425 bbls per year ?

[limulus]

Congrats on your success. So, do you need to change the original title of the thread to a higher number?

 

[Csuho]

Congrats too. How are the conicals holding up with all the movement of beer in and beer out?

 

[pokerfreak2]

425 bbls per year was a little high. We produced just under 400 in the first year.
The plastic conical fermenters have held up just fine. For those that think it can't be done with plastic, I clean them with PBW and a boat washing mitt and they are still like new . I have seen some much better plastic fermenters advertised in brew magazine. They have racking arms and a better sealing lid. I had to really work to get ours to seal. Also with no racking arm I have to drain all they yeast out of the cone before filling kegs and that takes a couple of days of opening the drain valve slightly every few hours.

 

[YoThatLimp]

Wow this has been a great summer ! My biggest production month I kegged up 1980 gal. We are currently offering 10 beers and with the soon to be released Oktoberfest makes 11.
We are trying to design the new 10 barrel brewery and get it under construction ASAP .
A brewer from Belgium stopped in and invited me to visit their brewery and I'm trying to plan a trip this fall/winter .
Here's our 3rd growler label. Those things have been HOT sellers !

Me and my wife stopped by over the summer to try your beer while on a Rt 66 road trip. Man, really great beer! Thank god for that place having a motel right on the premise! :cross:

 

[limulus]

Today on CBS News Sunday Morning, they were featuring food all over America and yes, The Big Texan was part of the show. I was all set to see some of the brewery, but it was just about the 72oz steak.

 

[pokerfreak2]

Thanks for stopping by yo !
Limulus , I was also expecting at least a quick blurb about the brewery but I guess the show was about food not beer :-(
New beer on tap is called Jack Rabbit Red. Layers of Carmel malt with huge hop flavor without bitterness dry hopped with Simcoe.
Also IIPA called Wup your donkey will be ready in another week or 2. Cheers

 

[Disintegr8or]

Just read the entire thread.

Awesome job PF2!

 

[dallasdb]

Only in Texas would a brewpub ferment in a trailer!!!

Read the entire thread. This is awesome and inspiring. Glad you guys are doing well and were able to do it on the cheap.

Keep updating us when you get the new expansion rolling.

 

[homebrewdad]

I ate there as a teenager. Back then, the steaks were amazing, and worth the drive. Apparently, they haven't changed, since you guys are still in business.

I remember this thread from a long time ago, but hadn't read that the Big Texan was your buddy's business. How freaking cool.

Congrats on all of the success! If I find myself in Texas again, I will definitely make it a point to visit the Big Texan an sample the beers - as well as the steak.

 

[pokerfreak2]

Hi all fellow brewmasters ! Sorry I haven't posted in a really long time. We just celebrated our 2nd anniversary ! Woo hoo !!! So to do something crazy I made a batch of smoked jalapeno and bacon beer. We are calling it " Smokey and the Bacon ". I'm still brewing 100 gal batches with 12 beers on tap. So brewing 1-2 times a day just to try to keep the pipeline flowing. Bigger brewery still on the drawing board. Some of you have stopped by and I thank you for that. Sorry to the ones I missed. We are getting ready to enter the GABF for the first time.
Thanks to all the folks who post great info on this site. I owe my career to them.

 

[limulus]

Thanks for the update and congratulations on the 2nd anniversary! I have one customer in Texas and they are 6hrs away in Arlington. So, I may never make it there.

 

[pokerfreak2]

Yesterday at 10 am registration for brewers began for the GABF. So at 9:58 I'm ready and when registration opens I get server unavailable for 2 hours then I get through and fill out the form quickly but it was already full ! We got put on the waiting list. I'm very disappointed with the registration process. The website says that it filled up in 2 days last year. I can't believe it's full in 2 hours ! Grrrrrrr !!!

 

[signpost]

Yeah, apparently a lot of people got wait listed for GABF.

If I had read this thread a year or so ago, I might've been able to stop by and taste your beers. I lived in Arizona for 5 years and traveled back and forth to Michigan visiting family during the summers. Drove past the Big Texan a bunch of times and never stopped. I'm moved back to Michigan now, but whenever the wife and I do a road trip out west we'll have to stop in and check out the brewery.

 

[pokerfreak2]

Howdy Yall ! Just released our new beer called Bomb City Bock ! That makes 13 of my beers on tap right now.
Honey Blonde
Jack Rabbit Red
1836 Chocolate Bock
Rattlesnake IPA
Palo Duro Pale Ale
Texas Red
Whiskey Barrel Stout
Raspberry Wheat
Pecan Porter
Whoop ur Donkey IIPA
Marshall Marzen Oktoberfest
Vanilla Porter
Phew!!! Trying to keep up with that is like juggeling cats !
The first pic is our latest growler label.
Just got back from the Craft Brewers Conference. We took the Big Texan mobile. The horn go's MOOOOOOOO... Lots of fun but now its time to get caught up. Summer is just around the corner and Spring break broke all the sales records in Big Texan history !
Produced 600bbls last year on our 3bbl system. Yes it can be done.
Still planning expansions... but there are a lot of hard decisions to make about whether to stay a brewpub and maximize profits or start distribution. (Texas law recently changed and allows brewpubs to distribute) Or do both
Stop by and ask for me. Ill give you a tour of our redneck brewery !

 

[SavoryChef]

Hey congrats!

 

[UWDawg13]

Just read the whole thread. Awesome to see its going so well. Congrats and keep us posted!

 

[limulus]

Nice to see you are still going. So you are basically brewing 4 times/week . Are you able to meet your demand or do you have a brew house or fermentation or bright tank bottleneck? I know that place is huge and a lot of people pass through there and just wonder if demand exceeds capacity.

 

[guinness10]

Congrats on your success! Just read through the entire thread and sounds like you've got your hands full these days. I never made it out towards Amarillo when I lived in Texas (in California now), but if I do in the future, I'll be sure to stop by!


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[pokerfreak2]

We just celebrated our 3rd anniversary by offering a Hefeweizen ! I used a Bavarian yeast to get that banana taste. People are loving it !


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[pokerfreak2]

Nice to see you are still going. So you are basically brewing 4 times/week . Are you able to meet your demand or do you have a brew house or fermentation or bright tank bottleneck? I know that place is huge and a lot of people pass through there and just wonder if demand exceeds capacity.

Limulus
It's really crazy but with 12 115 gal fermenters I can just barely meet the demand. In the slower months it works just right but in the summer I'm brewing about 5-6 days per week. I've got a guy that washes and fills kegs for me. I'm turning ales out in about 12 days and lagers out in 15-18 days. Then force carb the kegs and then hopefully they can clear for a few days. So to answer your question the choke point is that the setup is designed around a 3bbl brew house and 3 bbl fermenters. So we are working on a bigger system. We found some SS fermenters ( pictured below) at the scrap yard. Now I've got to build a bigger brew house and figure out where to put it all.




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[limulus]

Ah, capacity and expansion are always a good sign at a brewery! If you ain't expanding, you're going under. Congrats on all the success

 

[pokerfreak2]

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated this thread. The good news is that we are still rocking the homebrews 6 years now and the bad news is we still haven't upgraded to the stainless fermenters as we can't seem to find a place to put them. I did get 2 more 115 gallon plastic for a total of 14. I have 8 for ales and 6 for lagers. I divided the trailer so I can keep one area colder than the other. Also years back I built a CIP system for the fermentation tanks that has worked great and allows me to clean without scratching them and as you can see they have really lasted a lot longer than I ever expected. I still get drawings of planned expansion but I haven't seen ground breaking so I'll keep brewing 5-6 times a week until they build it or I die. Thanks for all the support and advise along the way. Without this forum I'm not sure I could have pulled this off. Stop by and ask for me if your ever in Amarillo TX. I'm there most everyday. Lol

 

[wyowolf]

Wow, just read through this thread. i would say after this long you're doing something right! Congrats!

 

[limulus]

It has been 3yrs! Glad to see you are still doing well.

 

[limulus]

BTW, you can use the Letina wine tanks if you want a skinny footprint with a jacket. A lot of guys who went through Tom Hennessy's Brewery Immersion Course in Colorado use them. The Z1000C is a popular 7bbl size.

http://stpats.com/index.htm

 

[Zimm9]

Just read through this thread for the first time. Thanks for sharing your journey!

 

[JohnSand]

Great thread, thanks for the update.

 

[Smellyglove]

.edited

 

[jbsg02]

How are you controlling ferm temp, especially in your lagers?

 

[limulus]

How are you controlling ferm temp, especially in your lagers?

I think it is a refrigerated trailer. He said he divided it so that lagers are in the colder area.