The Beginning
Great Outdoors Brewing started with a great birthday gift...a homebrew kit. Having an appreciation for quality craft beer my parents surprised me with a basic kit to make small extract batches in the kitchen of my apartment. Starting small with pre-assembled kits has developed into all-grain batches with larger and better equipment. Surrounded by the many great craft breweries in Wisconsin, there are always new beers to taste and provide inspiration for new experiments.
The Progression
Moving from the apartment where it all started to a house allowed the brewery to grow. 3-gallon extract batches are rare as there is much more flexibility with the two all-grain setups. First step was a 5-gallon cooler for grain conversion with a 7.5-gallon boil kettle. Once the hook was set on the all-grain process I aimed my sights on something bigger. Today the 15.5-gallon boil kettle is capable of producing larger batches without sacrificing quality. With the higher volumes the next move for the brewery is to start kegging instead of only bottling.