According to the survey, there are an estimated 1.2 million homebrewers in the United States, two-thirds of whom began brewing in 2005 or later.
“The homebrewing community is in every corner of the country and highly engaged in this hobby,” said Gary Glass, director, American Homebrewers Association.
“From the amount of money spent on supplies to the sheer number of homebrewers, it’s clear this is a growing trend and people are incredibly interested in learning about and making their own brews at home.”
We really thought the day we would actually sell beer would never come. Finally the day of being able to sell beer actually arrived…
On Friday 1 November we sold two cases of beer to Roeland Liquors and another to our neighboring burger joint - The NOB (No Ordinary Burger). The latter sale was actually quite by accident. While we were waiting for the mash rest at the brewery we were enjoying some of the best burgers in town when we started discussing beer with the owners of The NOB. Five minutes later they bought a case. Three cases of beer in total is not much, but it is on par with what we are planning to do… Taking it slow.
A little bit more about the beer that is available…
The first beer we put up for sale is Gallows Hill Apollo IPA. It is not a beer for the feint of heart! Quite frankly we would not really be surprised if a few people do not to like the beer.
It is a seriously hoppy and bitter American IPA. At 6.6% ABV and a calculated bittering of around 87 IBU it is a in-your-face kind of beer. Liberals amounts of Apollo, CTZ (Columbus / Tomahawk / Zeus), Centennial & Cascade make up the kettle and dry hop additions.
Hopefully Apollo IPA sales are fairly good… Next up we will release an American Pale Ale and soon after that probably a session IPA. Watch this space, Facebook & Twitter for more details…
The coming week will be a long one for a couple of small breweries (actually for 10 of them, including Gallows Hill Brewing Co.) while they wait for the winners to be announced in the inaugural SA Craft Beer Championship on Friday… We’ve got our fingers crossed for the beers we’ve entered.
