Sustainable Inspiration From Full Sail Brewing Co.

As Strongrope Brewery gradually appears over the horizon, other breweries are giving me inspiration, whether its through the unique beers they create or the sustainable way they run their business. One brewery in particular has fallen into the latter category, only because of the fact that I have yet to try one of their beers. Full Sail Brewing Co. in Hood River. Oregon recently was awarded the Governor’s Sustainability Award for Small Business. Full Sail truly embraces the tenets of Sustainabrew in all three phases, environmental, economic and social.

Their environmental efforts are pretty inspiring when first glanced over, but just seem like common sense when you step back and think about it. 85% of their hops and 95% of their barley is grown locally. While this is very tough path at the moment for most breweries to follow, since most states don’t have much in the way of local hops and barley suppliers, with the increase of local farms and farmers markets, as well as the rise in craft breweries, that path hopefully will become a little easier.

Full Sail Brewery also abbreviates their work week into four 10-hour shifts, which they say, reduces power consumption and water use by 20%. While the individual days may be longer, and more productive I might add, this gives the employees more time off to spend with their families and friends. People tend to work longer and longer, thinking that they will be more productive and that they need the extra money, while in fact, “all these extra hours have helped more than double the productivity of the American worker in the past half-century — but they have also increased our energy consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions.” It time the employees, work a little less, and live a little more.

Speaking of the employees, they are the ones that are running the ship, so to speak. In 1999 Full Sail Brewing Co. became employeed owned and was split up between the 47 workers that called Full Sail home. The core beliefs in sustainability of the brewery and its workers feed off of one another. Full Sail attracts people that embraces craft beer and sustainability through its amazing Sustainabrew efforts and in turn the employees bring their own ideals and actions, reinforcing the convictions and achievements of the brewery.

Full Sail Brewing Co. is definitely a model that Strongrope will look to on its journey towards proselytizing the word of craft beer to the rest of the world.

Cheers,
Jason

Via Oregon Live

 

Brewing A Dubbel!

Well it has been a couple days since I got my Dubbel finished, and its currently fermenting, well trying to. We wanted to brew at the last minute and didn’t have time to do a starter, so I pitched two vials of WhiteLabs WLP530 Abbey Ale yeast. I had been told that it was doable… so I did it. It has been a couple days now and not seeing much activity. Was it the best thing to do? I am not so sure, but it will be a good experiment. But next time, and every time from here on out, I am going to be making a starter. I just want to make sure that I have enough of those little buggers, so that it gets things going quick enough.

This was only my second all grain batch and I have learned things both times and I am loving it. So it is a learning process, and something where each session is going to be better then the last, but it is a process. Notes, I need to be taking copious notes. I did, a little bit, in my Beer Alchemy, but it definitely can improve. I am working on a brewday checklist, since I tend to forget a step or two cough cough gravity reading cough cough. I am still getting used to the process though, since its not quite second nature yet.

So here are some pictures of my day and the (very) fledgling Strongrope Brewery. Not too many though, I unfortunately found out that the manufacturers memory card for the camera holds ten pictures (What the hell is that?!)

Gotta get it clean, so dirty!

Ahhh, the Strongrope Brewery.

Got pot?

BUBBLES! my bubbles!

Fire it up!

Boiling away!

Steamy!

Gratuitous equipment shot.

These 7 rings…

Cheers,

Jason

 

Just Your Friendly Neighborhood Craft Brewery.

Trying new beers is great and if your a beer snob, er, enthusiast, like I am, it is pretty much an imperative to seek out new beers from around the world. If i can find a Mikkeler i have yet to taste, I’d pop its top without a second thought. If De Struise Brouwers Black Albert were to ever cross my path, I would stop everything and partake in its dark goodness. I think you get the point. But there is something to be said for drinking from the brewery that made the beer in your hometown, there is an appreciation and a freshness that comes with drinking the local beer, from the local brewery.

Not to long ago, it used to be common to be able to get a beer that was brewed locally, right down the street, in your own neighborhood. At one point, here in New York City, there were 70 breweries scattered throughout the 5 boroughs, while there were over 4000 breweries operating nationally. But much has changed from that time, most of those early breweries are gone, and America lost much in brewing culture due to prohibition and the onslaught of acquisitions and consolidations. Large scale, centralized brewing took precedences over small scale, local breweries.  We hit the low mark in the early 80′s when there were less than 100 breweries operating in the U.S. But that changed as people began to search for beer with deeper flavors and when they couldn’t find any they made it themselves. Craft Breweries started to pop up to meet that demand

As of now there is just a handful of breweries and brewpubs serving up local beer in the boroughs of New York City, but craft brewing is on the rise. In 2007 there were 1463 breweries in the US and the majority of those were were making craft beer. Will there ever be 70 breweries pouring ales and lagers in New York City again? While I would love it, it really is hard to imagine. But there are breweries in many cities across the country and it is possible now to get a local beer. From Bar Harbor, Maine to Solona Beach, California, people can walk down the street or around the block to go to their local brewery.

Now I understand the desire to try as many types of beers from all over the world, trust me I can geek out with the best of them, but there is something special about getting a beer brewed around the corner, a beer brewed locally. One is getting that fresh beer that has just finished fermenting and is now being tapped at your local beer bar or brewpub. Mmmm, I can taste it right now. The other one is knowing that your supporting a local business, that your putting money back into the local economy, and while it is not a rule, local craft breweries are much more likely to take an active role in supporting their own, local community. What goes around comes around.

Now if you don’t mind I think I will go find a nice Sixpoint Emasculator, or maybe a Brooklyn Savoir Faire, or….

Cheers,

Jason

 

Review of Oskar Blues Ten Fidy

What’s that old adage, “When the weather becomes bitter, grab a brew and make it better” Okay so that’s not an actual saying, but it sure is damn cold outside. When your day consists of running errands from Chinatown all the way up to 20th st and 6th ave, and yes I did walk the whole way, and yes I know I am an idiot, the only way to get some reprieve from old man winter is to stop at the beer store.

New Beer Distributors is a cold blooded store, and I don’t mean that in a mean way, I mean it quite literally. In the summer it gets hot as hell in their warehouse of a store, which I just can’t think is good for the beer to sit at that warm of a temperature, but in the winter it acts quite nicely as a refrigerator. So while I didn’t get out of the cold I was definitely warmed by the large selection of beers that awaited my perusing.

It didn’t take me long before I saw what I had come for, Oskar Blues Ten Fidy Imperial Stout… In a can. 4 black little cans strapped together beckoned to me in the dark cavernous store, their packaging giving a small taste of what was yet to come.

When I got home and out of the bitter cold, i grabbed my trusty snifter and popped open the beer.  The imperial stout didn’t so much pour out, as it did ooze out. This viscous brew struts out of the can, as dark as a moonless night, with a head that’s thick, dark brown and lasts as long as the winter solstice.

The nose wafted up. Notes of dark fruits, chocolate and a bit of roastiness filled the glass. While it is hoppy (98 ibus) it definitely did not come out that much, obviously being held down by this syrupy drink.  I couldn’t wait to get into this, but I did, letting it warm up just a bit since it was quite cold from having just come in from its long journey.

After warming it up just a bit, I took a sip. While I have had the Ten Fidy before, I was still floored by this amazing beer. Simply delicious. The stout looks thick and tastes just as thick, with roasted and caramel malts hitting first. Its deep and complex and the alcohol (10%) comes out just enough, nicely accenting the beer, while not over powering it, but also giving it a dry finish leaving you wanting more. But be careful because this imperial stout will definitely sneak up on you

Oskars Blues has made an amazing beer that you should definitely seek out if you are lucky enough to find one. And while my initial motto may never make into the American lexicon, this beer definitely made this bitter day, better.

Cheers,

Jason

 

What’s in a Name?

While I may not know every little bend and turn along the road of this journey to the land of Craft Beer, I do know one thing, the eventual name that will emblazon the crest as I cross the threshold into my own craft brewery, Strongrope Brewery.

Strongrope is a name with origins that date back to 2001. First and foremost it is an homage to my best friend Eric Ropiteau who died on September 11th. He was my best friend and has been an inspiration for everything I have done since then and this is my small way to honor his memory. A nickname of his had been Rope, and he was an amazing guy, so I had come up with a name, a catch phrase that at that point was not attached to anything, just more of a feeling I had when I thinking of him.

I started home brewing about a year later  and as I am sure most home brewers do, played around with names for my brewery. My first idea for the name of the brewery, while wholly appropriate, DrunkenSahler, just was lacking something… Oh yeah, class! It wasn’t till a couple of years later that I had applied Strongrope to the brewery, and it just fit.

But it is much more than just an homage to my long lost friend and brother, it is a philosophy.

Sustainability is paramount for me and it can be broken down into three integral parts; social, environmental, and economic.  It is important to have a strong community, with out that you are alone. It is important to have a strong earth, with out that you are sick. It is important to have a strong business, with out that you are broke. The community; the earth; the business, all of these need to be strong and to work together in order for each to thrive. And the rope is the what holds it all together. It holds our families, our communities, our earth and our business from falling apart.

Applying sustainability to beer and craft brewing is natural and when i refer to the two (sustainability and beer) I will be calling it sustainabrew, a little name that just speaks volumes.

Whenever and where ever I start my brewery it is going to not just deliver amazing and innovative brews, it is going to give back to the community that my family and I live in, to the earth that provides the essential ingredients, and to the people that work not just for me but with me. A true sustainabrew.

Cheers,

Jason

 

The Quest Begins!

Welcome one and all to my new blog Strongrope Brewery. This is a the beginning of a journey for me and I am glad you have joined me for this ride. My name is Jason Sahler and I am a homebrewer slowly making his way to that fabled land of craft brewing. I have created this blog to chronicle the adventures and daily happenings on this quest of mine.

The blog will be a hodge podge of brew day stories; reviews of beers as I continue to develop my palate; industry news and notes; my own musings on the wonderful world of beer and the steps I take as I work to complete this craft brewing quest.

I don’t know when this will all come to fruition, but every journey must begin with a first step.

So raise a glass of your favorite brew and please join me as I begin this wonderful voyage into the world of craft beer.

Cheers,

Jason