We're Last but Legal

Alabama's Gov. Bentley signed into law late tonight the Right to Brew Bill (or HB9). The bill actually ratified Amendment 621 of the State of Alabama Constitution of 1901 (the largest state constitution in the US.). So prohibition finally ends in all states under all cases with regards to the Eighteenth Amendment (1920-1933). Yeah it's true in the South I guess we don't get in a hurry. Basically I can brew, blog about it, share it, with just a few stipulations. Only 15 gallons may be brewed per HOUSEHOLD per quarter of calendar year, self consumption or sharing, transport of no more than 10 gallons for any state competition licensed through the ABC, and of course no distillations! Not to be confused with "No disintegration."

HB9 Passed the Senate!

In a strange twist HB9 (Alabama's Homebrewing Law) passed the Senate 18-7-1 without one word of debate and has gone on to the governor for passage.
"It goes to Governor Bentley now.  Although he has indicated that he supports the bill, we need to make sure he knows thousands of Alabamians want him to sign it.  This is the one, last step needed before Homebrewing is legal in Alabama, and in all 50 states!  So, please go to http://governor.alabama.gov/contact/contact_form.aspx, and fill out the form with your information.  Choose "Legislative Session 2013" from the "Email Concerning which Issue" choices.  And in the "Comments", in your own words, politely ask the governor to sign HB9, the Homebrew Bill.  Try to get as many people as you can to do this!  We know our prohibitionists opposition will be writing him, and we must vastly overwhelm their numbers!!" Not sure how I feel about not being an outlaw?!
Thanks to Right to Brew.

I Just Shipped my Beer!

I found so much humor in this and The Enabler almost had RR blow out of his nose, that I had to post Kmart shipping everything.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hL4lSavSepc

It's Officially Cold

Being rooted in the SouthEast, seasons are a gamble. This past summer I told myself, I wouldn't wash a t-shirt until all were worn at least once. I'd simply let the pile get larger and larger until "fashion" or smell dictate otherwise. Well December was warm to say the least, and rainy. ( I hunt, trust me I'm in tune to the weather big time Oct-Mar).  Well here's part (68 about 1/5th) of my t-shirt collection ready to be washed now that long sleeves have come and gone and we're back to warmer temps. So let's look in to the history of the T-shirt, since it goes along with brewing, kind of. Well think about it, most breweries have at least a T-shirt for sale to aid in revenue.

ESB's Namesake Arrival

I haven't blogged much because my latest ESB's "owner" has arrived. April 5, Evelyn Grace came into this world at 3:10pm weighing in at 7lbs 8oz at 19&1/2" in length. Oddly enough her brew is getting better and better the longer it sits on carbonation. Without divulging too much, her "flat" mates had interesting names. One I swore to share and research was the following-- Cherelijah, pronounced Cher+Elijah. Further investigation reveals the textbook meaning of the name, Cher is Louisiana Creole for "sweetie" or "darling" from the French derivative chéri. And of course Elijah is Old Testament Hebrew for "My God is Yahweh" or My God is Lord. Yeah, wrap your head around that one! At least when someone googles Cherelijah, I'll get a hit:) And by the way we've knicknamed her Hello Kitty, because when she cries it sounds like a cats meow?

Our Tastes-- Ghost River Golden Ale

As Junk brings'em, I taste'em. Ghost River Golden Ale pours a slightly cloudy golden straw with light white head. Golden ales for me have the same nose of slight bready yeast, almost lager-esque, this one is no different. The taste has a forward taste of the "German" variety hop, generally speaking these tend to be readily identifiable in beers with light malt profiles. Malts for this one are Munich and two-row. This is a really good golden. Reminds me a bit of SA Noble Pils on the hop profile, must be some Saaz or Tettnanger hiding in it. Ghost River has an interesting soft (low mineral content) water source in the Memphis Sands Aquifer. I'd knock a 6er of these out while cutting grass and smoking stogies.

Brew Batch #50 REINKE'S REVENGE 2012

And on the same night Reinke's 2012 kegs it up. FG 1.016+0.00@ 66F lays down a 9.7%abv dry-hopped behemoth! When this one gets cold I'm hoping more malt comes forward because the Target hops are there almost overwhelming the EtOH. Hay Man, stay tuned.