Err, Hello & Welcome...

Well, this seems like a good idea - a blog to record the goings on in & around a small English micro brewery. Of course, in reality, who can say....

So, we plan to record here what is happening (of note), along with what we are thinking and doing. As I write this it is early afternoon on a Friday, that time when it is probably pointless starting a new task, but the enthusiasm to tidy up those last few things is waning somewhat. I ought to do some cask washing later, but I think that will a job for Saturday AM. So what is happening then in the brewery?

One beer is fermenting - a re-brew of 'Isaac's Flying Coach', a special beer originally done for the Ely CAMRA Beer Festival. This morning was taken up with a bit of cleaning round, then a brewery tour from a local school. It seemed odd doing the talk, then not offering round samples. I rather think some of the students found it a little boring, and to be fair it probably is - most of the tour parties we get here are really only interested in the sampling. Once a few samples have imbibed, the tongues loosen and the questions flow. It was even a bit too wet to have a gander at the reed bed & pond. But I hope that they have come away at least knowing what is in beer, and that these days it's not all made in big factories by computers. I just worry that they now think it's also made in small barns by odd folk who need to get out more....

Last year we were free of fruit flies. Such critters plague breweries large and small, and much time & money is spent on fighting them. But not here. Our weaponry sat idle all spring, right through until November, when one last warm spell woke them up. Why? Because the farm is inundated with insect eating birds, and they keep the flies in check. When they all miked off back to Africa/Ibiza/wherever for the winter, the late surging flies had no predators bar us. And now we await their return. At the moment, the flies might be getting the upper hand (slightly), although the cold spell at the mo has seen them off again for now. We are watching the skies for the invasion of Swallows - when they arrive, we know we'll be sorted. And brewery visitors will be amazed at how closely a Swallow can fly to your head without crashing.