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The Best Field Trip Ever (or:  come see our sign!)

10/17/2013

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Wednesday we had The Best Field Trip Ever, in my HBCO.  [I am expert enough at field trips to assert this, being a person who, I think we can safely say, over-volunteered for her children's school outings.  You may think this fact is unrelated to developing a love for craft beer, but if you have spent much time around kids you will know that chaperoning school trips and loving the peace and over-21 interaction that craft beer encourages are closely intertwined.]  At any rate, we journeyed to Berthoud to see how our sign was coming along. The fellow making it, Chris Gugelman, has his operation there at Madd Castings in this unassuming warehouse (which is actually a series of warehouses, but you can only see this one from the front):

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Step inside and check out this amazing foundry they've got going.  They cast (I think I'm using that term correctly?) in bronze for all sorts of artists from all over the States.  Chris kindly interrupted his busy day and gave us a full-fledged tour.

Step one is creating a wax mold from the clay an artist has sculpted.
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Step two is here, dipping that puppy in a series of liquid ceramic material and sand -- superfine first, then another layer of ceramic, then medium grain sand, and another round with coarse sand.

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Those things dry

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and then are fired in a big ol' kiln that is, as it proclaims, HOT HOT (1635 degrees when we were there).  The wax melts out and is reclaimed, leaving a hollow ceramic mold.
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Then these guys, who are fearless and quite expert as well, prop the baked (and piping HOT HOT) molds in a gravel bin and pour liquid bronze into the molds.

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This part was a little terrifying.  It is a James Bond scene waiting to happen.

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Even the tools are red-hot.
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Eventually the mold and bronze cools and they break the ceramic off of the bronze.

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They sandblast it and trim it and eventually proclaim it ready for assembly into the final sculpture/statue/whatnot.

This is this foundry's first machine-tooled piece:

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And here's the reason we went in the first place!
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**Some clarification, after a couple of comments here and on the FB page (sorry to have left this out!):

I should have noted that our sign isn’t being cast, as in this process in the photos above. It’s being made by a whole ‘nother technique that includes, I think, the design being water-jetted (?) out of 2 sheets of metal and Chris welding all the pieces together in layers. We can’t wait to see the finished product!

I should also have noted that Chris is an avid homebrewer who, judging from the looks of the 2 new kettles he’s got in one of the warehouses, brews on a much larger scale than Tatum’s and my experiment of a couple of weeks ago. (Which, by the way, I’m supposed to be bottling today. It turns out the bottling is a lot more tedious than the brewing. All that sterilizing. Ugh! Can’t there be a blue-cheese-type of beer, where we say the bacteria is good for you? [And the answer to that, apparently, is yes! Let the bacteria thrive and call it a lambic or a sour or somesuch, and you've got not contamination but style. I'm certain Linsey -- and Heather and Luke and Jesse and Steve and Tim and myriad other good homebrewers -- would be horrified by this interpretation of lambics and sours. Future H&D customers, never fear. They aren't letting me brew!])

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[In which:  I have vise envy.]
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GABFest 2013

10/13/2013

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Here’s a first-timer’s view of the Great American Beer Festival, which took place in Denver October 10-12.    [Photos follow.  If you'd like more of a beer expert's review, including a summary of awards, please head on over  to Dave's blog at Fermentedly Challenged!]  Most of you know GABF is a celebration of all things beer, almost all craftily made.  There were apparently more than 3,100 different beers served from 624 US breweries (with more knocking at the door for entrance). This means that even we could not try all of the beverages on offer.  The ones I did try were almost uniformly delicious, but every bit as fun as the beer was the people-watching.  For anyone who has ever thought about attending but passed it up (it’s an investment, for sure), you’ve gotta’ go.  TimCo described it as a combo of Oktoberfest, Halloween, and Mardi Gras.

We braved the gargantu-line:

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...and officially found the end of the line.
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We were kept entertained by the themed garb on display before we even got into the hall.
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Once we got in and obtained our sampling glasses, we stopped by various regions of the US – met up with some FoCo friends
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...and met some new ones.
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THE BREWERY THAT SERVED US OUR VERY FIRST CRAFT BEERS EVER (25 YEARS AGO) HAD A TABLE THERE!  Woot!
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For a first-timer, even the necklaces were a revelation.
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Most, of course, were pretzels, but then there were these:
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Sadly, I missed a photo of the one that had mini-Gouda cheeses strung between the pretzels.

A huge variety of headgear was on display:

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Not all the costumes were on our (the spectator) side of the tables:
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Other costumes abounded.

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SANTAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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["I KNOW HIM!" -- Buddy]



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[We realize these are not costumes, these are formalwear.  Still, worth a photo.]
Though this (below) is not a costume either, I just would like to point out that no brewer can rock the traditional necklace look quite like Natalie from Funkwerks.  (I wonder if Audrey Hepburn brewed beer?)
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In other local faves, we stopped by Verboten:
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and noted that when Zach serves for High Hops, the line is all female, but when he’s gone, it looks like this:
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We bumped into our brewer a few times.  Here she is with the ever-interesting Stuart Long of Silver Moon Brewing Company (go find him in lovely Bend, Oregon, and/or here at GABF next year!):
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When you needed a break from beer (as if), there were options.  Karaoke:
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Facial hair trimming (I did not partake).  And my personal fave, the silent disco, where you’re handed a pair of headphones into which a DJ is feeding some rockin’ 70’s beats.  No one outside your earphones can hear them, but y’all’ve just got to dance.
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Not being big fans of waiting in line (and BTW, what’s the deal with waiting in this crazy line to buy a tshirt?  It's worse than the TSA at DIA.  Who does this and why?)
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-- again, back to not being big fans of waiting in line, TimCo & I didn’t get to jive until suddenly, just before closing on Saturday afternoon, there were loads of headsets available.  Workinit!
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Speaking of lines, how good must beer be to command this sort of line when there are amazing tasty fresh beers right next door with no wait?  I just didn’t get it.
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Also speaking of lines, how about these apples:
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Love this event!

Our buddy Sarah (pictured here with the brewer/owners of Union Craft Brewing in Baltimore) has termed this the GAB Fest (as in, talk-your-tongue-off fest).  I'm in for both the terminology and the experience.  Hope to see you all there next year!

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Jive on.
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    ...is the dragon's wanderings through the world of craft beer. It may be hard to follow. This is best read with a great microbrew at hand!

    Categories

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    Belgians
    Big Beers
    Biking
    Blizzard
    Book Trust
    Brewers' Olympics
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    Cans Vs. Bottles
    Charities
    Colorado
    Community
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    Craft Beer
    Craft Beer & Community
    Craftbeerfolkisgoodfolk
    Craft Beer Folk Is Good Folk
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Thank you to the ~200 web designers a year who spam us to let us know our website is "outdated" and "not up to par with our competitors'" -- we are happy with the DIY version and saving pennies to invest in our people.  No need to contact us.  Cheers!

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Horse & Dragon Brewing Company   ••  124 Racquette Drive  ••  Fort Collins, CO  80524  ••  970-689-8848
For bar/restaurant/liquor store beer orders, please contact Luke Margheim, 970-980-6564; LukeM@hdbrew.com