TTB [Alcohol & Tobbaco Tax & Trade Bureau] Gives Epic the Go!

We received the email below today and it made us happy.


“Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2009 8:56 AM
To: Peter Erickson
Subject: Your Brewery has been approved and is in the mail!


[our contact], TTB Specialist”


This is the Federal approval of our brewery application. If we have some luck, we might finally get our building permit in the coming days. Nothing is easy, so we just have to keep pushing.

Cheers!

14 Concepts

14 different concept brews in two different cellars! We have been working hard on brews, building issues, equipment layouts, labels and loans.

Kevin and I are off to Carlsbad, CA on Friday for some R&D with many others from Utah. It is going to be a great time tasting strong ales and hanging out in the old SDSU stomping grounds.

Wheat Beer at Sunset

More concept brews with the small pilot system underway at about one a week. The Stout got going last week and is looking good. This week we hope to do a very special barrel aged Belgian style strong ale. If the flavors work out, all I can say is look out, it is going to be a treat. We will be shooting for about 10% ABV with this one and if the concept is proven to be tasty, ask to see the full size cask once we get underway at the brewery.

We have been at the City a lot these days. Support for the project is very encouraging and we hope to have the building permit in three weeks or, hopefully less. Next week we have our first visit from JVNW to discuss the install of our brew house with our contractors. Things are moving but never fast enough.

Something special that just says spring beer to you? Since our projected opening date is early spring, it would be great to have some comments as to what readers here might enjoy brew wise in the springtime.

Quick Update

The test brews are getting off to a good start. Brewed so far: two versions of Wheat, two versions of Porter, two Pale Ales, one Lager, two versions of Amber Ale and this week the first IPA will be brewed in duplicate too. The Wheat and Porters are bottled up and in the cellar. The Pales received a healthy dry hopping a few days ago.

The building clean up is on its third dumpster and we are off to the city with our plans today.

It's About Time!

Epic Brewing finally has a home. It is not much to look at yet. We will start the clean out this week and demolish the building in part as soon as we can; followed by reconstruction and a major face lift. Architect and engineers are getting busy and we finally feel like we are off the starting line looking for the hole shot!

Location, Location, Location

It is not easy in SLC to find the right location to meet the needs of the thirsty. Epic is doing something that hasn't happened in Utah since prohibition; you can imagine the zoning issues along with State and local laws that complicate the issue of where we will brew and sell our "Heavy Beer" from. We can't be too near a park, church, school, playground, etc. It is not impossible but it has taken way too long.

At any rate we have two possible downtown locations in the works and we hope at least one will play out this week. Do us a favor and make a toast to success if you will!

Poll results: Only 7 people noticed and took the poll regarding Favorite Beer Styles. India Pale Ale, American Pale Ale, and Double IPA's take the podium.

Survey Facts and OBF visit

Some fun facts from the survey…

The average survey taker bought 36 beers in the previous month.

Some of you might need to step up your game or share more of your beer with your friends since….The winner bought 144 in the previous month!

The more beers a person bought, the more likely they were to want to try an Epic made brew. Good beer, in moderation, can make you smart or at least a potential Epic Brewing Customer…

People were most interested in trying Epic for:

1. Its expected taste
2. Being a craft beer
3. Range of styles being offered
4. Alcoholic content...hmmm

Under…behavior modification: a number of people who typically DO NOT purchase beer from the state liquor store said they would start shopping there once Epic is on the shelves!

Oregon Brewers Fest Update

Kevin (Epic’s Brewer) said he needed to go out to this great beer festival over the 23rd to 26 July for work. He said it was “hard work drinking all the different styles of beer in the heat wave” in the Pacific Northwest.

We got some good leads for hops, malts and hard goods. Kevin found some new experimental malt that seems just up Epic’s creative alley. We can’t wait until we are brewing with these small batch, limited release, specialty malts, the flavors should push the envelope.

Kevin also saw our good pals at Ninkasi Brewing to help on the bottling line since they use a similar system to the one we will use; which was a good hands-on experience.

Thanks to those of you who took the time to complete the survey before it closed.