Shopping shopping shopping!  That was tongue in cheek by the way…..  I’m normally not a fan of shopping at all.  I buy clothes twice a year; on Black Friday at the outlets near my Mom’s house (under my sister’s close supervision) and when REI has their “garage sale”.  I can’t remember the last time I went food shopping.  My idea of food shopping is ordering a single meal across three feet of mahogany instead of a week’s worth of food across a butcher’s counter.  But something happens to a male of the species when he has the opportunity to step into a hardware store with a credit card he’ll never get the bill for.

I started off by building a respectable toolbox with everything I’d need to build and maintain a brewery.  Big pipe wrenches, a brand new allen wrench set with ball ends (English and metric, and more importantly none missing), wire strippers, rubber mallet, mag light, several sizes and shapes of screwdrivers and of course a shiny new socket set.  Then there were the sundries and impulse buys that men love; duct tape, WD-40, zip ties, baling wire, velcro etc.  Fun stuff.  Oh, and a fiberglass and aluminum 12 foot ladder with all sorts of holes and indentations on the top (not a) step where I can put my screws and clamps and tools while I stand up high and work.

Once I got all of that stuff back to the office it was time to hit the catalogues.  Foxx equipment, Consolidated plastics, Office Basics, McMaster-Carr (more about that one later!)

Some of you will appreciate how much fun it was to buy all of this stuff.  Some of you probably feel about as excited as a guy listening to his girlfriend talk about her new pair of shoes.  But hopefully you’ll all get to benefit from these purchases this July.  I think that’s part of the reason I got so excited buying this stuff.  I kept thinking about how this brewery would be something I had put together myself.  A little like buying  furniture and decorations for a new home, but a home that thousands of other people will get to enjoy.  In a way when you drink that first Iron Hill Maple Shade beer you’ll be tasting every last sheet metal screw and NPT to NPT 1/4″ section 40 stainless elbow. Oh and that fancy $250 spray nozzle that Mark doesn’t know I bought yet!

Iron Hill will be attending Moorestown Day. This Saturday from 9 am until 3 pm the town of Moorestown will be showing off it’s Main Street with sidewalk sales by Main Street merchants, over 100 vendors, and a full day of food, entertainment, theater performances and family fun. Moorestown is a dry town so we won’t be bringing any beer but we’ll have plenty of great Iron Hill food. You’ll also get a chance to meet the General Manager and Executive Chef of Iron Hill’s newest location. Sorry, I’ll be busy getting the brewery ready, so I’ll only be there for a short bit. By the way we’ll also be accepting job applications for the Maple Shade location. So if you’re in the restaurant industry and looking to get in with a great company, drop by! 

Cheers,

Chris