Brasserie du Tilleul, reloaded

Summary #

Hops harvest, first beers on tap, brewery enhancements, biergarten.

Hops harvest ("Hopfezopfe") #

It's harvest season! The three plants yielded a total of 300 grams (dried). Wasn't timely enough to brew a fresh hops IPA, next year maybe. Fuggle, Chinook, Centennial.

Close up, about a week before harvest when the cones were still quite heavy.

First beers on tap #

Jetlager (Märzen) - batch 29 #

4% ABV, sweet and malty with a slight raisin taste (although disappearing as the beer ages in the keg.

I was planning for a lower final gravity (FG) for a drier finish (actual FG is 1.013). I think this mash was a bit too hot, giving alpha amylase too much opportunity to yield unfermentable sugars.

Actions taken: mash temperature correction. Got a better thermometer and calibrated it.

Goldeneye (Golden Ale) - batch 30 #

4.7% ABV. Dry, fresh and hop forward. Very happy with the result.

Community feedback #

In Alsace, where Pils is king, I wasn't sure how those different beer styles would perform. For now, feedback is very positive and it's good enough to have a drink and a chat.

Brewery enhancements #

Better brew bag and pulley setup. Batch sparging in the electric kettle.

Kettle insulation. For mash only, to be tested with the next brew.

Marketing upgrade: enhanced lights for premium tasting tour experience.

Other improvements:

• replaced faulty regulator (not a good idea to be cheap on pressure-related things)
• geared up for bottling
• expanded wifi coverage to reach brewery
• migrated IoT data collection and web-platform to European data centers

Biergarten #

That's now a cosy spot just outside the brewery, we should grow a few hops there.

Now fermenting #

Smoked Porter.

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