Another First Place for The Santa Ana Brewery!

The 2010 LA County Fair has finally tasted an exceptional Stout and awarded it FIRST PLACE in the Foreign Stout category.  The Santa Ana Brewery wins another blue ribbon.  And that same beer came in as the 1st Runner Up in BEST OF SHOW!  We are inspired again to keep heading to our goal of having a real brewery.

It’s been too long–but good things come to those who wait.  We are trying to get back on a brewing schedule and hopefully by summer we will actually be able to start some actual tastings.  We are brewing a stout tomorrow, let me know if you want to  come see the process.

Back From Bier Heaven

With a half pint of world class beer costing less than a quarter pint of soda, we were forced to enjoy beer whenever we were thirsty….awwww, too bad!

Germany provided us with an unending opportunity to try new beers and attempt to steal more coasters and glasses.  Our top accolade goes to Schneider Weisse Hefe-Weizenbier.  This golden honey cloud of a beer ended with a tasty and refreshing banana taste that blew us away.  It was difficult as this tasting came very early in the trip and the bar was raised so high that I am afraid it was hard for the other wheat beers to catch up.  But we certainly didn’t stop trying to find one that could knock it off the pedestal!  There were soooo many good beers–it was really amazing.

Don’t You Just Hate Business Trips – Munich or BUST!

The Iggulden’s are off to Munich and Berlin to get some hands on tasting experience….don’t business trips suck!  LOL   We will be gone three long pint filled weeks.  Our children will loathe us as we travel from brewery to brewery, and we will assure them that this is for their own good–as they must learn a trade in order to survive in this tough world. 

Bon Voyage!  Cheers!

Sam Adam’s Jim Koch with the Santa Ana Brewery Guys

The founder of Sam Adams with the Founders of the Santa Ana Brewery

Drinking with one of the BIG Guys!

While everyone was getting ready for Easter and Passover, Rob and Bob were busy having a meeting down at Mutt-Lynches (a pub hangout on the beach at Newport Pier in SoCal). Now you are all probably thinking they were just down there drinking, and actually they were but they were drinking with Jim Koch, the founder of Samuel Adams Brewery in Boston who was out for a short time. Pictures to follow!

Wow–they brewed yesterday and the new set up is AWESOME! I should have some photos on our Friends of the Santa Ana Brewery and on the Blog next week. This stout has a wonderful color and so much foam it’s CRAZY. The other stout in process has now been transferred to the secondary fermentor and it looks like motor oil and is HIGH OCTAINE folks!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

The Santa Ana Brewery raises a pint high on this great day–where we focus on wearing green and drinking BEER. St. Patty must be proud! Happy St. Patrick’s Day from The Santa Ana Brewery!

Stats for Stout #3

Randi here–I know this is a bit technical, but for the latest Stout #3, Rob and Bob have made some interesting changes.

Stout 3 has the same amount of grains as Stout 1, but instead of doing a mini mash of additional 4 lbs. of grain for the secondary fermentation, they put the additional 4 lbs. in all together in the original mash. Gypsum was added to the mashing water and Irish Moss was added in at the end of the boil.  Instead of .5 lbs of Belgian Candy Sugar, they upped it to a .8 lbs—SSSAAAWWWEEEET. Chinook and Cascade Hops were tossed into this batch, while the other two brews used Galina and Willamette Hops.

Watch out the original gravity reading on this baby is 1.100—Stouts #1 and #2 were 1.08–BIG brew comin’ through!

Two Brews Enter Final Stage

I am happy to announce the impending birth of two very good stouts. They have just been transferred to the secondary fermentors.

We are also shopping for a three tap kegerator so that tastings can be all on tap.