OK I have to come right out and admit that I have yet to upload the pictures I took of the Eagle Rock Brewery this weekend, so I kind of took or stole or whatever these from their site. Now that the air waves are clear and the Captain can rest easy, here is a shot from atop what will be the taproom down to the floor where the magic is happening:

That’s Steve Raub, who co-owns Eagle Rock Brewery with his son, Jeremy. The gentlemen were kind enough to show Mrs. Beer and myself around for a while on Saturday.

It was very cool to see the place in an unfinished state and it will be great (and informative, which is good news for you, Beer Reader!) to watch it go from warehouse to a bunch of brew equipment on a floor to a functioning, beer factory*! The picture above is a bit older, as the brew kettle now sits in the dead center of the floor. Here’s a shot of the mighty kettle:

The story of Eagle Rock Brewery has some pretty serendipitous moments—the Ale Smith brewery was getting a new system just as Eagle Rock was on the prowl for brewing equipment. A few more sessions of extreme cleaning and this baby will be ready to brew.

The primary fermenters are, like you’ll find in many craft breweries, from a dairy. Processing milk requires the same high standards of cleanliness as beer, so these vessels are perfect for aging of sweet, sweet brew. The large white tank on the left in the top pic is one of these fermenters, and by the time we had our tour Saturday, it had been joined by yet another—which is good, as more fermenters means more beer. Here too there was fortune afoot—the two fermenters are in fact from the same dairy, had been separated a while back, but were brought together again when the fellah who had one of them heard a brewery needed it.

We sampled a lovely sweet, slightly spicy beer the Raub’s brewed which I’d be happy to have been served at any bar. Or from my fridge. It has the qualities of a dubbel, and I think The Kolonel would be quite a fan.

I’ll be uploading pictures and hopefully some video too and plan to visit every few weeks and watch the place grow. Once it’s open… I will be visiting much more often. Perhaps they will provide me my own special mug and a cot. Or maybe a hammock.

* I believe these are also, at times, referred to as “breweries.”