Our Tastes-- BlackStone Liquidity Bock

Bought a growler, never pinted, never tasted, and my tastes seem in line with the others I shared it with, almost BJCP-ish! The color is an awesome doppel, NOT mai nor, helles. The aroma a balanced malt and hop, with low flattening head. The taste, when rolled around the mouth is even and smooth when it comes to body; however, the overall balance when aftertaste is concerned is too hoppy for me (and I consider myself a bit of a hop-head!), Liberty and Mt. Hood are in here. I'm relatively new to the art of subbing different hops for others but I would almost try backing off whatever is first or replace some thing with Hersbrucker (after the shortage is over). Don't get me wrong, the beer itself is solid and I would never go thirsty if God left me only this to drink, but from a magnified expectation is a bit light with respect to the malt backbone. Maybe I've gotten used to maltier beers in the fall/winter and expect it less in spring beers. However, this German lager was put in the tank back in September and apparently has only gotten better. OG- 1.065, IBUs- 24

Our Tastes-- Flying Dog Kerberos Tripel

Kerberos, named for the three-headed hound that prevented a soul from escaping hell once it had crossed the River Styx, (aka Cerberus), is a deceiving cloudy dark straw with yeast still left over in the bottle after the pour. Aroma reminds me of wet hay. The taste is a smite spicy and bitter with a flat non-latticing head (done with many high octane brews). Part of the Canis Major line of beer, this one is made with 2-row pilsner malt and Golding and Saaz hops. 8.5%abv and

Our Tastes-- Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA

60 Minute IPA is the "flagship" of DFH brewery. Made with Warrior, Amarillo, and 'Mystery Hop X' (possibly due to the shortage? this one has a fresh hop lovable pungency, the head alone when poured causes an atomic cloud of foam. BTW, I'm trying all of these beers in their represented glasses to get the full effect of the beer itself as purported on the website. The taste is a wonderful pine explosion that just made me glick on my screen by accident. Clear dark straw much like Shelter and a lattice that clings like magic bubbles (sorry I just channeled Bear Grylls a little). This 209kcal beauty has a floral balance like only one other IPA I've had, give you a hint starts with 42, ends with "A". Having it makes me crave Hungry Howie pizza with cajun crust.

Our Tastes-- Dogfish Head Shelter Pale Ale

Well the Winter Solstice took place this morning at 604am CST to Mark the longest night, on top of that it will soon drop to about 24F in my little part of the world. So now that summer is definitely gone and we're about to have a few "3 dog nights" in a row, I'm going to start tasting all the Dogfish Head that I can get my hands on including some great brew from this weekend, Junk coon-dogged me out. BTW- Australian aborigines used to sleep next to their dogs on cold nights to survive, the coldest ones were termed ---you guessed it 3 Dog Nights. This was DFH's original brew and in my opinion is the type of beer that can be used as a BMC conversion tool. It pours a dark clear straw with wonderful macro and micro bubbles. Lattice is there but not VERY distinguishable. The head is a separated foam that is easily replenished upon swirl. Taste is great, an easy 6er. What gets me with this little 168kcal brew are the hop additions. Either this is proof of the hop shortage substitutions that had to be made to keep beer alive and well or a running change by Sam that wasn't fixed on the website. Shelter Pale Ale is made with "whole leaf Glacier and Warrior hops", but the bottle label I have which for me is an instant collectible says Willamette and Columbus (aka Tomahawk to some). The alphas are comparable and substitutable with Willamette/Glacier but since Warrior is relatively new Hop Union considers it a questionable sub, just fyi. I really like the idea of Delaware grown barley. 5%abv sold only in Mid-Atlantic states, sorry Nebraska:(

TnDC Field Trip #10 (#6 revisited)

This has been by far the best Field Trip to date. We made a little run up to NashVegas and checked in to the Hamppy Inn across from BlackStone Brewery. Around 4 we headed a few short blocks away to Yazoo Brewery to enjoy some of their beers in the Tap Room. After filling 4 growlers, Dos Perros and Hop Project #9 for The Enabler and Wassail and "The Project" for me, Merry and I settled in for a couple of hours to enjoy some TN cheese and spiced pecans, oh and a couple of pints of brew of course (note to self no Hefe for Melonhead). Later that night we stopped in and had dinner and SEVERAL memorable beers with Junk at Bosco's. I started with their Flaming Stone beer. It was alright but left me wanting more. Brewed using a "traditional German technique" stones are heated in the wood oven and placed in the kettle during brewing, great color and overall taste. Next was their seasonal Glacier Pale Ale and this was a definite improvement! A basic pale ale using Glacier hops gave it a slightly minty hint, nice. 90 shilling into the gullet! I first tried this beer in February at BlackStone and though this was an excellent beer, I still think the BS version may have been better. Bombay IPA in Junk's 2008 stein which btw is a gnarly idea. I love the idea of mug clubs with great ceramic steins to clutter your life forever. Then to culminate the night a 2008 bottle conditioned Export Stout (to wake to stout mouth within) sponsored by the new Memphis chapter of TnDC. This beer came in a great brown fliptop and had a taste unlike any other stout I have drank. Some snooze then the best part of the trip. I personally guided tour of BlackStone Brewery by the assistant brewer, Red, (will not denote him in pink for this serious entry) . I once sat in on a lecture given by Ian Wilmut, clone biologist of Dollie, who btw had shortened telomers from birth, I'll let you look that one up! And I equate this tour with that lecture. To listen to the significant jump in knowledge of brewing from Red was awe inspiring. I compare twig and titanium. He has gone from licking caps of extract to filtering beer at 80 hectoliters/min and amazing amounts of pressure in Pa (or bars, no not the kind you drink in). You never know who's life you'll touch. The Brewmaster there, Travis Hixon, hooked me up with some sweet door prizes for C.A.B.S (Central AL Brewers Society, website coming soon), and I'll be honest, I'm going to brew something orgasmic to hold onto one of them! I came home fired up about brewing again and on Christmas I plan on brewing my first batch of mead. Oh and yes I snagged a few growlers, Maris Otter, Oatmeal Stout, St. Charles porter (at this rate this thing will catch up with Alaskan's Smoked Porter if it keeps winning) and Liquidity Bock. The grub at both places was pound packing and supreme. Even posed for a few photos for the paparazzi, ok it was just Merry, but still a great pic! Not sure how I'll top this one but my thanks go out to everyone involved. PS- Get to bottling again guys at BS and thanks Junk for the "Eli 164" bathroom souvvy;)

Our Tastes-- SweetWater Motor Boat

As soon as I saw this brew I thought about the ESB they had with a red label that they retired due to low demand around 2000. It smells of a noseful of malt, medium brown color and light head. The taste of bread overwhelms you. 5.6%abv is what the old one used to run. I think I actually have an old bottle around here somewhere! This is yet another great market idea by the guys at SW. Retire a great yet worn out recipe, wait for people's tastes to change, make it a seasonal and keep the sweet water flowing. This used to be one of my absolute favs before it went out, this was around the time when their porter had a solid purple label instead of the Jamaican flag-esque look.

Our Tastes-- Bam Biere Farmhouse Ale

Dipping into a sixer I picked up a few months ago, we try Jolly Pumpkin's Bam Biere. Named after the brewer's Jack Russell that was hit by a car and "bounced back", this beer is for all of us who have been knocked down, picked up, dusted off and carried on. Pouring a frothy head (remember to swirl since it is bottle conditioned) and having an aroma of bubble gum, the bitter, tart apricots jump onto your palate! Pouring an extremely pale golden yellow this beer is not too shabby. What throws me off is that the brewery is in Michigan but has a Hawaiian underlying laid back theme. Plus the label looks a lot like my dog Indiana. No info on the brewing specs but it's 4.5% and available in 12s and 750s.

Random Brewing Tasters-- Red Wheat Ale

The Enabler cooked up a little batch of Red Wheat Ale that started as a Bewitched Red Ale from Mr. Beer. Then he added an extra can of Golden Wheat Malt that he had left over from the Ginger Honey Wheat. Pouring a light medium brown with a sweet yet "minty?" aroma. The taste is a clean slightly bitter on the sides but the most profound part of it is that there is a hint of Necco or those sugary hearts you get at Valentine's that say "Eat my Meat" or whatever. This is a nice brew. 6% ABV.

End of an Era

Farewell and adieu yee ladies of Spain, not really but I finished Brew Batch #6 brewed on September 6, 2004 and it's still just as fresh and if not better!! than 7 days after conditioning. APA, the American way of sucking suds. Medium brown, great retaining even head. 10 days later, Hurricane IVAN hit the coast and I had a townhouse full of refugees (see previous posts). Bought some great beer at hurricane prices, got those damn bottles for batch #7, that I hated but Joe helped me empty, and still had a gas grill to cook on, damn take me back!! NO, not really, I'd have to go through RX school again...and BnD, what a tie in Junk! And we beat LSU 10-9

Brew Batch #28 Imperial IPA (aka 42-A*)

There's a certain solace to brewing, especially when done alone. Like with any craft that makes one happy there's a certain methodology about it. I have come to brew with others to help them have a better appreciation of a craft that's as old as the act of sweaty wrestling (wrasslin' in the South, and yes it's all real!) this is the first batch in a while that I have prepared for solo and I noticed I fell into that comfortable rut. First and foremost, water? I have stepped away from 5 1gallon jugs and started using a 5C reusable jug from Blue Ridge Mountain water (used for Batch #27), but this time subbing Glacier water from Publix, 5C=$1.50, can't beat that. It goes through 7 steps of purification including 2 UV treatments, a carbon filter and an osmotic membrane and the machine said it was serviced yesterday. Then the equipment. Brew shirt, lautertun which inside has a screening colander, tongs (to help with the grain bag), clip thermometer that goes in the hole of the pocket of the brew shirt, cheap blue plastic spoon and stainless steel ladle; fermenter, inside has 3-piece airlock, transfer racking tube, bottling nozzle and bottle spigot to bottling bucket; other than my glass carboy all fermenters are being used now, jeeze sounds like Junk and I are brewing when he first started! Next print out recipe and instructions with nifty O&B logo, making sure all steps coincide with what you are about to do, including any nuances to write on the edges as mental notes, take inventory of brewing items, hard to finish a batch if you are missing that middle hop addition! Dry-hopping can be held off on, bittering hop missing with smack pack and yeast starter bubbling gets kinky. Set up propane burner in the garage, turn on the Target bought "Pub Open" sign, plug in multi-colored Christmas lights (Dad, says we look like a damn family of Portuguese are living in the garage when I turn them on and you look down the driveway). Clip butt on Gurka Regent Toro 2000, pour up a nice brew (this time it is a bomber of Ménage à Frank) in a Flying Dog glass sent by Junk to possibly lighten the hole left by the Croc'ed English pint. The glass is measured on the side from top to bottom (sniff, to circle, to pant, to beg to hump the farther into the pint you get). Throw Growler, our Rottweiler puppy, some pecans through the fence to crack out of her green bucket of nuts that is in the garage with me, no dogs around brewing process, this place ain't SweetWater! Now water has been coming up in temp, grain is mashing out, I'm about to light my stoagie and breath a huge quiet breath, no TV on, listening to traffic go by and enjoy brewing on a cloudy miserable humid AL evening, join me, back in a few.
Smell bag that grain came in and close your eyes to imagine sweet malty biscuits
>1950hrs-- We're done, had to change the aroma hop on this one, so it's not true "42-A" it's 42-A*, thanks to the brainchild of Junk. Every man should have something like this to enjoy, sit and reflect on family, life, work, marriage! OG 1.068+0.00 @60F. This one has a long way to fall:)

Quick Update

Still brewing tomorrow, in the middle of the monsoon that is impending. I've started using Blue Ridge Mountain water or Glacial Falls because I can get 5 gallons of it at Publix for less than $2. I'm thinking of opening the blog for comments or email allowance, only problem is comments can be tricky to moderate. Orangeandbrew.com is slowly being built along with another brewing website, even started looking at some CafePress stuff. Hell, if Mike Rowe can do it with Dirty Jobs I can at least play with some ideas. Never announced the movage of other chapters, of course I'm heading up the Montgomery chapter now, Junk is our nomadic chapter (he's waiting to settle) and Red (denoted here in pink) has moved lakeside outside of Nashville and moonlights as a malt masher at BlackStone Brewery , no more Port City chapter for those guys. Oh, and as of February 2009 the Olde Auburn Alehouse will have it's brew equipment pulled and very well cease to exist. Junk and I spent many a Wednesday or Thursday night there across from Virgil Starks at the bar, if they buried him in a fermenter he's rolling over in the trub hopefully with his mug club stein in hand.