Appreciate Your Local Brewer

    Well, it's the night before the big day, and I am sure that this post is jinxing it, but tomorrow is slated to be the first full batch at Ranger Creek Brewing and Distilling. I'm excited, a little anxious, but not really nervous, surprisingly.
    Lots to think about, sleep to get, and tons to do in the morning to get to brewing. Our boiler is not yet fully automated, so it's going to be a shitload of running back and forth checking to make sure it's pulling water, the pressure is right, etc, meanwhile trying not to get my flesh seared as I wriggle beside and behind it. Fun stuff, but it's part of what makes it craft, right? Hands on, potentially life threatening, full force-sweat drenched, and buck wild. That's how I roll.
    Commercial brewing is awesome. It's a challenge and it's rewarding, and while aspects of it are easier than homebrewing, many people don't appreciate fully the amount of labor, stress, and sweat go into making a single batch of beer. You may appreciate the beers and the good folks who made 'em, but think of each step being taken:
For a 10 bbl (310 gallon) batch of my lager that I'm making tomorrow, I need to mill over 600 lbs of grain, or 11- 55lb sacks of grain. That's the lightest of my 4 beers. Each of those sacks of grain is getting picked up by a brewer and dumped into a mill to crack the grains and ready them for mashing.
At the brewery I work at, there's no a.c. in the brewstillery, and I know most breweries of our size and in our area don't have a.c. either. Know why? It's costly and ineffective to try to cool a place that's exposed to the outside air, and has hot equipment working all day. Today in San Antonio it was 106ºF with the heat index. Add a steam boiler, hot liquor tank, mash tun, and boil kettle, and you've got yourself a regular sweat lodge.
Post mash, a brewer is left with a big steel pot with hundreds of pounds of hot, wet grains that need to be shoveled out into big containers for farmers to take away for their livestock. These wet grains weigh, literally, twice as much as they did dry. And they are over 100ºF hot. More sweat...
    On and on through the process the brewer works to bring you some good juice to enjoy with loved ones. Like I said, it's rewarding to do- but quite difficult. One slip up in time, temperature, pH, gravity, cleanliness, etc, and it's all for naught. Now don't get me wrong, I don't say this to make me look good or pump myself up. I haven't done it on my own yet. I'm saying, next time you pour a cold local brew, sip deep in admiration and appreciation of the artistry, talent, and hard-goddam-work that the good folks at Live Oak, NXNW, Uncle Billy's Independence, (512), Southern Star, Real Ale, Freetail, Blue Star, Saint Arnold, etc, etc, etc put into that single libation. Awesome, right? I stand in awe of it daily, and I am humbled and honored at the ability to do it myself and join these brewers that have done it before me. Who the fuck am I but the new kid in town. Well, I hope I sweat enough and pay enough attention to the process that the good juice you drink in a few weeks is worthy of the Texas craft beer drinker's lips. Again, I am honored to have this job and be able to bring you some awesome beer soon, and believe me when I say I intend to do just that.
    Don't just support your local craft brewer, appreciate the shit out of them. Drink their beer and help them be successful, and they will reward you with some good juice.

Tomorrow I'll be rocking my Austin Homebrew Supply t-shirt as I brew my first batch at Ranger Creek. If it wasn't for the patience and sage-like wisdom, kindness and communal spirit of all the guys who have known me by name for years, I'd be far from where I am. Ed emailed me today wishing me luck on my first batch tomorrow. That's fucking nice, and encouraging as all hell. I love the community spirit of craft beer!

-Ranger Creek Rob

I get by with a little help from my friends...

Walking my dog around the sleepy town of New Braunfels tonight, I got to thinking about how far I've come in life, especially lately. Getting to brew at a brand new production brewery is a dream and a huge honor. Getting there took a lot of patience, education, and hard work. It also took a lot of support from some really awesome people I am honored to know. So, thanks:

Chris, Jib, Shawn, and Josh at BeerTownAustin- These guys are huge supporters of craft beer, especially local beer, and homebrewing. Their passion and thirst for good beer has gotten them involved in many beer events, festivals, and breweries. They are always reporting on goings on, and getting the word out for local beer makers and drinkers alike. They have been a huge support to me, so follow them on Twitter and read their blog. They're good guys spreading the good word.

Aaron Chamberlain, who does a few blogs including Craft Austin and My Last Pint, is another Austinite who promotes, supports, and writes about craft beer, with a focus on local. Aaron has always been a friendly face and an avid supporter of things beer, and has been a great support to me. I was lucky enough to have the honor of doing a video interview for his My Last Pint blog, which is a very cool idea, and very fun to read and watch.

Kevin Brand and Nate Seale at (512) Brewing in Austin have always been welcoming to me as well. They have always had an open door for me, allowing me to come in and ask them questions about large scale brewing, where to find equipment, vendor suggestions, and even help with some DIY brewing spreadsheets. Nate let me come in and brew with him on several occasions, and often burned cd's of bitchin' new jams for me to listen to while making suds. These two guys are both great people and deserving of their success.

Amy and Rob Cartwright and their staff at Independence Brewing, also in Austin, have also been kind and welcoming to me as well. They let me come to their brewery, gave me suggestions for places to get bottles, print labels, and even let me help on bottling day to get to know the bottling line. (We purchased the same model that they have.) The Cartwrights have always been good friends, makers of fine beer, and completely supportive, encouraging, and working towards making Austin, and Texas, a beer community.

My good friend Chris Cherry at Live Oak always gives me great, detailed, and technical insight into the brewing industry, dealing with draft accounts, sales, and building business. He has let me come to the brewery to observe, go on deliveries with him, and even gave me my first lessons in driving a forklift. Chris is an awesome human, and another great person hoping for more of a community in Texas craft beer.

Scott and Jason over at Freetail Brewing in San Antonio are a great pair of guys. They have been nothing but supportive since we announced we were opening a brewery in the town they built, and I have to give them "mad props" (the kids still say that, right?) for what they have achieved. Scott and Jason have proved in the last 2 years that San Antonio is more than a Bud Light Lime type of place, as can be seen with their sell-out imperial stout and incredibly inventive specialty beers like a wheatgrass witbiere. These guys are good allies, and Scott is always making a big push to get legislation in Texas changed to make it easier to produce, sell, and buy beer. These are good guys working for good things, so please go drink their beer. I hope we can keep working together to make San Antonio more of a beer town, and work with all the other breweries in the state to get some legislation changed. (Write your lawmakers daily telling them to throw out their outdated laws and give us a break. Right now, brew pubs can only sell beer to people that come to them, and production breweries like Ranger Creek and (512) can only sell to bars, restaurants, and grocery-type stores to sell to people. We can't sell it if you come to our breweries. I know, pointless.)

There are TONS of other people who have been supportive  of me in my brewing endeavors, so don't be offended if you are not specifically named. I do want to thank the good folks I have worked with at the Flying Saucers in Austin and San Antonio, and all of the other beer writers who have been kind enough to reach out to me and write about us.

Lastly, if my wife were not a huge lover of beer (and an amazingly creative baker with beer), I would not be dong what I am doing. She is the most selfless and supportive lady I have ever known, and she makes awesome ice creams and baked treats with the beers I brew, and she's also done a good amount of homebrewing as well.

I also have to thank Assistant Pete, my brother and assistant brewer at Ranger Creek, for all of his hard work, dedication, thirst for knowledge, and support. He'll be the guy you see lifting those heavy ass kegs of beer that you'll be buying and drinking pretty damn soon. (He's also single and is into cycling and eating awesome natural foods.)

The lesson to learn here: We are not shit without the support of the people around us, and if we don't support them back then we have failed as a community. And strong community is what we need, suckas.

This calls for a celebration!

 At Ranger Creek Brewing and Distilling, the brewstillery I brew at in San Antonio, we recently received our TABC and TTB permits, allowing us to make and sell spirits and "ale" in the great state of Texas. To put it mildly, we are fucking excited as shit. I've been hoping and anticipating this day for so long, my wife and I have been sitting on some gems for a while now.
    So to celebrate we are gathering here at the facility on Saturday to drink some beers we've been aging that marry the spirits and beer sides of our business. I don't often have the luxury of possessing beer good enough to brag about, so I'm admittedly a bit tickled about this awesome list:

1999 J.W. Lees Harvest Ale (Lagavulin Cask)
2006 Avery Samaels oaked strong ale
2007 Flying Dog Wild Dog Imperial Porter (Stranahans whiskey barrel aged)
2008 BrewDog Paradox Scotch cask
Lost Abbey Angel's Share bourbon barrel aged American strong ale
Jolly Pumpkin Oro de Calabaza strong golden aged in oak barrels
Great Divide 16th Anniversary Oak Aged IPA
BrewDog Tactical Nuclear Penguin Batch 002

That list is making me drool. What vintage goodies have you got? We're still sitting on a 2008, 2009, 2010 DFH Red and White, a 2004&2007 Fuller's Vintage Ale, and some other goodies. We're also amassing one vintage of J.W Lees Harvest Ale from 2008 on to 2026- 18 years of beer- to crack open for our son's 18th birthday. (I hope they keep making it that long.)

Cheers!

Why is homebrewing a family value?

     With all of the great beer blogs out there, why another one? Why the fuck not, you know? My name is Rob Landerman, husband, father, brewer. I have been a homebrewer for 6+ years, now brew professionally, and I feel like adding to the conversation, helping to explain why beer and brewing are valid and necessary parts of American society.
     This isn't going to be a blog solely about homebrewing, but will rather focus on many different aspects of beer, brewing, and their places (read: importance) in our lives. I do not aim to aggrandize nor over simplify these themes, so bear with me as this is obviously in a very infantile state currently, and I have yet to get in a groove. (I'll take this time to name drop...) If you're looking for a more established beer blog with a clearly defined path, please check out my good friends at Beer Town Austin, Craft Austin, My Last Pint, Texas Beer Blog, I Love Beer blog, and Texas Girls Pint Out, amongst a trillion other good ones.
   Having said that....
     Why "Homebrewing Is A Family Value?" Simply, because it is. The basest principles of homebrewing are:

• cleanliness
• education
• understanding
• patience
• responsibility
• respect

    These are the same principles we aim to build our communities upon. The communal gathering of homebrew clubs can, and should be translated to the home and family. Gathering as a family or community to make, discuss, and drink beer together is, for my money, the best way to build togetherness. The relaxing effect of beer, the conversations started from the mere experience of tasting, and the communal pride of sharing knowledge and anecdote is a beautiful thing. Teaching our children that it is fine to drink beer, that it is not taboo but rather a healthful part of our day, gives them a greater understanding and respect of it. In my home we treat it like the food that it is, not like a porno magazine. There is no shame in drinking or sharing it with your children.

    When you look at homebrew clubs, competitions, educational programs, communal brew sessions, and the beer bar of today, it's like looking back in time when beer was a deep rooted part of society, that social lubricant that loosed good folks' tongues after a long day of work and gave them common ground to walk on. Homebrewing has helped, to me, revive a part of society we have been missing for a long time. The folks I know that brew, or just drink in appreciation and awe of this artfully crafted beverage, are some of the best I've ever known, and if this big surly country had more of 'em, perhaps it'd be a bit better of a place. Homebrewing is a symbol of community and good standing. (Believe me, I know some homebrewers are know-it-all dicks, but that's where patience and respect come in...) Next time you crack open a cold coffee-raisin-tofu-saison, or whatever your newest abstract self expression is, revel in the company you share it with. 

Stay tuned for less poorly written persuasive essays!

-Rob