Orlando Brewing Fieldtrip

Tonight was an education field trip for the OCBC. The Club was due a visit to our local professional brewery (1 of 27 in the state), Orlando Brewing Company. Orlando Brewing is Florida’s only certified organic brewery, and is only 1 of 9 in the entire US! We also found out what it actually means to be organic; It means that ingredients used in crafting their ales are grown without insecticides, bioengineering, genetically modified organisms, sewage sludge or irradiation. Orlando Brewing's Blonde, Pale, Red & Brown Ale, Olde Pelican, Blackwater Dry Porter and European Pilz, are officially certified Organic by the USDA. All our beers are the only ones declared “Fresh From Florida” by the State’s Department of Agriculture. Not only can you taste the difference, but you can see the freshness of the "live" brew.

The main things that the Club took away from the brewery tour and visit with the guide was:
1. We have to move to kegging
2. Recipes are non proprietary
and 3. The only difference in their operation and ours is scale


Moving to kegging was something that we were already exploring, but the explained that going to this process is a big step in growing as a brewing operation. It allows us to skip 2 weeks of the brewing process by adding carbonation through CO2 instead of sugar in the bottles. They even said that if we wanted bottles we could keg the beer, and then turn around and bottle them and drink them immediately. It also made it easier to store and transport than 50 glass bottles.

We also learned that the recipes that we were using from stores, books, and the internet were non proprietary If we can execute the recipes correctly, make good beer, enter it in a competition, and win, it is our prize and our beer. The names and logos that we create are the only things that are proprietor and cannot be taken by anyone else. I am glad we have Michael and Susie to make such an awesome logo and guide us through our label making.

Lastly we learned that the process of making beer doesn't change, just the size of the operation. The owners of Orlando brewing started out like us, with 5 gallon carboys and experimenting with recipes. We did learn all of their processes and how they treat their water, equipment, and ingredients, but it still came down to good water, malt, hops, and yeast.

Orlando Brewing was an impressive facility, with 12 solid beers that are always on tap there and then another 8-10 that they brew seasonally. They have a cool volunteer program that allows curious home brewers the chance to gain knowledge of larger scale brewing by helping clean and do any tasks that are required to make the brew and ship it out. Best of all it showed us that brewing attracts good people and brings people together in good fellowship.