Thursday, May 13, 2010

This Week In Beer - 5/10

Lots of new stuff available since the last post; summer brews are out in force. Here's the rundown:

New Releases:

* Terrapin Monk's Revenge
Originally released in the side project series, this Belgian-style IPA debuts in 4pks in the Monster Series.

* Newcastle Summer Ale
New seasonal beer, supposedly light & hoppy.



Summer Beers:

* Abita Strawberry Lager
* Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy
* Flying Dog Woody Creek White

* Clipper City Red Sky At Night

* Thomas Creek Vanilla Cream Ale

* Kona Wailua Wh
eat





Returning to the Area:

* Anchor Steam

* Anch
or Porter
* Anchor Liberty

* RJ Rockers Buckwheat Ale






Limited Release Beers:

* Stone Imperial Russian Stout
* Unibroue La Terrible

* Weyerbacher Old Heathen Stout
* Weyerbacher Merry Monks Ale
* New Belgium Lips Of Faith: Belgian Style Blonde

* Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot
* Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Harvest Ale

* Rogue Somer Orange Honey Ale


New to the Area:

* Pike IPA
* Pike Kilt Lifter Scotch Ale

* Pike XXXXX Stout

* Pike Double Tandem Ale

* Pike Monk's Uncle Triple

* Pike Pale Heirloom Amber

* Caracole Nostradamus
* Brasserie des Rocs Triple Imperiale

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Growler Update.

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Here's what can be found in town this week:

Total Wine:

Terrapin Hopsecutioner
Sweetwater IPA
RJ Rockers Son Of A Peach
Kona Pipeline Porter
Thomas Creek Red Ale
Stella Artois

Green's:

Stoudt's Karnival Kolsch
Terrapin Rye Squared
COAST ALTerior Motive
Smuttynose IPA

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

The Week in Beer - Week of 4/19


Lots of new stuff already this week, including the return of St. Bernardus; let's dig in...

Total Wine
* Avery Maharaja DIPA - great aggressive Double IPA
* Victory Whirlwind Wit - summer seasonal
* Southern Tier Hop Sun - summer seasonal in 6pks
* Terrapin Side Project #1o - Captain Krunkles Black IPA
* St. Bernardus Tripel - back after a year out of the state
* Brasserie Caracole Nostradamus - Belgian Strong Dark Ale
* Widmer Prickly Pear Braggot
* Redhook 8-4-1 Expedition - Oak Aged Imperial Brown Ale
* New Belgium Lips Of Faith Belgian Style Blonde
* Rochefort 10 - back in stock
* Rogue John John Ale - Dead Guy oaked in Rogue whisky barrels

Green's
* Caldera IPA (new from Oregon - in cans!)
* Great Divide Espresso Aged Yeti - Oaked & Coffee-d imperial stout
* Hoppin' Frog Barrel-Aged B.O.R.I.S. imperial stout
* Ommegang BPA - Belgian Style Pale Ale
* St. Bernardus Triple / Prior 8 / ABT 12

Monday, April 12, 2010

Germany - Beer Diary

Just got back from a week-long vacation in Munich, the biergarten capital of the world, and it didn't dissapoint. From huge liter mugs of helles lager to cans of the beer abortion known as the Radler, this city had it all. Here's an encapsulation of the beer side of the trip, in pictures...

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Fresh off the airplane, Dustin & I spied and made our way back to the beer section of a little grocery-type store in the Munich airport. Behold...Duff Beer!

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This tasty looking little gem is Desperados, some sort of tequila flavored beer. I'm assuming it is like that Tequiza crap, but I didn't have the cojones to try one.

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Ah, there it is...the radler. Named for the german word for a bicyclist, this concoction is the marriage of lager bier and lemon lime soda. Supposedly this was first developed for bikers who wanted to enjoy several beers and still be able to ride home without plowing into a tree. They can be found everywhere. And they sorta taste horrible.

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Here's me enjoying a Tucher Dunkle Weiss in the hamlet of Augsburg. This is an old town where my dad was stationed while in the army. It was a fun little place. This picture was taken in the square in the middle of town, where we enjoyed people watching. There's a funny video of some crazy drunk guy dancing to his Walkman that I took from this spot, but that'll probably end up on youtube some other time.

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Schneider Aventinus. One of my favorite beers. Enjoyed this guy fresh at the Weisses Brauhaus, the only beer house to serve Schneider brews in Munich (that we found). This place was one of our favorites, as they had a larger beer selection, as well as the Schneider / Brooklyn collaboration beer "Hopfen Weiss". Delicious and the only way we found to get our hop-fixes in town.

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The Pagoda at the Chinesischer Turm. Awesome bier garden in the English Garden.

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The fellas enjoying Hofbrau brews at the Chinesischer Turm.

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This was at the Augustiner Grossgaststatte, a cool traditional beer house near the middle of Munich.

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This is the beer we drank.

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A really big beer barrel at the Augustiner Brau Salzburg. We didn't make it inside the place, but we did enjoy posing with the barrel.

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Dustin & I near the entrance to the Hofbrauhaus. Nice place. Touristy, but not a bad place to have a beer or four.

The Paulaner Brewery.

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Sign to the brewery.

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Door to the brewhouse.

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Brett & I inside the brewhouse. Notice the sweet vests they made us wear on the tour. Not quite sure how necessary they were, but we sure did look cool.

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The control panel inside the brewhouse.

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Old carved barrels.

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Kegs. Many, many kegs.

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Metal kegs that look like wooden kegs. They were super awesome. We totally need some of those for homebrew.

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Outside the gates of the brewery.

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After the tour, they treated us to lunch & a beer. The food was a bit strange looking, but surprisingly tasty.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Growlers...

For those who like to pick up their beer in large glass jugs, here's what's out & available in Greenville this week:

Total Wine -
* Kona Pipeline Porter - (brewed with 100% Kona Coffee)
* Terrapin Hopsecutioner - (new IPA from the Athens, GA brewery)
* Yuengling Bock - (spring seasonal)
* RJ Rockers Star Spangled Stout - (draught-only release from the Spartanburg brewery)
* Stella Artois

Green's -
* RJ Rockers Star Spangled Stout - (they've got it too)
* Bell's Oarsman - (berliner weisse styled brew from the Michigan brewery)
* COAST Harold Stout - (one of the newest offerings from the Charleston brewery)
* COAST Boy King DIPA - (tasty & highly-rated limited brew from COAST)

Friday, April 2, 2010

This Week In Beer - 3/29

Here's some of the new stuff that rolled out to the masses this week...

* Sierra Nevada Fritz & Ken's 30th Anniversary Ale (Imp. Stout)
* RJ Rockers Fish Paralyzer (Belgian-style Pale Ale)
* RJ Rockers Black Perle (Black IPA)
* Great Divide Samurai (Rice Ale)
* Southern Tier Backburner (Barleywine)
* Southern Tier Oak Aged Unearthly (Imp. IPA)
* Southern Tier Jahva (Blue Mountain Coffee Infused Imp. Stout)
* Bell's Oberon (Summer Wheat Ale)
* Shiner 101 Pilsner (Brewery's 101st Anniversary Ale)
* Shiner Black Lager (Schwarzbier)
*Highland Seven Sisters Abbey Ale (Spring Seasonal - Belgian Style w/ Trappist Yeast)

Thursday, March 4, 2010

This Week In Beer - 3/1

Not as much this week in the new beer department. But here's what's out there...
* Stone Old Guardian Barleywine - It's back!
* Breckenridge Lucky U IPA
* Highland Black Mocha Stout (22oz bottles)
* Sweetwater Happy Ending
* Yuengling Bock
* Terrapin Rye Squared Pale Ale
* The Bruery Saison de Lente (Spring seasonal)

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Homebrew Labels.

I was playing around yesterday with some ideas for some basic labels we could use to make our bottles a little more exciting. It's a very minimalist design, but I think it looks pretty cool. I slapped them on some bottles of our stuff I had in my "cellar" last night.

Here's some photos...

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Monday, February 8, 2010

This Week In Beer - 2/8

A few more additions...
* Southern Tier Gemini - Blend of Hoppe & Unearthly IPAs.
* Brooklyn Schneider Hopfen Weisse - Collaboration between two of Germany & America's best breweries.
* Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast (At Whole Foods)

EDIT-
Here's the new stuff so far for this week:
* COAST HopArt IPA - This stuff is incredibly good...so fresh. This batch was bottled Jan. 29th.
* Weyerbacher Insanity - Barrel Aged version of their Blithering Idiot (Barleywine)
* Weyerbacher Heresy - Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
* Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout
* Sweetwater Tackle Box - Mix 12pk (420/Blue/IPA/Happy Ending Imp. Stout)
* Boulder Mojo Risin' Double IPA

** Big event tonight at Barley's -- Foothill's Sexual Chocolate release party. They'll have the 2010 & 2009 versions of their much lauded imperial stout on tap, as well as their barrel aged Total Eclipse Stout and their Seeing Double IPA. I'm going to do my best to make it down there. Action starts at 7pm. **

-

This week I'll include what I saw out there last week as well, since I didn't get around to posting then. Here we go...

* New Belgium Ranger IPA - New year round offering
* New Belgium Mighty Arrow Pale Ale - Spring Seasonal
* Brooklyn Black OPS - Bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout
* Leinenkugel's 1888 Bock - Spring Seasonal
* Sierra Nevada Bigfoot - Barleywine
* Coast 32/50 Kolsch - Local from Charleston; one of the highest rated kolsch beers on beeradvocate.com
Magic Hat Vinyl Lager - Spring Seasonal

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

This Week In Beer - 1/26

Got some interesting stuff in already, and tomorrow we're expecting to see Bell's Hopslam finally show up. Here's what we've got so far...

* Abita Jockamo IPA (6pk.)
* Flying Dog Garde Dog (6pk.)
* Harpoon Celtic Ale (6pk.)
* Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout (22oz.)
* Budweiser Select 55 / AKA "The Lightest Beer In The World" (2.4% ABV)
You really need to check out what they're saying about this guy on the interwebs... as one RateBeerian put it, "tastes like water that a beer came by and dunked its balls into".
Damn.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

This Week In Beer - 1/18

Got some more tasty beverages into Total Wine this week; here's a rundown of what's new...
* RJ Rocker's First Snow Ale (winter seasonal)
* Sierra Nevada Glissade Bock (new spring seasonal)
* Terrapin Hopsecutioner IPA (new hoppy IPA in 6pks - delicious!)
* Terrapin Side Project #9 - The Dark Side (Belgian-style Imperial Stout)
* Lagunitas Brown Shugga
* Breckenridge Agave Wheat
* Bell's Double Cream Stout
* Allagash Four (Belgian-style Quadruple Ale)
* Sam Adams Noble Pils (new spring seasonal)

Back in stock:
* Bell's Expedition Stout
* Bell's Third Coast Old Ale
* Bell's Java Stout

And finally, coming next week - - Bell's Hopslam!

The Scotch Ale is CARBONATED

That maple syrup did a serious amount of bubbling on that thing.  Ryan and I got a good 6 inch head out of that thing.  We might have overshot the amounts on that thing...good thing we haven't had a bottle bomb yet!

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Brew Day. Batch #12.

Saturday afternoon & evening was a busy one...racking & finally bottling our Belgian Abbey Ale, including corking our first batch ever, as well as brewing the African Amber Ale. We popped the cherry on our DIY mash tun for this recipe, and it worked pretty great. Efficiency was up, and it made things so much easier. Hard to believe just a short time ago we were smashing grain bags with plates, lids and any flat objects we could find to mash and sparge. After a couple misfires, we were also able to bottle most the Belgian into champagne bottles with our new corker (thanks, Andre). Looking forward to uncorking the first bottle in the not-too-distant future. Here's some photographic documentation of the day's work...

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Racking the Rogue Dead Guy Ale clone.

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Bottled! In a badass Deus bottle, no less.

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Not the best job, but it'll do.

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The new mash tun at work.

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Garfield food.

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Sweet goodness.

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In the carboy.

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People need sunlight! Sunlight!

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Mac and Jacks African Amber

A staple of the Northwest!

Beer Advocate Reviews

Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
8.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 77.27 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 9.09 %
1.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 9.09 %
0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 4.55 %
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (60 min) Hops 29.2 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (5 min) Hops 3.2 IBU
1.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (0 min) Hops -
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (dry hop) 14 days
1 Pkgs SafAle English Ale (DCL Yeast #S-04) Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.054 SG (1.045-1.056 SG) Measured Original Gravity: 1.055 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.014 SG (1.010-1.015 SG) Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Color: 12.0 SRM (11.0-18.0 SRM) Color [Color]
Bitterness: 32.4 IBU (20.0-40.0 IBU) Alpha Acid Units: 10.0 AAU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 5.16 % (4.50-5.70 %) Actual Alcohol by Volume: 6.52 %
Actual Calories: 240 cal/pint


Mash Profile Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge Mash Tun Weight: 9.00 lb
Mash Grain Weight: 11.00 lb Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Grain Temperature: 72.0 F Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F
Sparge Water: 5.13 gal Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE

Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 13.75 qt of water at 167.1 F 155.0 F 60 min


Mash Notes
Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
Carbonation and Storage Carbonation Type: Corn Sugar Carbonation Volumes: 2.4 (2.3-2.8 vols)
Estimated Priming Weight: 4.2 oz Temperature at Bottling: 60.0 F
Primer Used: - Age for: 4.0 Weeks
Storage Temperature: 52.0 F

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Caramel Cream Ale.

Malts
3 pounds extra light DME
3 pounds light wheat DME
1 pound Caramel 60L (steeped for 45 minutes at 150'-165')

Hops
1oz Cascade for bittering (60 minutes)
.5oz Saaz for flavor (20 minutes)
.5 oz Tettnang for aroma (end of boil)

Yeast
Wyeast German Ale

Extras
1 tsp Irish Moss (10 minutes)
4oz Lactose @ 15 minutes
2 oz real vanilla extract

Priming
>1cup Lactose
4oz vanilla (Be careful! This may be too much vanilla for some people.)
1.5 cups light DME

I'm adding the Lactose in the last 15 minutes of the boil. I'll add the vanilla in the primary, because I don't want to risk losing any that bonds to the trub. So far, it smells fantastic but I'm still at the bittering hops boil. I think this should end up with a nice caramel flavor and a good hint (perhaps a suggestion size amount) of vanilla. I've had vanillas with way too much flavor and they tasted too much like candy. This should have a decent balance.

Notes: 11/4/05

So good. Can't even explain it - you simply must make this beer. I let it prime for almost 2 weeks before fridging it, then cracked one tonight after only about 30 hours. Great head, good lace, nice color, good body and nose. Pictures won't do it justice, but here's one anyways

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Best. Sweater. Ever.

Found this and had to post it:
Other cool ones found here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36098170@N06/page2/

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Local Brewing - RJ Rockers


Here's a nice little piece I found on RJ Rockers. I think we need to make a trip up there, fellas.

RJ Rockers’ New Brewery Shows South Carolina What It’s Been Missing

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Kombucha Scoby

So my new obession is an ancient fermented tea called kombucha. This stuff rules and it's incredibly healthy. Thanks Dave!! In order to start brewing you need a culture or scoby (symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast). You can buy one online for like 15bux, but I tend to lean to the DIY side of the house. Turns out you can make your own for about $3. I found this great website and followed the instructions. Here is the link so you can read along at home. Isn't this fun?


how to grow your own scoby



Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Road Trip?

http://www.columbiacvb.com/microsites/index.cfm?action=Cover&meetingid=14

A Real Mash Tun?

 Randy popped by to pick up the Snickers cooler...I'm hoping that we've got a fully functional mash tun for our next batch!  That would be pretty kick ass. 

Monday, January 4, 2010

Activity!

Pitched a little high last night...but it's bubbling away now!  Stupid frozen wort chiller.

Friday, January 1, 2010

2 Turtle Doves

Definately got the best of me last night.