There's an old saying, "Don't hobnob with snobs." Well, at Hob Knob's Brewery we pride ourselves on being beer snobs. Like many, I started drinking the "beers" of the big 3 - Budweiser, Miller, and Coors. This was before realizing there were literally hundreds of styles of different, unique, and tasty brews out there just waiting to be consumed. When someone calls us beer snobs, we look at it as a compliment. Hence the play on the word "hobnob".
The "Knob" part of Hob Knob comes from my old college days. My friends and I enjoyed the film "Strange Brew" with Rick Moranis. Running with the dialog of the movie, it was commonplace for us to call each other 'hosers' and 'knobs'. It is this carefree, fun, and relaxing environment that I wanted to incorporate into a brewery. For me, brewing is a pleasure, a past time, and an opportunity to show my creative side. It's not work. It's something I love to do, just like hanging out with old college buddies. That's why we named the brewery, Hob Knob Brewery, and my dog wound up with the name 'Hoser'!
Right now, the Hob Knob Brewery is a hobby. The plan is to go pro. It seems like we're slowly moving in the direction of offering our beers on a limited basis. I can't help myself when it comes to purchasing bigger, better brewing equipment. Right now, 'the system' (as we call it), is capable of producing 18-19g batches on the 20g system - more if you did partial mashes (partial mashes are basically like brewing from concentrate and diluting it). We could feasibly do 2 kegs per day (or 1bbl, or 31g), meaning we could pump out around 160 gallons per week on the current setup - more than enough to make the jump to commercial on a nanobrewery level once I get my 2 155g fermenters.
The setup is progressing at Hob Knob, and I've got almost all of the connections I need for the complete plumbing setup and pumping station. I'm about halfway done with my all wood brew stand. I've upgraded the system to the 20g all grain system. I'm learning everything I can about beer from brewer's radio, books, videos, tours, tournaments, clubs - you name it!
Time for a cold one!
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