Have a lot to catch up on, so here we go...
The rest of last week went smoothly and we covered mashing, lautering, and some brewing calculations. Friday began with our weekly exam, then wort clarification, effluent, and ended in a styles tasting covering Scotland, England and Ireland. Late Friday night, Emilia arrived to spend the weekend in Chicago! We had a great time and she got to know these roommates that I am always talking about. This upcoming week will be spent almost entirely on yeast! I will have to dust off some of those metabolic pathway neurons that have not fired in 10 years.
For the second part of the week we were fortunate to have Ashton Lewis of Mueller Processing System and Equipment. Although he works for a supplier of equipment, his background is in brewing and it really showed. He was an outstanding teacher and was able to explain modern equipment and methods.
We will be getting some visits from breweries that are looking for Siebel graduates. Pretty neat that we will be able to talk with reps from the breweries to see what kind of opportunities are out there.
On Saturday, we visited the Goose Island Clyborne brewpub. It was a really nice spot and did not feel too much like an AB owned place and still had a local feel.
I had the Mildy Cyrus, which is one of my favorite beer names I have seen in a while. Was a really nice example and was even on nitro. In a a world of high abv flavor explosions, this was extremely refreshing.
I have not had poutine in a while, so we decided to try it out and it did not disappoint. Hard to beat the Public House poutine though.
We also went to visit the new Lagunitas production facility and taproom
Their equipment is insane. Compared to what the majority of craft beer, this is on another planet. It really is a thing of beauty
That is a lot of kegs all waiting to get filled.
HOPS!!!!
Who needs hoses when you can hardline everything?
Lagunitas was awesome. I really like their core beliefs as a company, even though they did sell 50% to Heineken. I really hope they are able to maintain their philosophy as they continue to grow. Hard not to let the idea of possibly working here one day creep into my mind, at least to consider it.
Emilia by a Goose Island bus. It was parked by an event they were sponsoring. It was a block party kind of setup where there was live music all day. Later on Saturday she also got to experience her first true Chicago style hot dog at Fatso's.
The lineup from Friday's styles tasting.
This is the view as we walked from Siebel to a Jerk for lunch on Friday.
The Siebel Institute is a tenant in Kendal College, which is a culinary school. We can buy lunch at the school where they serve up meals cooked by the students. Above is one of the many teaching kitchens.
Great bloody mary and brunch at the Handlebar. Highly recommended, this is exactly what I am looking for to start a fun Saturday. Not only did they have great music and atmosphere, but they also had a fried pickle on their bloody mary.
