June Lake Brewing
Beer, Not Bears ~

Spring is in full force and the bears are out and about so remember to lock your trash cans and drink all beer in your general vicinity.

After a solid brewday on the Hootay Double IPA Justin packed up his bags to head out to Washington DC for the Craft Brewers Conference with the cats from Mammoth Brewing Company.  Big thanks goes out to the MBC crew for the invite and opportunity to get some knowledge!

With the Sierra Scotch Ale on track for force carbonation, it's looking like we'll be bottling this week and then brewing the first batch of Alper's Ale in homage to the forthcoming fishing opener on April 27th.  As for the Hootay Double IPA, that should be ready for bottling and release the second week of May (we're thinkin we need another party!).

As for the changing seasons, we're in full on MTB mode and Robert Allen Bradford, our new Director of Visual Awesomeness, put together the killer edit clickable below or - http://vimeo.com/63108615 - so take a gander, get stoked and GET OUTSIDE! 

Cheers!
Justin/Sarah

June Lake Brewing
Time For More Beer ~

All we can say is thanks so much to all those that made it out to the first annual St. Kramer's Day celebration, and the release of the b001 SmoKin Porter.  It was so much of a success we ran out of beer!  Also a big thanks to the Mammoth Brewing Crew for representing in force and bringing supplemental libations.

With the launch out of the way we've continued our brew quest and brewed b003 Hootay Double IPA last weekend.  This is going to be a big beer kids, with a post-boil specific gravity of 1.094 (aka it's got a butt load of fermentable sugar for the happy yeasties), we're looking to get almost 11% ABV out of this one!  The brew went well and thanks goes out to Travis for lending a helping hand (pics below).

On the location front we're still searching, but have begun discussions regarding a few prime spots.  Again if you, or someone you know, has a 1,000sqft commercially zoned building/space in June Lake don't be bashful.  Aside from that we've busted out the bikes due to lack of snow and we're loving every minute of it. 

Stay Tuned for the b002 Sierra Scotch release date, fermentation is taking a little longer than expected (no rushing the beer now...), but rumor has it we'll be holding another rogue release party and will need everyone there that can make to be extras in our KickStarter promotional video we're currently crafting with a loving hand (location TBD).

Cheers!
Justin/Sarah

June Lake Brewing
Beer is Finally Here ~

After much anticipation the time has finally come to taste our first batch of SmoKin Porter!  That's right clear your calendar for the afternoon of Sunday March 17th (this coming Sunday), because we'll be hanging out in the June Mountain parking lot cooking some BBQ and pouring samples of our SmoKin Porter for our 21 and over TestPilot Crew.  Tailgate June Mountain!

Aside from it being International Drinking Day (aka St. Patrick's Day), it's also TestPilot 001 Jeff Kramer's Bday.  Viva St. Kramer's Day!  We're trying to make it a surprise, so don't tell Jeff...  Also given our affinity for lowering our overall impact, we will not be providing cups of any kind.  So BYOC (bring your own cup) if you want a taste, and you'll also need the secret password - you'll be required to quack like a duck without prompting in order to receive beer.  We're going to get started around 2pm so get some while you can as we only have a limited amount set aside for the tasting.  Bring your smiling face and any food you want to cook/share.  If you're not able to make it to June for this momentous occasion, we highly advise reconsidering your priorities in life.

In other news we brewed our second test batch, b002 Sierra Scotch Ale last weekend and it's fermenting along nicely (pictures below).  This batch went much smoother than our first batch and we were able to use our immersion chiller, which cut the cooling time post-boil from 16hrs to 1.5hrs.  The Sierra Scotch Ale should be ready for sampling around Easter, so get your costume ready....

Cheers!
Justin/Sarah

June Lake Brewing
Clearly We Need Beer ~

We've put our ear to the ground and the verdict is in, June Lake needs beer.  Luckily we brewed our first homebrew test batch of SmoKin Porter the other day (see pics below) and it's fermenting along nicely!  If all goes to plan we should have our first samples for our TestPilot Crew mid March.

In the location department, we've assembled a list of potentials and have begun contacting the relevant parties.  If you have a prime location that you want to discuss lease options about, hit us back and let's get the beer a home.

Let's take stock of our priorities:

1. Start making beer = DONE
2. Secure suitable location = In process
3. Deposit on system = Kickstarter in planning
4. File for license = Need location/system
5. Staying Awesome = Perpetually!

So yeah, let us know what you think and/or if you want to help B-)

Cheers!
Justin/Sarah

June Lake Brewing
Beer is Near ~

With February fast approaching we're getting closer to June Lake.  In the mean time we've been building our homebrew pilot system and getting the ducks in a row.  With supreme tutelage and support from the groovy cats at Cismontane Brewing we've been cutting our teeth and learning what it takes to make good beer and craft a viable business that's a killer part of the community. 

In search of the right location for our production facility/tasting room/awesome hangout, JLB is a ways from selling beer.  Fear not, with our budget pilot system (construction visually dipicted to the right) we plan on honing our skills at altitude and getting feedback on our fermented creations from our bipedal friends that search us out in June Lake.  Lots of cool stuff happening so keep an eye and reach out to say what up.

Cheers!
Justin/Sarah