The Double Luck Brewery

URL: http://www.doubleluck.com/things/brewery/index.php
Last modified: Wed, 27 May 2009 13:22:57 -0600
Copyright © 1999-2010 Larry Bristol - All rights reserved.

The Double Luck Brewery is a producer of fine, hand-crafted ales and lagers for the personal enjoyment of the Double Luck residents and their guests. In operation since 1982, this pico-brewery is known for its full bodied, highly hopped beers, made from all grains and fresh hops. Our brewmeister was one of the original members of the Foam Rangers Homebrew Club in Houston, Texas, and learned his craft primarily by the teachings of Scott Birdwell, owner and proprietor of DeFalco's Home Wine and Beer Supply, the source for the rich ingredients used.

Coming up on the next page, you will see what beers are currently on tap and in progress at the Double Luck. Those interested in homebrewing are likely to be very interested in the pages that follow, containing commentary for the Double Luck brewing process, cross-referenced with a glossary of brewing terminology. Additionally, a set of pages containing some of the favorite recipes for the Double Luck brews is provided!

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The Brewery is housed in the Double Luck Station, built to look like a railroad station and platform. The actual Brewery is housed inside, while the platform is available for sampling and general consumption. A biergarten is planned to be built in the area behind the platform, just on the other side of the tracks of the Double Luck Railroad (G Division).

The Double Luck Brewery uses the traditional method followed by homebrewers in the production of all grain beers. In general, Double Luck beers adhere to the Reinheitsgebot, the German purity law stating that beer can be made only from malt, hops, water, and yeast. But we are not particularly stuffy about it. Certain recipes call for ingredients that do not qualify by this standard. Naturally, only the finest quality ingredients are ever used. As it turns out, it is a lot easier to brew to the highest standards of quality when the quantities involved are low. Variations that affect the actual cost of producing a batch of beer are not as significant to the homebrewer as they are to the commercial brewery. Indeed, a commercial brewer has to deal with a lot of issues that are not that important to the homebrewer. This allows the homebrewer to spend more time caring for the beer during all phases of the process. After all, homebrewing is a hobby and not a business! The homebrewer does not have to make beer that will be popular. He only has to satisfy his own tastes. Because of these factors, the quality of homebrewed beer often exceeds that of commercial breweries, even micro-breweries specializing in craft beers.

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The equipment used at the Double Luck Brewery is just a bit up scale from the basic requirements of the typical homebrewer. Most of the special equipment was purchased from Beer, Beer, and More Beer (B3), an online merchant in Concord, CA. This includes the "brewing sculpture", a steel frame is used to hold the various kettles used during the all grain brewing process. As shown in the photo to the right, from top to bottom, the kettles are the mash tun, boil kettle, and hot liquor tank. Each kettle has its own propane burner. A pump (not shown) is used to move the liquids from one location to another during the brewing process. To the left is the stainless steel conical fermenter also produced by B3, and to the right is the Perlick beer cooler used to serve beers at the Double Luck.

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As can be seen here, Beer, Beer, and More Beer recognizes that brewing sculptures are a very personal item. While the following pages will concentrate on the brewing process as it relates to the equipment available at the Double Luck, we will diverge where applicable to mention alternatives that are more typical of the average home brewery.

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