Important Life Contemplations

As he stood on the scape, was he contemplating life, or just whether to go that way to find the next great beer?

Bottling of the New Prez I.P.A. complete

I just finished bottling the commemorative, celebratory, paean, which I've been calling the New Prez I.P.A.

This one is loaded with hops including Simcoe®, Cascade, and Amarillo. Dry-hopped with homegrown whole Cascade hops, Amarillo, and more Simcoe®.

In a week or two it should be ready for alpha trial. Beta to follow a couple weeks after that.

This brew is one for the ages--I can just feel it.

Weekend in Vegas

Just got back from a weekend in Vegas. Yeah baby! We hit a lot of beer bars/microbreweries/draft houses and I'm here to tell you each and every one was great. Vegas is a great town for beer and don't let anyone else make you think otherwise. And you can reach most via a short crawl of the Strip. That's S holding some salt from the floor of Death Valley which she used to rim a Margarita....

In no particular order:

Pour 24--just inside the New York New York casino (a short campaign from the Excalibur via walkway), and next to Coyote Ugly. A very good looking rectangular bar overlooking the game floor, and if you can take your eyes off the coyote babes skulking around long enough to have a look at the beer menu, you'll see where it gets it's name as it boasts at least 24 bottles and 24 beers on draught. I had a hard time deciding on one, as many varied styles were represented (someone obviously thought about great beers when building this menu), but I ended up with Big Sky I.P.A. from the Big Sky Brewing Company out of Missoula Montana. I had never tried this one before and it kicks in with just the right amount of hops to keep things interesting but not too much to blow the sucker--call it a hop firecracker. A great place to hit before or after you hit it big downstairs.

Chicago Brewing Company--an oasis if you have a car and want to get away from the Strip. This large place is sitting in one of those suburban shopping complexes that require you to act like a rat in a maze to get in and out of. They have vid poker right at your stool and they make a mean I.P.A. too. Play and the drinks are on the house. Lots of their own beers on draught, but decided on the Hardway I.P.A. which made losing 20 bucks really easy. Oh. I took this picture as I back-crawled back to the car.

Big Dog's Draft House-- Another great microbrewery/bar/casino to visit if you have transpo. This is the cheeseheads paradise for all of Las Vegas as evidenced by the Packers memorabilia scattered around the place. They serve snacks in of course, dog dishes, and the tap handles are what else: fire hydrants. Open 24/7 with video poker right at your stool. As this is Vegas, after all, I had the Dirty Dog I.P.A. which was excellent. A medium hoppy nose and taste. Take my woof for it: the slots are as loose as a pooch and this is the place to go if you want to have fun with the big dogs.

Tenaya Creek Brewery--another oasis requiring caravan by car to get to. Being away from it all ensures that you won't be bothered by any babe-trading-card flicking hucksters like you're want to be if you stick like a fly to that ribbon of asphalt they call the Strip. Great looking, high-ceilinged, U-shaped granite bar, making and serving some great beers. I was swept away by the Monsoon I.P.A. served in a chalice. Can you tell I like I.P.A.s? Poker at the bar, pool tables and brewery in the back. Picked up a copy of the sister-ship to the Mid-Atlantic brewing news: the Southwest Brewing News. So that gives you an idea of the vibe of the place. They know, make, and love great beer.

Ellis Island Casino and Brewing Company--one block behind Bally's you'll find a place where you can get cheap beer and a steak dinner for $6.99, which really can't be beat. Every tap sported a handle screaming EIB and I had a hard time picking between the Hefe and the Amber Ale. But EIB Amber Ale it was and what a great choice that turned out to be. A very clean, balanced ale that made me think I was a lager drinker. Red tufted, naugahyde booths in the dim taproom reminded me of Frank Sinatra in a Vegas-kinda way.

Freakin' Frog--Freaking dark college beer joint is what this is, next to a hydroponic gardening shop. Ehh? Reminds me of the Rathskeller in State College. This place is a longish but not overbearing walk from the Strip near the UNLV campus with a Whisky (or is it Whiskey) school upstairs (for when you're too hungover to attend real classes) and where the professor teaches spirits and beer school. Here they had some nice imports on draught but as this was one of the first places we hit, I wanted to stay local, so I picked the Tenaya Creek Winter Seasonal which was a nice, spicy treat. Of course, winter in Vegas is more like October in NEPA, so I was a bit flavor confused, but it was great anyway. A nice dark ale with a nice malt kick to the forehead. Kick it!

Crown and Anchor--Roit! This place is a trip back to that quaint place they call England, old chap--old wood bar and exposed timber framing. Rugby and Football on the big screen, and 30 mostly imported beers on the big back wall. I had a Tetley Ale here from the tap which was good in a very English kind of 3.5% way if you know what I mean. (Is it just me or are all their beers session beers under 4% ??? Can you say: lightweights?) S sort-of enjoyed a Pilsner Urqell--which was the first time for her. No amount of forearm scratching, lunatic raving by me could convince her it was a great beer and that she'd like it. To each their own, I guess. A London cab sits out front for an imaginary ride home if you've had too much.

Barley's Casino and Brewing Company--Ahh, our first stop. We were on the way back from the Valley of Fire State Park where we had fired up an awful thirst so this place fit the bill perfectly. (It does require some ground transportation to get to as it's not in Vegas but Henderson.) This is a brewery/casino. Sheesh! Does it get any better than casinos and beer? No I.P.A. on draught right now, so opted for the Boulder Gold Hefeweizen over the Doppelbock. Hard choice but it turned out well as the Hefe hit all the right banana and clove notes on my sense piano. Had some pizza from their flame-fired oven which was good. The pieces were thick, wedgy, and gooey with cheese, and unlike what I'm used to in NEPA pizza. Was this Chicago style? Anyway, great with the beer.

Monte Carlo Pub and Brewery--tried to get in here at 9 (a.m. that is) to try one of their brews but they were closed. And I thought Vegas never slept! Did manage to get in later that night when, much to our dismay we discovered they no longer make their own beer. Nonplussed, we ran around in circles for a while trying to decide whether to stay or go but decided to stay and choose something from their small draught selection. I chose the Sin City Stout from the Sin City Brewing Company which was a nice change of pace from all the I.P.A.s I had been quaffing. It was a clean tasting, nippy not biting version with a subtle tinge of coffee.

Hits
Big Dog's Draft House--beer, vibe, and 24/7 service makes this a must.
Tenaya Creek Brewery--another great microbrewery with a nice bar and pool--mid-scale in the luxe factor making it a great date place.

Misses
We missed Gordon Biersch which is east of the Strip, one or two blocks over, near Flamingo street on Paradise. Next time.... Also missed BJ's, the Yard House south end of the strip with a colossal 160 taps, and Triple 7 downtown (take the bus to get to this one if you don't have a car).

Hey, great idea, let's have a month dedicated to Strong Beer

Just happened upon this cool idea for a month (February) dedicated to strong beer. The triple I.P.A. looks deadly. Strong Beer Month.

Bacon Explosion and Beer--Steelers Super Bowl Party Time

As you may know, I have an intense love of bacon and beer.

What sort of beer do you think would go good with the Bacon Explosion. I'm thinking I.P.A. The more imperial the better.

Peevish or Not, you decide

Is it too peevish to expect beer bottles at least rinsed before returning? Put another way, I've found chicken feathers, peat moss, chaw, corn, and pancakes at the terminus of bottles. Is this too much to ask?

Reminiscing about the Mojave Desert

I was just thinking about my last (and first and only) visit to the Mojave desert, just about this time of year in 1980. How long was I there? Hmmmm, six weeks? No, too long; but at least four weeks. Gallant Eagle `80 it was. 121st signal battalion, the Big Red One, First Infantry Division.

You know, the desert is a place you gotta experience if you have the chance. The scale of it is so hard to gauge on first experience that it's just amazing. Looking out across the floor of a valley between two mountains, it's so easy to think that the distant mountain is only two or three miles away, when in fact it's 20. While there, me and a buddy were at a point where we could see the Goldstone observatory to the west and at a lower elevation than we were, and we decided to hike closer to get a better look. Well, 1/2 hour of fast hiking later brought us no closer to it than when we started.

Also, dispel any preconceptions you may have of the desert being dry and parched. Down on the floor it can be 80 during the day, but up on a 5000 foot mountain, you're liable to get snow. At least in January.

I remember just coming in to town and this is where I learned of Bon Scott's death--saw it on the front page of a local paper. May he R.I.P.

After concluding the games, and cleaning and loading our equipment onto train cars (yes, flatbed train cars) for the trip back to Kansas, we had some time to waste as we waited for our stick to go out. Our first sergeant told us not to get into any trouble and warned us that there would be hell to pay if we found some. Well, being 19 and full of piss and vinegar, sure `nuff we made our way over to the PX and found some in the form of two grocery bags of good vinegar and other spirits. We proceeded to spend the afternoon in the barracks squirreled away in a corner with the wall lockers encircling us like the Great Wall, drinking and playing Spades.

You know, things couldn't get much better than this, right?

They did.

Here comes the first sergeant, striding cockily, short, with something to prove, regulation moustache not lower than or past the edge of the upper lip, making his rounds to check on things, and he finds us holed up in the back. Standing over us, he takes one look at us sitting down low on our duffle bags, then at the cards, and then at the bottles which we weren't fast enough to spirit away. And then, like Moses himself come forward to the 20th century, down from the Mountain, the sunlight forming a halo behind him, he picks up the bottles, looks at the labels, shouts: ``I told you guys no drinking!'' raises them over his head and in one swift motion smashes them to floor where they shatter into a hundred pieces. We were speechless. ``You guys just earned yourself the last stick back to Kansas after you load all the gear onto pallets and then all the pallets onto the planes.'' And we had to do just that before we could step onto and sit down on a plane and go back.

But it was worth it.

1.020!

Road Trip

Will be embeerking on a road trip today if the weather cooperates to try as many beer bars as I can before Sunday night.

New Prez P.A.

Secondary fermentation is underway and still proceeding albeit slowly. Unusual to me since last time, fermentation had ended by the time I racked into secondary. It has never been a vigorous fermentation this batch: moderate at first, then gently stabilizing to slow and steady. I'll have to keep an eye on this to see what's going on. Perhaps I should take a gravity reading tonight to see where it's at. I'm shooting for 1.020.

Christmas in January

T-Bone and I happened by One Guy Brewing yesterday to celebrate Christmas. Actually, I was honored by him treating me to share in his Christmas present of a One Guy Brewing gift certificate.

I was delighted to see the Pale Ale on tap as I had never tried this in any of the earlier releases of it in the past year. Offered along with that, was the Atomic Punk I.P.A. and the Berwick Lager.

I began with a shaker of the P.A. which turned out to be a delight of refreshing, straw colored elegance. A very nice blend of maltiness and a slight hop flavor brought about by the East Kent Goldings hops (I think--need to verify this). I could easily drink a lot of this and enjoy every sip!

The P.A. was followed by the extremely popular Atomic Punk. So popular in fact, that at one point every stool had one in front of them precipitating the automatic engagement of the playing of Atomic Punk on the boom box! I tried this on initial release last year and loved it then. This version, according to Guy, has a bit more Amarillo hops. To me, it has a bit more of a piney, grapefruity, characteristic in my nose and in taste. Not obtrusively overwhelming, but indeed excellent. I ended up bringing a growler home.

One Guy as you may know is approaching its one year anniversary of being open. (Today as a matter of fact.) I won't be in town next weekend but I trust that stopping by then will beer a beery rewarding experience!

Traveling to Utah?

Here's an interesting article on the brew pub scene in Utah. The one near Zion Canyon caught my eye--I want to check it out when I go west.

Beer Swap

Swapped one of each of my BOTM bottles with J, for a espiègle Flying Dog Horn Dog, a refreshing Cascade-laced Sierra Nevada 2007 Anniversary Ale, a Mad River Brewing Company Jamaica Brand Red Ale, and a Peak Organic Brewing Company Nut Brown Ale. I've tasted none of these `cept for the Red Ale, so I'm in for a treat! Thanks J.

I'm something of a fan of Sierra Nevada as I think they usually hit the hop and malt balance just right. I couldn't have found a more opportune time to validate this statement than when racking this morning and I've discovered that the Anniversary Ale is no exception to this rule.

By balance I tend to like something on the order of 60-40, but who's counting anyway?

Doo Dah Doo Dah Day

Doo Dah Day this morning when I racked into the secondary fermenter and dry hopped with 1.5 oz of whole Cascade, let's see, .25 oz of Simcoe®, .25 oz of Cascade and .25 oz of Amarillo pellets.