Action packed weekend.

Friday - January 24th
I will be arriving early to O'so to help with the brew day and to get things set up for the bottle release that evening.  The brew day will start at 5:00am to target a 7:00pm flame out and filling of the coolship.  Its a long brew day, but will actually be shorter than it was last year since we won't be filling barrels until the next morning. The O'so Tap House opens at 3:00pm and the bottle sales will start at 5:00pm.  Cash only.

Bottles release on Friday night (L-R): Winds of Change, Scarlet Letter, Dweller on the Threshold, and Sikaru

The coolship is to be delivered Thursday afternoon, and unless Marc decides to take on the task of setting it up that evening, this will be my top priority on Friday.  We are setting it up behind the brewery, but the ground there isn't level, so building up timber supports may be a bit tricky.  Keep in mind the coolship itself weighs ~750lbs dry and will be nearly 7,000lbs when filled on Friday.

30bbl finished coolship at fabrication shop.

One thing I am particularly excited about is kicking off the "Fermentation is Art" series (click link to learn more).  In this series, I will be working with artists to create a piece of original artwork inspired by the beer's concept.  We will have 25 gift sets for sale at the release that include a signed and numbered archival print along with a bottle of Dweller on the Threshold.  If you would like to reserve a gift set, email us.

Gift set featuring Amy Swoboda's Dweller on the Threshold artwork.

Saturday - January 25th
Its back to the brewery early in the morning.  Depending on the weather, it may be very early.  The colder it is, the faster the wort will cool and so the earlier we will have to transfer it out.  I am targeting ~70 degree wort temperature before emptying the coolship.  From there it will go into a mixing tank to make sure everything is homogeneous, and then we will fill barrels.  I cleaned all of the barrels last weekend.  I want to be able to see the effects of using "horny" barrels vs "new" barrels.  "Horny" barrels are barrels we have used for lambic already, and "new" barrels are barrels we have just received from wineries.  Both have been cleaned out thoroughly with boiling hot water, but there will always be microbes living deep in the wood that will come out and play a role in fermenting the new lambic wort.

After barrels are filled we will have some clean up to do and then it is off to Central Waters' 16th Anniversary party. Amazing beer and amazing people make this event a must every year!

Sunday - January 26th
We will make our way back to Madison, where that evening Forequarter will be doing a special beer dinner. The dinner is 6 courses paired with all 4 of the beers we release on Friday and 2 cocktails for $85.  I've been shown a preview of the menu they have designed and you will not be disappointed!

Call Forequarter at 608.609.4717 to make a reservation for Sunday night.

As always, they are doing some amazing stuff.  Hope to see there, especially if you aren't able to make it up to O'so on Friday evening!