Yesterday, January 02, 2023, I had the privilege to be the assistant brewer with owners Mark & Chris Flynn at Littleport Brewery in Racine, WI. Mark was brewing his Full Mast Helles.
414 lb of grain went into a full 300 gallon brew. Included in the grain bill were Pilsen Malt, Honey Malt, Munich Malt and CaraPils Malt.
This is Littleport’s stainless conglomerate where the magic happens.
Getting the business going in the Mash Tun.
Recirculating to clarify and on to the boil kettle.
While waiting for the boil to get its steam on, some Porter was transferred from its fermenter to two separate 62 gallon vessels to make some Chocolate / Raspberry and Maple Porter.
Some of the hops used in the Helles.
Another way to pass the time and every assistant brewer’s job – emptying the mash tun of spent grain.
Following the boil it’s on to the whirlpool to let the wort clarify (let the trub and hops settle) and slightly cool before being transferred to the fermenter.
Once the wort has had time to calm down (a time out) it is on a trip through the plate chiller and into the fermenter where the yeast was added. In this case, FV #4.
The reward for a job well done?
Special thanks to Mark and Chris for letting me in on this experience! I’ve never brewed more than 8 gallons at one time. 300 gallons sure is a lot of beer. Hope to do this again sometime.
Cheers to the Flynns and Littleport Brewing on a prosperous 2023!
Update: 02/03/23
Full Mast Helles made it to the kegs and not the drain! I stopped by Littleport last Friday as Mark was beginning to keg the beer. Taste testing and hydrometer readings verified that this brew maintains “Full” and not “Half Mast” status due to my participation in the brew event.
Mark has 60 gallons of the Helles in 2 – 30 gallon wooden honey barrels to see what might happen. (Sorry I didn’t think to capture that image. Now that I’ve kinda figured out how to do picts, I have to be more insightful.)
Out of appreciation for me not tanking 10 barrels of finished product (because of my participation in the process) Mark was gracious to give me a donation towards this next weekend’s Super Brew Sunday festivities – for quality control purposes, of course.
I’ll report back with the taste testing results sometime next week.
Cheers!
