The Winkler Brewery History

"The beginning of something great"


I started Brewing in the Summer of 2010, when my dad and I tried out a very simple extract brew system from I believe it was, Mr. Beer. Even though this was as basic as it got and the final beer (even though it was a Pale Ale) tasted more like a wheat beer then anything else.., I think somehow the Brewing fever caught onto me and without brewing one more batch with that embarrassing 2 gallon home brew kit. We purchased a true brew partial mash brewing setup with a 6.5 gallon bucket and glass carboy, siphons, bottles, recipes (Continental Pilsner), large mixing spoons, sanitary chemicals, etc, and got to work. This Pilsner definitely put the sparkle into my eyes and showed me what could be accomplished. From then on I went on to purchase more brewing equipment and recipes.
Six batches and 27 gallons later I got the feel for the process a little better. During that time I went out and purchased tons of new equipment including: two new buckets for fermenters, a chest freezer off craigslist, a temp. control, and even a keg system.
I am currently trying to muster up enough equipment to start my first all grain batch, I found a large 6 gallon pot I can use for boiling and will probably order a 10 Gallon Rubbermaid Water Cooler (Just Ordered it~!) and then build my own sparge tank which I will show the process in another post.

Recent things

DEC/ 26/ 2010
So now I started AG brewing and it is a rush! Theres so many different components to it that you got to keep in mind it can get intense but with every batch it is getting smoother and smoother.
At first I had a sketchy little setup outside that allowed gravity to feed the wort/water from one devise to another but now I did some shopping and built a metal frame and and added levels for another gravity fed system to save on pumps. I'm using induction to heat my pots but it took a bit of digging to get the right pots and heater I'll show it all in the All Grain section of my blog.

DEC/ 31/ 2010

Just placed an order for a ridiculous amount of new brew equipment! Its gonna get wild.
Most the stuff should be coming in by Jan 7th; what a great way to start off the new year. I'm getting a new chest freezer cause my old one from craigslist died on me and my lagers took it hard. Then new large induction brew pots, 4 corny kegs, new recipes, and some small miscellaneous things too.

I'm working hard on building my All Grain homemade brew sculpture and just ordered new pots, kegs, ingredients, and other brew necessities, even a brand new chest freezer! So thanks for checking out the site and please check back soon!

Jan/ 08/ 2011

Today was a wack brew day! Woke up at 7:30 and didn't finish till a little past 4, a bit more then 9 hours of brewing; It was awesome! I brewed an Altbier and an Oatmeal Stout and you can read about them on my Next Beer Page. Both were very rich, with different types of malt and very unique characteristics in smell and taste. I just cant wait to try them! I even tapped some of the things i did today so I can cut together an AG brewing video for you guys. It'll be up soon so check back asap!

Also recently the brew equipment came that I wrote about on Dec. 31. This is a good begging of something Great. And what I mean by that is a constant flow of home brew. No more gaps

Feb/ 08/ 2011
Today one of my fermenter cracked and when I opened my chest freezer there was beer everywhere! It was the worst. I need to start taking more pictures. I was able to save most of the beer but it was very depressing 1) i lost a fermenter 2) I lost a lot of beer 3) I ended fermentation early and quickly kegged it because I didn't have any more fermenters.
Besides from that horrible mess.. Every things been going really good. My brew sessions are getting better and better with each brew. I am contently modifying my set-up and I'll be sure to post some new pictures soon. I also catered my uncles party with 10 gallons of beer; an Oatmeal Stout and AltBier. It went extremely well and people really were surprised about the Stout.. I was too. Good stuff.

April/ 25/ 2011

Wow time "Flys" when your brewing. 3 weeks ago I began brewing a Maibock which will be done perfectly for the middle of May or Mai in German which will be really exciting. I was in Jacksonville a few days before easter and went to Seven Bridges, a Grille and Brewery there and ordered a Maibock and man was that a rich beer with a BIG Kick. Good stuff, It got me like twice as pumped for mine although theres was 7% ABV while mine only going to be about 6%. Ooo well either way Im already drooling. :)

June/ 1/ 2011

Maibock is delicious! I got some left in my keg and Hope to make it last for a little longer. I'll be in Germany soon and going to visit the becks brewery and hopefully many more. I think it'll give me a good idea to see what it takes to brew beer in large scale. I'll post pictures 

Cheers!