Figure 8 Brewery - The Grand Opening.

[Cameron]

Hey Guys,

 

Some of my closest friends have been working their butts off for 8 months building a small brewery by hand. Other than the actual tanks, all the equipment has been put together using salvaged parts .. like the glycol chiller system and pumps, etc. Tom is a true engineer, and really put his skills to great use putting all this together. But that is probably of little interest to everyone, so I'll get to the most important part - the Brews. All of the beer is hand crafted from natural ingredients, unfiltered and unpasteurized for a healthier, fuller bodied beer rich with essential vitamins, flavonoids and antioxidants.

 

From left to right:

• 1) First Ascent (A Belgian Honey Lager) - brewed with an overabundance of local light clover honey and cascade hops, this brew has a crisp citrus/clover nose with a clean malty slightly bitter finish and a hint of toast.
   
  2) Ro Shampo (Imperial Red Ale) - brewed with four varieties of hops and a blend of 6 malts, this is well balanced with a nose that evokes thoughts of toffee, fine whisky, and cotton candy while finishing with the satisfaction of a taffy apple on a warm autumnal day.
   
  3) Camp 4 Brown Ale - a hazy Northern England Nut Brown Ale style with notes of chocolate, coffee au lait, caramel, and perhaps a hint of a turtle sundae.
   
  4) Rye Knot - a complex rye based brew somewhere between a baltic porter and a stout with a rich black head, hints of licorice, oak, cognac, and a light woodsy bitter finish.
  

 

Here's to Figure 8 Brewing cheers!

First Ascent, Ro Shampo, Camp 4, and Rye Not. All were quite delicious

Tom and his wife Lynne are very much in to rock climbing, so much of the spirit and fun of brewery is rooted in that past-time. The very name and logo comes from climbing knots, and the slogan is "Harness Your F8".

Inside the large chiller. The four current brews are in those tanks, which are plumbed into 4 taps on the outside, and also to nozzles for filling the growlers.

A better view of the chiller - lots of kegs ready to fill for local pubs and restaurants. The fans against the back wall blast cold air in there - it was about 34 degrees in there.

The retail area is jam packed with people - with more lining the corridor down the side. There was constantly a line out the door, from 1pm until well after 8pm. We had no idea it would go so well, it was fantastic!

Cha-Ching! The register was running hot all day.

The VIP section in the production area - which is where I hung out most of the day. Although at one point I ran out to grab some more labels and rubber bands for all the growers that were being sold. Certainly a good problem to have!

Tom is rugged up, and working hard in the chiller filling growlers. Like I said, they were selling a lot more than they anticipated, so he had to fill more and more throughout the day. Filling these is non-trivial as they have to be back-filled first to remove all the air (otherwise the beer would keep fermenting in there). The only "downside" is that once opened, you have to drink the whole thing in one day

Continuing with the climbing theme, the toilet paper sits on the pick-axe! Tom and Lynne plan on installing a small climbing wall - (bouldering actually) - in there. It will be for friends/family use only.

Another shot of the production area - the retail section was too packed for me to get in there with a camera.

When Anne wasn't busy in the register, she was helping Lynne pull beers. Those taps are on the outside of the chiller, and are plumbed directly into the large tanks inside.

T-Shirts and home-made brownies

Logo glasses are of course available too.

Ingredients are waiting for new batches and new brews.

My fridge is a very happy fridge right now - I picked up growers of Ro, First Ascent and Rye Not. There are more in there for a co-worker.

[mcjaco]

Awesome Cam! Wish I was available this week to join you, and I should have told you to pick me up a shirt! D'oh!

 

Mark this down as a new place to check out!

[DerekRx]

There's nothing I love more than seeing a new brewery open up and get such a good reception. I wish there was time to fit it in with my Dark Lord plans, though maybe I'll be able to hit it up the next time I get to Indiana Beach.

[Cameron]

Indiana Beach + F8 would make for a fabulous day .. it's only about an hour north of the park too. There are also a surprising number of great places to eat in Valpo, some of which now serve F8 beer

 

Matt, I see Tom almost every week - what size and colour t-shirt would you like?

 

Cameron.

[65skylark]

Very cool, Cameron! Looks like your buddies did some good planning and marketing. That was one heck of a crowd.

 

Looking forward to some Rye Knot if I ever make it our to IB some day.

[mcjaco]

Matt, I see Tom almost every week - what size and colour t-shirt would you like?

 

I like the red one, in XL, please!

[DiSab]

Looks good to me. I'll have to stop by when I'm in the area.

 

You wouldn't be selling your product in any areas in Ohio yet, would you?

[Sir Clinksalot]

That's wicked cool. If I ever get back to Indiana I will check them out for sure.

[Cameron]

^^ The brewery isn't mine, it's being run by some good friends of mine. At the moment they're only selling within Indiana as they'd need a distributor to sell in other states.

 

Cameron.

[ParkTrips]

^ Does Indiana allow self-distribution? That helps these new, smaller places expand greatly without lining the distributors' pockets. Its illegal in Georgia thus very few breweries and brewpubs

[moinab]

Continuing with the climbing theme, the toilet paper sits on the pick-axe! Tom and Lynne plan on installing a small climbing wall - (bouldering actually) - in there. It will be for friends/family use only.

 

They're putting a climbing wall in the restroom?

 

Seriously, though, it looks like they have put in a tremendous amount of hard work. I hope they have great success with it!

[Bubba83]

It's amazing I saw this thread since I keep my browsing almost exclusively confined to the beer thread these days, but I'm glad I did. Nice Photo TR and I wish your friends good luck in the glorious world of beer!