Our Tastes-- Dutch Windmill

Been drinking Dutch Windmill beer lately. A Pilsener colored on the dark side of straw, starting with a pure white head that fizzles quickly leaving little to no Belgian lattice. It is relatively easy to drink and has that "European" smell such as that of Grolsch (or any other Dutch beer). But its most redeeming quality is that it comes in one fantastic short-necked green 12oz. bottle perfect for filling with EPA:) Have a few of these and tell the next girl you meet in wooden shoes ik houd van u

Don't Forget the Derby

This Saturday is the Kentucky Derby (which holds a special place in my heart for many reasons). So if you are in the mood for a great Derby drink head over to www.makersmark.com and download the Mint Julep, it is absolutely wonderful even if your horse doesn't place. My pick-- Rock Hard Ten if he's allowed in, if not I'll go with Action Hard This Day or even Imperialism but probably The Cliff's Edge

TnDC Deepsea Fishing Trip 2004!!

In the hopes of snagging a fat Ling TnDC will be holding its 2nd annual deepsea fishing event off of Dauphin Island again with Charlie Beach and Sneaky Pete on May 24th. Charlie said the Kings and Amberjacks should also be there and the Red Snapper plentiful!! T-shirts are in the works and as soon as the final design is done I will try to post them. We will miss Jello this year but have talked about making another run towards the end of the summer. Baby Jeli is keeping him sleep deprived;)

Montgomery Biscuits AA ball

Was able to attend the home opener of the Montgomery Biscuits this weekend as well as the 2nd game. Some highlights included the landing of a BlackHawk in the middle of centerfield and a couple of F-16s ripping away at the sky for the lines waiting to get in. The biscuits are the 2nd minor league team in line behind the Durham Bulls (AAA) for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Wasn't able to get a ball cap either night but the beers were priced rather well. Enjoyed a burger and a pitcher before the game with John McJohnson-- Old Creek chapter and a pitcher after the game at the Montgomery Brewing Co. with him and some strange girl I met (and I do mean strange;). I'll have to admit the Old Montgomery Blonde was better than I remembered. Blanked the Stars 8-0, then lost to'em 3-2 in 11.

Product testing cont'd

We tried the Guardian Angel strips out last night they work fairly well. These strips were "donated" and seem to be a little old so the results I think were a bit slow, BUT accurate. Wayne managed to slip his way up to a BAC of about 0.4 and Steph was well within the normal range (must be b/c she got here about midnight). The results were easily confirmed by the color chart.

Brew Batch #1

This one has been the best batch I have ever brewed and/or bottled. It racked off wonderfully and almost every bottle was clear by the end of the night. I miss counted the number of bottles initially and was scrambling for some "short-fatties" and the usual long necks, so I am going to have to go back and drink some more Old Dutch Windmill (yea). Wayne & Caleb-- from the Valley chapter, showed up and helped with a massive bottling operation that yielded 54 full bottles!! Enjoyed a couple of stoagies and listened to the Donald say, "You're hired" to Bill. See people that smoke cigars do go far in life;) E-train and Steph eventually showed up but I am still contemplating whether or not this newbie and seasoned vet should get a nostalgia bottle. (probably so) Played some hellacious darts where the 12 did us in every time. All in all this may the be the best one yet. Used the colored crowns from www.baderbrewing.com So the EPA batches to follow will be green-on-green using the short-necked 12oz.
FG 1.006+0.001@68.6F bringing the percentage to 6.86% which is right in line with Chris and our new buddy at 205-657-5029 knows The Marines and 5-0 are coming for ray ray and eddie g. Hope that deal with Gustavo went well.

R.M.S. TITANIC

On this date in 1912 at 11:40pm the R.M.S. Titanic (Royal Mail Steamer) struck an iceberg, by 2:20am on the morning of the 15th it had sank to its final resting place at a depth of 12,500ft. However, 20,000 bottles of Bass and Guinness were on board.

Paul Martin to give Ozzy the Keys!!

Quote of the night-- "You look like someone who sits around the pub with a beer in your hand and a fag in your trap" -Sharon
By far one of the funniest episodes where someone spoofs Ozzy via letter and phone call into thinking he is getting the keys to Montreal. I think it actually hurt Oz's feelings. Can't wait to buy this season on DVD. And he still wants to know if someone wants to go to the cake store for him to pick up 6 of these creamy delights:)

Product testing

This Thursday we will officially be unofficially testing the Guardian Angel Personal Alcohol Test. This handy-dandy item estimates your blood alcohol content, so at least when you think you are Superman (or woman) that you will have semi-concrete evidence before you to aid you in making those "special" decisions at the end of the night. (ie. should I take her home, have that next drink, drive 30 miles home passing through 6 small towns where the PO-PO hides in the bushes frothing at the mouth while waiting to tag you for drunk driving)

Seattle Slew

Found this great pick of jockey Jean Cruguet and Seattle Slew in action. He was the last surviving Triple Crown winner with an absolute undefeated record. He died in May of 2002 at the age of 28, which is the human equivalent of about 90-100. He also sired almost 1100 foals (he was busy wasn't he)?

Maker's Fun Facts!!

^They have put up about 280,000 barrels this year with 53 Cong/barrel, only white oak charred barrels may be used and they have been charred for about 57 seconds, the majority of the barrels are then sent to Scotland and Canada to make scotch and whiskeys (remember all bourbons are whiskeys but not all whiskeys can be bourbon), In a small warehouse there are about 4000 barrels housed which is considered a small batch, 20,000 are in the large bldgs.
^Star Hills Farm is where it is made and Bill Samuels, Jr. is the 4th generation.
^There are 6 federal guidelines to be a bourbon (remebered by ABCDEF):
Aged at least 2 years, Barrels must be white oak and used once, Corn is the primary ingedient, Distilled at no more than 130 proof, Emptied barrels are at no more than 120 proof and Filtered through charcoal but nothing else must be allowed to affect color OR taste,
^Small batch distilleries are considered to be 120 barrels or less when barrelled and Maker's is done at 119, they also hold the Guinness Book in being the world's oldest bourbon distillery, 1805 (I think, I took a pic and will post them later), the vats are 12 feet deep (and they'll let you stick your finger in it!!) which the steam that is introduced into the mash kills anything that comes in contact with it, and only ladies may dip on the bottling line (they seem top have the most nimble and elicate fingers)

Back from Loretto!!

Just got back from Maker's Mark and it was fantastic. Got 2 Secretariat bottles, 2 Seattle Slew and 4 of the 50th Anniversary pints that me and Merry dipped ourselves.
>We started the day at a crisp 600am CST due to a slight error, but that error ended up going in our favor as we were allowed to be one of the first to purchase these bottles. And the booty (pirate-talk) doesn't stop there!!
>We then returned to the bottling line and hand-dipped our own ambassador bottles in the well-known Maker's firetruck red plastic and wax mix. Merry had beginner's luck with her 1st bottle as it came out amazingly perfect but as the lady "tried to adjust her swing" a bubble or 2 appeared in what I refer to as the "fat roll" bottle, in other words it looks a little uncircumcised.
>On to the mash distillery where we were able to dip our fingers into the "ferment" and taste it. By the end of it all I could have taken the circa 1980s hand-held PA system and given the tour myself.
>Then on to warehouse bldg D that held about 4000 (a small aging batch compared to the 20,000 that my barrel is sitting in) where we learned on the entire barreling process.
>Next on to the 2 year tasting out of the same batch of barrels that carries my name on one of its kin's placards. With 75-80% of its color and between 112-114 proof, it kicked you in the pants at the noon event. Just like it said on the admission ticket "strong and assertive with a slight sour taste on the sides of the tongue". I'm glad that they dilute it down a little.
>Next we met the great Bill Samuels, Jr himself and got 2 of the ambassador bottles signed. (With nothing personal against me and being the Chairman of the Board at UofL, he wasn't keen on me being from AU but realized that I shared his regards in the firing of everyone that took place in what is now known as Tubberville-gate).
>Then it was on to the gift shop for a "t" for the lady and 6 hours later we are home.

Brew Batch #1

Dry-hopped #1 this morning with 1/2 oz of Kent Goldings and it is looking good, lots of good film on the side of the fermenter. Ordering some "special" crowns today for this batch.