It's been a long, long time . . . .

. . . . and I've been a bad, bad blogger. I've been back in the beer world for a while, but haven't really been compelled to write much, mainly because I haven't been brewing. Well, I'm hoping to remedy both issues.

So what's to come? Reviews some MB beers, some beers from the Bearded Brewer, and a review of the 3rd annual Pints for Pets.

Stay tuned.

Cheers,

Dave

Back to Brewing

It's been a while - since December, in fact - since I pulled out the brew equipment. Well, with the return of summer, and my recently purchased, though not yet assembled MLT, the time has come to make some beer. Now, the little Brew Devil inside of me is pulling me in a few different ways, and I have a couple of obligations to previously conjured brews, so the brew schedule is filling up fast. Here's a quick run down.

1) Since I couldn't decide between whether to do a barley wine or a table beer, I'm going to do both . . . from the same grain bill. Yup, we're going to play a game of "Big Beer/Small Beer", and collect the second runnings of the barley wine to make a table beer. Details forthcoming.

2) The Ides of March is still un-brewed. This is not cool. The IoM will be brewed this year, just a bit late, so more like, Ides of July.

3) I'm in a Saison mood. I'm also in a Sour mood. I think we're gonna see a funky saison in the near future.

Oh, and the good thing. We're going all-grain on all of this.

Stay tuned.

Cheers,

Dave

Pints for Pets this Weekend

Yes, that's right, ladies and germs . . . the return of central PA's best beer fest is THIS WEEKEND, May 30th, 2009 at Blair County Ball Park in Altoona, PA. Pints for Pets, benefitting the Central PA Humane Society, has expanded to two sessions, 12:00 to 3:00 and 4:30 to 7:30 and features 50+ brewers this year. Check out the site, get yourself a $30 ticket, and enjoy some good beer. Designated Driver recommended!

Cheers,

Dave

Keepin' it Local, the Introduction

A recent post over at Pfiff! got me thinking about the local beer scene here in Indiana, PA. Now, to not mince words, Indiana is basically a beer desert. Seriously. Living here is by far a beer geek's worst nightmare. Well, second worse, right behind not having any beer. The locals are full of BMC mediocrity, where even the "micros" are "macros", but I guess you have to cater to the crowd you have, namely swill-chugging collegians and fans of the ubiquitous "dark beer", Guinness. I've been living and drinking in this town for seven years now, and have, sadly, been both of the aforementioned stereotypes. Now I'm a beer geek/nerd/snob, the latter being the vein this post is written in, but back to the reason for this post.

Rob at Pfiff! posited the need for some retrospection concerning the availability of good, local brews, and if none are available, why aren't they. So for the past several weeks, since reading the post, I've been paying more attention to the availability of craft beer in Indiana and the surrounding area. And, be it fate or luck, there have been some significant changes in the normal tap rotation of local pubs as of late. Not only have tap lists expanded, but craft bottle selections have increased to some surprising heights. Not to get anyone's hopes up, but there have been some big steps forward, especially for this area.

The main issue with this is that there's no real "local" brewery in Indiana. No, no one has stepped up and opened a small brewery or brewpub in this college town. I personally think it would do well, but not having a solid financial background, nor a product good enough to put forth, this task can't rest on my shoulders. So with no truly local beer available, what's the next step in "Keepin' it Local"? Well, first is patronizing local bars, bottle shops, and distributors. This is where a lot of my focus will be. Secondly is expanding "local" to "regional". Now we're getting somewhere. Within a two-hour drive, there are no less than 11 breweries and brewpubs, many of which make some great brews. I'll be hitting on these, too.

I'm going to try to break this down into several parts to keep each post reasonably focused.

So stay tuned.

Cheers,

Dave

Dingbats Now Open

The long-awaited Dingbats location in the Indiana (PA) Mall finally opened for business this past Saturday after unforeseen licensing delays. I had been eagerly awaiting said establishment after visiting the Pittsburgh Mills Mall location over the summer. That location had boasted a rather extensive tap list, with the likes of Stone, Troegs, and other micros having a prominent place on it. Plus the food was decent and reasonably priced. I had hoped that the Indiana location would follow suit, giving us beer geeks another option for good beer.

Alas, this did not come to pass. It looks like the Bud rep pushed a ton of product on this location, which has 21 taps. The only non-bud distributed products, that I could see were Miller Lite, Coors Light, Sam, Sam Seasonal and Great Lakes Eliot Ness. Now it's not just BMC central, they did include two Red Hook offerings, the ESB and Long Hammer IPA, Shock Top, and Rolling Rock. Oh, and they did go hometown with Yuengling and Yuengling Black and Tan (non-Bud affiliated).

Overall, I'm extremely disappointed. I was hoping to see more variety. Hopefully we will in the future and this was just due to a "starting stock order", and the management can free themselves from the InBEVweiser monster soon enough.


Oh, yeah . . . the place has pretty decent food and a helluva lot of flat screen TVs, so it should be Steeler Central in there on gameday.

Cheers,

Dave

Homebrew Club Meeting Tonight

Yes, it is that time again. . . Indiana Homebrewer's Club is meeting this evening at The Coney at 8 PM. And the best part. . . I can actually attend. This will be the first time in the last three months that I am able to, because I'm actually in town. I think we're taking some of the Saison du Muqunee (MB0022) to share. If you're in town, stop by.

Cheers,

Dave

Arrrrh Me Matey!!

The Roger is back!! Yes Otto's Jolly Roger Imperial Stout, the 2008 version, is back in bottles (oddly enough, before it's being served at the brewpub), of which a hereby undisclosed number were procured by me today. The scuttlebutt from the brewery is that they changed the recipe slightly by adding a bit more smoked malt than the previous bottled batch. This is pretty evident right off the bat as I bury my nose in the snifter. The aroma is full of bitter chocolate and mildly roasted coffee, along with some subtle undertones of burnt wood and log cabin smokiness. JR offers up a smooth chocolate taste with muted coffee flavors and a hint of smoke, followed by a big dose of bitter that mingles with a subtle sweetness, almost caramel-esque quality throughout the after.

This guy's a pretty tasty RIS, though, in my humble homebrewing opinion, it's lacking in a few small areas as compared to other Impies. First, there's no dark fruit character. Either the smoky quality has completely canceled out any fruity esters, or there weren't any there to begin with by design. Either permutation is, of course, fine by me, but because of previous experience, I expect some semblance of vinous fruit accent. I also think that the body left a bit to be desired, again when comparing to other Impy Stouts. There was a full mouth feel, but it was missing that oily slickness.

Other than the two above grievances, which are completely minor and straight nit-pickery, I thoroughly enjoy JR every time it resurfaces. Plus, it's served cask-conditioned at the brewpub, which makes the experience all the more meaningful. If you can get your hands on some, do so, preferably by making the trek to State College, PA for a pint and sandwich, while watching the hometown Nittany (Nitally??) Lions roll THE Ohio State Buckeyes Saturday night.

We Are!! Penn State!!

Cheers,

Dave

Otto's Jolly Roger Stout Out Soon

While in State College yesterday, I stopped at Otto's for lunch. While there, it was mentioned that this year's Jolly Roger Imperial Stout will be available in bottles starting October 15th. It should be on cask at the brewpub prior to that, as soon as the Old Fugget Barley Wine kicks.

It's definitely worth a stop to try this Impy Stout, especially on cask. Rumor has it that there's a barrel-aged version floating around.

Cheers,

Dave

Blue Canoe Brewpub - Now Open

The taps are flowing once again at the previously defunct Four Sons Brewery, now brewing under the moniker of Blue Canoe Brewery. Matt Allyn is back at the helm of the Titusville, PA brewpub, and has put together a solid lineup with a promise of more to come. Having opened this past Tuesday, there are currently 6 beers on tap, 5 regulars and a seasonal.

I was in luck to happen through Titusville on the way home from a business trip, and to my surprise, BCB was open and ready for business. Needless to say, I was pumped. I had always enjoyed my unfortunately infrequent stops at Four Sons, loving the atmosphere as much as the food and the beer. Now with this new incarnation of a truly local brewpub, there's plenty to look forward to in northwestern PA.

As for this visit, I was excited to see my favorite Four Sons brew still on the menu under a new name, Heavy Kevy, a heavy Scottish Ale. Malty, Biscuity, with a mild choclate note and a crisp, clean finish. I only sample said libation, opting instead for the Class 5 APA, a solid pale ale with good bitterness and hop character, and a goblet, or chalice if you will, of the current seasonal Big Sky, which is a Saison-esque Belgian Pale Ale. It was estery as all get out, but did have a nice biscuity background. As for food, the name escapes me now, but the turkey sandwich on the pretzel roll was killer, along with the homemade chips.

To sum it up - GO THERE! It may be a hike from everywhere in PA, but it's worth the visit.

Cheers,

Dave

Stone Goes Ape . . .

Yup, it's a busy summer for Stone Brewing. Along with the aforementioned Stone Anniversary XII comes Stone Cali-Belgique and Belgian Style Tripel Ale. This is insane - The former being a Belgian Style IPA, with the later being a colabo-brew with fellow SoCal brewery Alesmith and Denmark's Mikkeller Brewing. Oh, and I forgot to mention this year's Vertical Epic, 08.08.08. I think it goes unsaid that I hope some of these make it to western PA.

Cheers,

Dave

A Little Bit of Scuttlebutt

No, not Scuzzlebutt. While attending Pints for Pets last Saturday, I had the chance to talk to Matt Allyn of Voodoo Brewery about his endeavors in Titusville reopening Four Sons (read my previous post, here). It looks like it should be up and running mid-summer-ish under the name Blue Canoe Brewing. The goal will be to have 5 regular taps and 5 rotating/seasonal offerings once they are running at 100%.

Keep an eye on the Voodoo page for more information. A link to the new brewpub website will be linked to there once it's up and running.

Cheers,

Dave

This Week, We Celebrate!!!

Everything else has an official celebratory week, so why shouldn't Craft Beer. Hell, even The US House of Representatives agrees. So, having started Monday, May 12, 2008, we are in the midst of American Craft Beer Week which continues through this Sunday. If you're down, you can check out a list of events in your area. I will be celebrating in Altoona, PA at Blair County Ballpark (in the rain nonetheless) while attending Pints for Pets. There are a number of us going from the home brew club and should prove to be a fun-(beer) filled day.

So why the sarcasm at the beginning of the post? Well, after reading the press release, i got a bit worked up about the wording (I know, semantics-schemantics) concerning what was actually being celebrated. And I quote:

American Craft Beer Week (May 12-18), which is celebrated annually, highlights the industry and culture of craft beer. This year, breweries and beer makers will also recognize their collective charitable contributions. For the first time ever, the Brewers Association announced U.S. craft breweries’ charitable contributions, and for 2007 they are estimated to be more than $20 million.

What? You're thinly veiling a week dedicated to imbibing malt beverages behind the fact that the industry donated $20 mil to causes in their local area? Let's call a spade a spade here. Don't celebrate "beer" by pushing the fact that the craft brewing community supports the local PTA. From HR 753:

Whereas American craft brewers are vested in the future, health, and welfare of their communities . . . as commited sponsors of a broad range of vital community institutions and philanthropic causes, including parent-teachers' associations, Junior ROTC, children's hospitals. . ..

That's all well and good, and I sincerely commend each and every brewery that gives back to its local community. If you are going to celebrate this generosity, though, don't call the week "American Craft BEER Week", (see, semantics) because what is supposed to be celebrated and what the participants are actually celebrating are two different things. I guess it comes down to this - if you are going to celebrate the community service of American Breweries, do so and flaunt it. If you are going to celebrate American Craft Beer, then don't hide the fact that you're planning on drinking behind the breweries' service projects.

I guess this hearkens back to days of the Temperance Movement. You know, the one that brought us Prohibition. I really do not understand this country's apologetic nature when it comes to alcohol. Or, more specifically, the need to make the fact that a person likes to drink beer somehow more chivalrous or meaningful. This, though, is another discussion for another day.

So . . . Kudos to the many American Brewers that care about their community and so graciously give their time and money to help improve the world around us. As for American Craft Beer Week, I'll be celebrating the brewers product, like the title implies.

Cheers,

Dave

More beer for all of us!!

It's back!! Or, well, it will be. June 1st, according to this article.

Yes, that's right. Titusville will again be a craft brew hot spot, and once again, Matt Allyn (of Voodoo fame) will be heading up the brewery.

Thanks,Lew, for the heads up.

Pumped, I am.

-Dave