January 1, 2015 was an exciting day for the Draughtsmen - their idea of owning and operating a brewery went from being something that seemed to only exist on paper to a physical reality with a roof and an address. But with that new roof and address came A LOT of work to shape it into a brewery.
The exterior of 53 Santa Felicia Dr, before we got our hands on it.
The first day!
Besides dismantling some of the junk that came with the building and ripping up old tiles, the first big project we had to tackle was plumbing the whole darn place.
The back-breaking trenches, all dug by the Draughtsmen and their family and friends. If you meet him in the taproom, Reno's father-in-law, Dave, will be quick to tell you that he dug every inch of the brewhouse trench (upper right). FYI, that is NOT Dave digging in this picture, but we'll give him the credit anyway. ;-)
Brewdog Sheila, tired from all of the digging.
With the inspector's sign-off on plumbing, the brewhouse, fermenters and brite tank were ready to be moved into place.
Soon after, the massive walk-in fridge went up, courtesy of Crocker Refrigeration.
Although setting up the brewery to start brewin' was priority numero uno, the guys were also juggling the build out of the taproom, storage, and office spaces.
Kris inspecting the trench. Check out the space behind him, that's the future taproom!
Reno putting up some drywall.
The casualties of DIY.
Tami testing out colors while Reno works on drywall.
Chris fixing all the things.
Scott tiling the bar facade.
Construction is serious business and hard work, but the Draughtsmen know how to keep things fun:
The Trenchmen, after one-too-many hours literally digging themselves into a hole.
Workplace pranks keeps morale up! Careful where you look, you might get iced...
Reno and the peanut gallery.
The crew wearing Reno masks in celebration of Reno's birthday.
Stay tuned for Part 2!