Regular watchers of this blog, the website, and/or visitors to our small (but perfectly formed) temple to the world of brewing, will know that we have talked of expanding for seemingly ages and ages.

Well, at last we have found the time to stop talking, and order extra fermenting capacity.  Just the one tank (for now, let's not get carried away) is, as I type, on it's way here.  At least we think it is...

You see, for a number of reasons, but primarily the fact we like the UK agent, it was good value for what it is, and other well respected breweries are already using them, we have bought from China.  Right, now you've stopped choking and grimacing (so did we, so did we), from logical point of view the Chinese make sense.  Firstly, some of the tanks/vessels available from elsewhere in the world are really quite bad, or just downright expensive.  Obviously we would have loved a British-built tank, but sadly there are not the margins on beer to justify funding another Bentley for some bloke in a fancy barn with a big welder.  This just left the Chinese - after all they are seemingly taking all the steel, so we may as well have some back.  Indeed, give the amount of stolen metal (ie beer casks & kegs...) that no doubt ends up in the far east, we may just getting our stolen casks back (thankfully few though they are)...

Anyway, the tank is made, we have pictures, and it is now on a ship heading for the UK.  Somalian Pirates have left it alone (perhaps they are CAMRA members.  No, perhaps not.), and it seems not even militant Spanish fisherman have held it up - although that is probably because they are all still pinching all our fish.  Docking of the ship in the UK was due Mon 12th October, but this has been put back to possibly the 19th.  This delay may be due to French dockers protesting about the colour of their socks, or it may be because of a major air-sea rescue operation in the Solent following the captain of the local yacht club losing a bottle of Pimms overboard. 

Hopefully, by Weds 20th October, it will be installed - or at least in the brewhouse.  Then we will know whether we made the right choice.  And we will crack open the egg fried rice to celebrate.

Anyway, must go.  The pregnant spider in the corner of the office appears to have whelped.  Lovely.