Base Camp’s system is built and assembled around the guiding principles of quality and consistency.  It is designed for minimal oxygen uptake from mash-in to the filling line to help ensure that wherever adventure takes you, your beer will be excellent.

One way we achieve this is by using gravity as much as we can in our wort production process.  Pumps can be a source of oxygen ingress and can create enough shear force to physically break molecules apart–specifically, ones we don’t want broken and don’t have a good way of accounting for.  This gravity-feed system does create more work for the brewer, but it helps to keep our beer bellies in check.  In order to walk the talk of producing great beer, we think it’s worth the extra effort.

We have installed numerous meters to monitor critical control points throughout the entire brewing process, from computer-regulated fermentation temperature controllers that monitor and self-adjust, to advanced brewhouse monitoring that will allow us to keep a close eye on wort production for consistently excellent beers.

But don’t let this make you think that our process isn’t hands-on!  Every valve that comes into contact with our beer must be turned by the brewer, and every brewing decision is determined by the brewer, making the brewer by far the single most important aspect of creating a delicious brew.  When that first sip dazzles your senses, you will realize that your beer is truly hand-crafted with the utmost care and ever-vigilant attention to detail.

Many of Base Camp’s vessels are well-used and show it.  They may not be the most shiny showpieces you have seen, but they have been cared for well.  You should have seen the last brewer literally hugging them as they left his building the way you hug a friend you won’t see again for a long time.  Not to bore you with trite expressions, but it’s what’s on the inside that counts, right?  We think they are as sexy as they come.  Mature, with character, like a well-aged…hunk of metal?  You’ll have to see for yourself when you come in for a tour.  Be careful of what you say, though:  we will defend our tanks’ good name with maniacal retribution.

BREWHOUSE BIOGRAPHY

1990 — Brewhouse manufactured by Charlottetown Metal Products of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, (which later became DME – Diversified Metal Engineering) for the Fox Classic Brewery in Appleton, WI.

1994 — The brewhouse migrated to New Glarus, WI and was put to work for New Glarus Brewing Company.

1997 — After New Glarus expands, our brewhouse found its way, along with fermenters and a German-built packaging line from Summit Brewing of St. Paul, MN, to Nicolet Brewing Company in Florence, WI.

March 2011 — The Base Camp crew drove to Florence, WI, to dismantle and load the brewery onto four semi-trucks to finish the brewery’s migration across the entire continent of North America, where it now lies in wait to produce awesome beers for Base Camp Brewing Company.

You can check out what’s new with Base Camp’s brewhouse on YouTube and our Facebook page.  Also check back here for updates as we get rolling with renovation and installation here at Base Camp!

WANT MORE BREWING INFO?

• Probrewer.com –  Great resource for all things beer!  Malt troubles?  Need a special aroma hops?  Probrewer’s got the low down on everything from brewing info to equipment suppliers.
• American Homebrewers Association –  AHA’s online corollary to their top-notch magazine, Zymurgy.  Has lots of cool information about upcoming events, special releases, and tasty new recipes, as well as an extensive collection of links.
• Oregon Brew Crew –  Get local!  Oregon’s oldest homebrew club has a handy website.  Check it out for upcoming Portland-based events, brush up on BJCP style guidelines to estrange your less-knowledgeable friends, or find local resources for trying your hand at brewing a batch or two.
• Base Camp Brew Blog –  Latest and greatest info about your all-time-favorite brewery!  When exciting new stuff happens, you’ll see it here first.