CWU Veteran’s Center + Ellensburg Brewing Comany.

As brewing students, and members of the local brewing community, we occasionally get opportunities to participate in events like Ellensburg Brewing Company’s Veterans Day Brew. Led by CWU Veterans Center Director Ruben Cardenas and Former CWU Brewing Program instructor and current Head Brewer at Ellensburg Brewing Company Eric Foss, students, veterans, and members of the local community came together to share the process of brewing beer, and get a peek behind the curtain of large scale brewing.

Dough-in on their 7 barrel (217 gallon) boil kettle started at around 7am, and all chipped in by hauling bags of malt up to the opening in the lid. Creating the mash is a sensitive process of maintaining just the right temperature, so Eric and Ellensburg brewer Alex Shores kept a close eye on the thermometer as temperatures rose. Craft brewing can sometimes be automated to an extent, but a huge amount of old-fashioned elbow grease goes into each step, and in the mashing process, which takes about an hour, Eric and Alex are constantly monitoring the process.

The best part of brewing beer is having a pint with friends, colleagues, and the local community. After a few hours of work we poured some samplers and shared some stories. Some attendees were veterans, some were students, and some were veteran students.

The longer the hops boil the more bitterness is imbued into the beer, so a small amount was added at the beginning of the boil, giving them time to “isomerize.” In a later process even more hops will be added with the purpose of not enhancing the bitterness, but to add fruity flavor complexity.

Finally our Red, White & Brew IPA was ready to ferment. In yet another liquid transfer the beer was moved into an available fermentation vessel where yeast would be pitched to work its magic, transforming the sugars created in the mashing process into the ethanol we all know and love. 

Not all of the brewing process is making beer. A lot of the labor also includes cleaning and discarding used ingredients. Joe, a brewing student at CWU, helpfully shovels the spent grain from the mash tun. He volunteered to take the donated grains back to his farm where he can use it as chicken feed, one of the many uses for leftover brewing material, and another great way the community can come together to help each other out.

After hours of tireless labor (and a lot of visiting) our Red, White & Brew IPA is fermenting away and we’re ready to call it a day. Members of our veteran community triumphantly sign and raise a keg to mark the moment. The keg can still be found at Ellensburg Brewing Company to this day.