Taste of Kent

Congratulations to the Taste of Kent Award Winners, announced at a slap up binge in the Fairfax Hall at Leeds Castle last night to the congregated Kent Artisanocracy and associated hangers-on. Before I go any further, yes, GADDS' remains the Best Kentish Beer, and that's still official.

Anyway, specific shout out and 'spect to Eddie Gilbert's of Ramsgate who took top gong for fish retailing. They sell GADDS' too, which must have helped in the final judging. 'Spect too to the Haywain Countryside Boozer, now the best pub in Kent. They also sell GADDS'. And to Macknade's Fine Food Emporium, the reigning Local Food Retailer of the Year. And a GADDS' stockist. Congratulations too to Biddenden Vineyards for their peerless Ortega, Kent's finest wine. They sell GADDS' as well. Finally, and with great fondness, much congrats to the Chai Stop, Food Producer of the Year. No, they don't sell GADDS', they don't sell any beer, they make delicious curries using local produce, including beef from Dunn's herd, fattened on the spent grains from, yes, you guessed it, GADDS' Ramsgate Brewery.

We were sat next to a charming, friendly couple who, it turned out, were a dab hand at award presentation, as we found out later on. No wonder really, they do it for a living.

Good-news bad-news joke.

After a 'challenging' start to the week, progress on-site has gone smoothly, however, by Friday afternoon we were closer to crying than laughing.

Construction of the dry and capacious new malt store was started on Monday and finished by Wednesday, bang on schedule. The cold, dry and capacious new cold cellar is nearly finished and all brewery pipework and cleaning systems have been completed, with commissioning well underway (commissioning = checking it works). Installation of the high-pressure steam boiler, with its associated pipework, is the one remaining major task and, since this is the only way we can raise water and wort temperature, it's pretty fundamental to producing beer. This has always been the great known unknown: the boiler is an old one requiring a costly and time consuming rebuild in order to prepare it for insurance certification. The engineer in charge isn't quite as old but, due to a life of hard graft, has himself required a certain amount of rebuilding in order to walk, having trapped nerves in his back during the project. On Friday afternoon he gave me the good-news bad-news talk: the boiler is great but the timescale is three weeks longer than our beer stocks have allowed for. Calamity. No end-of-week laughing matter.

I emphasised the gravity of this situation and Jim the Boil rang back at 5pm to say that he, Lou the Flue and the Two Robins would descend, mob handed, in ten days time to knock the job out, leaving me not a single day's worth of stock to spare before production re-starts.

So I was laughing in the end.

I love building breweries - I've done a few in my time. But now this, the largest and sexiest so far, has started to take shape and display its ergonomic and technological beauty, I'm itching to get the wellies on and put it through its paces.

Least wanted Monday morning surprises #6

A flat tyre on the 3.5t Transit, roadside at 6am, with ice on the ground.

Well if that's the worst the week holds for us we'll be laughing by Friday.

Unknown unknowns #1 reveals its truth

Not only is the steel frame that supports the 1 tonne hot liquor tank constructed of irregular length legs, it is structurally weak when out of plumb and likely to attempt to shed its load if disturbed.

That's the truth we found out to our cost today. And cost it did: a full day's work for myself, Rob the Build and Tom the Boy getting the whole structure, and its piggy backing stainless lump of mass, back in place, safe and sound. All manner of skills, techniques and technologies were hurled at the 'issue', the trusty old (and knacked) forklift truck reluctantly providing the finishing touch.

We're still on schedule. And on budget. But the next unknown unknown could change all that.

"That was the scariest day of my life" hissed the rookie Boy through a stress dissipating drag on his fag when it was all over. We guffawed, in experience, though I suspect we might have found more common ground on this point than we cared to admit.

Spot the difference

We got 'em in with inches to spare. Well, two, but that was enough.

Now then, just got to try and remember how they fit together.

T minus 2 hrs

Last week was frankly pretty dull: knocking stuff down, building walls and pouring concrete. Taxing only mildly in logistics and cost; the engineer could have managed it from the pub.

This morning, however, the fun re-starts as Lofty Paul and the Very Capables (promotion) arrive before elevenses, fully laden with 6 tonnes of GADDS' brewhouse aboard three 'outsize load' articulates. I ought to be smiling again by teatime.

Special thanks to Anon of Concernedville but I ain't tired and the change of plan was a quality decision.

A history of mankind

(BBC's History of the World in 100 objects)

3000 BC and writing was very much in its infancy. This early example is a record of workers' beer rations, their remuneration for a hard day's graft. Beer has been integral to human society for millennia so when next you read some old neoprohibitionist spout forth his or her blatant propagandist lies claiming that we're headed for hell in a handbag if we drink more than half a pint a week just smile, and remember your ancestors.

Then go to the pub and drink a half gallon, just because you can, whatever they say.

Phase 3? Well, the next bit anyway.

New (10 yr old) plant decommissioned and uplifted from its former home - check.

Fermenters installed at Hornet Close (that's our place) - check.

Brewathon to create enough stock to shut down for four weeks - check.

That all sounds like things are on track, progressing nicely, according to a plan doesn't it? I'll reluctantly agree that it is a reasonable perception. However, now we're into the messy bit where all manner of known, and unknown, unknowns lurk. We must make suitable preparations to receive the brewhouse vessels on Monday next - some demolition (done today), a little concrete pouring for these new vessels to sit on (tomorrow, but a breeze for an ex-civil engineer who's poured more of the stuff than he cares to care about) and some fibre-glass floor finishing (a complete left field change of plan encouraged, nay, dreamed up, by Rob the Builder - *he* reckons it'll work but wtf does he know about brewhouses? Why do I listen? Am I easily led? Or is this intuition?).

And I don't even want to mention the steam boiler. Doh, I just did.

If I only think a few days ahead I can ignore next week's worries, and the worries of the week after. And the stock. And the cash flow. Jeez, does anyone actually *do* this for a living?

2010 Year in Beer - East Kent IPA

A quick look at our Year in Beer calendar (pdf) tells me it's time to wheel out the IPA I brewed a few weeks ago. Much has been written about this historic, pale, hoppy beer style in the past few years and it would be futile to attempt to bring any new understanding to the forum. Therefore, for those with the time, I'll direct you to my friends at Meantime, who have had the time to compend a web page on the subject. I commend the entire cannon to anyone interested in the modern history of the Western world.

Enough! Right, our IPA is a pale beer stuffed to bursting with subtle, classy East Kent Goldings hops grown right here in, er, East Kent. They display gentle citrus notes, with lemon dominating, and a little exotic fruit. Curry was invented to go with this beer, really it was.

The subtlety of the beer is mirrored by the down-played design and muted colour of the pump clip.

Availability is limited but you'll find it on Friday night at the excellent Festival of Winter Ales in Dover. I'll be the one in the corner eating curry.

Alright, not the bestest post ever but it's Monday morning and 8 degrees Celsius in the office, thanks to me making popping noises with the wiring yesterday. No idea how Shackleton et al managed to keep decent diaries.