Labels

"Designed" the labels for my Amber Ale and my Summer Ale.  They'll of course need revising, but they help me keep track of the beer right now.

Amber Ale

Summer Ale

Needless to say, the names are still up in the air, and I certainly welcome suggestions, but they will also likely be changed before finalizing everything.

More Legal Paperwork & Lagers

Technically, I'm not registered yet.  There was an issue with the Secretary of State with my Articles of Organization - I forgot to include the check (D'oh!).  However, I did apply for and receive my EIN (Employer Identification Number) today, which will be used for tax purposes and will assist me in opening my bank account.  So far the small payments here and there for supplies haven't been bad, but I'm growing weary of having to keep track of them and to keep them separate from my personal expenses.  Having a separate bank account, however, will make that much easier.  That's my next step - an ATM card and a checkbook.

In non-related news, I purchased a used chest freezer today, which will assist me in making lagers.  Lagers require much lower fermentation and aging temperatures than ales, so "room temperature" doesn't work for those.  I'll modify the chest freezer for my lagers with a replacement thermostat to reach optimal temperature (around 50 degrees).  The chest freezer will tide me over until I get my refrigerated fermentation tanks.  Mmmm... lagers...

Last night was a grueling beer evening (work, not drunkenness): 1) I made a wheat beer, 2) I bottled my summer ale, and 3) I transfered the pale ale from primary fermentation to secondary fermentation (with the help of my able quasi-voluntary assistants).  All in all, it was exhausting, but fun.

We're Official (Almost)

I have filed the necessary paperwork with the Secretary of State for the registering of "Post Office Brewing Company, LLC."  It'll take a week or so to get the copy with the state seal on it, but as soon as they receive it, I'll be registered.  Registering the brewery as an LLC has many advantages.  From a purely legal perspective, an LLC (or Limited Liability Company) is significantly easier to maintain and manage, but providing the same liability protection as a corporation.  Since I'm not looking for investors or many partners anytime soon, an LLC will be perfect.  Why register as anything, you may ask?  For one, liability reasons.  Mainly, however, it allows the company to have a separate bank account and separate tax filings. It basically makes my life a lot easier, by not forcing me to keep track of "business" expenses and "personal" expenses as I build the company.  Plus, if someone offers me $1 million dollars for the company at some later date, the transaction would be easy and simple (wishful thinking, huh?)

Anyway, I've taken the first legal step to establishing this company and I look forward to the further building as the weeks progress.

As a side note, my amber ale (haven't named it yet) was bottled a few weeks ago and its now ready.  Did I mention it was delicious?  Well, it is.  Tonight I will be both brewing a new batch of wheat beer and bottling my summer ale.  The latter will be ready just in time for the mid-August heat and early fall porch-sitting.

A "Blank" State

I've found a space for the Brewery. It's not perfect, but it's free, and free is always a good price. And by "free," I mean the building is owned by my parents and I've been given authority to take over the basement. Unfortunately, the building was built in 1936 and used to be the town's post office (hence the name of the brewery). The good news is that there's plenty of space available, the bad news is that the space is in pretty rough condition, having not been used in nearly 15 years. I take that back - it has been used as storage of various items such as old boxes, old electronics, old files, and old "crap" (I use this term both figuratively and literally - to be explained later) for the past 15 years. Some pictures of the current condition (I've removed all the aforementioned items already):

This is the back of the main room, with the bathroom/kitchen door on the right side and a closet on the left side.

Closet door on the right, camera angle slightly shifted to the left.

And... front wall.  You can tell I've started tearing down an old sheetrock wall, and exposing the stairwell behind.  The doorway to the right continues into a hallway and out the main entrance.

As you can tell from the pictures, this space will need a significant amount of work, including continued demolition, cleaning (flooding years ago ruined the sheetrock wall and colored the concrete floor the the color of red clay), and painting and polishing.  The walls will not remain pink - I'm thinking cornflower blue now, but welcome suggestions.

Why, Dear God, Why?

They say that every person who has ever tried their hand at brewing beer or making wine dreams of starting a brewery or planting a vineyard. I'll be honest up front - that's me in a nutshell. From the first time my apartment was engulfed in the smell of steeped grains and boiling wort (the basic building blocks of beer), I knew a brewery was in my near future. As further honesty, much of the groundwork for this brewery was laid over *COUGH*several*COUGH* beers with my brother-in-law, but aren't most great revolutions (personal or otherwise) began on their path by way of a pint of beer, a glass of wine, a shot of whiskey, or a smoldering joint? Would the Romans have conquered the world without beer? No. Would Shakespeare have written the story of star-crossed lovers without wine? No. Would Jimi Hendrix have butchered the Star-Spangled Banner, and fanned the flames of a cultural revolution without weed? No. Simply put, the world needs vice, and dammit, I intend to do my part (with beer only, mind you)!

Although I've started on the path already, I intend to use this blog to update "readers" (echo echo echo) on the goings on of the destruction, cleanup and building of the brewery, as well as the current batches in various stages of completion. Hopefully by the end, my brewery, Post Office Brewing Company, will be up and running with a fine collection of patrons, all drunk as skunks.