The Beer is in the Fermenter

I am happy to report that yesterday we brewed our production batch of Finch, 'Robust Red Ale', and everything went great!

We had an early start - 6 am! - at Stewart's Brewing Company. Immediately before us were 16 or so full sacks of malt that we would be turning into delicious red ale. It was a pretty full load in the mash tun, but luckily we got the strike temperature right, and we ended up with the target mash temperature first try, no fuss!

After running off into the kettle, we took great pleasure in adding wave after wave of nice and fresh whole hops to the boil. The lupulin was coming apart in my fingers in its powdery yellow bliss as I pulled the hop cones apart. Needless to say, the kettle (and the building) smelled incredible.

After the boil, we added some more hops to the unique make-shift, and effective hop-back. We pushed to get every last drop we could out and into the fermenter. At last, the brew was in the fermentation vessel, yeast was pitched, and we were laughing! It was a proud day for Damon, our brewer, the wise architect of our recipe, and for all of us in Natural Selection Brewing.
The finch has come home to roost, you might say?

We'd like to send a big 'Thank you!' to Iain from Stewart's, who led us in brewing and who magnanimously tolerated us in his work space. He was informative, patient, and he was enthusiastic about our beer as well!

Colin was constantly taking pictures, and despite our best efforts to act like fools, he managed to get some good shots. Check them out on our facebook page :
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.133916190022162.36374.123334411080340

To conclude, the beer is in the tank! Now all that's left is packaging the stuff, and then drinking it! We will need all of your help with the latter....
Cheers!

Kevin Emms
Project Manager