Cha-cha-changes! i.e. The Next Chapter

[myhorselikesbeer]

That's great news. Good luck to you and your wife. My beer and wine making have been getting bigger and better. Planted more grapes last year and am thinking about my own hops, but still trying to find out if they are toxic to horses like they are to dogs. May good fortune come your way and the pride of a new accomplishment well done.

[DaYooper]

Thanks all for the well wishes Borg! House is a complete disaster with the packing spree over the weekend. Hoping to get my Peak's Pike kegged and get one last batch going this weekend (probably a sweet stout this time) before the brewery gets boxed up. If only The Fed would stop sending me yet more forms to fill out after I return what they previously sent me....

[alb]

Good luck! Here’s a little marketing information for you!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic ... -ones.html

[DaYooper]

Good luck! Here’s a little marketing information for you!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic ... -ones.html

Thanks Alb! I will of course include that in our literature!!!

[Brewbirds]

WOW Yoop what great good fortune for you guys BB2 and I send you our best wishes.

I'm going to miss your posts as you always have great nuggets of information. Hope after the initial chaos you will get to come back to the once in a while.

I want to send out a big thank you for your contribution on the forum when I was starting out and when I asked the oddest questions.

[John Sand]

Too cool! Best of luck! Keep us posted!
I'm curious. Why not brew in the winery? Legal or technical issues?

[DaYooper]

Too cool! Best of luck! Keep us posted!
I'm curious. Why not brew in the winery? Legal or technical issues?

I have not found out if it is state or Fed regulation yet while pouring over the thousands of pages they expect you to digest, but all the brewers I spoke to told me that you need a separate building although no one was given an official explanation. The only conclusion we could come up with is that there is the risk of cross contaminating the yeasts. Or perhaps it is to keep two different government inspectors on the payroll, who knows. That is one of the reasons you see very few brewpubs that make their own wine or vice versa, but a winery can make cider with no problem.

Just to be safe the house we are looking at has storm doors to the basement so will probably do my home brewing there until I can figure something out Thinking about making a wooden insert with a box fan to server as my ventilation hood so I can use my propane rig indoors.

[DaYooper]

Well, just got back from Traverse City. Wife had an interview with the hospital. Been telling her she is a ringer and no worries, but "excitement" escalated when we realized while swapping trucks with the parents (so we didnt have to drive around with all the china and breakables for two days) that she - errr, I - forgot all the toiletries. This was about 10p when everything in a small town is closed so spent the next two hours trying to find a 24/7 store to stock up before the interview. Got up in the morning, had breakfast, went to the truck, and DEAD. Egads! The Manager at the hotel was nice enough to jump us with his personal vehicle and we were off. Of course, they offered her a pick of jobs and shifts on the spot so all is good.

Got fingerprinted at of all places The UPS Store so Michigan can start working on the liquor license background check, then headed out to see the current owners. Spent the next half day going over equipment and procedures and the wife even had a chance to work a sale as while we were there someone called to see if the tasting room was open. The most interesting thing was the filtering machine and was told if for some reason a batch gets infected you can simply run it through the machine to clear it and then re-age. Made me a tad bit nervous as was worried about having to dump 500 gallon batches. Hopefully I will remember how to run that machine. A lot of the stuffs is similar to brewing and uses the same equipment so getting happy I may now be able to write off some toys that in the past I could not justify.

Headed out to the Village Inn (VI), a small pub. Surrounded by locals so wasnt sure what to expect but many people wandered by to chat. They have a decent selection of craft in bottles and tap with several local brews. They told us that they are shutting down this Sunday to install 22 more taps. Wife told me I would know where to find her if she was late coming home from work. Now, THAT worked out good. Then headed to meet parents at "Firefly" at the recommendations of our bartender Becky for a great burger, some Bells, and New Holland. Next day unloaded the truck at the parents place and said good bye to all my brewing equipment sans a LBK, a perry kit, and a seasonal I got on sale that would not fit in the box and headed home.

Closing is 3/26 now. Not too long ago it seemed so far off. Now I am looking around trying to figure out how the frell I am going to get everything done!!! Thank goodness I have a newly tapped CHAO IPA to drink....

[RickBeer]

Sounds exciting. I had missed the part about living with the parents though... Yikes! If had to live with my mother I would drive off a cliff, as would my siblings.

[Beer-lord]

Best of luck as you move forward.



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[mashani]

This sounds intense and complicated and is making my head hurt, but good luck with it all!

[JohnSant]

I wish you all the BEST and hope you enjoy your new endeavor.

[DaYooper]

Sounds exciting. I had missed the part about living with the parents though... Yikes! If had to live with my mother I would drive off a cliff, as would my siblings.

Nah, just unloading some stuff at The Hops House (smaller house that came when they expanded their property) until we have a place to move in. Nope, not insane quite yet!

[DaYooper]

Well, headed up Wednesday, closed Thursday, movers dropped off stuff on Friday, and Saturday was trying to put stuffs away. Past two days have been trying to get the business line switched over (idiots!) and now am down state to have a crown put on and am "enjoying" some free time in the dentist office while the tooth is being milled. Finding out we have a LOT to learn other than how to make wine on a grand scale. Everyone seems to be peeking around corners asking for the checkbook to be opened. Even the "Pure Michigan" signs we thought were put up by the state to promote tourism come with a price. Good thing was the movers came in only a wee bit over budget. For anyone in the Michigan area, I strongly recommend O'Sullivan Moving. Top notch.

So, until internet shows up (or I am having a root canal) will probably be sparse. Well, in three days anyway as have to finish up the work week and no one seems to want to take advantage of picking my brain before I leave. Ha ha, maybe I will set up a 900 number. But, not that I will have much to say as in at least a few months I will be only brewing HME batches. Reminds me, need to pick up some dextrose among other things at AIH while I am down here.

So, talk to ya'll soon! Oh, and if you happen to be up in the area stop by (after May, figure that is the earliest we will go online). I'll buy you a sampling.

[RickBeer]

Good luck up there. Where should I put you on the map? Suttons Bay, Traverse City? Somewhere else?

The movers didn't drop off your extra beer stuff, I just checked outside...