August 3rd, at The Brew On Broadway (BoB) -Bottling, cleaning, and brewing additions were on the schedule for today:
The end of the internship is fast approaching, and I’m both excited and sad. After August 3rd, I will only have one day left in my 160-hour internship, which will be next Tuesday, August 9th.
The last two days consisted of helping to clean equipment, finish up brews, prep machines and batches for bottling, and adding cucumbers to a blonde ale.
Always remember that being a brewer is a clever disguise for a janitor most of the time, with a touch of mechanic on an as-needed basis. Cleanup is a constant process and refined mopping techniques are a must for any great brewer {a bit of sarcasm}.
The bottling machine is meant to fill bombers – 22 ounce bottles. By controlling the valves on the machine, a person can purge the bottle of oxygen and then inject it with carbonated beer, followed by capping. It’s a fun machine! This is usually done at the BoB for their Imperial Russian and Barley Wines. Unfortunately I could not stay for this process, which I am sure would have been a great time.
However, I was informed the next day that there was a slight misfortune that occurred. Sam and I had brewed an Old English Ale a week prior. Sam’s assistant was moving clean kegs around when one fell and hit the 1-barrel fermenter. Yup you guessed it, 31 gallons of beer and yeast went spilling on the floor. Instead of leaving around 6:30, they were there till 9 pm cleaning up the mess. In addition to this, several hours were spent getting the dents out of the fermenter. I’m glad I wasn’t there for the mess, but feel bad that our Old English Ale did not survive through to carbonation.
Cheers,
Joe
Slicing the English Cucumbers for the Blonde Ale
Bottles ready for the Barley Wine
