Schlafly Photo of the Day

A look at the brewhouse as it once was. This photo is actually from this past summer. We are beginning the final phase of our brewhouse upgrade this weekend. The upgrade includes: a new, larger kettle with an internal calandria; an integrated CIP system; and automation provided by Siemens and their Braumat software.

The kettle is actually in place already, it was installed after the above photo was taken. It's located between the whirlpool and the existing kettle, which will become a hot wort receiver, allowing us to collect sweet wort from the next batch before the prior batch has finished boiling.

By integrating a wort receiver, automating the remaining mechanical systems on the brewhouse (most of the valves are already run using air-powered actuators-and using the Braumat computer control system to seamlessly drive the process, we hope to increase our efficiency greatly, allowing the brewer to produce more wort per shift.

This will help us keep up the growing demand for Schlafly beer. We thank everyone who made this upgrade necessary. Cheers!

Tanks are in place.....

Let the brewing begin....

The two new tanks are in place and plumbed with glycol. The inaugural batch, a 200bbl batch of Schlafly Pale Ale, is fermenting away.

Up till now, the largest fermenters in the cellar were a quartet of 125 bbl tanks, two of which are visible from the parking lot through the windows.

This will give Schlafly the potential fermentation capacity to brew more than 30,000 bbl a year.

We might not tap into the full potential yet, but given the support we have received from the growing numbers of thirsty Schlafly fans, having the extra head-space gives us room to plan for the future.

These photos were taken just prior to the first batch being cast into the tank.