Plenty of Swag to Go Around...

Being that the club is comprised of creators, be it Landscape Architect or Graphic Artist, everything we do must be accomplished with a unique touch. Simply brewing beer, bottling beer and drinking beer wasn't enough to pass the time (kind of).

Our thought is that only half of the creativity involved in brewing beer has to do with the ingredients of the beer itself. The other half should be applied to the bottle's face and cap...and t-shirts...and glasses. You can see where this uncontrolled creativity could get out of hand. Since each of our styles varies, we needed something to brand our club's efforts and provide a framework for each member's 'bursting' creativity. This is where our dedicated Graphic Artist (and wife) stepped in. Our brand was established through the custom OCBC logo and applied to shirts and glasses. Many friends, family and fans are already able to take part in our club with the nearly 100 glasses and t-shirts that have been ordered and distributed in the past few weeks.

The OCBC logo, t-shirts and glasses weren't enough. We wanted to create an identity for each beer through artwork and by name. Keeping the OCBC brand in mind, our Graphic Artist (and wife) created a template package for our labels to be placed within. These templates act as the unifying element for our distinctly different designs (and beers). When a member creates a beer and names it, that member then designs artwork inspired by that beer and places it into the template creating the BEER LABEL (At Home IPA shown). Each beer and its label is unique and shows insight to its originator.

We are all creators, liking many different types of beer and design, brought together by the sport of brewing!

Brewing At OCBC Is A Team Sport

The OCBC has learned lots of things about brewing in the past few months, but one of the main things that we have learned is that working as a team, and using our numbers, helps make a better beer and a better time.

When we started the club we knew that we wanted several members to not only help split the costs, but also to help split the work. Some of that work is the menial tasks of cleaning, removing bottle labels, and just watching water boil. It also helps that more people are available to run and get ingredients or equipment when emergency or convenience arises. It also seems that the biggest tasks that we need more numbers on is the mental tasks of keeping all of the tasks straight and in order. It is also to get everyone's opinion on how some of these processes are to be done.

Do we mix the yeast straight into the carboy? Do we really need to sanitize that? Weren't we supposed to rack that beer today?

We have simplified the brewing schedule with an Outlook calendar, but on some days when we are brewing, bottling, and racking on the same day, the steps get muddied. We have gotten these tasks streamlined and all able to be completed in 3 hours. That being said, all it takes is forgetting to sanitize something or in which order things need to happen to add an extra 30 minutes or more to the process.

Luckily we are doing this for fun and time isn't really money, but is just time. Of course extra time brewing isn't so bad since we are drinking beer and hanging out, but we can do that sitting on the couch watching football. I guess we wouldn't appreciate the success of tasting a delicious craft beer as much if it didn't take a little sacrifice and hard work, and is why there is no "I" in OCBC.

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.

Spreading the Craft Brew Love

Even the hardest days of brewing are still better than any day at the office. Like most hobbies, we seem to be willing to work longer, perform menial laborious tasks, and put up with conditions that we wouldn't normally be willing to endure. Brewing is no different. Summertime brewing in Florida is hot, scrubbing labels and bottles is monotonous, and cleaning the gunk out of carboys and kettles is about like cleaning a dirty diaper. The perks are of course sipping on good beer, smelling the beautiful aroma of barley and hops, and enjoying the satisfaction of a successful brew.


This past Saturday, the OCBC had a long afternoon of bottling 2 batches and brewing a new one. We bottled the Amazingly Apricot and the Brunette Blonde, and we brewed one of the IPAs we are exploring. We were using the Northern Brewer, Dead Ringer Extract Kit with Specialty Grains. It is touted to be a copy of the Bell's Two Hearted, so we will see in 6 weeks how it tastes.

Luckily we had 7 of the 8 club members present to give a hand, so we were able to multitask. We had to clean and sterile the 100+ bottles, rack and bottle, and keep an eye on the kettle to watch for boil over and all the brewing steps. We also had several friends over to experience the brewing process, and hopefully have inspired a few out of town folks to take up brewing. I guess the saying could be

"Give a man a beer and he has one beer, teach him to brew and he'll never be thirsty". 

We shall see if the OCBC will have a few branches sprout up.

Will the real yeast please rise up!

From time to time it seems that you will eventually have one billion organic problems that set out to make sure you fail. Such has been the case on a couple of our latest brew adventures. First there was Craig's pilsner which failed to step up to the plate and, just this week, the first batch of our Oktoberfest. How to deal with it? Easy....call in one billion more replacement yeast warriors to battle it out in the fermentation process.

Flat and sad...

After stressing out over the fact that this new brew was flat we called upon our new friends at the Magnolia Square Market in Sanford, FL to assist us with purchasing some new yeast to help kick start the process. Now, the Oktoberfest is acting like it is suppose to and burping away happily. The only hard part now is waiting the better part of eleven weeks to drink it. It should be ready for the UF versus Kentucky game come September 23rd though which is good.

Fluffy and happy...

Also, this weekend we will be enjoying some good company and brewing some good new beers. Over the next couple of weeks we will have around 400 bottles ready for drinking and over 150 new beers hanging out in Paul and becoming good friends. So, all is looking good for the OCBC. Oh yeah, GO USA!

The Unsung Member - Paul

The Orlando Craft Brew Club would not have had the initial success or the ability to up the production without Paul, our Coldspot Chest Freezer. Being located in Central Florida gives us a slight disadvantage to our brew friends up north. We don't have basements because of our geology, or any locations in our houses that can store fermenting beer without major climate control devices.

We were fortunate enough to have 1 wine chiller at Micheal's house and Sugar was able to purchase another one for $20 at a neighbor's yard sale. Hoppes was our inventive member and built a chiller box from online plans, equipped with a thermostat and fan, and only requires the changing out of 1 gallon ice chugs every other day. Either way, that only gave the OCBC the ability to have 3 carboys in the mix at one time. With us having so many members and so many of us with great ambition about what we could be making, we needed another option.

The best solution that we could come up with was a large capacity chest freezer with a thermostat override. The only challenge would be to find one that was used, in good condition, and reasonable in price. Luckily for us, Craigslist has lots of cheap appliances and we were able to find a Sears Coldspot Freezer for $100. Perfect!

Sugar and I traveled across town and picked up the freezer from an older gentleman by the name of Paul, which the freezer has been dubbed. This freezer has been babied for the past 30 years and has been kept in mint condition. It appeared that it was being used to store enough frozen vegetables to survive the "zombie Apocalypse". Now it will get to spend its final days helping us brew fine beer.

The Northern Brewer thermostat allows us to control Paul to whatever temperature our brews require. We can now use the mini-chillers to brew our lagers and cold fermenting brews and keep the ales in Paul. Now all we need is another smaller chest freezer to get a keg and tap system going. Its only a matter of time.

The Orlando Craft Brew Club

The Orlando Craft Brew Club was founded in May 2011. March Madness had just ended and the founders of the club were wondering what we were going to do with our time. We were also wondering what excuses they were going to make to get friends together to enjoy good beer and fellowship. Brewing beer was proposed and immediately it seemed that nothing could stop the idea. Don't get me wrong, the idea wasn't new and it had been brought up before, but now seemed to be the perfect time and place to launch it.

The OCBC was started with 8 paid memberships that got it off the ground. All members paid $50, we ordered the Deluxe Beer Starter Kit from Northern Brewer, an 8 gallon kettle, and our first ingredient kit. The Club brewed 4 trial beers to get the kinks out, and to see what craft beer was all about. Needless to say, we couldn't stop. We invested in mini fridges and "Paul", an 8 carboy capacity chest freezer, for fermentation storage in the hot Florida climate. We also expanded the number of carboys and upped production to our full capacity.

Members of the OCBC can pick whatever beer recipe they want to try, brew it, and sell it to the members or keep it for themselves. This way club members get to try lots of different types of beers, we can efficiently keep the numbers of beer high, and the overall costs low for club members.

Who knows what the OCBC will grow into. Visions of kegs, taps, our own swag and recipes are all so close at hand that they don't seem like goals or visions, but rather just the next logical step. This blog is to report our progress, let you know what we are drinking and finding in our brewing, and to help share the art of craft brewing.

Brew on!