Winter time in wisconsin - ok who is tired of this now?

Well it is another snowy Monday - got nailed again over the weekend and by the time we get done counting today it will probably be another 4-5" of the white stuff. When is spring showing up?

It has been a series of brewing days for Todd. Over the last three days (not counting the weekend) a total of 260 bbls of beer will have been brewed by end of the day on Tuesday the 18th. Thats a lot of beer folks approximately 3600 cases worth. Good to have full tanks of beer this time of year. It is a good portent for the spring.

Had a great weekend which was kicked off by our Friday "Stammtisch" . Stammtisch by the way is a German term for regular's table or loosely translated regular get together! We do open the doors at 3pm for tours on Friday - maybe you should come on up and join us by becoming a regular at our Stammtisch! Saturday - Todd took off to handle the Manitowoc Beer Festival. Great event and our product was well received. More events coming up soon - just check out the calendar on the main Sand Creek website. Some of the talk around the beer fest between brewers was about hops.

If you are not aware - the price of hops has gone up a boggling 547% in the past 6 months. This has been mainly due to the poor European and Australian crops, a high demand in craft brewing market (thats us!) and the switch from the hop farmers from low Alpha aroma hops to super high alpha bittering hops. Many breweries are unable to procure them and the price for any of them is quite high. The increase translates from $4-$5 a pound to an average now of around $16 a pound with some as high as $45!!
Luckily for us here - I was able to procure our supply from two sources - one of which is direct from Germany. To also help our fellow Wisconsin breweries, I contacted several of fellow brewers and they also have the opportunity to purchase hops on the same order. More than ever its important to support your local brewery! This crazy market will be this way for at least another year or so before pricing settles down.

Events coming up this weekend on the 23rd are The Bid 'n Brew in Fond Du lac and the Chamber Beer Fest in New London. Oh yeah - it is also the weekend for the local Scout troops Pinewood derby!

One last thing - the Oleator Dopplebock will be shipping out this week! Look for it in our Special Reserve 4 packs!

Thats it for now!

Sláinte!