Inaugural Fall Balls 10K

Sponsored again this year by BlackStone Brewing Co with a medley of Hop Jack, Pumpkin Ale and  APA, the Inaugural Fall Balls 10K takes the unofficial place for the fastest growing 10K in the nation! Hot Balls didn't take place this summer because to be honest it wasn't hot here in the South. As a matter of fact I can't remember a single 100F, non heat factor day this summer. But with attendance up a whopping 200% this year, we feel like we made up for the lack of the summer race. Post celebratory brew included Sam Adams Oktoberfest and Spaten Oktoberfest. Now that the word is out we hope to have an even bigger turnout for Turkey Balls and Snow Balls.

Brew Batch #60 Mongoose IPA

Kegged this one today in the hopes that it'll be ready by next weekend. FG 1.006+0.002 @77F to give a healthy 7.1%abv. Seems to have a cloudy dark straw color that should clear with cold conditioning.

Brew Batch #59 Quadruple Wheatwine

Kegged this one over today and put it on cold storage. FG 1.008+ 0.002@ 78F to give 9.3%abv. Man, this one is going to be great come December.

Brew Batche(s) #61* REINKE'S REVENGE 2014

What you see before you is not one spent grain bag of Reinke's Revenge 2014, but in fact 2! I know it boggles the mind that first of all I am actually ahead of brewing this year, with the original brewing day being October 4th. But there's good reason for this early brewing. In years past I let October slip up on me with football and hunting season blending into the trials of professional life and before I knew it I was months behind getting this annual beast in the kettle. Inspired by Red, I've self imposed a double batch to see if I have the pro-am moxie for GABF 2015. Each batch was simultaneously brewed with Andy Mc's help, but the LME is slightly different. Somewhere along the line the LME I had been using was inadvertently changed to Dark instead of Special Dark. However, the batch I want to recreate well (#44 raspberry) was done with Dark. Unable to decide on which to use, Andy procured some long lost Special Dark and we did them both. Brew time was spot on and the SD came out at 1.086+0.001@ 72F with the D at 1.082+0.001@ 72F. I'll follow the same fermentation times and secondary on purée. Here's to being 310 gallons into this hobby.

Brew Batch #60 Mongoose IPA

I wanted to try a Maris Otter based IPA, most of my others tend to have gold malt LME backbones so this is that attempt. Grain bag looked like a possum's codsack but the LME was healthy. Some crazy Brit hop additions of UK Admiral and First Gold gave way to OG 1.060+0.002 @77F. May bottle some, we'll see.

Our Tastes-- Salty Nut Imperial Moustache Red Ale

Picked up some Imperial Moustache Red Ale while passing through HuntsVegas and have just now gotten around to knocking this growler out. Salty Nut is a new micro in Huntsville, AL that seems to be on the right track with regards to marketing and consistent product. No technical data on the brew via their website but it's a great example of the red ale class. Color is a deep ruby, with a hop nose that's relatively non existent though they tout using extra. Oddly enough the water profile seems neutral to hard like most reds, which tells me they have some good attention to detail on this batch. No hop bitterness on the taste, mouthfeel is full with a slight astringent grain taste of husk. Not sure of the abv, but the contents of the growler disappeared quickly and quietly;)

Baseball and Beer

For me on a hot summer's day, nothing pairs together better than a pro baseball game and a cold brewsky. Throw in some roasted peanuts, and I'm in heaven, or is this Iowa? Nonetheless, what better way to push through the "Dog Days," than to rank the 30 Major League baseball clubs based on their in-stadium Craft Beer selection. That is exactly what this analysis by the Washington Post "The Best Beer in Baseball" did. Each team was scored on the locality, uniqueness, and quality of the craft beer selection in their stadium, which earned them an overall ranking. Much to my surprise, a team I followed since my little league days, mostly due to Chris Sabo and his RecSpecs, (Thanks, for giving us nerd kids some jock cred) the Cincinnati Reds came in 2nd place overall. Nice! They beat out the likes of teams that play at Coors Field, Miller Park, and Busch Stadium. Now, if only they could beat those teams on the field. The article stated, that the Reds increased their suds selection to more than 130 distinct beers, which in turn increased their Craft Beer sales by Three Hundred and Sixty-Three percent. 363!!! Wow, in some stadiums, that's a lazy flyball to the track, but for Great American Ballpark, that's a homerun. Let's hope the Reds can catch a winning streak so the fans can enjoy a few pints of a well crafted Fall Seasonal, or Oktoberfest.

*Also to note, the New York Yankees came in last place overall. So ha, take that Evil Empire! Go home and cry in your watered down American Lagers with your 27 World Series trophies.