This Labor Day weekend included some serious labor from the PRBC partners.
We completed our application for the TTB (Tobacco, Tax and Trade Bureau). The information collected for the application is monumental and daunting. The TTB application should be submitted when the brewery is 95 days from completion. When the TTB application is approved, we will have Uncle Sam’s seal of approval to produce and sell beer on a commercial level.
The TTB is concerned with collecting their taxes on their beer, and completing the application required meticulous collections of paperwork that took a lot of time. When our TTB application was complete, we had a stack of papers several inches thick that we mailed in a priority mail box from the Bucyrus Post Office (for the record, it was Brian’s first time inside the office). We provided numerous personal references, bank statements, $1,000 bond, and proof that we are recognized by the State of Missouri as an LLC. Beyond committing to hauling old hay bales out of a barn loft in 100 degree weather, the TTB application is commitment in ink.
Brian gets all the kudos for filling out the TTB application and the Missouri application for licensure, too. He compared the process to some of the projects he completed for his Master’s degree—a lot of thinking, a lot of paperwork, a lot of organization, a lot of agonizing over “when will I get this done”.
We celebrated the completion of the TTB application by sitting at the fire pit with a cappuccino stout from a California microbrewery and listening to the Cardinals beat the Reds (again).
The TTB application was the mind labor of the weekend, but a good Labor Day weekend wouldn’t be complete without some hard backbreaking labor, too.
I did a little hard labor myself, moving dirt and rocks from the many feet of trenches we had all over the yard, but it really pales in comparison to Brian and the jackhammer.
In an attempt to gain some additional headspace inside the barn, Brian used the skid steer to dig deep down along the foundation. Some of the concrete at the base of the foundation is very rough and needed to be removed in order to not lose space along the walls when the concrete floor is poured.
Brian happened to mention the need of a jackhammer to a neighbor, and lo and behold, the neighbor had a jackhammer he was happy to loan to the project. This big ol’ contraption contains a “90-pound” jackhammer, and the 90-pound actually refers to the weight of the jackhammer.
The jackhammer motor
For several hours and through more than one tank of fuel, Brian jackhammered away on Sunday. He’s pretty sure he’s never worked that hard in his life. I’ll drink to that.
We had some friends stop in to take a look at our BARn progress, and Brian was anxious for all of them to lift (or try to lift) the jackhammer. It was cathartic BARn show and tell for Brian. Unfortunately none of our friends offered to come back and help finish the jackhammer job. They have, however, been very willing to work as taste testers in research and development at the brewery. After the 90 pound jackhammer, Brian is pretty sure that no matter how hard he may work brewing beer, it will never equal the work he did with the jackhammer.
Brian stood in the skid steer bucket so he was level with the concrete that needed to be removed.
Jackhammering....
