June Lake Brewing

Kilmister Ginger Beer ~

That's right folks, it's finally time!  This Sunday at 11am we will be tapping our first 1bbl pilot batch of Kilmister Ginger Beer at our tasting room.  Be there early because this stuff is going to go quick.  With a 28 gallon yield we have less than two kegs worth so get it while you can.  Sorry in advance, but absolutely no growler fills :-(

Also on Sunday at 5:30pm we're hosting the June Lake Brewing Gran FollowMe trail ride.  This is an hour to an hour and a half intermediate trail ride followed by $1 beers for all the riders that participate (that are over 21 of course).  Meet at the tasting room with your favorite riding attire and wheeled apparatus at 5:30pm Sunday, and we'll head out to have some fun around 6pm.  More info here - https://www.facebook.com/events/666222573452439/

In other beer news we'll be releasing our Silver Lake Saison tomorrow (Friday August 15th).  This is our lightest color, flavor and alcohol beer to date.  Finishing up around 4.9% ABV and 26 IBU, this beer is clean, dry and an all around good time.

To round out beer releases our Archimedes Red is on track for beligeration Friday August 22nd, and the much anticipated Hutte Double IPA will be following up with ultimate palate domination the last Friday of the month (August 29th).  So plan accordingly and join us on a beerventure of your own.

Big thanks goes out to everyone that made Bluesapalooza two weeks ago, and the 60th annual June Lake Fireman's BBQ this past Saturday.  If you missed them be sure to make it out to the upcoming Kamikaze Bike Games September 18th - 21st.  Rumor has it JLB will be posted up at the upper Bullet Rock Garden for the Pro DH race Saturday the 20th to heckle and generally cause disruption.

This just in: Stainless Steel Cups and Growlers are back in stock!  So come on by the tasting room between 11am and 8pm any day but Tuesday (the one day we're closed) and check out what we've got ripping.

Cheers!
Justin/Sarah

June Lake Brewing
LET THERE BE BEER!!!

That's right we're brewing it up!  After receiving blessings from the building permit deities we fired up our 15bbl system and jumped right into some JLB SmoKin Porter Love.  That's right our first homebrew testbatch on our pilot system was also our first production batch on the JLB production system, and it's fermenting along nicely!

So it's been busy and haven't been sleeping much, so here's the highlights -

• Production area permitted to operate prior to tasting room signoff
• Eight 15bbl batches fermenting
  • 30bbls SmoKin Porter
  • 30bbls Deer Beer Brown Ale
  • 30bbls Junemontane HiPA Collaboration Ale
  • 30bbls Alpers Trout Pale Ale
• 15 days to finish tasting room (paint/texture/epoxy penny floor/bar/signage/parking/draft system/etc...)
• Package 120bbls of JLB
• Get final building permit signoff and certificate of occupancy
• HUGE GRAND OPENING PARTY JUNE 21st!

Come by anytime to help hammer out the tasting room and checkout the beer factory.  Lastly we want to send out a big thanks to all those who've helped in all manner of assistance and support, we couldn't have done this without you!

Thanks, and Cheers!
Justin/Sarah

June Lake Brewing
Beeramid ~

The pharaohs had the right idea: pay them with beer+food and they'll move mountains.  So in homage to those who've helped us get to where we are today we constructed June Lake's first ever Beeramid. Comprised solely of our first shipment of kegs, the JLB Beeramid was a marvel of modern engineering (not really, it was actually pretty sketchy).  Sadly we had to deconstruct it due to the possibility of Beeramid envy from neighboring businesses (actually I was scared it would collapse on our new-to-us beerlivery vehicle).  That's right we've now got 170 15.5 gallon and 174 5 gallon kegs that are in desperate need of filling with amazing beer.

So next steps are to get final county building permit signoff on our production area (this week) and then start the super major cleaning mission to get everything ready to test the brew system (next week), and proceed with full-on production (soon)!  That being said June 21st is looking better and better for an opening of grandeur.  So get your accommodations lined up, pick out your finest Guayabera shirt, and definitely reachout if you're looking for lodging/camping/vagrancy advise.

Thanks, and Cheers!
Justin/Sarah

June Lake Brewing
Gad Zooks ~

Wow, totally apologize for the radio silence (last update was April Fools), but it's really been that busy.  From cutting down and milling the bar (thanks for the help Johnny) to standing/placing our tanks and brewhouse, we've been checking boxes off the ever shortening list.  Check a snippet of our forth coming construction time lapse - http://vimeo.com/92418265.  Our Director of Visual Awesomeness (yeah Robert Bradford!) is masterminding the full time lapse for release after opening and it's going to be world detonating.  So yeah this is totally happening!

Here's most of the stuff we've got left:

• Hardwire all equipment + finish general electric
• Finish plumbing to brewhouse + HLT
• Finish coldbox
• Drill/epoxy tank hold downs + special inspection
• Install burner stack + brewhouse vent
• Install icebreak + gutter
• Plumb + install glycol system
• Receive raw materials + ancillaries
• Full deep clean of production facility + brewhouse/tanks
• Final county inspection/signoff
• Test brews
• Full on production!
• Start/finish tasting room + bar
• Start/finish exterior + signage
• GRAND OPENING!

Hard to believe we've come so far... big thanks to all of you for supporting and helping where you can.  Hopefully next bi-weekly booze letter (circa ~ May 15) we'll have a solid Grand Opening date to announce, but I can tell you something will be going down towards the end of June.  The big timing thing is making the beer (go figure...). 

Right now we've allotted ~20 days from the day we brew our first production batch until we can open, so we basically have a month to get the production area buttoned up, get signoff on our building permit, and start brewing.  After that we can focus on getting the tasting room and signage dialed in.  Twenty days is plenty time to build a tasting room with a 30'+ bar made from a 100 year old Jeffery Pine tree and a genuine meat hook from the civil war era (*not sure on accuracy of actual age).

So stay tuned for developments and stop by if you want to take a look at progress, but don't get bummed if we don't have time for a full-on tour... gotta build the brewery first B-)

Thanks, and Cheers!
Justin/Sarah