Schlafly Photo of the Day

In order to sample our fermenting beer in an aseptic fasion, we have to bring the heat....

By hitting the sampling port with some flame from a hand-held butane torch after spraying it with ethanol (which is why the blue flame seems to spread so far), we can be assured that the port is free of any airborne contaminants that may have alighted upon it.

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.