Events: AleFest!

About a month until AleFest! This annual event is a great place to try LOTS of different beers. $25 gets you 20 tasting tickets (which you probably won't get through because towards the end of the day, folks kinda stop taking tickets). The breweries all donate their beers, so all contributions go to charity. Last year, we got to try Stone's Oak-Aged Arrogant Bastard. Amazing! Can't wait for this year.

Event: Beer Appreciation Picnic

Getting excited about next week--the first annual beer appreciation picnic. About 30 or 40 fellow beer aficionados will be tapping a quarter barrel of something delicious. Right now, it's looking like Dogfish Head 60 min IPA, but folks are still voting. For those of you not familiar with DFH, shame on you! One of my favorite breweries. In fact, we have an ultra rare bottle of Dogfish Head Liquor de Malt. We popped open a bottle on the 4th of July and it was intriguing. I'm not normally a fan of malt liquor, but this stuff was really pretty good. In fact, I'd consider drinking it on a more regular basis, if it weren't a) so hard to find and b) so dang strong. Apparently, I'm not the only one who liked it. Here's what the folks at Beer Advocate have to say about it.

Technorati Tags: beer, brewing, craft beer, Beer Appreciation, picnic, Dogfish Head, 60 Minute IPA, Liquor De Malt, Beer Advocate

News: Cooking with Beer

Was directed to a very informative article in the Chicago Tribune today about cooking with beer. The article includes a chart that suggests recipes that might go well with each beer style. There is also an Ale-Brined Chicken Wings recipe at the end. (Note that you may have to register to read the article.)

And speaking of recipes, the article also references two websites that might be worth checking out: beercook.com and grillingwithbeer.com. Haven't tried either, but plan to add them to my repertoire.

Technorati Tags: beer, brewing, craft beer, cooking, ale, Chicago Tribune, beercook.com, grillingwithbeer.com

Review: South of the Border Beer Hunter

Recently spent a week in Mexico (Sayulita, just north of Puerto Vallarta). Amazing town--small and not terribly touristy. Great weather, but I'm burned out on the Mexican beer. Not surprisingly, not a lot of craft beer! There were 3 beers that we drank a lot of, all brewed by Grupo Modelo (and it's interesting to note that the links to the beers below seem to focus more on sales of the beer than on the taste or other characteristics).
• Pacifico--Probably the better of the three. Typical American Macro Lager. Pale, not much flavor, some malt, zero hops. More flavor than some typical rice/barley lagers. Not great, but good on a hot day.
• Corona--Yep, even at the source, it's still skunky. Bleah. What do they insist on those clear bottles? When not skunky, it's okay with a lime and still better than most American Macros, but just barely.
• Modelo Especial--I was excited to try this one because I really like Negra Modelo and the Especial isn't readily available in the States (at least not in the Midwest). Boy, was I disappointed. This stuff sucks. Think Bud Light. I should have know when I realized that it only came in cans.

There were, however, three other beers that I did try (two of which I enjoyed). The first was Sol. Pretty much the same as above. Somewhere between Corona and Pacifico. The second, Negra Modelo, is always good. The final beer, which I stumbled upon, and which, to the best of my knowledge, isn't available locally, was Noche Buena. It's a dark Christmas beer and was excellent (at least, given the competition). I picked up a bottle every day we went into town. If only every Mexican beer had been this good.

One beer I didn't have a lot of was Bohemia, the Mexican Vienna lager. It's great stuff, but it was a little hard to find, and when I did find it, it was a choice between Bohemia and Noche Buena.

All things considered, I was disappointed, but not surprised, by the Mexican beers I sampled. In the end, I drank a lot of tequila instead.

Technorati Tags: beer, brewing, craft beer, Mexico, Noche Buena, Corona, Pacifico, Modelo Especial, Mexican beers, Sayulita, Grupo Modelo, Negra Modelo, Sol, Bohemia, Vienna lager

Notes: Fashioning My Brewery

Got a great book for Christmas that will help in the creation of my all-grain home brewery. The book is Brew Ware, by Storey Publishers. I've linked to the Amazon site for the book, too, because Amazon has excerpts.

Interesting things I've read thus far:
• Instructions for creating a tiered brewing structure.

• Instructions for making a carboy drying rack.

• Instructions for making a wooden crate for holding beer bottles.

• I've been having trouble keeping my carboys at a constant temp. The house is too warm, but the basement is too cold. The book suggests immersing the carboy in a tub of water and using an aquarium thermometer to steady the temp.

I'll keep you posted on any projects I make.

Technorati Tags: brewing, brewing, craft beer, homebrewing, Brew Ware, Storey Publishers

News: Craft Brew in a Can

More press for the folks at Oskar Blues Restaurant and Brewery, who put their Dale's Pale Ale in a can.

Still waiting to try it. As I mentioned in an earlier post, it should be headed to Ohio by March.

Technorati Tags: beer, brewing, craft beer, Oskar Blues, Dale's Pale Ale, canned beer

Update: Poor Richard's Ale

According to the Brewers Association, Rock Bottom Brewing in Cincinnati has committed to brewing Poor Richard's Ale. They'll be tapping on January 17, 2006. Kudos to Head Brewer Guy Bartmess for stepping up!

Technorati Tags: beer, brewing, craft beer, Brewers Association, Rock Bottom Brewing, Cincinnati, Poor Richard's Ale, Guy Bartmess