Our Tastes-- Shiner Dunkelweizen

Spoetzl Brewery is one of the oldest breweries in the nation creeping into their 98th year. This one pours up a flat-headed low foam with a med-brown color. For aroma, I can defer to The Enabler. He brought up a good example of the smell, that of kettle boiled peanuts that have been freshly poured into your bag. You can smell the malt proteins that haven’t broken down in the beer. We’re going to try my #4 DW against this one next. Shiner uses krausening during the brewing of this one. Shiner a town of 2070 people has been the sole site for brewing every drop of Spoetzl Brewery beer. Founded by Kosmos Spoetzl, because of the need for “traditional brew” for Czech and German farmers who started the town. "This beer uses the old Czech mashing technique of taking small portions of the mash and boiling, then mixing it back in the main mash. This technique, called ‘decotion’, takes a great deal more time... but develops the rich dark color and creates the body which is enjoyed in the finished beer." As I try more Shiner beers over the summer I'll incorporate more of the brewery's history.

Our Tastes-- Shipyard Winter Ale

This beer is one of the last two 6-packs that Melonhead bought me prior to our demise but once again she displayed excellent tastes. This beer pours a cloudy brown, with a sweet aroma of your typical winter spiced brew. The cinnamon and nutmeg are evident. It has a soft, small bubble head with ample legs. Shipyard makes this one with 5 different types of malt and 5 different types of hops. Shipyard started in 1992 as part of a restaurant called Federal Jack's in Portland, Maine and by 1994 truly started their own brewery due to increased demand. I have found that their seasonal beers are usually the best. This one is OK and easily consumed at 5.3%abv. Currently Shipyard is a regional brew with over 69,000 barrels made in 2006 and ranked 16th in the nation. They make 13 total English style and seasonal ales and 7 flavors of Capt'n Eli's sodas.

Chapter Change

As of today the Rocket City chapter no longer exists as far as membership, but will always hold a special place in our hearts. Who knows maybe someone will take up the reigns. I have moved back to the original founding city of Montgomery and am considering changing the name to the Goat Hill chapter due to Montgomery's history, more to follow.

Brew Batch #21

After a long hiatus, I returned to the ole brewing roots with NBA tonight. The Enabler (of the newly formed Eastern Oaks chapter of TnDC) was in attendance and certainly got a first hand look at what brewing beer is all about. Tonight's festivities included a massive boil over on my mom's stove (sorry mom) and some tasting of Yazoo's Dos Perros (with a little given to my perro). It has a great color and took about 10 days for the old yeast strain to activate. OG 1.036+0.00 @ 66.9F. Let's all keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best now that I've settled back in Montgomery to brew for a while.

The End of Another Era

Tonight I had to celebrate and #14 EPA was the brunt, plus the fact that not even the recycle guy would pick these bottles up. I would have loved for Junk or BugMan to have culminated this event with me but tonight I needed to let go of my heart. I salute you #14 with the crappy metric crowns and relinquish the botles that I will never drink agian, next time you will be in long neck brown with green crowns like you deserve.

Advice for Having Dinner With the "Yucky Ex""

When having a little pre-move/post-final grades dinner with the ex you're trying to be friends with:
1. DO agree to meet her early because the bridge over the TN river will be one lane due to construction
2. DO call (because it's proper etiquette, which she teaches) to let her know that you will be late due to the above mentioned traffic problems
3. DO buy 2 bottles of wine (1 Greg Norman if you think she is going to cook and 1 Three Blind Moose if you are going out) because it's nice to be prepared for everything
3. DO realize that she's had a long week prior to spring break and may not be the perky girl you once knew
4. DO smile when you find out she found her 2nd note from seeing her last time
5. DO correct her when she says she's read the blog about "1st Date Advice" and is open about being a little jealous because she "hasn't been" mentioned. She is on the blog a TON OF TIMES, afterall she was your best brewing buddy for a long time (sorry Junk and Brian, but it's true)
6. DO let her pick a lot of the sushi items because you haven't been to a sushi bar since 2001ish
7. DO be patient when she is trying to teach you sign language, she doesn't know how smart and fast she is
8. DO NOT attempt to show her how open minded you are by trying smelt on the Rainbow Roll!! It tasted like raw goldfish when you had it last time and still does, blech!
9. DO NOT say a word when she starts talking about the perks of the guys she is currently dating, she loved you when you were broke and apparently offered no "perks", just smile and wrap your mouth around the Sapporo beer
10. DO NOT look away even though you guys aren't talking but try not to stare when she is so beautiful in her dress (corrected quickly as being a skirt)
11. DO pick up the check even though it was going to be her treat, you never know how long it is going to be before you see her again
12. DO NOT leave your fortune cookie fortune, are you an idiot? She took hers with her for a reason (even though we "don't keep paper long"). It said "The vice (weakness) next to you may become your greatest virtue (strength)"
13. DO NOT leave your Monster energy drink when you leave, it makes it that much harder to leave when you go back
14. (Drum Roll please) DO realize that the next day is "Friday the 13th" and even though she said she was supposed to be at the ballfield that night doesn't mean you should leave!! When she calls and you are 12 miles down the road already, forgot to hug her goodbye when you were the one that made that stupid promise, agree that both of you had the wrong impression when you thought she wanted to be doing something else but she didn't tell you she wanted you to leave SIMPLY TURN THE CAR AROUND AND GO BACK even though this is the first time you can remember ever being around each other and having no physical contact whatsoever

Our Tastes-- Reaper Ale Mortality Stout

The last dark beast of the night was Reaper Ale Mortality Stout. First of all the website alone is wicked. It poured abysally black with a head so brown it looked like crushed gingerbread men. The aroma was a sweet alcohol hop and a sweet stout taste with coffee on the sides of the tongue in between sips. It had a great lattice. ABV 7.5% and horizon as boiling hop additions. The site lists six beers year round, including some named Sleighor and Redemption Red. Nothing else about how they came into existence is listed just that they are located in Foothill Ranch, CA (the same place Oakleys are made). This was by far rhe best stout of the night and possibly the best I've ever had.

Our Tastes-- Bear Republic Big Bear Black Stout

Next stout up was Big Bear Black Stout. This is a strong Russian Imperial Stout, which we already figured out from the aroma of hoppy sweetness. They use Belgian and English roasted barley and crystal malts as well as Lousiana sweet molasses and brown sugar, HELLO!! Hopped with Chinook and Cascade hops. It won a silver in the World Beer Cup and has an abv of 8.1% and IBU 68. Bear Republic truly is a family run operation of mom, dad, son and daughter-in-law (yeah she's a keeper)located in Healdsburg, CA. Something neat about the restaurant/pub/brewery is the Tanker Club where you can buy a 1 liter mug for $100 and have your favorite mug of beer for $3 all year long! After the first year it is specially engraved and a special dinner is planned every year for the members. The site lists 20 beers made during the year.

Our Tastes-- Lost Coast 8 Ball Stout

Well this past weekend the Enabler and I got deep into some stouts he ordered from CA, and let me tell you stout mouth is still in full effect. I haven't drank this much dark beer since... well, since St. Patty's Day (this year). First bomber(22oz bottle) up was Lost Coast 8 Ball Stout. This was a real treat. Man we had crackers and everything to rinse the palate in between tastes and I am amazed after looking at the website how close to being dead on we were. This is a complex sweet stout with a chocolate nuttiness and dark roasts plus oatmeal. It had little brown foam head, no foam legs, poured thick and had a great aroma. Definitely a full flavored stout beer. "Oh my nasty God", I believe is the phrase one of our co-tasters yielded. We had this one at 4.7-5.2%abv, but the site lists it at 5.9% was good enough for me to want another one. This brew has won several awars including the silver at the World Beer Championship. Lost Coast is run by 2 women homebrewers, one of which is a pharmacist. Founded in Eureka, CA (Humboldt Bay region) in a restored 1892 castle (Pythian Castle) purchased from The Fraternal Order of the Knights of Pythias during 1990 the café opened. Now if you ask me any place with an average temp of 55F is begging to have some brew made. As of this year the brewery is scheduled to make 30,000 barrels of their 7 wonderful beers making it the 46th largest in the nation.