Month: August 2017

In 2006, a young trendy and self-described class clown named Brian Papé was taking some ski photos at Washington’s Steven’s Pass when, while jockeying for a better sight line, he fell and cracked his thigh, HARD, on an old-growth pine. It shattered his femur and shattered femurs often throw splinters that can sever the femoral artery…which kills you fast.

Brian lay there and had a thought. It resonated with me, reading his website, because I have been there at Death’s Door, too, and I had the same thoughts. Let’s all pray that you go through your entire life not knowing what this is all about. Believe me, it’s a club you do not want to join. Here are Brian’s own words about it, and they moved me in the same way my own thoughts do…


Want to read more? Please click…

HERE

Sierra Nevada is not the only one making the Oktoberfest this year and what I am hearing is that the beers are too hoppy and lack the proper melanoidin character.

This is my second pour into the same glass. The malt is light in the nose. Clean no hop at first. Floral sweet with a touch of malt. Stemmy hops. No spice from the hops just cool. The foam has a bit of toastiness. Always taste the beer with a little of the foam first so use the stange. Wait until head is just thin on top. Dandelion type spice.

Malt is a bit toasty and the hop bitterness is moderate. Again stemmy bitter hops. I think last year everyone said that helles type lightness was the feature that they liked the best, so this has that. Spice in the mouthfeel but not to citrusy or strong. Not too strong with alcohol so I wanted to drink two. Last year, not so much. IS it too dry? It’s very dry.

Turns out the beer has more alcohol than last years beer. Genessee is turning out to be my standard you could say regionally and historically because I think it is excellent. Since Sierra Nevada started the popular collaborations my favorite Oktoberfest has been Spaten. Spaten uses decoction. Today I have Goose Island. Let’s nitpick it. Cheers!

Back in 1985, Carl Singmaster opened a record store called Manifest Discs & Tapes in downtown Columbia, S.C. It was a shoestring operation, launched during an era when people were snapping up cassette copies of Purple Rain and Born in the U.S.A.

“I had $15,000, a MasterCard, and three employees—me, myself and I,” Singmaster says.

He stocked his downtown space with bins from another record shop in town, which had recently upgraded its furnishings.

Want to read more? Please click HERE

As part of a broader effort to use regional ingredients in their recipes, breweries across the US are working with nearby maltsters to source more local grain.

In Charlotte, N.C., Wooden Robot Brewery buys a majority of its malt from Epiphany Craft Malt in Durham. The brewery, which will produce about 3,000 barrels this year, plans to exclusively use local malt by the end of 2017.

The move is part of a larger vision, says head brewer Dan Wade. “We want to support our local economy and shorten our supply chain as a way to work toward social, economic, and environmental sustainability.” Wooden Robot already uses about 90 percent local malts. “That will reach 100 percent as we continue to work with Epiphany to source oats and develop a caramel malt that closely matches what we have been using in some of our core beers.”

 

Want to read more? Please click HERE

Maybe he and his girlfriend grew depressed over selling GEICO? (PGA)

We’ve heard of skunky beer, but never gecko-y beer. The latter seems to be much worse than the former, based on a lawsuit filed in California against Heineken and the Kroger grocery chain.

Consumerist reports on the complaint, which came about after Orange County’s George Toubbeh said he bought 24-ounce cans of Heineken in August 2015 from a Kroger-owned Ralph’s in Fountain Valley, and had a decidedly unpleasant experience after drinking from one.

Want to read more? Please click HERE.

 

Talk to Travis Rupp at Avery Brewing Company or Sam Calagione at Dogfish Head Brewery about brewing ancient beers, and they’ll share many insights, including this bit of news: mouthfeel can take on a whole new meaning. For example, the traditional method for making chicha, an ancient Peruvian fermented beverage, can involve a fair amount of chewing and spitting maize in a process known as known as salivation. Even small batches require hours of munching. Many brewers in modern day Central and South America, lacking mash tuns, still employ the method to convert complex starches into fermentable sugars.

 

Want to tread more? Please click HERE.

FACT:  Hazy beers have been made for over two decades. They were not even uncommon.

FACT:  Hazy beers are undissolved solids in suspension. It’s science, not magic or elevated craft beer alchemy.

FACT:  Undissolved solids in liqud suspension ALWAYS precipitate out. ALWAYS. Why? See second fact.

FACT:  The NEIPA is a fad. It will undoubtedly have some legs because some – not anywhere near all – beers made in that style are absolutely delightful. But it IS a fad and will pass, probably soon. That’s not even a criticism of it. Extreme IPAs were a fad. Ditto for pumpkin ales. And the Riedel beer glass. And the Gose craze is one now. “Fad” is not a pejorative term. It just says that this popularity, which is certainly warranted, has a shelf life. Which it does. 

Want to read more? Please click…

HERE