Holy Cow I haven't had a chance to get on here and write for a looong time. Since I last wrote I have taken some GIANT leaps in "My brewing adventure" . First off I brewed a second batch of beer, my first pale ale. The whole brewing process went so much smoother than the first time. I didn't have any hic-ups like I did the with the brown. I used some specialty grains in this batch which turned out to be a lot easier than I expected. The whole brewing day , fermentation and bottling went really well. But even more importantly it tasted better. I wouldn't say it tasted great but better. I anxiously await when I have the time, and funds to be able to do another batch. My hope is to step up to doing an all-grain batch for my next attempt at producing beer.
The next thing that has happened since the last post is I wrote a business plan, for a brewery. For a small business class that I had been taking we were required to write a business plan for the business of our choosing. I of course decided to write my business plan on a brewery. This whole process was eye opening, I learned so much about the industry from all copious amounts of research I had to do. I never completely got the numbers all together because I couldn't actually get quotes for my imaginary brewery. But even though it took the majority of my time the past few months it was in all an awesome experience.
In that whole process though something even more exciting happened!! I landed an internship at Peace Tree Brewing in Knoxville, IA. After going over to Peace Tree to take my tour, I decided that this would be a great place to do my small business interview, also required for my small business class. So I set up a time with Megan one of the three owners at Peace Tree and grabbed my motley looking roommates and headed over to Knoxville. The three of us learned a lot in that couple hour session of pounding back multiple pints of Peace Tree ales and asking every question you could think. But even more importantly I dropped a hint to Scott another one of the owners about possibly doing an internship during our May term. So I followed up with Megan later that week and after some deliberation I became the first intern at Peace Tree Brewing Co. I will be working with the staff at Peace Tree doing a number of different things including helping them get ready for the Iowa Craft Beer Festival. and the Craft Beer Week that prevails it.
Starting Monday I will be writing on this blog to track the whole process from start to end. So check back in next week and track "My Brewing Adventure"
