TnDC Field Trip#4 Music City BrewFest

Just got back from the Music City BrewFest and it was an awesome sold out event. I couldn't believe they were scalping tickets to a damn brewfest! And the panhandlers were thick. I didn't realize Nashville had such a terrible problem with those slimbags. But thankfully my partner in crime was there to keep me going with the flow and my hands sanitized after I went pee;) I'll admit it wasn't as nice as the Magic City BrewFest due to the setting and lack of free food and of course the 20,000 other people that were there in such a small area. All I know is that my first beer was Bosco's Cascade IPA and the VERY last one was a Hazed and Infused dry-hopped pale ale. Evereything in between is a bit muddled. Oh, and Merry scored more schwag than I have ever seen in my life. She had to literally carry it back to the hotel in a bucket!

Brew Batch #23 The Hempen Hulk

I have always wanted to brew some hemp ale since Jamie Ray (current brewmaster at Montgomery BrewPub) gave me a pound of it a while back. So I did a little research and came up with my own recipe and brewed it tonight, affectionately naming it The Hempen Hulk, because I am going to bottle this one in green Grolsch bottles and dip them in purple wax!! Just another commemorative in the making. Hopefully this one will turn out okay. This was also the first time I put the LME in at the end to preserve the color of the brew. The guy at Alabrew suggested me trying this if I had gotten to the point where I wanted to start brewing consistent batches all the way around including color (aka SRM). So with a little Dingemanns, Centennial and Irish Moss I put this behemoth in the lautertun only this time I was outside using the propane King Cooker. Yeah, this was the first batch I used an outdoor burner and other than a little getting used to the heat settings I found to be rather neat. It will definitely be the modus opperandi in the winter time and may be the standard for the following batches. I'll admit it smelled a little "grassy" but after being around the brewpot for a few hours I didn't even notice. As I started this batch it was a clear summer evening then ironically as I added the bittering hops the night sky became a light purple and it began to sprinkle a little. Hey I can't make this stuff up, I'm not that imaginative. All I could think was , "Don't make me angry, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry."-- Bruce Banner the tv series ca. 1978. We'll see how it turns out. OG 1.038+0.002 @77.1F.

Had To Blog This...

Okay so Bao Xishun the current world's tallest man and a herdsman from Inner Mongolia at 7'9" marries Xia a hometown girl at 5'6" and hopes to have an NBA girl in a few short years. The wedding was sponsored by 15 companies hoping to cash in on his fame donating everything from her shoes to the liquor to the bridal bed! Today he meets He Pingping, the current world's shortest man at 2'5" also from Inner Mongolia. Now considering Asians are "fast acetylators", my question is how many beers does it take these guys to get a buzz? By the way they don't hold the all-time records for height.

Our Tastes-- Michelob Märzen

The last of the brews from the 2006 Ales & Lagers Sampler is the Märzen. This one has been around for a while and definitely has the coolest dark green label with Adolphus Busch superimposed on it, looks like a dollar bill. It has a smooth malty finish to it with little legs or head. This Märzenbier has a nice malty aroma and dark amber color. This is actually a recipe Adolphus brought with him when he came to America and is made with Two-row and barley malts. Best enjoyed in a tulip glass and contains 5%abv.

Our Tastes-- Michelob Pale Ale

This beer left me wanting more out of a pale ale. Straw in color with no initial head, little to no hop aroma. However, what taste it had was good n' smooth, BUT no Sierra Nevada. It's brewed with Northwestern Hallertau, Saaz and Tettnang then dry-hopped with fresh Saaz cones. Best enjoyed in a tall, fluted-pilsner glasss and with red meats. 5.2%abv