Hops Harvest

While we should likely update you on the last round of brewing, but because the topic of this post is time-sensitive we have decided to tackle this one first.

The last few weeks we have been busy collecting and harvesting hops.  This includes some from our yard, some from the yard of a friend who grows them purely for aesthetics, and some from Ocean State Hops - a farm in Rhode Island that specializes in... you guessed it... Hops!  (If you are within driving distance to Exeter RI, there will be one more harvest this weekend!!  This will be the last chance for the season.  See their site for more details.)

The weekend started out with Kevin harvesting the hops directly from the bines on the side of the house early in the day.  Traditionally you cut down the bines and pick off the hops, however we wished to use the bines later for decoration and kept them planted to that we could cut them fresh when we needed.   The hops pictured include Cascade, Nugget, and Tettnanger.  They are first year plants so the harvest was relatively sparse.

Taking notes

Later he accompanied a friend to the yard of a buddy of his where the the collection included Hallertauer Mittelfruh - a big score!  Sorry, no pictures as the official brewery photographer was attending other duties.

Now that we had harvested fresh hops, we wanted more.  That is when we found Ocean State Hops, and their hops harvest.  Cascade and Newport are their varieties.  We fell in love with the spicy notes of the Newport and went back for more the following weekend.  Don't be surprised if we start using Newport more and more in our offerings.

What we didn't use in a wet hopped ale we dried to preserve for future use.

These hops from Ocean State Hops were used in a wet hopped ale.

We are excited to find and use such a great variety of hops in our brews!  Stay tuned for more updates and if you are interested in PYO, go see the good folks at Ocean State Hops in Exeter, RI!

Yep, we're still here!

Another stretch of busy, busy, busy.  Instead of doing one mega-post to catch you up, we'll catch you up with smaller posts discussing our progress, hops harvests, and what's been in the brew kettle.

If you have been following us on Facebook you know a little bit more of what the past six weeks or so has had in store.

OK, gotta get back to this game.  It's a nail-biter!!!

We hit the century mark!!!

100 likes on Facebook!!!  YAY!!!!!

Thank you so much!  We appreciate the support from everyone, and know that we could not have reached this milestone without YOU!!

Not following us yet, or just want to check it out?  www.facebook.com/greendoorbrewing.

OK, gotta run.  It's a brew day today and we're getting a late start!

One of those days...

You know those days when things start falling into place, and you can feel the momentum building?  Today was one of those days.

Lots of forward progress today.  We were able to meet face to face with a bunch of folks in city government to give them a clear picture of what our operation as a nanobrewery will entail, and to get from them a clear vision of what requirements we will need to satisfy before we can pour that first cool, fizzy, hoppy, malty drop.

I scouted out some locations in the city a few months ago, and today Kevin was able to see the inside of what I felt would be the best location.  He wholeheartedly agreed.  Where is this location you may wonder?  Sorry, the exact location is staying under wraps for now!  We have a lot of licensing, applications, fees, permits and the like to address prior to negotiating and signing a lease.  Don't worry though.  We won't keep it a secret for long.  When the time is right we'll shout it from the proverbial rooftop!

We are continuing our introductions to the local restaurant & bar managers.  If you got one of our cards and are reading this blog now, don't hesitate to give us a call!  We'd love to talk with you!

Wow, was that fun!

We had such a blast on Saturday at the Attleboro Farmers Market Radio Hour!

If you missed it, check it out.  Even our daughter got in on the interview.

The first segment focuses mostly on what the AFM means to us, and the second segment focuses on our brewing history from the first basement brew to our current journey from home brewers to nano brewers!

Faces for Radio

Great news!  Our little project has caught the attention of the local community.  We will be interviewed this Saturday during the Attleboro Farmers Market Radio Hour.  We've been enthusiastically attending the Attleboro Farmers Market since it's renaissance and shop there for the bulk of our seasonal fruits and vegetables.

We will be interviewed by Eddie Porecca who tells us the topics will include the farmers market, local ingredients and beer.  Yum!

You can tune in to WARL 1320AM at 8:00am, or log on to New England Free Radio at 10:00am.

An excerpt from the Attleboro Farmers Market website:

Live radio broadcast

This week, July 13, the Attleboro Farmers Market Radio Hour will be broadcasting LIVE at the Market between 8 and 10 a.m. on WARL 1320 am. The Attleboro Farmers Market Radio Hour guests will be Amy McCoy the author of the Poor Girl Gourmet, Bert Buckley owner of the Clam Shack in Attleboro, Paul Pouliot of the American Legion Post 312, Mary Jordan from the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture Resource and Shannon and Kevin Johnson who are passionate Farmers Market shoppers and local brewers.

Listen to the Attleboro Farmers Market Radio Hour Saturdays at 8 a.m. on WARL 1320am and 10 a.m. on New England Free Radio. Archives of the shows can be found online at attleborofarmersmarket.com/afm-radio.

One month passes...

June was a crazy busy month for us on many fronts.  Now that is all successfully behind us, there is some time to actually update the blog!  Although we are still waiting on paperwork to be processed, there are some exciting things going on while we wait.

Our logo is all but finalized!  Yay!  Those who are following on Facebook have already seen a sneak preview.  If you haven't 'liked' us yet, feel free to check out our page, facebook.com/GreenDoorBrewing.

We also made a lot of progress on tweaking our recipe box.  We even brewed some test batches on this hot hot hot holiday weekend.  They are:

• My Father-in-law Palmer Pilsner, a light american lager, made with those folks in mind who taste a high end craft beer and their first reaction is, "Ugh! Oh! Ew!  This is AWFUL!"  Specifically, our dads.  While we hold out hope they will join in the craft beer revolution, we don't want them to go thirsty in the meantime.  

• Emmer Wheat Saison, a typical farmhouse style ale that ferments at higher temperatures.  Good thing, because it was 94 degrees on brew day for this one!  This is the first beer we brewed with the brettanomyces yeast genus (stay tuned for a future post discussing this yeast).  Hoping for some major funk in this beer.  Also of note, this was our second brew using grains from Valley Malt.  If you are in the New England area, check them out in Hadley, MA.  

• Oktoberfest, a nice malty and somewhat toasty Märzen style lager.  As we stood in front of the box fan during the boil on another scorcher of a day, we dreamed of the cool autumn breezes that would be around when this beer was ready to drink.  Although we have been sweating it out in the heat the past few days, our Oktoberfest remains cool and comfortable in the 55 degree lagering chamber - and will continue to do so until consumption!  Long, slow, cool fermentation equals delicious Märzen lager!

We have also been working hard on the Kickstarter campaign.  Although we can't offer any free beer (including tastings, BUMMER!) we have found some really interesting reward options and are talking with vendors now to get some things in line.

Last, but not least... check out what we found in the backyard.  This little guy is going in a frame to be hung in a special place of honor when we open!