My Dad, as a gift, gave me a magazine about home brewing your own beers. It seemed like a novel idea to open a micro-brewery but with the patience that it took to make the final product it was easy to shelf the whole idea. But for the owners of the Steel Toe Brewery, Jason and Hannah, the dream became a passion. Not just to own a brewery but to generate a well crafted beer.
The fermentation of this idea came with Jason working with different brews right in their home. Taking it to the next level he headed off to World Brewing Academy for 3 months of schooling. After graduation he landed a job with the Pelican Pub and Brewery in Oregon as a Cellarman and working up to Head Brewer. Bringing their experience and well thought out business plan, Jason and Hannah found a new home in Minnesota.
The origin of the breweries name got me to wondering and I found what I wanted to know right on their website. Below is an excerpt from that site:
WHY STEEL TOE?
Jason has worn steel toed boots for most of his work career. It’s not a colored-collar thing, its a hard-work thing. That’s what we’re about. Your ‘steel toes’ might be stilettos, loafers, wing-tips or hiking boots, it doesn’t matter. It’s just about what makes you feel like you’ve earned the rewards at the end of the day, namely a great craft beer.
Prost!
Hannah
Owner/Enabler
The Steel Toe Brewery opened it’s doors August of 2011. They are located at 4848 West 35th Street in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.
Have you ever tried your hand at home brewing beer? Let us know your experience.
Thanks!
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thanks for share!
For beginners, I ommrceend buying pre-assembled homebrew ingredients kits which are available in homebrew stores or else over the internet. If you have a homebrew store near you, they should also be able to put together a kit containing all the necessary tools. If NOT, then here’s what you’ll need in addition to the ingredients kit:(1.) A large metal pot (you will be brewing 2.5 gallons of liquid, so it must be BIG if you/your parents don’t have one, try a restaurant supply store).(2.) A long-stem (i.e. 10-12 ) metal thermometer to clip onto the side of the large brew pot in order to monitor the temperature (also available at restaurant supply stores don’t cost much)(3.) A utensil for stirring the beer while in the brewing process(4.) A container to hold the beer after brewing while it ferments (a large contractor-size paint bucket i.e. from Home Depot will suffice, but you will need a lid).(5.) Cleanser (i.e. unscented bleach or other unscented detergent) to mix with water this is VERY IMPORTANT because you will need it to cleanse EVERYTHING that will come in contact with the beer or else you risk ruining the entire batch).(6.) A metal strainer/cheese cloth/other mechanism to strain the beer before transfering it from the brew pot to the fermentation bucket.(7.) A glass hydrometer for measuring the alcohol content before and after fermentation (it’s possible to get by without one, but I ommrceend that beginners use one).Good luck, and have fun!_
cool post! Keep up the nifty work!
I bought my dad a whole kit from Hawkins Bazaar a clpuoe of years ago, it was about a320 i think and made about 30 pints (10 at a time), he still uses it now, just buys the refills off the internet!I looked at proper brewing kits at the time to brew in bulk, but they were about a3200!
isn’t the craft beer movement about maknig/drinking *good* beer rather than black-balling a brewery-company that gets too big b/c it’s simply popular/good? if stone, one day, ends up selling 2 mil barrels+, is it no longer craft beer? maybe the craft brew movement should seek eventual extinction when quality craft beer is simply known as beer.
You bring up a good point. I always wondered why he would want to stay ‘small’. My mindset was that he wanted to keep production costs and the such more manageable. Your comment has me wondering about the prestige of losing the ‘quality’ of his beer to ‘production’ beer or mass consumption.
Thanks for the feed back!