Hair Of The Dog - Brewery Tour

On November 15, 2005 Alan Sprints, owner of Hair Of The Dog brewery, was kind enough to give a tour for some members of the PDX Brewers Club. While the brewing operation is big compared to what I do in my garage, this is a small operation compared to the huge breweries that turn out a billion gallons per batch. Alan was brewing when we were there so the air was full of steam and wonderful hops smell from the boil. We sampled the excellent beers Alan produces and learned about his brew process and the equipment he uses. Note: On March 4, 2005 we returned for a potluck.

Alan  has his beers on tap. We were able to sample the fairs from lightest (Ruth) to heaviest (Fred). All were exellent.

Alan adds more water to the mash tun.

Stiring the boiling kettle. The box to the right of the kettle is a boiler generating steam. This steam then brings the  wort to a boil.

A hops addition.

Stirring in the hops. The smell from the boiling hops was wonderful.

Alan, with his back to camera, explains the brewing process to the group. The primary fermentation tanks can be seen to the right behind the group.

This is the hopback.  It is being filled with water. Once full the contents of the boil kettle will enter from the pipe seen on the right. A pump will pull the hot liquor out through the pipe on the lower left. From there the liquor will move to a large tank, swirling as the liquid enters, to settle out remaining solids.

This is a plate chiller that Alan constructed.