains how hops add aroma, bittering and flavors.

Hibiscus fllwers,owder and frated beets for our beer.

                                                      Sparging.

 Clint, a well known brewer for Palmetto shares a Great American Beer Festival entry with us. Caught red handed ( beet juice stains)

                                                                        Hop addition.

Adding nutrients to the boil.

Adding the beets for color.

This is Clint who brews at Tradesman. Creative, fun, knowledgeable! He brewed for several years before coming to Charleston, SC and applying for a brewers job at Palmetto. They said they weren't hiring.   He returned again and again dropping off a resume each time. They called him and he moved down four weeks later. Really great guy. After I brewed here, I bragged about it to a few other places and was asked if Clint was there. He's famous in area brew circles. He was fun and thought up the name for our beer, "Pinky Brewster."
Thank you Tana and Clint for giving up your Sunday to brew with our club. We can't wait to drink it!

8/21/2016 Brewster Brew at Tradesman Brewery

Lots of fun Sunday with my Brewster sisters. Scott, the co owner and head brewer and our fearless Brewster Leader/VP of Tradesman/brewing instructor Sara Gayle guided us on a beautiful stout. This one will be dark, rich and creamy.  Unfortunately, I had to leave as they were transferring to the fermenter but I did have a chance to enjoy a great beer and delicious pizza.

I would like to mention that they have grown to a 30 barrel system.  I can't begin to tell you how happy I feel for them. You need to go to Tradesman on your next trip to Charleston. They have award winning beers on tap.

The next Brewster event will be Sunday August 28 at Palmetto Brewery in Charleston. Ladies, come brew with us at 7 am.

Tanael is a brewer at Charleston's Palmetto Brewery. We will be having a Brewster event at Palmetto Brewery August 26 at 7 am.  She worked for Brewery Polar in Venezuela before moving to Colorado in 2015. There she became a consultant traveling the U.S. and  Palmetto Brewery was originally a client. They offered her a position and she accepted. Living in Charleston for about five months, she loves brewing and developing new recipes.  Besides drinking beer, she also enjoys beach volleyball and sports in general.

8/14/2016 Brewster Club at Frothy

Although it may be difficult to get out of bed early on the weekend, as soon as I  arrive at the brewery I get excited. I enjoy seeing the returning brewers and there are always new ones curious to see what we're doing. We recently brewed at Frothy Beard. The new brew is a golden ale with turmeric and cinnamon.  I know you're probably thinking  it's going to be terrible. I do that every time we brew something I haven't thought of making like apple beer or key lime pie beer. I never thought I was a fruity beer drinker but when the beers are done and I go back to try it and there's never been a time I haven't liked it. So if you think you might be interested in joining us for a women's brew day, look up Brewster on Facebook. Sara Gayle and Macey, the founders of The Brewster Brewing Club do a wonderful job of keeping us posted on their events. I know I have a new appreciation of the work and dedication that goes in to the beer I drink.

Another Successful Brewster Weekend

I had such a blast this weekend. Saturday I ended up going to Cooper River Brewing in Charleston for their first Brewster Brew Day. We had 5 women  ready to brew a Watermelon Wheat. This was such a fun experience. Mark, head brewer and  very knowledgeable teacher led us through the mashing as we stirred the grains.

                      Mark , head brewer opening up the grain and filling the mashtun.

                                       Kris, stirring the grain in the hot water.

                           That's me stirring.

 

I need to start lifting weights. We took turns stirring to make sure all the grain was good and wet for mashing. That was a lot of stirring. My arms felt like jelly. So basically, we added very hot water to the grain and then let it steep like tea to draw the sugars out(mash)for about an hour. Then we took the wort(liquid from the mash)and poured it back over the grains. We drained the wort into the boil kettle and then sparged (poured hot water over the grain)to rinse the remaining sugars and to add enough liquid for the hour long boil. While the boil was going, we shoveled out the spent grains for a local farmer who will use it to feed his pigs and cows. You can also use the spent grains in your composter or garden so nothing needs to be wasted.

           Katie, our Cooper River Brewing host and brewer shovels with a smile.

             Local farmers brought their trailer to pick up the grain.

                                                       Testing some fermenting beer.

                                                Brewster Club at the Cooper River Brewery.
We had a successful Brewster Brew and we'll be going back in a couple of weeks to add the watermelon for our Watermelon Wheat beer. I can't thank Mark and the other guys enough for letting us come in and brew with them and sample their beer. It was new for me to brew on larger equipment. We even sanitized tanks. Each brewery is different  and the beer we make is not the usual beer that they make so you have a new experience each time. And you will have a chance to enjoy all the Brewster beers at Craftmans Kitchen during Charleston Beer Week.