tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51049873360607443382024-02-20T22:37:35.473-05:00Adventures in Beer!!!Follow Naps Mattkin on his adventures in beer and brewing. Naps is an avid homebrewer and just really enjoys beer in general, as you soon shall see. So pour a pint, hold it high, insert celebratory phrase here (i.e Prost, bona fortuna, etc.) and down that cold, malty, hoppy, refreshing goodness that we love and know as beer. Enjoy!!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16020225560150977196noreply@blogger.comBlogger87125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104987336060744338.post-43964770650162447692013-12-12T19:37:00.001-05:002013-12-12T19:37:03.112-05:00Pumpkin Homebrew Review<p>Well, its been a long while since I’ve done a beer review, but I had someone ask me to review their Pumpkin Ale Homebrew, so what the hell. One of L Bird’s co-workers’ husband has gotten pretty deep into homebrewing and presented me with two bottles of gold to review and well, who am I to turn down free beer.So here we go ….</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-WWH3duy4Bfc/UqpWqW-OtBI/AAAAAAAAAqQ/L0VCBujM9rA/s1600-h/adambeer%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="adambeer" style="display: inline" alt="adambeer" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCZZ2Q0jAiWdZMhfkjdRWcB-TqZ0ACak-hiYdDxKIs07DSNTYfykBRV-QwF4nPlBmSNBDU87RaMPuwGhyphenhyphenDk0Q9Sfe2eZQpsccgQDmW89a_NiehXDvjxJcqz4bmTk7PiqsvU5Jd4GEpOXw/?imgmax=800" width="281" height="477" /></a></p> <p><strong><u>Appearance</u></strong>: From the minute I popped the crown on the bottle until the bottle was empty it foamed over. I actually had to quickly get it into my pint glass before I lost the whole bottle to foaming. So it is plenty carbonated. It was a light tan/brown in color and produced a ton of rocky head. It is pretty cloudy with visible sediment floating throughout, which is not necessarily a bad thing. When brewing with pumpkin it can produce a lot of sediment that stays suspended and is harder to remove. In the future if you wanted to clean it up, you could rack to a secondary carboy for 1-2 weeks for more settling before bottling but it is perfectly drinkable the way it is.</p> <p><strong><u>Aroma:</u></strong> It has a bit of hop aroma right up front, it is slightly citrusy which could be from the choice of hops. There is also hints of cinnamon and pumpkin, but overall it is clean and bright.</p> <p><strong><u>Taste:</u></strong> The hops continue to shine through at the start, it has that bitter hoppiness up front that gives way to a nice pumpkin flavor before the traditional ale flavors come through.<em> </em>I am not sure if he added any spices during the brewing but I can detect a faint spiciness maybe allspice or clove. There is a very slight lingering aftertaste that is reminiscent of bitter citrus peel/oil.</p> <p><strong><u>Overall:</u></strong> This is a good foray into pumpkin beers. It has enough pumpkin to be tasty but not so much as to be over the top. I also like the fact that it wasn’t over-spiced, a lot of commercial pumpkin beers try to be liquid pumpkin pie and they tend to go over the top on spice and I find that makes it cloying and makes for bad beer. It could be cleaned up a little by giving it a longer racking time and the after taste may be from leaving the bittering hops in the boil a little too long, but these are very minor faults. Overall, this is a good beer and I would drink a couple of them if I had the chance.</p> <p>Good job, keep brewing and keep ‘em tippin’!</p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16020225560150977196noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104987336060744338.post-15915822083077960942012-08-28T10:25:00.000-04:002012-08-28T11:15:44.921-04:00Baby Steps To A Brewery Of My Own..... Maybe??Man, it seems like forever since I blogged here, but what can I say life has been crazy. I know, I know who doesn’t have a crazy life, hell maybe I was just being lazy but anyway I’m back. So I know I have kicked around the idea here of owning my own nano/microbrewery and all of the pipe dreaming that goes along with it, but this time I may actually take a step towards realizing part of my dream. Well, maybe I will, right now it’s a semi-firm maybe, but let me explain.<br />
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I think that I can really compete with some of the smaller microbreweries even at the homebrew stage I am at. I have entered a few of my beers into local competitions and have won a few awards. A couple of years ago my Porter took 2nd place in that category at the NYS Fair. I taste my beers against what is out in the craft market and I think my beers are close or better than some of those beers. Whenever I brew a batch I typically give half of it away looking for opinions. Now it’s true that this beer goes to most of my friends, but I stress to them that I want their honest opinions, if they don’t like it I want to know why so I can become a better brewer. So far I haven’t had any complaints, unless it was a matter of preference. For example, my Hot Chili Beer was very hot, so to some people it was too hot and they didn’t care for it. Based on that I think that I am just about there when it comes to my recipes, I’m think they will take some more refining and fine tuning but for the most part they are pretty damn good if I do say so myself.<br />
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So with that being said why am I not jumping into the brewing world on a small entry-level nanobrewery? The answer is education. Everything I have ever done in my life I have analyzed and learned as much as possible about before I made a decision to pursue it. I hate going at things half-assed. So my biggest problem is I lack the knowledge to go from where I am now to scaling up to a small professional brewery. I just don’t know how it is done, I don’t know how they scale up the recipes, I don’t know how to run the equipment needed for larger batches, I just plain don’t know.<br />
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Because I am employed full-time and have a now expanding family I can’t just pull up stakes and enroll in UC Davis’ Master Brewer Program for six months or whatever it is. But I can take a six month brewer’s course with the American Brewer’s Guild in Intensive Brewing Science & Engineering. It is a distance course that will require a lot of reading and studying followed up with a week of hands-on experience in a working brewery. This I can definitely swing and definitely want to do, but here’s the catch. The two classes for 2013 are full and the spring class of 2014 is full, so right now I would have to wait until June 16th, 2014 to start if I get accepted. The other catch and it’s a big catch is it is $7250 for the class.<br />
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So with providing for my family and another baby on the way I am pretty financially tied down for the next few years. So here is where things could get interesting, surfing the internet about starting up breweries and brewery education I stumbled onto Indiegogo.com. Indiegogo is a funding platform where you promote yourself and people can donate to your cause. It is used for the a variety of things from small business startups to education to some of the best causes (I think) raising money for people who need it the most (i.e. people struggling with medical bills for illness, memorial donations, medical research etc.).<br />
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I am tossing around starting a campaign to possibly fund my brewing education. So here is where the big MAYBE from the start of this post comes in. I hate asking people for money, I hate owing anyone anything. I feel very uncomfortable creating a campaign for my own personal benefit when there seem to be so many other more worthy causes out there. Also, one of the things in creating a campaign is to give the donors a “gift” for their donations. Some of the breweries are offering things like personal thanks to pint glasses to placing the donor’s name on the wall at the subsequent brewery. So I look at that and I don’t have much to offer a potential donor other than my heartfelt thanks and maybe some good discussion about beer and brewing. So, I feel foolish saying “give me money and I’ll give you a giant thank you note”.<br />
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I mean other people do it all the time, that is why Indiegogo is there and so popular. Maybe I just have to suck it up, get over my own pride and risk it, who knows maybe some investor is looking to help someone like me out just to do it right? Well, one can hope but I’m still on the fence about the whole thing.<br />
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What do you think? Do you think I am being selfish/foolish in trying to do this or should I give it a shot to get the first steps to Stubborn Bull Brewing Co. off the ground?<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16020225560150977196noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104987336060744338.post-32596268001891009642012-02-18T10:03:00.001-05:002012-02-25T12:05:32.329-05:00Dogfish Head Namaste Review<p>Yesterday I knew I was going to be on my own for a little while after A Bird went to bed. L Bird had plans to go out with her coworkers after work for a few drinks, so I thought that would be a perfect opportunity to sit down and quietly do a beer review.</p> <p>I had a few things to pick up at Wegmans anyway, so I made my way back to the craft beer section. As I went through the aisles, nothing was really grabbing my attention. Finally I found a couple of bottles of Dogfish Head Namaste tucked away behind some of the new Sam Adams beers. I am not a huge fan of Dogfish Head beers, some of their stuff is pretty good, but most of the time they try to get to fancy with their ingredients/adjuncts that it ends up tasting more of whatever they put in it rather than a crisp, cold, delicious beer that it is supposed to be. I read the label and from the description it looks like Namaste is pretty much a standard White Ale, meaning that it is a wheat beer with orange and coriander. They did spice it up a little and threw in some lemongrass. Well, it looked good enough to give it a shot, so on with the review:</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1wDjD_Dlu2U1F-aHVvOmHriXlN6oZo00Vt_ANGl_JdpJGfgk0rIj5CqRIhURW4hsRgE0r2aDsad_UjGmSykisAF9WIEXK_QYvmk7HIoMoVGCAvoNkTEZ4uxfygcu8JdkmkE6gQWVn-CI/s1600-h/2012-02-17%25252021.19.48%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="2012-02-17 21.19.48" border="0" alt="2012-02-17 21.19.48" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXQtxi9a6xpbMWkrLqKgTVWVtnBaJUf6lR7ViqCxpOtzec7_mUew75FYU_PI5jo-eaitFRMBkYZo1hFDNehMAu-zBBqwY3snsfJ24ea6ggUX08N87xOYgBQr42Ks2YsIB8wSNtl_Ge3Ng/?imgmax=800" width="217" height="362" /></a></p> <p>Appearance: This beer poured a pale straw color and was very cloudy. The head was bright white with tightly packed small bubbles and it continues to effervesce long after being poured.</p> <p>Aroma: It smelled like everything on the label. It smelled of coriander, and a mix of citrus aromas. Oranges were prominent but there was also some lemon peel notes. In the background the hops were present but in very low levels.</p> <p>Taste: It was a very light and sweet with some light orange flavor present. There were some malty notes in the middle and the beer rounded out with some mild bitterness in the finish. It tasted like a much higher end Blue Moon.</p> <p>Overall, this was a very good beer. It was light enough to enjoy anytime, and the fruit wasn’t overpowering. I would definitely buy this beer again if I was looking for something that was pretty mellow.</p> <p>Keep ‘em tippin’ !!</p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16020225560150977196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104987336060744338.post-23523338481674783862012-02-11T11:25:00.001-05:002012-02-11T11:25:26.450-05:00Brewing Again………Finally<p><font size="3"><font size="2">Well, it has been forever since I last brewed anything. The last thing I brewed was a</font> </font><font size="2">cream ale that was a Christmas present for L Bird’s uncle. I haven’t heard much back about it, but I’m sure it will get drank. But in the meantime, I’ve had a couple of people ask me if I had any beer ready or to let them know when it was read because they would like to take some to a weekly gathering.</font></p> <p>So because tax time has arrived and I have a little more scratch thanks to my refund, I decided I would jump back into brewing. I ordered ingredients for two beers. I decided I would brew one long term beer and one quick to bottle beer. So I am brewing Ol’ Naps Maibock again, because it was such a hit. A lot of people said it has been my best beer. It was quite delicious but required extreme patience as it lagers for 8 weeks in the cellar. I will brew that first and getting going because it takes so long. Then once that has a couple of days of headstart, I will brew my standard Porter.</p> <p>Hopefully by this plan, I will have Porter ready by mid-march and the Maibock should be ready by my birthday and in time for summer. Hopefully my Fed-Ex package of ingredient goodness will arrive this morning and I’ll be brewing by tonight. </p> <p>Stay posted for brewing updates, but until then keep ‘em tippin’</p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16020225560150977196noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104987336060744338.post-27409633542648118492011-12-15T18:33:00.001-05:002011-12-15T18:33:22.214-05:00Bottling Up Some Christmas Cheer…<p>Last night I had to get down to bottling the Cream Ale I brewed as a Christmas gift for someone. It had been fermenting for two weeks and had finally dropped all of the yeast and settled nicely. </p> <p>I’m not sure how clearly you can see it in the video, but the beer was brilliantly clear and had a nice layer of sediment finely packed on the bottom of the carboy. I racked it to the bottling bucket, added some priming sugar to let the yeast finish up its fermentation in the bottle and nicely carbonate the beer, and then I got to bottling with help from my trusty capper elf A Bird.</p> <p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:c79948b8-f912-41f3-9fef-d5bcf1f02d3f" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><div id="bc579c35-a701-482a-bd43-8eb36e303028" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline;"><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkTN2rOYufU&feature=youtube_gdata_player" target="_new"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEith-79ojpp-HEh-A-BzpnmN-0UKz1cca8XOxKhq_o01xYb8v8V7usLopNIKDrV0M-zCcktFu6dcMe6R6HHAwYZvVJniz4af-KxKClrXSu1OpGN_gY5uw8VBdeT8erM2toV0TCa9cksqLk/?imgmax=800" style="border-style: none" galleryimg="no" onload="var downlevelDiv = document.getElementById('bc579c35-a701-482a-bd43-8eb36e303028'); downlevelDiv.innerHTML = "<div><object width=\"448\" height=\"252\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/SkTN2rOYufU?hl=en&hd=1\"><\/param><embed src=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/SkTN2rOYufU?hl=en&hd=1\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"448\" height=\"252\"><\/embed><\/object><\/div>";" alt=""></a></div></div></div> </p> <p>This beer smelled so good while I was bottling it, that I’m going to brew a batch for myself now. Until then keep ‘em tippin’!!</p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16020225560150977196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104987336060744338.post-12069877857246672502011-12-04T20:01:00.001-05:002011-12-04T20:01:40.835-05:00Genesee Heritage Pack<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj71q8YCUpVdAzc1EhDh3nd33omU5xYqCeKXam6PBbWQUQZnt2EI6ssYDOGg5iJ37HGpR-qbRo-WcEP9X21xgnq4Bu6m1k9DII79aLURB2XyrqTa3HXrhfEDJs6mL1g-MValX9jkjfgZfA/s1600-h/genny3%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="genny3" alt="genny3" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc2samg97lk_sGIe0Yn6rclUlJZyQLOCYX7USEmf-lfZScJTNoXZyt_HgfaciTpIJvTOP4vmk6ioxZuWS0oBrLN3vec3OUu0mfQwXhyiEekUPNKHPwm3nKpfXRVwQ-9WjFg8jPHvDfC1w/?imgmax=800" width="437" height="331" /></a></p> <p>So most of the time as I cruise the beer section at Wegmans I always look for craft beer. but every once in awhile I like to buy mass produced/large brewery beer. Today I ran across Genesee’s Heritage Collection bottled in the old fashioned stubby bottles. I just couldn’t pass them up.</p> <p>As far as mass produced beer from large commercial breweries from the US I like Genesee the best and then probably Old Milwaukee. I detest Budweiser products, the rice adjuncts that they use equal headache in a bottle for me, then Coors tends to taste like piss water to me, so if I’m buying domestic that is not craft I’ll normally reach for Genesee.</p> <p>Plus I always feel good buying Genesee because I am supporting the local economy, because it is brewed right in Rochester, which is a short hop from our house.</p> <p>This Heritage Collection has the following great slogan:</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLf1S4TjfR46n_yvPNpLh5Gr1Il7R64Kck9iQGYkqr_bRAz6zX6WffQYHNmfLC9ZqJGAmKKfik_iw8fmCE3WAwgGFcF-RrGtDZVgQvtTlN_Fa3f9JG-vMpJYDyxjQkpaJ3SjqmUGwZa1c/s1600-h/genny1%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="genny1" alt="genny1" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDPsX_Lqb9F9UazkAHvyTECyAZg6qk0Z32tYIhp4s38oARyrBFGxIOdFTayTdPa-C0YezNYcnDqc-rVxKZW6ZOhJ9WacE3fr-OjKZTf7klXjoFomwlLuQQh4hhZ_aHQ7H9xmGxK4RoICo/?imgmax=800" width="423" height="321" /></a></p> <p>“Old Fashioned Beer & Ale Goodness”</p> <p>Now c’mon that is just awesome. So tonight I will polish off a couple of stubbies and enjoy some local beer.</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkEHs2-Q5reu0zI1wx211fz-jRGsCw274VrqXQsrn1yx53iiCW7eNDRtzOyNvTIvzhwuK29pZy4lAoC0SUkMme7wErlcE-6DPI6s9Ld2dWp2NKxkidMwmbpWWmasfFxShspnjRoS1Qn3g/s1600-h/genny2%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="genny2" alt="genny2" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrqBszJML6f9NgSentWf00Ux5DLXSr0y7ernkC8PloNI9HL9pvwotV4FpeD8m0d-SV9V8DZmh4FA70PwjE5T2z0m0jgMfX32qmMr_OkcTQbudUD_ira-SrK-8RSAdAvMDtDN9fID0w7Ws/?imgmax=800" width="428" height="324" /></a></p> <p>Just look at that itty bitty bottle, it’s so cute. It’s just begging me to drink it. Well, I hate to see anyone beg, so here we go…</p> <p>Keep ‘em tippin"’ </p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16020225560150977196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104987336060744338.post-87321084819938534042011-11-22T19:29:00.001-05:002011-11-22T19:29:15.802-05:00Christmas Gift Beer…<p>I’m always proud when people ask me if I can brew some beer for them to give as a present. It has happened every year for about three years. I have brewed beer for a co-worker’s husband’s Christmas gift, and her brother’s birthday, and now I have been asked if I can brew up another Christmas gift beer for an Aunt.</p> <p>Now I know I am short on time to brew a beer and have it bottle ready for Christmas, but I am up to the challenge. So I asked a few simple questions. First, light or dark? and second what style of beer? My answers were “light” and “we normally drink Coors Light”. I know, I know Coors, don’t judge there is routinely Old Milwaukee in my fridge for L Bird and I in a pinch.</p> <p>So with those guidelines I set about looking for something that was light and fairly neutral and the final guideline was that the ingredients needed to be in supply at the local homebrew store. I finally settled on a nice “lawnmower beer” of Cream Ale. Now don’t panic, this is a homebrewed cream ale so it won’t taste anything like the delicious but always dangerous Genny Cream Ale. </p> <p>Here is the simplified recipe, adapted from Northern Brewer’s Cream Ale Kit.:</p> <p>3 lbs of Extra Pale Dry Malt Extract</p> <p>3.3 lbs of Munton’s Extra Light Malt Syrup</p> <p>3/4 lbs of Honey Malt (crushed)</p> <p>1/4 lb of Belgian Biscuit Malt (crushed)</p> <p>1 1/2 oz Colombus Hops (Pellets)</p> <p>Safale US-05 Yeast</p> <p>Steep the Honey and Biscuit malts at 170 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove the grains, bring to a boil. Once the wort is rolling at the dry malt extract, malt syrup and 1 oz of hops. Boil for 50 minutes, then add 1/2 oz of Colombus hops. Boil wort for 10 more minutes, remove from heat and chill wort. Transfer the wort to the fermenter vessel, pitch yeast and top up with water to 5 1/2 gallons. Ferment to dryness.</p> <p>So that’s what am I am doing while I am typing this, but I thought I would share this.</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsDjtwJBS6SMYIMtUHPzFt5VgoeJQjzRdGq_ouuXuWYdvz3j50VRy4vsHahX06oXulyybP7T8DvRACcH22LT0vpPEgZ73eNthd81wiieX9EIgl1puSyK4x9ArZdNBtpZFYQNrHGH1go-w/s1600-h/Beer%252520face%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="Beer face" alt="Beer face" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh54a5hOQ4EdI6_52xhx57F-I6Sr7jwxlWErGBGA6ooK7Q9l4-EN5Iu_Ta0Hly1BxFgR1b9bX9nIx9w5YNr3iZsF_Gk6OlwZ2z-NBHVEfoSTwcGEGhX2yv9roEIeIB4UP0nZ3jc6zym_1Y/?imgmax=800" width="416" height="315" /></a></p> <p>Yeah, do you see that? I see a smiling face on a misshapen head. I’m not sure if I’m creeped out or if it is that old Benjamin Franklin saying “Beer is proof God wants us to be happy.” and it’s a happy face. Or who knows as long as we are talking religion if I look again it could be a dove with the olive branch below it. Ah hell, maybe its just a sign this is going to be one great beer. </p> <p>Yeah, that’s what I’m going with. Well I’m off for my final hops addition, so until then keep ‘em tippin’!</p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16020225560150977196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104987336060744338.post-63689615561065671522011-11-03T17:23:00.001-04:002011-11-03T17:25:01.532-04:00Pretty Things Jack D’or Saison Review<p>Its been quite awhile since I have done a proper beer review. I have been cutting back my drinking for a bit and on the occasions when I’ve had a social drink or two it has always been from a big producer. So I decided it was time to do a review, which brings me to Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project.</p> <p>As I was looking for a beer, I have to say I was drawn in by the artwork and name on the label. I thought that “Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project” sounded pretty cool and home grown. Once I grabbed the bottle and read a little bit I was won over. The owners introduce themselves, tell us they draw their own labels, and brew their own beer in their tiny and creative brewery. Awesome, I love supporting small start ups. So on with the review:</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6jqpM9h-3eclM0M2lmZ8vgzOd6lUq-X8ME0IFrvK8mntRZBUX8q_ioUvMRE9nCI01srB6GcFHl0sdNiXRBXqfkXWTuQnm-LwkmXjV08huV8IYrUf44DhLGgzkFrjkJp_YjsR40br8w9U/s1600-h/IMG_2619%25255B1%25255D%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="IMG_2619[1]" alt="IMG_2619[1]" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1eO-hhK5EljLOPC5AxGOD9Hq6kv4X6DvKylnGL9YJPU2urGUXP1dArH9NH9OFvkxMV6fVdl5Fg-mYtpvTH1uA5a_8aPskmUxLSxsdkoItfBCkN5k-07d2Uws4xtuwhH_4KtucS9GhgBk/?imgmax=800" width="251" height="370" /></a></p> <p>Appearance: It pours a pale straw color and is slightly hazy. The head quickly dissipated, but the beer was very effervescent.</p> <p>Aroma: The initial aroma was citrusy with some spicier notes. There were also some wheat and yeast aromas that were reminiscent of a hefeweizen .</p> <p>Taste: It has a clean and crisp taste that gives way to a very slight bitterness. It was light, easy drinking and refreshing.</p> <p>Overall: This is a nice beer, it’s drinkability is great. This is supposed to be a Saison which is traditionally a farmhouse ale style that is pretty open to interpretation. Their interpretation is nice, but it is nothing that stands out amongst the crowd. That is not saying that it is not a good beer, because it really is fantastic, but it isn’t going to stand out in a tasting of 10 Saisons. But even with that caveat it is definitely worth picking up a bottle or two. Plus hey you are supporting a small Mom & Pop brewery which is awesome in itself.</p> <p>Keep ‘em ‘tippin!!</p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16020225560150977196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104987336060744338.post-62090620586491508372011-10-03T19:11:00.001-04:002011-10-06T13:20:56.676-04:00Lake Placid Pub & Brewery<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDWUMha-L4dbXWgjyxW_HfEYTLYXIVQuJqJKNTfndWo_J8DlZVpuREwU6R-w-CW1AGsR656FWdIxN3PdiHQOgpgd2KnAMRwFGEA2bwGnGf6fIcApSoQEuJTvhnKg_DLUvRLd681wuA9aw/s1600-h/SANY1215%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="SANY1215" alt="SANY1215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLnuLFClFKE_m8YhTc32i0u_S_z3F2m0_I6T2JJq3yq2bd2WBtaD-ey8iBhsq_px_xAmaczfWYShXJId9-4FGVAFJU4l0FrqeMQnq7ruUHDKYqHZlPJHnUNKYoAnszghAFtsFnFzIOMpU/?imgmax=800" width="373" height="283" /></a></p> <p>This weekend L Bird, Dinker, Cheesepaws Mom, and I went to Lake Placid for Oktoberfest, you can see the whole deal <a href="http://life-as-naps.blogspot.com/2011/10/oktoberfest-lake-placid.html" target="_blank">here.</a> But one of the awesome things we got to do was have dinner at the Lake Placid Pub & Brewery.</p> <p>We got there just in time for the dinner rush, so we had a fifteen minute wait for a table. Perfect, we had time to go to the bar and order a drink. The bar was packed, but lucky for us LPP&B has two bars, one upstairs and one downstairs. LPP&B is built in an old church so we walk out the entryway past some beautiful stained glass and downstairs to the second bar. Unfortunately for us, this bar was packed as well. We eventually made our way to the bar and got our beers.</p> <p>I forgot what everyone else had, but I started with the Moose Island Ale. This is definitely a session beer. It was only 4.4% alc/vol and it was very light. It was crisp and clean, it didn’t have much aroma, but the taste was very refreshing. I could easily have drank a lot of this beer.</p> <p>They called us to our table pretty quickly which was cool. We finished our beers and ordered another round while we waited for our food. This time I got the Barkeater Amber. This beer was fantastic, it was nicely balanced with good malty flavors and a slight amount of hops. </p> <p>Our dinners came and they were also very delicious. I had “Josh’s Fire Fish”, which was basically a fish fry that was dipped in hot wing sauce. It was very good, I would highly recommend it.</p> <p>Overall, it was a very good dinner and some very good beers with good friends. If you are ever in the Lake Placid area, The Lake Placid Pub & Brewery should definitely be on itinerary. So stop by, have a few cold ones, enjoy and as always keep ‘em tippin’!!</p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16020225560150977196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104987336060744338.post-84420522324924983242011-09-29T17:29:00.001-04:002011-09-29T17:33:30.002-04:00A Winter Warmer, well sort of….<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It’s turning colder and has been chilly and raining all week, so that got me thinking about winter and brewing up some winter warmer beers. I was thinking of something nice, dark, malty and plenty of kick, but then I decided to take a different approach. Some of you may remember the infamous Hot Chili Pepper beer. Well what better way to keep warm in the winter than sweating to every wonderful sip of Hot Chili Pepper Ale and munching cheese with the Bears game on TV.<br />
<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-TWaoSIVRpd0/ToTjMexCW_I/AAAAAAAAAhY/jyKha9SnsE0/s1600-h/DSC01357%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img alt="DSC01357" height="259" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-1v2LVn_M_uk/ToTjMzIVmaI/AAAAAAAAAhc/Ol376i3ubMQ/DSC01357_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="display: inline;" title="DSC01357" width="342" /></a><br />
So I’m going to start brewing up a 6 gallon batch of fiery goodness, but this time I think I am going to experiment a little and split the batch up into three 2 gallon fermenters. Then I can experiment with levels of heat. I’ll ferment one with mild jalapenos, a medium heat fermenter with mostly jalapenos and one or two habaneros, and the last fermenter will be an inferno with generous habaneros and a few jalapenos to round out the flavor.<br />
I’ll try to post some good pictures or videos of the brewing process and hopefully some video of people trying them. Until then keep ‘em tippin’ !!!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16020225560150977196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104987336060744338.post-44639566673601383972011-09-18T09:37:00.001-04:002011-09-18T09:37:43.974-04:00Auction Beer Swag<p>So occasionally my buddy Capt. Insano and I hit the local auction. Now the whole auction is the greatest show in itself. It is set in an old barn, they have old church pews and old rows of movie theater seats bolted to the floor, the whole place is a greasy looking yellow from all of the smoke and grease and they have one of the most miserable auctioneers I’ve seen. But the whole scene is hysterical. She sits up on the raised platform and yells at her workers to bring things faster, then she comes up with odd words for certain items, like a few weeks ago everything was either a “compote” or a “commode”, last night everything was either a “spittoon” or a “chamber pot”. She yells at people to “put their damn cards up” and then usually the evening ends when she has had enough and closes the night. So the whole thing is always very entertaining.</p> <p>We have gone a few times and normally come away with some useless junk, but it was fun. Well last night  was a great night for beer memorabilia. So I scored a pretty sweet find.</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhndjZxAIe7qIYB5-RYFFss5q10YydMd3U1BHNZSP0O2Yf75TFLD_PIwd_a4w9X6ulmP3gshbfIaek7sSZo9AW3YjD3ImoWBkAGnLD9-V3mHgEbZXQUBpjQxuBaLhSIpR1pWyLK8GkKRLA/s1600-h/DSC01356%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="DSC01356" alt="DSC01356" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-nY84neLxA4c/TnX0J7J50HI/AAAAAAAAAfo/scwSsNHOq7M/DSC01356_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="386" height="293" /></a></p> <p>Yep, a vintage Genesee Beer tray. They also had a Genesee pool table light and a Schaefers hanging bar clock/lighted sign that was definitely vintage. I gave both of those things a shot but they quickly flew out of my price range. But overall I think it was a successful night at the auction.</p> <p>Keep ‘em tippin’ !</p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16020225560150977196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104987336060744338.post-82754997420955447182011-09-03T10:16:00.001-04:002011-10-06T13:21:20.504-04:00Brewery Ommegang: Hennepin<p>Well, the summer is starting to wind down and we are now in September. But my thoughts are still on the hot, hazy dog days of summer and the perfect refreshment for those days, a Saison Ale.</p> <p>With that in mind I ran down to Wegmans and went straight to the Belgian section, because there are a ton of truly fantastic saisons from Belgium. Well, I couldn’t make a decision between some of them so I fell back to an old comfortable standby Hennepin. Now technically it's not Belgian but it is brewed true to Belgian style. It’s actually brewed by Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown, NY and they have an affiliation with Duval, so technically it really is Belgian by like the “six degrees of Kevin Bacon” or something like that. But anyway, on with the review:</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-4FCh9MkAXVI/TmI2oB3bbdI/AAAAAAAAAfU/MbVPa2XjQOM/s1600-h/DSC01352%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="DSC01352" alt="DSC01352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIDF-cqBpCeEpDFvaYvkXWDJpKcYFjUwT5ylmPVXyJ0scOgoQKmnHbfhw6ZFbkaG0jSgU5OKLFboe6i8rw_ZAhKylvjRnrOBJMemPQcQ1FYzHujoSxdzhXpTf_i3xPX_ZUkysutPrcz9k/?imgmax=800" width="206" height="321" /></a></p> <p>Appearance: It poured a very light straw color and was quite hazy. It poured a rocky white head, I mean just look at it. It’s glorious. It was also very effervescent with millions of tiny bubbles streaming up the glass as it sat there.</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOCtyAfHPATmdDb3lxHJfr0uHRpa8wZvwApVTznZfILbjfVMeyXrJkb8W8CLlJ7kCTxJdgO6UVd3K3PRNDXVShFdf2FfSX_h77PCxQcLGsxC03F6TwJ6b2IsQjEFuavDY7wFfFQAc461k/s1600-h/DSC01353%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="DSC01353" alt="DSC01353" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtavVnXztGOKgLTa6wcVRPclLOM9tlNqpGMyfy5-KbRqyeruwfmcxNKMYGts9oh6YMZE9zLquOIBO5zK7HmjyBY4A63c6pq7QucNV1A3XELjwFbk-NlffCtvZujm7kVquqFc24vCDvTu0/?imgmax=800" width="207" height="240" /></a></p> <p>Aroma: I got some very slight hoppy notes, that were balanced with some spicy notes. The spicy notes were peppery almost like black pepper, and then I also smelled a very slight hint of pine.</p> <p>Taste: The first sip there was a slightly sweet but not overly sweet and cloying. It was light and refreshing. It was very crisp and clean across the palate. It was perfectly balanced so that there were really no stand out flavors that overpowered the beer.</p> <p>Overall: This is a great beer. It is my old standby for hot summer days. Its always cold and refreshing and quenches your thirst perfectly. If you have it in your area it is definitely worth buying a bottle or two. Enjoy!</p> <p>Keep ‘em tippin’!!</p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16020225560150977196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104987336060744338.post-9063604327823365642011-08-06T10:28:00.001-04:002011-10-06T13:21:20.515-04:00National IPA Day: Southern Tier Unearthly<p>Two days ago was National IPA day, so given the opportunity/excuse to drink a beer I’m going to. So while I was grocery shopping with A Bird which was it’s own form of treat slash torture I grabbed a bottle of IPA to celebrate National IPA Day.</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjevw3C2k0uC4iCBe-azzFNTHLaqyGkyqNAGeN7UfJQnI4o5sP8Pr-e6SJXcBBV5AIsgykzxGJUD8d8oWDu73LJ-YaQAqXogIKGB_gfxz_GrscZJlsaJhqdkCZuTvwLsAVgWmY5RxUfkcc/s1600-h/Unearthly%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="Unearthly" alt="Unearthly" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmb1ZDlXtnH_xcPPxPNiLtAkdqqNWTPwuiEyru6O9XFwZ4WGNW3AbKz6ytv9t7BBKiRbnGFh_3o993EKnyA5b4RaQSIeXYPZsC5ERPq6nsUXPgybP2uBKqec4vahPdnDDD_tiSXsP-Gog/?imgmax=800" width="245" height="385" /></a></p> <p>***The picture is blurry just like I was after drinking this monster <br /></p> <p>The beer poured a dark amber and produced a generous “pillowy” head. It was very slightly cloudy. The aroma was not what I had expected. I was looking for an almost overpowering smell of hops, but  what I got was something more delicate. The hops were definitely there but nicely blended with flowery, herbal and almost “perfumey” (I’m not sure that’s a word but you get the point) notes. The whole aroma was very enticing.</p> <p>Then I took my first sip and was pleasantly surprised again. I was expecting a heavy bitterness and bite up front that smacks you in the face practically yelling “I’M AN IPA, DAMN IT!”, but instead I got a really smooth almost creamy mouthfeel that let the ale notes come before the bite of hops and bitterness came in the finish. Then  like any good IPA, the more I drank of it the stronger the hops and bitterness became.</p> <p>Overall this was a great IPA and I’m not an IPA guy. Plus it is an Imperial so it was 9.5% alcohol and it was very deceptive. When you were drinking it, the beer was so well balanced that you didn’t notice the alcohol  until it was too late. I would definitely recommend you pick up this beer and enjoy.</p> <p>Keep ‘em tippin’!</p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16020225560150977196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104987336060744338.post-796078191751003212011-07-26T19:33:00.001-04:002011-07-26T19:33:06.340-04:00Double Red Ale: Possible Giveaway??<p>I was looking around for something different to brew a few weeks ago and after looking through my beer magazines, an idea hit me. I decided I would brew a Double (Imperial) Red Ale. Well, there was one problem, I had a good Red Ale recipe, but nothing for a Double Red, so I improvised. I took my Red Ale recipe and doubled a few of the grains, but I probably should have not doubled the small amount of Simpson’s Dark Crystal Malt. Because of that little error my “RED” Ale is more of a nut brown than red. We’ll see what it looks like at bottling. (I've been sitting on this post, the beer definitely has red highlights.)</p> <p>That brings me to my next point, I am going to be putting it in the bottles sometime this week. I bottle into 22 oz brown bottles, because if you are going to drink one homebrew, you probably are going to drink another so why not just cut to the chase and drink one 22 oz’er, right? So my 5 1/2 gallons will typically give me 27-29 bottles depending on how much beer I actually get after transferring it to the bottling vessel.</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid7ipkwPIA3xTdzFqkupHLo9cGZbP5y0zqLazK6FhtYTT7rEsvu0mQ2WfP6ROUjk-bUhW6VsT3CV1zowLZBjdyPOZA2_MR84BR8kEw9PaAcJGU69ZVgLJV8Ws4Aaywbn9dUD4Lz2WmcEg/s1600-h/105_0074%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="105_0074" alt="105_0074" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9EV9VlmvD-Ye0Hctfb3wOEZwx2ez-N2jTca34DFqE5TYUwtbcP2bz15p6Mi3oMYsWvKArxFsX-LEc8AlA2yhIUmsDbqYycFAGSha7f_1viNoWUdo2ql_CNGYbiKHAbs10rTRQEUrUX0Y/?imgmax=800" width="216" height="442" /></a></p> <p>Now I know right now you are probably wondering what the title of this post is all about. It says “giveaway” and he is yammering on and on about his brewing goof ups. Well, lets get to it. I started a new workout program and it has taken a drastic cut to my drinking. Now I’m am going to keep a 6 pack of them for myself to be drank on special occasions, and I have obligations to some of my cohorts to give them a test bottle, but the rest I am going to give away. Now due to international alcohol shipping laws, I will not be able to give away any bottles to anyone outside the US. Sorry to all my international readers, don’t be mad at me, be mad at the various government bodies that enforce these rules. </p> <p>So here is what I am thinking, I will have 5 bottles to give away. So the first 5 people to leave a comment will receive 1 – 22 oz bottles of Ol’ Naps Used to be Red Ale. The only thing I ask is that after you taste it, you come back to this post and leave me honest feedback. If you hate and fed it to the dog, great! Tell me that. If you loved it or have suggestions, tell me those too.</p> <p>Now I’m hoping that most of these go locally because of shipping issues, but if you do live out of state, I’ll try to get crafty to get it to you. Just drop me your email and we can work out the details. </p> <p>Good luck and happy tasting! Keep ‘em tippin’ !</p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16020225560150977196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104987336060744338.post-62276925605484558242011-07-19T12:32:00.000-04:002011-07-19T12:32:46.413-04:00Cool Local Beer Article...So I was reading the news the other day and I came across a really cool article. It is all about the craft beer movement in the Finger Lakes area. The article covers a lot of different aspects from growing hops to the new breweries that are popping up. I figured I would share the link. Just click <a href="http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011107170327">here for the craft beer article.</a><br />
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Also, I am trying to figure out a way to do a homebrew giveaway. I have a few bottles that I would like to give away, I just have to work out the kinks, so stay posted.<br />
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Keep ‘em tippin’ !Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16020225560150977196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104987336060744338.post-73818428732624532032011-07-13T16:20:00.001-04:002011-10-06T13:20:56.688-04:00Middle Ages Brewing Co.<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0NvGnLVuceZ8-iBUPzExzkE0aH0u-mzF6mbdpxwOVxFp4pyn_s9fsQvwNJlpHiky4iKKtQ1NhhrP_XvccPl5HgWTYRPnEjzZWFbdwTq3IRAiL5rc3pv6raSqdY7uy-IvTIojqb6Wcay8/s1600-h/SANY1112%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="SANY1112" alt="SANY1112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNAG1lgGLGuCfOx6nOiTRFdFXVBgDCmdB5nckGSd9XQZhA2D0-pEywZaXlDped6EkDjuKAvSsrE-WiK4wRnye0tiojC3D-zZBLa9k4bQWwdU9DIrXl06buiC4CGLZV1QYqZHmQRGTJ6aw/?imgmax=800" width="293" height="386" /></a></p> <p>So I have had this post in my back pocket for a couple of weeks, but things didn’t work out the way I planned. Big surprise, right? But anyway, two weekends ago we went up to Syracuse to visit L Bird’s sister and her family. It’s always a good time to catch up and hang out while the kids play, plus I get to hang out with my brother in-law Chuck. So there is always a lot of good conversation about beer and plenty of good beer being drank as well. The past few times we have been up to visit, Chuck and I have talked about going to Middle Ages Brewing Co., but it has never worked out, normally because we go up to visit on Sundays and Middle Ages is closed on Sunday. But I got lucky this past visit, we ended up going on a Saturday. Awesome!</p> <p>After some lunch and hanging out, Chuck and I ditched the wives and kids for an hour to head over to the brewery. I’ve had Middle Ages beer before, but any chance I can get to go to the tasting room, I am jumping on. Chuck winds his way through the city and we pull up in front of this old brick, industrial looking building with a small sign on the garage doors that said Middle Ages Brewing Co. Now I have been to plenty of breweries where the initial looks of the building were completely different from the quality of the beer. I have been to places where I drove by them a hundred times saying “There is no way that is a brewery it’s too small and looks like an old garage!” (Ithaca Beer) and had fantastic beer. Then I have been to places where the tasting room is as swanky as could be and the beer was definitely subpar (I’ll leave them nameless, as no one should drink “their” beer). So walking up to Middle Ages I was still completely unbiased.</p> <p>We walked in and the tasting room was packed. I had a camera in my pocket to take a few pictures, but I completely forgot about it once the beer started pouring. Sorry! We made our way to the bar and found that they had 7 beers on tap for tasting and 3 other beers in the back that were for growler pours only. So 10 beers is a pretty healthy stable of beers, and Chuck and I made our way through 9 out of 10. We tasted the 7 they were pouring and a couple of them twice, then we each got a growler from out back. I liked one of their beers. They were all superb, but I especially liked the Old Marcus, it was slightly sweet with maybe some honey notes but it still had a nice maltiness to carry it through and make it a well rounded very easy drinking beer.</p> <p>Middle Ages bar staff is also very good. They were very knowledgeable of the beers and very helpful, but also laid back. They were friendly and not pretentious beer snobs. They had a good time mixing with the crowd and still talking up good beer. I was very impressed with them to say the least.</p> <p>I ended up getting a growler of the Black Heart Stout from their back room. I was going to do a beer review on it, but once I poured a pint I lost track of everything else and just enjoyed the simple pleasure of drinking and really enjoying a beer. I wasn’t worried about tasting notes or pictures; I just let myself be wrapped in the sensations of drinking it just for that enjoyment. I will say that it is an excellent stout and you should buy it if you ever happen upon it.</p> <p>All in all it was a great trip to a great brewery and the beers are all fantastic. If you are in Syracuse, please find time to stop into Middle Ages and try their selections. You will not be disappointed. Until then, keep em’ tippin’!</p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16020225560150977196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104987336060744338.post-53515927640311655272011-06-20T17:21:00.001-04:002011-06-20T17:21:38.130-04:00Random Beer Things…<p>I can’t remember if I mentioned it or not but I recently ordered ingredients to make an Irish Red Ale plus a little. I basically ordered everything I needed to make a nice Irish Red, but I up’d my grain bill trying to make it just a little bit bigger. Not an Imperial Red but maybe just a double red or a Irish Red 2.0. We’ll see how it turns out, I am hoping to be brewing it by tomorrow night as long as fedex shows up on time tomorrow.</p> <p>But while I sit here and salivate over my next brew I wanted to just share a few thoughts about craft beer. The first thing I realized is, it’s everywhere man. A few years back it was hard to find any beer that wasn’t a budweiser or miller-coors  product. Now as I walk down the grocery store, the beer isn’t only contained to the cooler any more. There are actually aisles,  yep that’s right aisles as in plural, as in more than one. So now you have choices galore. It’s an awesome time in craft beer. Even main stream grocery stores such as Wegmans or Tops are catching onto to the movement. I mean Wegmans has a “Craft Your Own Pack” section where you can mix and match a six pack of beer and the last time I was at Tops they had a little pamphlet on craft beer that gave definition of styles and the appropriate glassware to drink it out of. A really big and really cool step for grocery stores.</p> <p>The second thing I noticed is that everyone I know is talking about craft beer. At work when I talk to my colleagues it seems like one of the first questions I hear is “Have you been to that new brewery to try their beer?”. Just yesterday I was having a conversation with a fellow winemaker about beer judging. He has been judging wine competitions for years and was asked to sit in for a beer judge cancellation. He is certainly no stranger to beer but he was shocked and amazed at the grading criteria in a beer competition. We were discussing how strict the style guidelines were and how many brewers are stretching the guidelines almost into new styles. I was explaining to him how there is a whole Beer Judging Certification Program that you have to complete to correctly judge beer. </p> <p>So as I sit here drinking a frosty cold beer in the shade, I am just amazed at how far beer has come and I am very interested in where it is going. Who knows? Maybe in a few years I’ll know first hand. Here’s to wishful thinking!</p> <p>Keep ‘em tippin’!!!</p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16020225560150977196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104987336060744338.post-54536667894658401822011-06-16T07:49:00.000-04:002011-06-16T07:49:33.090-04:00Dreaming again...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ774_0wAJIy2_SwICv07bw96LD-3P-IGKLgMcRz23S7OpqOWBy9g26ft8Iroii2zcqn_oDiMb5IDhmMgrDXwy0J1I1zhXiUicNRZbpBUOqDNSOD8yLuP_MiiVXGH_fEOnkjsr_huPG2Y/s1600/barn+exterior.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ774_0wAJIy2_SwICv07bw96LD-3P-IGKLgMcRz23S7OpqOWBy9g26ft8Iroii2zcqn_oDiMb5IDhmMgrDXwy0J1I1zhXiUicNRZbpBUOqDNSOD8yLuP_MiiVXGH_fEOnkjsr_huPG2Y/s320/barn+exterior.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /></a></div>Image from: <a href="http://www.holderbros.com/blog/tagged-with/timber-framed-barn">http://www.holderbros.com/blog/tagged-with/timber-framed-barn</a><br />
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So lately I have been really daydreaming about a lot of different things, but the two biggest of them being opening up a small “boutique” nanobrewery. (sorry, I work in the wine industry and around me, all of the tiny wineries/farm wineries are called boutique wineries) and secondly becoming less dependent on the world and becoming more self sufficient. If I had the money to go “off the grid” I SO would, but that is not an option at this point. However, as my daydreams continue to meander through my head I thought that this would be a really cool idea and possibly feasible on the nanobrewery level.<br />
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I think that it would be awesome to start up a small brewery that is almost entirely self sufficient. I think that if I had five to ten acres of land I could do it. I would plop down a rustic timber framed barn with the tasting room up front and the brewery operations in the back. Then there would be an acre or two dedicated to growing a couple different varieties of hops, and the rest of the acres would be for barley and some wheat for the malt bill for the brewery. Then I would contract with the local farmers to harvest and possibly process the barley for me. Then I could control the growing conditions for everything that enters my beer. I would be able to control my process from raw materials to finished beer. I’m not sure if the beer laws are the same as the wine laws, but if they are then I would be able to call my beer an “Estate” beer, meaning that all of the ingredients that go into the beer came from my property. Plus on a personal note, how satisfying would it be to know that your beers were all produced using materials that you had grown? That would be awesome.<br />
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But anyway, that’s what I have been thinking about lately in the world of beer. I’m also out trying to find a real good Double Red Ale recipe. My fermenters have been dry for too long and I’m itching to get something going.<br />
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Keep ‘em tippin’!!!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16020225560150977196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104987336060744338.post-45508070257788721202011-05-29T09:20:00.001-04:002011-10-06T13:21:20.496-04:00Goose Island: Sofie: Belgian Style Ale Review<p>It’s been awhile since I had a decent beer to review, or went to the store for a beer for that matter. So I made a trip to Wegmans this past week and saw the Goose Island section of the beer display and the 750 ml bottle of Sofie just jumped out at me.</p> <p>The bottle has a very nice, clean label that gives it a very sophisticated look. The label more closely resembled a wine label than other beer labels. So I picked up the bottle and saw that it was a Belgian Style Ale and I was sold.</p> <p>So here we go:</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-yi-tWIFo2b8/TeJICEiEtSI/AAAAAAAAAes/uoBoK342xdM/s1600-h/DSC01350%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="DSC01350" alt="DSC01350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz3VY1XkhVICDeWUKUD-PPqPaIN5PjKuARJk1sJJjyHCI9r-ady5Qk1KWwHaMk53Z9891z9pgRYHAgERkAu3Jvx5BXb289nOr66KFQn6ptIpCBVGczFCG8eEHcIYajOJExfGE1Nn-OG4I/?imgmax=800" width="326" height="540" /></a></p> <p>Appearance: The beer poured nicely after some time was given to let the head settle. I’m not a professional beer  pourer but I can pour a decent beer, so pouring this beer was a definite challenge. Right out of the gate it was really foaming even with a gentle pour. The head was pillowy and very cleanly white.  The color of the beer was a light straw color that was filled with streams of tiny effervescent bubbles.</p> <p>Aroma: The aroma was light. I only was able to smell the citrusy notes of the hops and what can only be described as wet hops.It was the smell of the hops after they have been removed from a carboy or barrel.</p> <p>Taste: The taste is very true to style, but lighter on the palate than a traditional Belgian. It was slightly fruity, I got notes of orange and L Bird said it was peach, but hey everyone’s palate is different. It was just very clean and crisp, there were no real strong or standout flavors.</p> <p>Overall: This was a great beer. It was easy to drink and you could easily enjoy more than one. I am a fan of Goose Island and this is just another great beer in their lineup.</p> <p>So the next time you are looking for a nice summer beer, grab a bottle of Goose Island’s Sofie, you won’t regret it.</p> <p>Keep ‘em tippin’! </p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16020225560150977196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104987336060744338.post-89839340321026074452011-05-18T17:01:00.001-04:002011-05-18T19:57:34.504-04:00Growler Box<p>I’ve had the idea to build a simple box to transport growlers of beer in for some time, but I have put it off and put it off. But last week was my birthday and my friend Dinker’s birthday, and I thought that a growler box would be a good gift for each of us. I was supposed to have them ready by this past Saturday, but well it just didn’t work out. So if you read this first Dinker, you have a Growler box waiting for you. Happy Birthday Dinker!!</p> <p>I had the idea that I would like them to look like the old school wooden tool boxes. I didn’t want anything fancy, just something that looked rustic (old school, well  worn/used, beat up etc.) So I bought knotty pine and cut it roughly. Then I used square cut masonry nails to give it that “ol’timey” look. Then I used a simple 1 3/8” pine dowel for the handle. I drilled though it on each end and put a 3/8” lynch/cotter pin through each hole. So now to load the growlers, you pull one pin out and pull the entire handle out. Load the growlers, replace the handle and pin and there you go. You’re beer rides nice and secure.</p> <p>I made it to hold two growlers, so if you only need one growler you have room for some tap room swag, but seriously who can buy only one growler at a time.</p> <p>But anyway, I took a short video so you can see it. I apologize now for the video quality, I was pretty distracted because A Bird and Linus were screwing around behind me and bumping into my legs. Enjoy!!</p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:2b2d7db1-a04b-4fb6-96a0-c1e8a0e7f08b" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><div id="f2d21600-36e2-4c81-9e30-31a71c8c5520" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline;"><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MYOkLN_1W0&feature=youtube_gdata_player" target="_new"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_RN3hHtGSa4M/TdRc7YtAScI/AAAAAAAAAeo/v0hN9TcTsNU/videocb60c235b880%5B3%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-style: none" galleryimg="no" onload="var downlevelDiv = document.getElementById('f2d21600-36e2-4c81-9e30-31a71c8c5520'); downlevelDiv.innerHTML = "<div><object width=\"448\" height=\"252\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/5MYOkLN_1W0?hl=en&hd=1\"><\/param><embed src=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/5MYOkLN_1W0?hl=en&hd=1\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"448\" height=\"252\"><\/embed><\/object><\/div>";" alt=""></a></div></div></div> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16020225560150977196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104987336060744338.post-18757195778085290082011-05-02T19:05:00.001-04:002011-10-06T13:21:20.490-04:00North Coast Brewing: Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout<p>In business they always say “Know your customers”. Well, in the blogging world it can be tough to know your customers/readers because they can be miles upon miles away from you. Sure you can read through the comments and get a good feel, but this blog is still relatively small and I don’t get a ton of comments. So the best I get is tracking my hits and stats. These stats tell me where the person is viewing from, what posts they viewed, and what traffic source (i.e. google, blogspot, etc.) they found me by. That’s useful information. <br /> <br />Based on that information, something struck me as kind of cool. It would appear that I have an anonymous follower from somewhere in Russia. I’m not sure this is a single follower or a bunch of people, a man, a woman, I have no idea. I am leaning towards it being one person. This is my opinion because my stats tell me that I get traffic from yandex.ru. and the search words they are using are napsgetsbeer.blogspot. So I did a quick google search and found out that yandex is a Russian search engine. So someone over there is specifically searching for my blog. How awesome is that? I know, totally awesome. <br /> <br />Anyway, now that I have bored you with a long back story I decided it would be cool if I did a “shout out” beer review to this person. I wanted to go to Beers of the World to get an beer that was actually brewed in Russia, but well, that just didn’t pan out. So I did the next best thing I went to Wegmans and found North Coast Brewing and picked up their Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout. This one is for you, comrade!</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh821-gqCdGkjigE2sqkDZmhOiY-RnC5buIO9idU8Tj3T4UqEkes4ugmGTEx5ojilpr9kpAZK_Qjpz1UT3z1VMNpEtUQ3rOBBgvxCZncEDmwMu8tXpAwzjXPoz6bWzKH3F_AO358CHgokQ/s1600-h/SANY0982%5B7%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="SANY0982" alt="SANY0982" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjolIvtXieaCvCxOOS4_CzPc1i-yQep0Zh21lGBWJArVST_f3C-OVIcb9sgj0SokbscrUPrpp-VM0z_2-3-4NXq2pBLTRoC40m1wu7oY48lwR_ErFWz7PWgGObUdDafYmscNyTI7QAf_n4/?imgmax=800" width="259" height="375" /></a></p> <p>Appearance: It pours very black with a generous light brown pillowy head. It is almost completely opaque, you can’t really see a light shone through it. As I drank it, it did produce some nice lacing down the sides of the glass.</p> <p>Aroma: It has little to no hops present in the aroma. However, dark coffee notes come through instantly. I also smelled some roasted malt with some slight burnt notes. There was also some sort of funky, earthy note in the finish of the aroma. It wasn’t unpleasant, it was just different.</p> <p>Taste: There are some strong coffee, espresso flavors. The mouthfeel is slightly creamy, but it is not too much. There are also some roasted malty notes. It is dry in the middle,its not too sweet. It is surprisingly smooth for being such an high alcohol beer.</p> <p>Overall: I thought this was a good representative of a Russian Imperial Stout. This beer could also be pretty dangerous because it is so smooth, you don’t realize how much alcohol it has in it. If you like stouts or just dark beer this beer is well worth picking up.</p> <p>Enjoy! Keep ‘em tippin’!</p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16020225560150977196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104987336060744338.post-83453052278570954222011-04-10T19:53:00.001-04:002011-05-02T19:04:55.320-04:00The Maibock…finally<p>Well, my wait is finally over for the maibock. This was really the first time I tried to actually lager a beer, and I did it old school to boot. I waited until the dead of winter, brewed the beer, then lagered it in a cave a.k.a the crawl space/basement for two months. So yesterday the beer hit the two month lager mark and was ready to be bottled.</p> <p>I trudged down the ladder into the crawlspace and hoisted up my golden brown treasure. I got it ready to bottle and gave it a little taste before putting it into the bottle and it was DELICIOUS. Well, worth the wait.</p> <p>Then I was in a super beer dork mode so I video some of the steps of my bottling. Then being even a bigger dork, if that’s possible I put it together into a compilation video presented for your viewing pleasure below.</p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:f9b31248-99ff-4547-87e7-14655fd376dc" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><div id="abe5f6ad-7249-4a38-b45e-266e189e4315" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline;"><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4HbSTudMXI&feature=youtube_gdata_player" target="_new"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6CPu86DbZC_fy9niHRrKekbHC_emUAHJek6z89wfbP_3ICQK8c6MaQv0t4Ca04tCZt2lIw4Qebgw-vZzFlHFwvTETMPESrzqR_co96iEBbKtKkf6eVQvNvobfVATgqtPiZSS_Euu7Aag/?imgmax=800" style="border-style: none" galleryimg="no" onload="var downlevelDiv = document.getElementById('abe5f6ad-7249-4a38-b45e-266e189e4315'); downlevelDiv.innerHTML = "<div><object width=\"448\" height=\"252\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/m4HbSTudMXI?hl=en&hd=1\"><\/param><embed src=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/m4HbSTudMXI?hl=en&hd=1\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"448\" height=\"252\"><\/embed><\/object><\/div>";" alt=""></a></div></div></div> <p>Well, there it is in all it’s glory and hopefully in about a week or two I’ll have a review of it up for you. Then if it’s good I’ll have to make a special delivery to Diamond Dave and Jim The Plumber for fixing a leaky pressure reducer in the crawl space that threatened to flood out Ol’ Naps’ Glorious Maibock.</p> <p>Keep ‘em tippin!</p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16020225560150977196noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104987336060744338.post-6114062054678846262011-03-22T17:59:00.000-04:002011-05-02T19:05:04.091-04:00Rheinblick German RestaurantNow I know that this is not strictly beer related, but there have been many a beer drank in this establishment and this restaurant deserves to have many a post about it. This has been long overdue but I wanted to sing the praises of mine and L Bird’s favorite restaurant, Rheinblick German Restaurant in Canandaigua, NY. We try to eat there a lot, but with our busy schedules it normally ends up just being on special occasions which is not as much as we would like. So we end up hitting it up for birthdays, anniversaries, and other special occasions.<br />
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Rheinblick German Restaurant sits right on Main St. in Canandaigua and is owned by Gudrun and Gary Klemens who are both originally from Germany. The restaurant is smaller and holds roughly 20 – 25 tables, but it gives it both a “homey” and exclusive feel to the restaurant because it books fast with reservations. In the summer, the enclosed alleyway where the main entrance is doubles as a biergarten (outdoor tables for food and beer, mostly beer though lol). The food is traditional German and Austrian dishes. The food is simply fantastic, plus they have an entire section of the menu dedicated to schnitzel. I am slowly making my way through the schnitzel menu. You can find the menu, <a href="http://menu.restaurant-rheinblick.com/">here</a>.<br />
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In addition to the gloriously wonderful food they have a fantastic beer & wine selection. You can view the beer selection <a href="http://spirits.restaurant-rheinblick.com/">here</a>. Also, as you can see below I am really partial to the Sprecher draft.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYlSpWIFBJupen3_Y0MD1bK6A4NxISOlspAQciKzXyNYiEEx1IONPh8TN_izDy2V0wW-Um6BDn3MyRgMOcCJ6I-3Gkrn5kvM9CtZqqW73wjD_KEGDDzsvTCK6kKjTZHZsqRmvvpORESXE/s1600/Photo0037.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYlSpWIFBJupen3_Y0MD1bK6A4NxISOlspAQciKzXyNYiEEx1IONPh8TN_izDy2V0wW-Um6BDn3MyRgMOcCJ6I-3Gkrn5kvM9CtZqqW73wjD_KEGDDzsvTCK6kKjTZHZsqRmvvpORESXE/s320/Photo0037.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
All in all this is one of the best restaurants I’ve been to and my favorite. So if you find yourself in Canandaigua, NY please take time to find Rheinblick German Restaurant . It will be well worth it. For more information , other than my small review you can find a link to their page <a href="http://restaurant-rheinblick.blogspot.com/">here</a>.<br />
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Keep ‘em tippin’!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16020225560150977196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104987336060744338.post-28922914716887137362011-03-10T17:40:00.001-05:002011-05-02T19:04:55.321-04:00Patience & Pride<p>Well, this is just an update on my Maibock. A couple of days ago I had to go down in the cellar to check on the sump pump, so while I was down there I took a peak at my Maibock. It appears the lagering phase is going well, it is definitely settling out nicely and every couple of minutes or so a nice big bubble comes through the airlock.</p> <p>It has been down in the cellar for just over a month and has another month to go. I’ll bring it out and bottle it around April 9th. Now I have some patience but I don’t have a ton of it, so this has been a long month and I know it’s only going to get longer.</p> <p>As I was down in the cellar admiring the beer and wishing it was ready, I started to think about the patience that goes into craftsmanship. I like to think that making beer is like making a beautiful piece of furniture, you start out looking for the finest materials that will make the perfect piece. Then there is a lot of hard work in turning each piece, assembling the pieces, sanding, and finally staining the piece. This process can take days, weeks, or even years for some furniture makers to perfect the piece they are working on.</p> <p>Making beer is the same process, you start out looking for the finest malt and hops, then you spend a lot of time boiling the wort and preparing your yeast culture, and finally assembling the fermenter. Then there is a period of time where you can sit back and wait, then finally you can bottle or keg the beer. Through this whole process the beer is being hand crafted, just like with woodworking. The beer takes on a life of it’s own just like a fine oak table or chair. Also, if you rush or take shortcuts, it will show in the final product whether it’s a scratched/marred piece of wood or a skunky off aroma/tasting beer. Both are processes are a labor of love that take time and patience to produce the highest quality finished piece. </p> <p>But anyway I have rambled on enough about the ethereal side of making beer without actually making the point I was trying to make, but what the hell right? At least I got some thoughts out.</p> <p>Keep ‘em tippin’!!!</p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16020225560150977196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104987336060744338.post-61104941209774329012011-02-28T16:26:00.001-05:002011-03-11T06:26:56.971-05:00Orval Trappist Ale Review<p>As promised here is the review of the Orval Trappist Ale.</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGlj1C4mJHlaHsA-MiygA1psuH6k1yLYWMHsZoIeudx9WyRF3uC9vymzMp9d7pkIYkYAkHTvt4t0FaAdfEUdMW0kIW0iTUFPg4n2sVheGzlA4OHyPX6KvzH5lq2vl7sKQZMbAsBYiv-OI/s1600-h/DSC01341%5B6%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="DSC01341" alt="DSC01341" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwv6NTsQ66hXJl18wSDrecMyw5lDMEcpLWA51IHq3YdLvDw8p5y3Uio58ZQWafi5EtGhFV5aXtzx6Bu9QuHF2KJD6t7WsFREKvqPbfXfOQAMcG2XS0usIygt58tTyQQWCc1VJr5DVcCjA/?imgmax=800" width="312" height="368" /></a></p> <p>First of all, I’ll apologize for the major foul of not pouring this Belgian into the traditional goblet. Unfortunately that is one piece of glassware I do not own and I am working on rectifying that. But anyway onward and upward.</p> <p>Appearance: The beer was a cloudy amber, almost rust color. It poured a generous, rocky head.</p> <p>Aroma: The initial aroma was very yeasty, with some spicy notes and a hint of sourness that is typical in a lambic.</p> <p>Taste: The taste was very good. It was very crisp and dry on the palate. It had a creamy mouthfeel with some sweeter malt notes and some additional sweet notes from the candied sugar the monks use to brew the beer.</p> <p>Overall: This beer is a very good example of a Belgian Ale. It has a lot of complexity that makes it very interesting drink. It seems like at every sip you can find some new nuances that are fantastic. If you are looking for a nice Belgian to try, this is definitely worth picking up. It is true to style and it is also still brewed by monks. So go out and grab a bottle.</p> <p>Keep ‘em tippin’</p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16020225560150977196noreply@blogger.com1