Moving along

We finally have a working forklift! When we purchased our system a forklift was included but was inoperable. We had a forklift repair company inspect it for repair. We then decided that the cost to repair it compared to the price of a used electric forklift (previously used by IKEA) was not worth the money, time or future headaches that it would present. We got a very good deal on the electric forklift and are quite happy with it. Upon delivery of the lift, the delivery company was unloading it off of the flatbed when the cable snapped and released the forklift rapidly off of the trailer. It kept going until it hit then jumped a curb. This was quite exciting for our new neighbors as there were a few folks taking pictures and telling us that they would be posting this experience on their personal blog. The forklift was then taken back to the shop to be reinspected. They found no damage and like "another day at the brewery story" we finally have something to help with the heavy lifting.

Our architect spent a few hours detailing our brewery and the building this past Saturday. While he was here we had to go up on the roof to check out how everything looked on top. WE took a couple of pictures to show how close we are to both the Honda Center and Angels Stadium. It is pretty cool to see these venues from this vantage point. We are set to meet with the city again this week to discuss our progress and plans. It looks like we will have another re-design which will produce a new look. It's amazing what one learns while going through a process of opening a brewery in Orange County. We are quite excited to be moving along with our architect and the professionalism he brings to the design. With any luck we will be able to start knocking this place into shape soon.

We have purchased our cold storage and a table bottler today. Both are shipping from back east, so we should be seeing them at the brewery sometime very soon.

We received a quote for the missing process piping which wasn't as bad as expected. The quote that we received was for only material for the process piping. We have contacted a local clean welder and are quite comfortable with the work that they will be providing.

Gil at JT Schmid's has been a great help in our initial process of rebuilding our system. He brews on a 15bbl Liquid Assets system and has allowed us to visit his location often to take pictures and videos of his system. I can only imagine how much more difficult the re-assemble process would be if we didn't have his system to explore. I am sure that we will be in his brewery again soon.