Brewery Vignettes (Original B&W Photography)

Howdy,

It was an overcast weekend, but temperatures are back to seasonal norms. Deciding to escape Mankato for awhile, I headed to New Ulm to, among other things, tour the brewery. The August Schell Brewing Company started in the 1860's, before the US Civil War, and is the second oldest family-run brewery in the country.

^{Best Sink Ever}

The brewery, itself, has some interesting history and our group got a great guide. The brewery was built shortly before the Dakota War (AKA "Dakota Uprising") that destroyed many of the other structures in the area. The Schell family had traded with the native Dakota people and were on good terms so, when things started to get ugly, the natives warned them to get out of the area in advance. When August and his family came back, they didn't expect anything to be left standing, but the brewery was completely untouched. Good relations, indeed!

^{Needs Orthodontics}

I've visited the brewery quite a few times over the last three years and taken photos with a variety of lenses. This time, I decided to challenge myself by bringing my telephoto. The spaces are a bit tight, so it wouldn't be a recommended lens for the situation under normal circumstances.

The previous photo appears to be some sort of bottle checker, although I couldn't say how or what it was used for. The six light bulbs behind may have been used to check for impurities in the glass or, possibly, in the brew. There were signs explaining most of them, but dyslexia and my eyesight make reading difficult.

The valve on the left is was on the exterior of a CO₂ tank out front of the brewery. The one on the right is inside an older part, near an enormous hand-crafted copper brewing structure. I'm not entirely sure what it measures, but it had an interesting form.

^{End of the Line}

This is an older bottle-filler, housed in the brewery's museum. The one currently in operation is thirty years old. The machinery in focus in this next photo is for canning beer. I didn't know they sold cans, and this was the first time a guide mentioned it. Apparently, the canning machine is only seven years old. It is also capable of going twice as fast, but their infrastructure can't handle the speed. They run it at about 50%.

^New-fangled

While I wouldn't suggest most first-time visitors bring only a tele lens, I found it to be a fun challenge and am satisfied with the close-ups and details I was able to get. After the tour (a bargain at $5!), we headed down to the tap room for our free samples. I ended up at the end of the table with a few empty seats, which meant extra "samplage." They also let us try one of their sour beers at the end, and I hadn't had lunch beforehand. After the tour, I had to walk around and lok at the museum whiler the samples to wear off!

^Riveting

Okay, one more!

^{Safety First!}

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