Point of Origin?

So the title is a little misleading. I have a problem with Smart Brewer that I cannot really solve. When a user adds a Malt to a recipe it might look something like this:

2-Row Pale Ale Malt

Or This...

American 2-Row Pale Ale Malt

Or This...

Great Western 2-Row Pale Ale Malt (US)

Or This...

Great Western 2-Row Pale Ale Malt

I guess the main issue is that I cannot have every variation of every vendor and country of origin for each malt. Can I? I think I'll go back to square one without using any Vendor specific malts in my "Fermentables Table". I can also make the Country of Origin optional.

-Andy

Fixed the "My Ingredients" Bugs

Sometimes a picture is more valuable....

Here's a picture of my current ingredients, looks like it's working well.

Feasibility of a 1/2 Barrel Startup?

So, most people know a barrel of beer in the U.S. is 31 gallons and a half barrel (the kind most people buy) is 15.5 gallons. This is generally the largest home brew setup people can build in their homes. Occasionally people get as big as 20 gallons but 15.5 gallons is pretty big.

Is it feasible to start a brewery with a 1/2 barrel system?

In theory, maybe, in practical application, no.

Here's why:

Say you can brew 5 days a week at 15 gallons per day. That would be 75 gallons of beer per week or 300 gallons per month. Of course, there are always problems with production when getting started so say that 300 gallons is now 280 gallons per month. One gallon holds 128 ounces or roughly 5.8 bottles of beer per (at 22 ounces). So 5.8 bottles x 280 gallons = 1,624 bottles of beer per month.

Ok, now hypothetically say you can skip the distributor and sell directly to the retailers for $2.50/ bottle. If the bottle, label, water, propane comes to $1/bottle there's a $1.50 profit per bottle.

$1.50 x 1,624 = $2,436

Take into account the Tax man because this is alchohol and subtract %40. Your take home profit would be $1,416 dollars.

Feasible yes, profitable, not really.

Test

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12th Annual IPA Festival - Hayward, CA

12th Annual IPA Festival - Hayward

Looks like a very cool event.

"Our 12th Annual IPA Festival will be Saturday, August 8, 2009 from 11-7pm. This event is always a great party! Where else can you taste so many different - 50 IPA's on tap side by side? Of course we will have fabulous music, BBQ and ample room in the street adjacent to The Bistro.
Admission is $25 for glass and 5 - 6oz pours. We will have pints of light beer, wine, tea, coffee and other beverages for those who do not drink IPA's.
The Bistro is CASH ONLY - with ATM on premises - we no longer accept Credit or Debit Cards."

World Beer Competition, Berkeley April 4, 2009

I finally participated in my first ever "official" beer competition! Held at the Trumer Brauerei in Berkeley.

The Trumer Brewery, produces perhaps the best Pilsner I've ever had and their facilities were very impressive. A warehouse filled with kegs five pallets high sat as the backdrop for the Brewing Judges. The Barbeque and participants was in the outside courtyard area.

I also got to meet David Teckman from Elk Grove California (see Beer Judge School). David is my coach for my November National Beer Judge Exam. From our brief talks I could easily tell David is perhaps one of the most passionate people when it comes to describing beer, and I appreciate his ability to cut through bullshit. His 20+ years of experience were very apparent.

But back to the contest, I honestly didn't know what to expect. I assumed it was going to be a sort of drunkfest but I could not have been more wrong. Of the 200 or so people there I only saw 2 that showed any obvious signs of intoxication. My biases from college were VERY wrong. The people that compete in brewing contests Enjoy beer, they're not just out to drink. The winners of particular styles are also not necessarily what people stereotype as beer drinkers, although there were a few of those too.Most particpants were Male but the women who entered did much better than the men (all judging is done "blindfolded", meaning the taster has no idea who brewed the beer).

I also did a little volunteer work stuffing the judge sheets into envelopes. Most people entered 2 or 3 beers in any of about 30 styles. The more serious brewers entered 15 or 20 beers. This bothered me a little. If someone enters 20 beers are they just betting on the odds they'll score high with a few? I guess this is pessimistic, but if all entrants were limited to a few entries the true brewers would shine through.

I entered three beers myself. An American IPA which in all honesty lacked carbonation and had an overpowering citrusy hop aroma that lingers as an aftertaste. The beer needed a more crisp mouthfeel. I also entered a Belgian Specialty Beer that was WAY off because the yeast strain wasn't pure, the common fruitiness of a Belgian just wasn't strong enough. Finally I entered an American Lager I've nicknamed Laurel Canyon Lager. The two problems with this beer (both minor) are the over carbonation and the chocolate grittiness. Overall I scored very well with this lager, I earned a third place ribbon.

Common Questions

Many people have asked me, "Why make another online recipe website? Aren't there sites out there already?".

First, Smart Brewer is brewing software first and a list of beer recipes second.

Smart Brewer allows a user to add/modify/update and delete their own recipes. This is different from virtually all the sites out there that just allow a user to "Post" their recipes.

Smart Brewer also categorizes based on a standardized set of styles created by the Beer Judge Certificate Program. Finding a particular style based on the ingredients you already have is easy.

Just my two cents,
Andy