These numbers look good

Interesting post today from Lew Bryson on the recent state of macro/micro sales. Looks like folks are really pumped about no longer having to cut up lime wedges and trying to do that trick with your thumb over the opening of the bottle where you flip it over... you know, that one that your cousin never figured out how to do and he still sprays beer all over everyone at the family barbecue every summer. Anyway, you knew that all of the hand wringing over Bud no longer being "American" would blow over in no time.

Gotta love the continued success of the craft brew segment. Just keeps growing and growing. Keep it up, people of good taste.

How much beer would a beer gun bottle...

The beer gun got a good workout over the last couple of days. The bottles you see before you were all filled - pale ale, dunkel, and cream soda beer for competitions, and the entire batch of dubbel, which was primed in the keg. I thought it would ever end. Big time props to R for being capper extraordinaire.

I finally took a taste of the dubbel tonight, and if I've learned one thing, it's that I can't taste my own beer objectively. It's a strong belgian beer, so it's going to have some phenols. But would I describe it as medicinal and unpleasant if I tasted it in a competition? Or would I call it spicy, and therefore well brewed? I guess I'll have to pass some off on to some unsuspecting victims in the next few weeks. If anyone wants a bottle of homebrewed dubbel, please send a SASE to...

Saturday in Allentown for the LVHB competition

R was kind enough to accompany me to Allentown yesterday for the Lehigh Valley Homebrewers' Malt Madness competition held at the Allentown Brew Works. We braved Hanna and drove out to eastern PA at the crack of dawn. (Personally, I thought the whole Hanna thing was way over blow. Sure, it was a rainy day and all, but where were the torrential downpours? The sustained winds?)

First of all, magnificent job by the folks in the LVHB for running a great competition. Everything was on time and moved quickly. We were hooked up with breakfast and lunch, which is always appreciated. And second, it's really great to see a place like the Brew Works being so supportive of the homebrewers. They were really very accomodating, so I tip my hat to them too.

I judged strong Belgians in the morning and Saisons in the afternoon. (I really have to start brewing these styles so that I don't wind up judging them in EVERY competition.) Though none of the entries were really mind blowing, I was very impressed at the lack of stinkers. Of the 26 or so beers that I judged, there were maybe only one or two that were poor. So great job by all of the homebrewers out there whose beer I was lucky enough to sample.

Your favorite author had a nice showing at the competition with a first and a second for an American Pale Ale and ESB respectively. The competition had some generous sponsorship, so I snagged a gift certificate to Porter's Pub in Easton and treated R to dinner immediately following our stay at the Brew Works. If you've never been to Porter's Pub, go. Go now. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200, go directly to Porter's Pub. The beer selection is great and the food is even better. And the gift certificate covered an app, a sandwich, an entree, three beers, and a soda. The turkey dinner sandwich is truly a thing of beauty. What a great spot.

Best pizza in New Jersey

I'm far from an aficionado, but for my money, Grimaldi's in Hoboken is the best pizza in Jersey. Went there with R on Friday night. They use fresh mozz, as you can see in the picture. The sauce is sweet, tangy, and not overly spiced. And the crust - well, the crust is the best there is. Crunchy and doughy at the same time, and with just the right amount of charring from the coal oven.

And you can't beat it with a Climax IPA (aka Grimaldi's IPA). This might be the best pizza and beer pairing ever. Climax IPA is a perfectly balanced IPA with a great Centennial hop aroma and flavor. It's rich and malty with just the right amount of hop bitterness. Think an Irish red ale with a big citrusy Pacific Northwest hop presence. Great stuff.

Labor Day brew

Took the opportunity to brew yesterday, what with the holiday and all. Here's the recipe:

9.5 lbs Briess Organic two-row
1 lb Briess Victory
.5 lb Briess Special Roast
.25 lb Simpsons Medium Crystal
.25 lb Simpsons Dark Crystal

1 oz Ahtanum pellets 5.5%AA boiled 90 min.
.25 oz Centennial whole hops 9.7%AA boiled 20 min.
.25 oz Northern Brewer whole hops 8.5%AA boiled 15 min.
.25 oz Centennial whole hops 9.7%AA boiled 10 min.
.25 oz Northern Brewer whole hops 8.5%AA boiled 5 min.
.25 oz Centennial whole hops 9.7%AA at flameout

Mash at 150°F for about an hour. Recirculate until clear, sparge to collect 7.25 gallons wort. Boil 90 minutes down to 6 gallons. Add whirlfloc tab with 15 minutes remaining in boil, add 1/2 tsp. rehydrated yeast nutrient with 10 minutes remaining in boil. Cooled, pitched White Labs California Ale Yeast slurry, gave about 1.5 minutes O2. Ferment at 64°F.

This was the first time I ever used Briess Organic two-row and I noticed that my extract efficiency was much lower than usual. I'm usually in at around 75-80% or so. This brew was around 70%. We'll see if the trend continues with future brews (I've got a 55lb sack of the stuff).

I made the yeast starter with my new 4000ml Erlenmeyer flask. Isn't that exciting?!?!! It was a bit of a challenge to decant the wort off of the yeast, but I think I'll get the hang of it with time. This week we'll be bottling a ton of beers and prepping for the Giants home opener. You can't throw an important tailgate together in one day, you know.

Preseason football = lousy tailgating

Headed over to the stadium tonight for the Giants preseason finale vs. the Pats. Nothing like a 7PM game on a Thursday night to get you psyched for football! I can't wait to rush out from work, fight the traffic, get home nice and late on a school night, etc...

What really bums me out the most though is the lame tailgating. When you have to run out of the office just to pray that you make it into the parking lot an hour and a half before kickoff, it doesn't really give you the opportunity to get anything going. Just grab some sandwiches and beer, and fly as fast as you can. And that's not really what my crew is about. We tailgate properly, so nights like these are kind of an embarrassment. We'll have to make up for it on opening day.

Check out this article on beer floats. Yes, beer and ice cream. My world renowned oatmeal stout is due to be brewed shortly and I will be certain to try it with a few scoops of vanilla ice cream.