Buffalo Beer Week is over.

Our TTB application, while not officially approved, soon will be.

The Words With Friends tournament progresses, but nears its conclusion without any of us.

You would think that we would be resting. Complacent. Not so! Buffalo Beer Week was an undeniable success, and while planning for next year will begin soon enough, there will be less than 51 weeks of effort beforehand. Hopefully you’re forgiving.

A surprisingly accurate stock photo

Rudy is hard at work perfecting the recipe for In C, our flagship pale ale. The homebrewers in the audience know this already, but beer is made from a recipe that is every bit as important as one for a meal. The backbone for the beer is there, and we think it’s quite solid. Currently, Rudy’s fiddling with the minutiae: what if he used X instead of Y? Hops, malt, ratios, yeast, temperatures: they all make a difference, and they all will be explored to make the best beer we can.

The TTB will soon be granting us our Brewer’s Notice, it’s true. This is big: the biggest accomplishment Community Beer Works has had to date. And yet, to be fair, it is but one step in the process. We’re not done. (If in doubt as to where we are, consult the timeline at the top of the site) Up next is the New York State Liquor Authority, and work has already begun on that application.

It has to shine, you see. Our TTB application took more time than we’d like, and our ducks were firmly in rows. We had dotted the i’s, crossed the t’s and polished that application until you could see your reflection in it. Even so, there were small mistakes. It’s the nature of being human, especially when dealing with a sufficiently large bureaucratic document. We’d be fools to downplay the importance of the SLA application, and believe me: we’re no fools.

Well, I mean, I ate one of the “Armageddon” wings from Duff’s today. So some of us can be mildly foolish, some of the time. But not when it counts.

Also fairly accurate!

Then of course there’s the matter of our building: 15 Lafayette is one hell of a headquarters, and it will soon be one hell of a brewery. But it is currently at the start of its training montage: soon a enthusiastic rock song will play and it will begin to be whipped into shape, with a series of clips ending in a knowing smile and a thumbs up before the big race.

I think I might still be a little loopy from those wings.

What I’m trying to say is that although we’ve come a long way, there’s still more work to be done. We’re plodding along, ever onward and we won’t rest until our beer is in your hands.