Cedar Rapids Brewing Society

Has the Black Sheep society opened their brewery yet?


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I ate there last weekend.

The equipment is in, but not yet operational.

We ate there like 3 months ago and they had the equipment in also but not operational


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So was curious where they were at


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I think the brewer's name is Todd....forgot the last name.

The brewery taproom, called Clock Tower, opens in about 2 weeks.

I sampled some of the porter that was finished fermenting, but uncarbonated yet. It was no Disaster at Meux, but it was decent. We'll see what it is like when it is done.


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DJANS wrote:We ate there like 3 months ago and they had the equipment in also but not operational


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Equipment has been in for over a year now I think. Like Mike said, should be open soon. I think it was the federal inspections holding them up.

The brewer is Todd Vial. He was an electrician at Duane Arnold. I didn't know him when I worked there. Will be interested in trying his beers. He was a home brewer who made the jump to commercial in one big leap, from what I know/have heard.

Is that leap to commercial starting with Black Sheep? That usually means a rough start and, in some cases, a never ending path of trial and error.

Pardon my ignorance of commercial brewing, but, wouldn't an brewing system manufacturer have at least a couple of example 'almost guaranteed' base recipe processes / templates / instructions?
I know that doesn't cover custom recipe development, but just to get started?

Speaking of long delayed new breweries and low expectations, is the Backpocket pub in CR brewing yet? I haven't been there lately to get the latest scoop.

Andrew, I doubt many mfgs would do that, mostly because I think a lot of brewers would take it as an insult, or at least it could be perceived that way.

CR Backpocket is in the same limbo that Clock Tower was, waiting on inspections...

- Josh Peanasky

Ah, I should have guessed -- yet another example of the government holding up business with excessive overregulation.

As for the previous question, I meant something like a beersmith template: something that your can use to calculate your recipe numbers into their system.

Actually, the hold up on the government side is the lack of hiring. The brewing industry is still suffering from the hiring freeze installed by the latest administration. Last I heard wait time to get approved has tripled since January to more than 18 months. Now that is pro business...

Matt F wrote:Actually, the hold up on the government side is the lack of hiring. The brewing industry is still suffering from the hiring freeze installed by the latest administration. Last I heard wait time to get approved has tripled since January to more than 18 months. Now that is pro business...

Can't improve business by shrinking the govt regulators unless you also remove the compulsory dependence on aforementioned government regulators. Makes sense.