Sunday, November 16, 2014

A visit to E J Phair in Pittsburg

On Saturday, November 15th,  a dozen or so Club DOZE members -joined by a smattering of Mad Zymurgists and others- had the pleasure of touring the facilities of the E J Phair brewery in Pittsburg (CA), and trying their beers and the pizza that kept coming out of the newly-installed wood-fired oven.

Best beer tasted?  The Zinful Stout, a dry stout aged in zinfandel wine barrels from Viano Winery in Martinez.



E J Phair's Pittsburg taproom and restaurant, with the new woodfired pizza oven at back right.  Fermenters can be glimpsed through the windows behind the bar.


Fermenting tanks.

The brewery.   They currently produce 3-4 brews per week, mostly contract brews.



Head brewer Cortlandt Toczylowski conducting the tour.


Kegs ready for washing for Rocksteady brewing  Rocksteady, headed by brewmaster Matt Seager, is the house brewery for Creek Monkey Tap House in Martinez, andthey contract  E J Phair to clean their kegs on their keg washing machine.


The grain mill, downstairs, and the pipe which conducts the milled grain up to the mash tun on the main floor.

The cool room

The supply for the taps above.
Settling tanks in the cool room.  These have been built from re-purposed horizontal lagering tanks.  At back, just above the large tank one can barely glimpse the pipes that the brewery installed to carry beer lines under the adjoining roadway and into their old tap room and restaurant across the street.