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Fire truck brewery

Real brewers help Monster Garage creation serve real beers

Aug 9, 2004 - Jesse James, host of the Monster Garage on the Discovery Channel, teams with professional brewers tonight to convert an old fire truck into a monster brewery. Brewers from Stone Brewing Co. in California and Coors Brewing Co. will appear on the show. It airs at 9 p.m. (ET) tonight, 12 a.m. Tuesday, and 2 p.m. next Sunday.

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"I got a call from (Monster Garage producer) Geno Freselli who said, "We're going to turn a fire truck into a mobile breweryÉwanna be involved?"" said Chris Cochran of Stone Brewing. "My initial reaction was 'hell yeah' until I heard more about the details. Then I modified my response to add an exclamation point!"

Stone Head Brewer Lee Chase spent a week imagining, sourcing, and fabricating the brewery. Also on the team creating the brewery were Ron Krol Ð AAA Metal Fabrication; George Plumlee Ð a fabricator; Otto Petersen Ð a welding expert; John Legnard Ð brewer, Sandlot Brewery-Coors; and Jesse James.

The brewing system on the truck includes a 7-barrel Grundy for fermentation, a single-infusion, open-top mashtun, and a direct-fire kettle. Legnard and Chase brewed two batches of beer - a Scottish-style ale at 6.6% alcohol by volume, and a hoppy pale ale (40 IBUs) - on the brewery.

The beers brewed on the truck are served from the vehicle via an on-board dispensing system. The system includes a converted tool box on the vehicle's front bumper that serves as a beer chiller. The tap handle for serving the beer is mounted in place of the truck's hood ornament.

The Monster Garage Fire Truck Brewery will be making an appearance at the Stone 8th Anniversary Celebration & Invitational Beer Festival on Aug. 21.

It will later be on display at the 2004 Great American Beer Festival, Sept. 30-Oct. 2 in Denver, Colo.


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