(Lake Mills, WI) – Last week’s Tyranena Brewing newsletter detailed some new beers and how the company continues to battle the local government.

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Here We Go Again (Or The Battle With The City of Lake Mills Continues, Continued… Or Rob Just May Have An Aneurism). Long time subscribers will remember back to May and June of 2011 when we battled with the Wisconsin Beer Distributor’s Association (WBDA) regarding the changes they wanted to make to Wisconsin State Statutes, specifically to Chapter 125, which deals with alcohol laws. Sadly, the WBDA prevailed and one of the results was that Wisconsin breweries lost their municipal-issued retail licenses… and the retail component of our operations is now included in our state-issued Brewer’s Permit.

Why is this an issue? Well, zoning. Previously, the way we have been able to host large events like the Tyranena Oktoberfest Bike Ride and Tyranena Beer Run (where we sell and serve beer outside of the actual brewery) has been through a finding by the Lake Mills Plan Commission and Lake Mills City Council to allow us to do so via a permit tied to our liquor license. (Although, technically, we never really had a liquor license… just a Class “B” … not to be confused with a “Class B”… Malt Beverage License.)

It only recently become an issue for the City, though they were instructed by the State in February to no longer issue us a license. Of course, we knew this last summer… but given our history with the City, I didn’t want to raise the issue just weeks before our major events (though Stacey did blurt it out to them at some point in discussions last fall anyway…).  But we proceeded this year as we had in the past; filling out all the required forms and paperwork, as we always had. It only took 14 months (and after approval of our event permits back in April) for the City to take issue with how these things are done.

So it seems like we will be back before the Plan Commission this Tuesday (although I have received only modest amounts of information on what they are proposing to deal with this new/old situation) and we are exactly where we didn’t want to be… dealing with potential changes only weeks before our events. On a positive note, it appears that the City IS trying to work through this so that everything can go ahead as planned… but given our history… I am never really certain of anything.

Our Newest Brewer Started This Week. Yes, that’s right… three brewers in three months (really, I’m not that bad to work with). Andrea originally applied to be a brewer last year… but instead accepted a position as a bartender. Now she is giving brewing a try. We’ll see how long she lasts… She is picking things up quickly and everyone seems to be enjoying working with her. However she seems to be fading away… the work pants she purchased on Sunday are too large just 5 days later. Perhaps this really is “Brewers Boot Camp”. Andrea will continue to be working as a bartender, so feel free to tell her what you think of the beer she is brewing.

Last Of The Hop Wh0re Imperial IPA Was Packaged Today. We finished bottling and kegging the last of this year’s Hop Wh0re Imperial IPA. The final round of major shipments should be going out on Monday. I believe there are two smaller shipments that have yet to schedule pickups. So… if it isn’t in a store near you yet… it should be within the next week or so.

Started Brewing Painted Ladies Pumpkin Spice This Week. The brewery has had the wonderful aroma of pumpkin and spice this week as we started brewing our fall seasonal. Should be available the week after the short week following Labor Day.

Gemuetlichkeit Oktoberfest Out The Door. This year’s batch of our early Autumn seasonal is fully shipped and should be available in stores in Wisconsin. We produce a limited amount so it is likely to go quickly. Should still be available on tap in the Tasting Room for awhile and will reappear at the Tyranena Oktoberfest Bike Ride.

All Of Our Equipment Is Working! (knocking on wood…) Last time I wrote an update… our bottle filler main drive motor had taken a dump and we went through multiple stages of repair. It is working quite well. Our hot liquor tank became an issue in January (actually, the steam jacket had started leaking well before that but I schedule the repair in January when I went on holiday in Germany with brewery workers Teri and Danella). At that time, the repair guys said it could not be repaired. Well, it continued to work just fine for four more months until we tried to have it repaired again… and then the steam jacket was weakened to the point that we could had almost no steam pressure and, instead of heating 2,000 gallons of water at a pace of 20 degrees per hour, would only heat at 7 degrees per hour. Earlier this month we had an external heat exchanger installed and it is wonderful. We now can heat 2,000 gallons of water from 170 to 200 degrees in 55 minutes! Life in the brewery is good when everything is working as it should.