Month: October 2010

T.J. Steele handles bottles at the Straub Brewery in St. Marys, Pa. The brewery has so few bottles it’s affecting production.

Picture: Keith Srakocic/Associated Press

Written by Joe Mandak for The Columbus Dispatch

ST. MARYS, Pa. — For years, it was the way breweries did business: Sell bottles, then take back the empties. It just made sense — especially to folks weaned in the lean days of the Great Depression and World War II — that bottles should be scrubbed and refilled, not thrown away.

These days, in a culture where nearly everything is disposable, recycling is a rite and energy costs are high, the decision of whether to toss tradition into the trash heap lies with one brewery about 100 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.
Continue reading “Begging for bottles”

Written by Rev. Walter Snyder

This is an excerpt from an on site answer to a reader’s question about beer in the Bible. The complete: less beer related answer, can be found HERE.

Like you, I like to sit down occasionally to figure out what life was like in Bible times. It helps to understand the people and situations we meet on Scripture’s pages. I also like to sit down with a good beer. It helps to relax and refresh a world-weary pilgrim.

Since we Lutherans are often stereotyped as beer-lovers, it seems appropriate to examine Biblical precedent. After all, Martin Luther (probably only partially in jest) commented upon doing what he could, then having a brew and getting out of the Lord’s way during the Reformation: “I opposed indulgences and all the papists, but never with force. I simply taught, preached, and wrote God’s Word; otherwise I did nothing. And while I slept [cf. Mark 4:26–29], or drank Wittenberg beer with my friends Philipp [Melanchthon] and [Nicholas] Amsdorf, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that no prince or emperor ever inflicted such losses upon it. I did nothing; the Word did everything.”
Continue reading “Beer in the Bible?”

Pensacola/Emerald Coast area

Continue reading “Club Update: Escambia Bay”

The Church and Head Brewer: Brant Dubovick

Profiled by Ken Carman

This is a rather odd, one off ale: probably one of the most interesting I’ve had. From one of the most interesting brewpubs in the country: The Church in Pittsburgh, PA. For more on The Church, click here. I had the growler filled in mid-August but just cracked it open because I forgot about it. The intent: have my audience sample it on Labor Day. Oops: missed it when I hauled the bottles over to the Hotel.

Stored quite well. That’s why all brewpubs should have the option for Grolsch style bottles with a clamp-able ceramic top. Not sure if The Church does. My growler. I collect.

A bit soapy, but the lip balm used as a hopping could have provided that common defect. In this case: no defect at all: added to the experience. Sweet. A bit cloying in an interesting way. Not much head to start at all and what little there was died fast. Cloudy. Light amber. Mouthfeel sweet, medium body, roof of the mouth gets a fullness sense: body-wise. The tongue: sweet with a tad tart. There is another spice they told me about I have since forgotten the name of that adds just a bit of “pepper.” Not complex, but the kind of beer you want to have those who claim “all beers taste the same” to sample.

The nose seemed to sense a bit of a pilsner malt focus and rhubarb-like tart up front. The head faded fast in the glass, but I don’t remember if it did at The Church. Storage can effect such things despite the clamp top: especially after a few opens and then… “Oops! I should review this sucker!”

A bit like a light version of my infamous rhubarb ales I’ve brewed. Warning: may not satisfy judges who know nothing of rhubarb, like some in the South. They may insist it’s a defect. It’s not. Also a bit like Flemish sour ales. A mild Gueuze would be another valid comparison, perhaps.

This is so unique I would recommend keeping it on tap year around. Those who go to brewpubs only because someone drags them there, and prefer wine lets say, might find this interesting. Even a beer geek/beer judge/reviewer found the concept and the taste intriguing.

Lip balm? Am I inoculated now? Hopefully I’ll never have cold sores again.

Ken Carman is a BJCP judge; homebrewer since 1979, club member at Escambia Bay and Music City Homebrewers, who has been interviewing professional brewers all over the east coast for over 10 years.

Written by Ken Carman

Topic for this edition: Extreme Brewing

This is a tough edition for me to write. I don’t think you’ll find a bigger fan of extreme brewing. But sometimes enough is enough. I think the idea for this column slipped into my cortex when the Professor posted Brew Dog’s 55% beer bottled, literally, in dead animals. Hey folks, there’s “extreme,” there’s boring Miller time and then there’s stupid gimmick time, and I don’t just mean Rocky the Squirrel’s gut filled with beer.

Before (Courtesy wii60.com)………….. After?
Continue reading “Brew Biz: Werts and All”