(I'm a part-time teacher and currently supposed to be writing student reports. Must be time to update the blog...)
This entry is entitled "Leaving the swamp", as this represents in a number of ways our current position. Firstly, yes, we'll be leaving Invermay a.k.a The Swamp (a very real title with the extreme weather and flood threat this week), but so far 2016 is proving a ripper-year in terms of the growth of our customer base and subsequently the movement of stock and increase of cashflow is seeing us in a more certain financial position as we're no longer swamped by debts!
This entry is entitled "Leaving the swamp", as this represents in a number of ways our current position. Firstly, yes, we'll be leaving Invermay a.k.a The Swamp (a very real title with the extreme weather and flood threat this week), but so far 2016 is proving a ripper-year in terms of the growth of our customer base and subsequently the movement of stock and increase of cashflow is seeing us in a more certain financial position as we're no longer swamped by debts!
Relocating
 | So, having only been brewing on our own brewhouse in the current premises for the past 10 months we've now found ourselves being required to relocate. When we were first delivered the news a few months back it came as a major blow. I'm generally a pretty careful fella. So when it was time to sign the lease I made sure there was a 3 year option to give some security for the dosh we'd spent setting the place up. However, it had escaped my attention that somewhere in the fine-print it reads that should we wish to pursue the option we needed to provide written notice 1 month in advance... and as there'd been a change of landlord with a new vision for the building, our space was required. Here's to a lesson learned the hard way! |
Having found a new premises with some real potential we're finding the frustration and anger subsiding to make way for feelings of hope and excitement. Adding to the excitement is the knowledge that the current brew in the fermenter is the final brew conducted in the swamp: and nonetheless amidst a one-in-one-hundred year flood!
The FloodAs you will read, this was a week of events we never want to experience again. It started on a Tuesday: what was to be a regular brew day kicked off to a brilliant start, achieving excellent efficiency in the mash to fill the kettle to capacity with some of the maltiest, tastiest wort imaginable. 10 mins into the boil (50 mins to go) and we have a visit from our neighbour, announcing that they were evacuating as per advice from the authorities, as the waters were rising and the steam boiler was to be shut down. | |
Crap. What now? 1300L of hot, tasty wort and many, many more litres of muddy water threatening to bury the place in faeces (yes, literally. Launceston has the only mixed stormwater / sewage lines remaining in Australia: due to our history as also being the first city in Australia and third in the world to have underground sewers. Get a decent amount of rain with a little flash-flooding and Invermay / "The Swamp" starts getting real organic). I re-prioritise and turn my attention to grabbing anything of value and hoisting it as high as possible. Several hours passed and I've had enough, happy to be jumping in the car and heading for home, leaving the chaos behind.
30 mins later and I get a call from Bill from Not For Horses (our malthouse partner - sharing the building) asking if he can get a ride in: his car is being serviced and there's some stuff he needs to shift at the malthouse.
As we arrived at the plant, a couple of cops pull up and query why we're returning to the area. A few mins later and we're inside, back at work lifting stuff. About an hour went by before the next cop turned up; pretty stoked at finding himself standing in a brewery! However, the excitement was short-lived as he delivered the certain news that "this place is going to go under. They're expecting the level to rise half a metre over the wall". Our hearts immediately sank.
30 mins later and I get a call from Bill from Not For Horses (our malthouse partner - sharing the building) asking if he can get a ride in: his car is being serviced and there's some stuff he needs to shift at the malthouse.
As we arrived at the plant, a couple of cops pull up and query why we're returning to the area. A few mins later and we're inside, back at work lifting stuff. About an hour went by before the next cop turned up; pretty stoked at finding himself standing in a brewery! However, the excitement was short-lived as he delivered the certain news that "this place is going to go under. They're expecting the level to rise half a metre over the wall". Our hearts immediately sank.
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The following day was spent with eyes glued to the media, watching, waiting to learn our fate. With Invermay still on notice, the plant remained shut down: the wort waiting, still steaming hot in the well-insulated milk vat-come-kettle.
Thursday finally came and we were out of the woods. Believe it or not, the wort was still steaming-hot in the kettle! It returned to the boil and the process completed in good time with brilliant results - no harm done! And still time in the day to return the many hoisted items back to ground!
Thursday finally came and we were out of the woods. Believe it or not, the wort was still steaming-hot in the kettle! It returned to the boil and the process completed in good time with brilliant results - no harm done! And still time in the day to return the many hoisted items back to ground!
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