We accomplished a great deal this week (adding a number of miscellaneous skills to our resumes in the process).
One aspect of brewing that people don’t put a lot of thought into is the Wastewater from the brewing process. Merrimack, with its high concentration of industrial manufacturers (such as our neighbor, Anheuser-Busch), has been deemed by the EPA as one of the few municipalities within the state of New Hampshire that must have a wastewater pre-treatment program in place; meaning that we need to collect, test and neutralize all waste water produced from the brewery prior to putting it down the drain.
While we do not utilize harsh chemicals in our brewing and cleaning processes, and the primary product of our manufacturing process is delicious beer, we must adhere to the standards put in place by the EPA. The way it was put to us, we “need to be held to the same standard as Anheuser-Busch and others in town.” My partners and I welcomed this challenge.
As part of that effort, we spent the early part of this week installing our 50-foot-long trench floor drain, which does not enter the sewer system directly (which you would expect with most floor drains). Instead, the system pumps water entering the drain into batch tanks that once full, will be tested, treated and logged prior to release to the sewer.
The trench is in place, and will be complete on Monday morning once we pour and level the fresh concrete.
Other work this past week:
Completion of the trim, doors, glass and final coats of paint within the tasting room/retail area.
Completion of our self-designed heat-exchanger (as part of our 10-BBL HERMS system). More to follow on this aspect in future updates.
Beginning of piping work on the brewing system.
This upcoming week, we will tackle:
Installation of pine wood flooring within the tasting room/retail area.
Concrete pour into the trench drain.
Sealing of Brewery floor.
Completion of piping work.
Installation of new propane tanks (boil kettle dedicated) and finalization of propane piping/burner system.
Brewing.
Thank you all again for your continued interest in us and our venture. We remain on target, and look forward to the day when we can share a beer with you all. Prost!
Carl
Co-Founder | Accounts & Engineering
