Brewery Progress Update, October 2014

Well, the time sure has been flying by! I guess that’s what happens when you’re putting in close to 60 hours a week working on really exciting stuff!

In case you somehow missed the big “Kickstarter” banner that’s now on our homepage, we launched a Kickstarter campaign on October 13th to fund an R&D lab, so that we can get Jason out of the kitchen and into a proper pilot brewing facility. We’re trying to raise $30,000 and we only have until November 13th! We’ve got some great rewards, so check it out if you haven’t already: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/898556630/ghostfish-brewing-company-100-gluten-free-beer

Since the last update, here’s a quick list of things that we have accomplished:

The Build-Out:
-Trench drains installed in the brewery floor.
-Floor coating applied–the brewery floor is now complete and ready to become home to our tanks and brewhouse!
-Our walk-in cooler arrived and was installed.
-We received our grain mill, steam boiler, and glycol chiller.
-Our fermentation tanks arrived! Six gleaming stainless-steel beauties ready to hold a combined total of 2,790 gallons of amazing gluten-free beer!
-We received our kegs!
-Randy has been busy in the taproom–the bar and back bar are nearly finished, lighting fixtures are on their way, and we’ve begun painting!
-At this point, we have everything we need except the brewhouse, and once that arrives (in mid-November) it’s just a matter of connecting and testing everything, and finishing the decor in the taproom. We’re so close we can almost taste it!

Licensing:
-We met with a representative from the Washington Liquor Control Board for a walk-through inspection, including filling out some forms and discussing regulations pertaining to our license. We can’t say enough good things about the folks at the Liquor Control Board–everyone we’ve spoken to has been friendly, helpful, responsive, and generally a joy to work with! Supportive, too–they all seem to be rooting for us and enthusiastic about our gluten-free offerings.
-No updates on our Federal license yet, but we’re still well within the typical window of TTB response times. We’re hoping for a response within the next 30 days!

Beers:
-Jason has been brewing 4 to 5 days a week to finalize our flagship recipes. Our witbier has attained stylistic perfection, even by Jason’s exacting standards: perfect fluffy head that lingers for DAYS, with a crisp malt body and a refreshing fruity tang from the traditional Belgian yeast.
-Our pale ale recipe is also ready to roll, although Jason is probably going to be tweaking the hop schedule on it until we brew it on the big system (because he’s a perfectionist like that).
-Our stout recipe is now the main focus–we are pulling out all the stops on this one to make sure it’s got just the right balance of roastiness and chocolatey sweetness. It could be the first beer we release, so we want to make sure it makes a big splash with stout-lovers everywhere!
-We’re also prototyping some taproom-exclusive beers, including a series of single-hop IPAs. We’re starting with the classic Cascade hop, but Simcoe, El Dorado, Mosaic, and some experimental exclusives from Yakima Valley Hops are coming up soon!
-We’ve been working with Kevin LeDoux of LeDoux Design, the maestro behind this website, on the can designs for our three flagships, and they are DONE (pending final Pantone color selections). Look for an update to our “Beers” page in the next couple of weeks with the final artwork and new descriptions of our beers!

Press:
-The word has definitely been getting out! On top of showing up on /r/glutenfree, we’ve also gotten a write-up in Seattle Gluten Free, Eater Seattle, and Triumph Dining Gluten-Free
-Our facebook page broke 500 likes and will probably break 600 by the time this post goes live…that is AMAZING because we were still down in the 300’s only a week ago!
-If you haven’t noticed from the slight redesign of our homepage, we’re stepping up our social media game with regular posts to instagram, twitter, and our facebook page.  Since we don’t have as much time as we’d like to update this blog, following us on any (or all) of those sites is the best way to keep on top of our progress.  We’ve brought the amazing Lacie Thompson on board to help us with our online presence, too, because a) she’s awesome and b) we all have our hands full enough with the construction, so it’s hard to keep up with the online world.
-We’re also preparing to get a proper mailing list started, so if you’re interested in getting e-mail updates, drop us a line at [email protected]

We’re getting close, Ghostfish fans! Keep spreading the word about us, and feel free to reach out with any questions you have. We don’t have an opening date set yet, but it shouldn’t be too much longer!

One thought on “Brewery Progress Update, October 2014

  • truly over the moon for all of you!! Having a dream and seeing it through.. Such exciting times! I can hardly wait to visit and partake in all your marvelous creations! Congratulations… Wishing you all tremendous success!

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