Party Interrupted? No More!

Now here's an idea that should be more widespread: YoBeerGuys keg delivery service.

For those times when you can't be bothered (or able) to run out mid-party for more beer.

Or, if you're worried about gettin' beerjacked on the way home with your $508.00 keg of Samichlaus.

Vitals
Number of Beers: 273
Most expensive: 50L Nest White Ale ($559.00)

Downside: Keg delivery is only available in the Miami area.
Upside: Offering gift baskets and tasting crates which can be delivered anywhere in the US.

You lucky Miamian, you.

American Beauty

The beer faucet.

Oh how I love thee, let me count the pints.

You are intuitively easy to use. A gentle pull is all it takes to turn you on--and a light push staunches your pouring elixir. And anyone can learn your ways in under 10 seconds. Oh! If all the complexities of life were as easy.

You are simple but not crude. One-dimensional but not simple minded! Unassuming by nature, rarely drawing attention, and your viscera hidden, only a certainty of performance is ever bared. While what flows from you receives all the glory, it is a lack of awareness that would deny your rightful import to this world.

You display elegance in every ounce of your slender form--your curves arousing the animal spirits from within like few things can. Dimensionally graceful, perfectly proportioned, clean in design. Extraneous decoration long since cast away.

You epitomize the height of achievement in Man's evolutionary thirst for beer.

Tecate SCORE Baja 1000

Congratulations to the son and father team of Gus Vildosola Jr. and Gus Vildosola Sr., from Mexicali Mexico, for taking first overall in the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race that concluded Saturday.

The team took first overall in the SCORE TROPHY-TRUCK (Unlimited Production Trucks) category in their Ford F-150.

Go on boys. Have a Tecate. Or diez. You deserve it.

A Single Malt Exercise

Next in line is an experiment with single malt.

As in brewing, not distilling.

(Although distilling a single malt whisky like Glenmorangie is a beguiling idea.)

Specifically we're going brew a clone of Blackfoot River Brewing Company's Singlemalt IPA.

Teeming with Simcoe® and Cascade hops, stiffened by Maris Otter, using our own mountain water straight out of Glen Summit Springs, this baby looks so dang good on paper, we just had to do it.

Do or do not. There is no try. --Yoda

Best part of every day.™

Hey Tazio, What's in the Beer Meister?

D came over last night and we kegged the Racer 5 IPA® clone we brewed on Learn to Homebrew Day.

Whilst sipping the CDA that's currently in the meister.

Final gravity for the Racer 5 was right on at 1.011.

As we write this (whilst sipping the CDA that's currently in the meister), it's chilling out at 38 degrees F and being forced carbonated at 10 psi.

Stay tuned.

Retrofitting New Faucets

You know the old metric versus standard conundrum?

Liters and quarts, millimeters and sixteenths, kilograms and pounds?

We thought we had pretty much settled that one back in the `70s, but that old beast of an irritation reared its ugly head again in of all places a retrofit of Perlick® faucets to our vintage German draft tower.

As it turns out the German tower shanks are close but no cigar to mating with the Perlick 425SSTF (model 425 stainless steel tarnish free) brass faucets.

The female knurls on the shank don't align quite right with those on the faucet and the screw thread pitch on the faucet is different from that of the faucet coupling nut.

So, what we were hoping to get away with: simply replacing the coupling nut and the polished brass outside flange, has now morphed into replacing the whole shank.

Times three.

Dang!

Hey Tazio, What's in the Beer Meister?

It was a two-fer yesterday for D and D-prime during Learn to Homebrew Day: 1) brewing the Racer 5 IPA clone and 2) participating in a fermenter-to keg-transfer of the Cascadian Dark Ale.

The CDA beauty gently and successfully made the 3 foot journey from fermenter to keg and is now safe and sound, and resting comfortably in a 40 degree beer meister, atop a pillow of Amarillo and fresh Cascade flowers from D's garden, whilst absorbing 2.25 volumes of CO2 delivered at 11 psi.

More or less.

Sounds good, doesn't it?

Final gravity predicted to be 1.010 measured out at 1.011.

Tasting to ensue tomorrow after work.

Cascadian Dark Ale it is

After pondering the various facets of this beer style and the varied naming conventions in popular usage, I've come to the conclusion that calling this beer a Black I.P.A. isn't quite right. Nor is India Black Ale a fitting moniker.

Consider: this beer's origins were in the Northwestern US (debatable, I know), and not related geographically in any way with India. Hence having India in it's name is only tangentially correct. (Both styles relying on fairly heavy use of hops in their makeup.)

Further isn't there an illogic of a beer being both black (or nearly so--let's call it very Dark) and having pale (as in India Pale Ale) in it's name?

So shouldn't we just call this Cascadian Dark Ale? I'm going to.

Now that that's settled, can't we all just sit down and enjoy a CDA?

And to further the Learn to Homebrew Day experience...

Tomorrow, we'll be kegging separately, a batch of Black I.P.A.

(Or India Black Ale [IBA], or Cascadian Dark Ale [CDA]--take your pick of names. No one seems to know what to call this beer.)

Tomorrow is Learn to Homebrew Day

Here's more information.

A bomber of Bear Republic Brewing Company's mighty fine Racer 5 IPA® decimated us last year and was the piquet sauce that aroused our interest in trying to brew a clone of this wonderful beer, which we will be attempting tomorrow.

Et tu Tazio, D, J, et al will be assisting in the brewery.

Magnolia Pub & Brewery, Haight-Ashbury

Ringing that bluebell Caught up in sunlight Come on out singing and I'll walk you in the sunshine Come on honey, come along with me Lyrics from Sugar Magnolia; Robert C. Hunter, Robert Hall Weir

Aah...

You know, it's pretty easy feelin' the vibe evoked by those lyrics--you might've felt `em yourself: mayhap feelin' the sweep of a warm October day passing over you...

Standing on your baby's porch, sunlight filtering down through the trees, moving across you, catching and warming your arm, releasing and moving across your cheek...

Then, ringing your honey's bell, there she is smilin'! You happy to be asking her to go out for a walk in the fabulously brilliant sunshine. Arm in arm.

Remember those days...

Well those lyrics were going through the `ed, and it was just like that when we got off the bus in the Haight and walked back a block or so to the Magnolia Pub & Brewery for a bite `n pint. (When you see this on a wall, you'll know you're getin' close.)

Like the dream, there it was situated on the corner of Haight and Masonic, the structure of a certain age, this superlative day the door wide-open, pleasantly beckoning to come in and have a look around.

Passing through the corner doorway crowned by a stained glass transom declarative of the building's address at 1398 Haight Street, the pub's bright and ethereal, with plenty of windows for late afternoon sunlight to beam in from two sides. Tables and chairs arranged in front and to the right and booths and semi-banquettes down the left side. A linear bar standing along the back wall with the kitchen behind that. Another lustrous wide pine bar top similar to the one over at the Monk's Kettle. We sure don't see `em like this in NEPA!

Almost all of the beers on the menu are their own, brewed below Haight Street. Look closely and you'll see a smattering of guest beers--as it should be, natch. Major styles give good account of themselves but overall there seems to be a definite English ale bent to the menu with a Stout, a Porter, a couple of Bitters, a Pale Ale and a couple of IPAs on the menu. This menu was from last week--hit their site to see what's on today!

There was only a pico-second hesitation before selecting and ordering up a flight of six of their beers: five from the casks--one depreciating sawbuck was all it took.

Don't wait: you might only get five a few minutes from now!

They arrived in approximately a pool rack, and a half hour later, after talking the ears off a fellow beer aficionado visiting from Boston, we had cleared the table of all six and could reflect on the experience. Overall, we favored the High Time Harvest Ale hopped with Simcoe®. (We assumed the hops were fresh but didn't ask. Duh.) A beautiful light amber color welcomes, glinting through the tall cylindrical glass topped by a thin head. Subtly nice aroma and hop flavor, by no means overwhelming, with a clean finish and decent lacing--very nice overall. We'd characterize this as a pretty darn good harvest ale.

Next favorite was the the Long Break. The others in the rack were more English standards, of which we're not a super-huge fan. Still, good drinkable session beers all around. Bright, fresh, crisp and clean. Very British (sans the bad teeth,) and the perfect complement to fine conversation. The ten-spot turned out to be a good investment for a chance to sample six of the brewer's best work. The flight card's a great idea as a reminder to what you're drinking--any place offering flights should have something like this.

Egggggggggggsalentttttttttttt!

`Bout this time we were feelin' it and decided to have the aforementioned bite. As it was to be, we discovered the food menu here, creative and unique. Both the food and the design of the physical menu on which it's presented.

The menu's pages are bound within a mid to heavyweight dark front and back cover. The front cover is cleanly embellished with the establishment's name and printed on the inside of the back cover is a brew house worksheet--just the sort of thing that we were pondering as the waiter returned for the third time to ask if we were ready to order!

We didn't wish to spoil our appetites too much so we chose an order of house-cut fries and chicken andouille from the bar menu.

Deeeeeeeeeeelectible!

After we finished, the press of places to go and things to do propelled us (as they often do) up and out, and we left and reentered the brilliant sunshine.

Overall, we'd have to say that the Magnolia Pub and Brewery was impressive all-around. The beers were top-quality and the savory munchies we tried were satisfying and top-notch--the likes of which you won't find just everywhere. The bar-tenders were attentive. The pub was popular, busy, and buzzing with vibrant flavors. Ladies room clean and accommodating according to S--this would most assuredly be an excellent place to meet for a first date. Not insignificant is the convenience of reaching this gastropub: several Bus and MUNI routes pass nearby: 6, 7, 37, 43, and 71.

Highly recommended.

As Cold as Witch's Wit

We think it's mighty wit of Lost Abbey to even consider changing their label for Witch's Wit based on the feelings of fringe loonies.

Not that there's anything wrong with being looney. Or a witch for that matter.

12th Annual Learn to Homebrew Day

The 12th annual Learn to Homebrew Day is coming up soon on Saturday November, 6th.

We feel that homebrewing is as rewarding a hobby as gardening and quite similar in many ways.

For example: you get to carefully select your ingredients, mix them with nutrients and water, and nurture and monitor growth. Finally you get to harvest and ingest the fruits of your labor. And no weeds to pull!

It just don't get any better than that, folks.

Here's more information.

We may be brewing that day, so if you're interested in learning a little, let me know.

A Chorus Line

Yesterday afternoon we delighted in the matinee performance of A Chorus Line at the Scranton Cultural Center, with S, J, and S-prime.

I had seen the show on Broadway probably 20 years ago when it was still on it's first run. It went on to set the all-time record for first-run performances which stood for quite a while only to be surpassed by Cats. Yikes!

(At least I think it was Cats... And speaking of Cats, unfortunately I had the dubious distinction of being herded there multiple times while it went on to its own record run. Alas, there is no real story to Cats: First act's great and the second act sucks--until the very last number were it's ultimately redeemed.)

A Chorus Line is a moving and heartfelt story that while told in the milieu of a theater audition, just as well applies to all of us as we try to find our way in this world. It covers the trials and tribulations, the triumphs and heartbreaks, that we all encounter as we sometimes strive for what we love, never settling, and at other times strive and are forced to compromise due to need. This performance was not as breathtaking as the first time I saw it, but the story carries the show.

Afterwords, it was off to Cooper's. Not for the food, but the beer.

(Ok, the food is none too shabby either.)

Alas, S still hasn't had her Fall pumpkin ale fix!

Stymied again!

No fear: it's just not yet--it's still early. Still, it's highly doubtful she'll turn to a pumpkin if she doesn't find some, but my esteem is dropping for not delivering post haste.

She settled (if you can ever call choosing any Dogfish Head beer settling), for Dogfish Head Punkin Ale. She wasn't impressed: the pumpkin flavor just wasn't as punchy compared to others she's had.

S-prime and J asked moi to pick a beer for them and there really wasn't anything that really caught my eye on the draught list--everything seemed to be Oktoberfest/Marzen styles or higher ABVs--I wanted them to get home safe and sound after all! Finally, on the back page, my eye fell to Victory Hop Devil on the hand pump.

We have a winner!

J likes a hoppy beer and the Hop Devil was the first time he and S-prime had tried this particular beer. Both J and S-prime enjoyed it immensely. As did I.

(You know: Victory Hop Devil may just be the perfect hoppy ale to whet the burgeoning beer drinker's tongues as a step up from the relatively tame Saison's, Witte's, Pilsners, Hefeweizen's and such....)

Best part of every day.