Peter Bulut, Owner & Chief Brewing Officer at GLB, couldn’t wait to start celebrating our 30th anniversary in the craft beer business, so he went out and bought the brewery a little birthday present – a brand new 7bbl copper pilot system and four new 15bbl fermenters!
With February 12th fast approaching (the actual date of GLB’s birthday), Bulut had a team of professionals into the brewery over the last number of weeks to install this shiny brewhouse, which will become the new pilot system at GLB.
This yet to be named system will allow GLB to expand on the creativity of our experimental brews, going from 40-70 litres on the old pilot set-up to 700-1400 litres. This means that the brewery retail store and bars and restaurants will see more product on a rotating basis moving forward in our 30th year.
With everything installed, including the new fermenters, Peter rolled up his sleeves and fired it up last Friday morning to brew the inaugural batch of beer – Orange Peel Ale. When asked why he choose that brand (Orange Peel was discontinued by GLB in 2014) Peter said, “I wanted to do something from our past and Orange Peel Ale just came to mind.”
There was a second batch brewed up in the afternoon, a pale ale, that features an experimental, yet to be named hop. Both of these beers, once fermented and aged accordingly, will hit the retail store in both growler and draught format. Stay tuned.
For those who were lucky enough to walk through the GLB brewhouse prior to 2012, you’ll notice this new copper pilot system has a resemblance to the old copper German brew kettle that GLB used for over 20 years. “That is what caught my eye when looking at this system,” said Peter. “It reminded me of that beautiful old copper kettle we used to have here.”
GLB will really be breaking in the new system in the coming weeks…keep an eye on our social media channels for more information.
