Workin’ On The Building…

I know you’re all asking yourselves….what is taking so long?  Trust us, we are right there with you.  Since our return from Canada (and even during) we have worked with our contractors, city inspectors, and spent countless hours searching for equipment on the interwebs.  Along the way we’ve experience the normal cost overruns, scheduling conflicts, and logistical headaches that plague most businesses during their initial start-up….but I’m proud to say we are well on our way!

Construction of the kiln (aka drying room) has been the big challenge….Anytime you put a lot of heat into an enclosed space, you raise the eyebrows of city inspectors, licensed professionals, and sub-contractors.  This has required us to spend extra time to ensure that we meet all applicable building codes and address all safety concerns.  This is a good thing….at the end of the day we want to bring people in, show them around and have everyone feel comfortable with what we are doing.

The other pieces of the malt house puzzle are also coming together.  We found a great deal on some stainless steel tanks that we will use for steeping.  A small-scale seed cleaner and debearder are also on their way to us from Illinois.  The guys up there at Commodity Traders really came through for us…they recondition these machines to better than new condition and were extremely knowledgable about all aspects of the grain cleaning process.

Next week we will be completing the kiln and hopefully installing the duct work.  Production could begin by late August if all goes well.  Stay tuned for more updates!