Carl's Weekly Update | 4.7.14

We accomplished a great deal this week (adding a number of miscellaneous skills to our resumes in the process).

One aspect of brewing that people don’t put a lot of thought into is the Wastewater from the brewing process. Merrimack, with its high concentration of industrial manufacturers (such as our neighbor, Anheuser-Busch), has been deemed by the EPA as one of the few municipalities within the state of New Hampshire that must have a wastewater pre-treatment program in place; meaning that we need to collect, test and neutralize all waste water produced from the brewery prior to putting it down the drain.

While we do not utilize harsh chemicals in our brewing and cleaning processes, and the primary product of our manufacturing process is delicious beer, we must adhere to the standards put in place by the EPA. The way it was put to us, we “need to be held to the same standard as Anheuser-Busch and others in town.” My partners and I welcomed this challenge.

As part of that effort, we spent the early part of this week installing our 50-foot-long trench floor drain, which does not enter the sewer system directly (which you would expect with most floor drains). Instead, the system pumps water entering the drain into batch tanks that once full, will be tested, treated and logged prior to release to the sewer.

The trench is in place, and will be complete on Monday morning once we pour and level the fresh concrete.

Other work this past week:

  • Completion of the trim, doors, glass and final coats of paint within the tasting room/retail area.

  • Completion of our self-designed heat-exchanger (as part of our 10-BBL HERMS system). More to follow on this aspect in future updates.

  • Beginning of piping work on the brewing system.

This upcoming week, we will tackle:

  • Installation of pine wood flooring within the tasting room/retail area.

  • Concrete pour into the trench drain.

  • Sealing of Brewery floor.

  • Completion of piping work.

  • Installation of new propane tanks (boil kettle dedicated) and finalization of propane piping/burner system.

  • Brewing.

Thank you all again for your continued interest in us and our venture. We remain on target, and look forward to the day when we can share a beer with you all. Prost!

Carl

Co-Founder | Accounts & Engineering

Carl's Weekly Update | 4.2.14

It is officially the spring season, and this means that we are getting closer to the grand opening of the Able Ebenezer Brewing Company. My partners and I know that you are very interested in when we will open our doors and make Able Ebenezer beer available to all. Therefore, we will be publishing weekly detailed updates to ensure that you, our followers, are up to date on the latest developments of our facility build and opening timeline. With that, here is where we are as we mark the beginning of Spring: In December 2013, we announced the plan to open a new brewery in Merrimack, establishing a facility occupying the high-ground overlooking the intersection of the DW Highway and Columbia Circle (@ 31 Columbia Circle). Since that time, a number of engineering, construction and regulatory activities have commenced. They include:

  • Complete resurfacing of our facility’s concrete floor, and thorough cleaning of the entirety of the space (a clean brewery produces clean beer).

  • Accumulation and building of our brewing equipment (boil, mash, heat exchangers, mill, fermenters, brite/conditioning tank, etc).

  • The building of the tasting room.

  • Framing of our 27’ bar.

  • Delivery of our kegs, growlers, pints and tasters.

  • Painting walls, ceiling, etc.

  • Federal approval of our Brewer’s Qualification.

  • Many other miscellaneous activities, many of which can be seen on our Facebook page.

Ahead are a number of activities that we are taking on each and every day as we progress towards opening. In the coming week, we will execute the following:

  • Digging out 40’ of concrete floor to install our trenched floor drain and implement our waste water pre-treatment process.

  • Piping work on our custom 10-BBL (310-gallon) brewing system.

  • Complete plumbing and electrical installation in our new tasting room.

  • Brewing.

With that, we are on target to open later this spring. We will continue to update you all on our progress each week, and will make it known when we are able to announce a date for our grand opening. Until then, we welcome all of your questions and comments, and look forward to the opportunity to share a beer with you in the coming months. Prost!

Carl

Co-FOunder | Accounts & Engineering