Too Long!

     Sorry fellow home brewers I know it's been FAR too long since I've posted on this blog but life happens and often times the things that we don't think about every day get pushed aside.  I'm not going to follow this up with some stupid promise to keep you constantly updated on my brewing status but I will say that I am in a place where this is extremely enjoyable and I will do my best to let you follow what I am doing!

     Since I last spoke with you I have brewed a couple batches of root beer (which turned out AMAZING!) and am in the process of building my kegarator.  When brewing root beer you need to keep in mind that the flavor/smell will permeate everything you use for said brewing purpose.  Your tubing, keg, and tap all need to be set aside specifically for root beer purpose.

  

     I am also considering a build for a green house that uses solar heated vacuum tubes to both provide water for plants and filter water for fish.  In general I would like to move my family toward a more "self-sufficient" type of living, not because I believe in global warming or my own "responsibility to the planet" or anything like that but because I think it will be beneficial for me and my family in the future.  I've also grown to appreciate artisanal goods, cheeses, beers, wines, distilled goods, canned goods and etc…  I would like to be able to produce these goods for my own consumption and for resale.

Newport trip!

So the time has finally come and me and my wonderful wife get to take a vacation for an entire 5 days!  It's been quite a while since we've been able to get away for any length of time.  Kelly has never been to the Oregon coast so that makes this trip really special.  We will be departing from Lakeview on the 18th not to return until the 22nd.

There also happens to be a little brewery by the name of Rogue… maybe you've heard of it! This trip is destined to include a tour of the rogue brewery, some tastings of their spectacular beers, and dinner at their brewery restaurant.  From looking at their website it appears they have a distillery as well, I'm pretty sure we are going to have to check that out too.

We also plan to go to the aquarium and spend some time walking the boardwalk and visiting some of the many shops Newport has to offer.  Perhaps a delicious glass of home brew at one of the light houses is in order.. we shall see.  I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures and keep everyone up to date.

- "sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer i drink I feel ashamed - then I look in the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams.  If I didn't drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered.  Then I say to myself, 'it is better that I drink this beer and let their dreams come true than to be selfish and worry about my liver.'"

-Deep Thought, Jack Handy

Top 10/2 List

Flavor profiles vary so much within a given type of beer, and if you sit down with 6 of your friends and all taste the same beer there's a very real chance you will all taste something different.  This is one of the things that I really appreciate about beer new recipes are coming out constantly and while one person may love super hoppy beers another may not.  With all the endless flavor possibilities it is important to keep an open mind and constantly try new beers.  With that in mind here is my top 5 favorite beers so far.

1. Lagunitas Brewing:  Lucky 13 alt beer - a fantastic beer with a sweet malt profile and some citrusy hop presence

2. Deschutes Brewery: Inversion IPA - a very balanced beer with a nice light crispy hop presence, not your typical IPA.

3. Ornkey brewery: Skull Splitter Scotch Ale - a slightly red ale with some dark fruit flavor.

4. Dogfish Head: Palo Santo Marron American Brown Ale - pitch black in color very sweet with some flavors I've never had in another beer.  One of the bigger beers I've tried, weighing in at 13.0% abv.

5. Stone Brewing: Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale American Strong Ale -  If you've ever had arrogant bastard then you know the over the top flavor of this line of brews.  This one is REALLY good, over the top hop and malt flavor with a nice mellow sweet characteristic that I assume comes from the oak barrel aging process.

Well that's my list so far… *cheers* to continuing the journey!

-"I feel sorry for people who don't drink.  They wake up in the morning and that's the best they're going to feel all day." - Frank Sinatra
My Hub

The First Snow of Winter!

Tonight the people in the little town of Lakeview Oregon experienced the first winter snow, while there wasn't a whole lot of accumulation it was enough for us to celebrate by giving mother nature the rebellion she deserves.  Here's a shot of me grillin' up some fantastic burgers outside in my snow gear while the snow falls down around me.








And what makes a BBQ besides the great food?  A Great beer with an amazing friend!  So to complete our metaphorical middle finger to the winter weather why not a nice frosty cold John John Ale from the famous Rogue Brewery!

Picture of me and my #1 beer buddy Erik enjoying a tasty beverage.

So to sum it all up we mocked mother nature, drank great beer, ate wonderful BBQ…. Great night, 'nuff said!

"Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer.  Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza." - Dave Barry

The Brewery Show

So I was looking at beer reviews on youtube and happened to come across The Brewery Show.  I liked it so much that I finished all of their shows in one sitting.  It's a really well done show where they travel to different micro breweries in the US, interview the brewers and staff and give you a good back story on how they all got their start... anyway, check it out!

The Brewery Show

KEG SYSTEM!!!!

As you can so obviously see from these pictures

#1 I finally have a keg system!  No racking into a bottling bucket, spilling beer everywhere, filling 50 bottles, and then waiting 2 weeks to enjoy my beer.

#2 I am not an organized brewer!  I have a lot of things going on and I have to be pretty intentional to work brewing into my schedule, but it is always extremely rewarding!

Something you can't tell from the picture is that this particular keg is full of delicious pumpkin ale!  I bought the keg system and the pumpkin ale kit from Northern Brewer and my brewing life is forever changed!

I think the next step is a kegerator and a counter-pressure filler.  Right now I can get away without having a kegerator because we are headed into winter and it is crazy cold out in the shop.  I need the counter-pressure filler because I really like to share my beer and so bottling it out of the keg needs to be a priority.

On a side note the selection at the local meat locker keeps getting better.  It's really hard to get a decent selection of craft beer in such a small town (which is part of the reason I brew my own) but the lakeview lockers continues to take my suggestions and order in some truly great beer.  Tonight I picked up some delicious Lucky 13 a fantastic brew from Lagunitas Brewing Co., some Double Bastard from Stone Brewing Co., and some Old Foghorn from Anchor Brewing which is quickly becoming a favorite barleywine style beer for me.



  So as you can see here this is my little keg setup, full of deliciousness and just waiting to be fully carbonated.

Before I took this picture I didn't realize that it took a while for beer to carbonate in a keg so this is the picture of the first glass of flat beer ever poured from this setup.  Although it was still pretty tasty I didn't realize you could have this much head on a beer and the beer itself still be flat...... but you can.... and I did.

This is just a little picture of where I blog and taste beer with my friends and family.  Our big shop out in the back yard, no AC in the summer, no heating in the Winter.... I wouldn't have it any other way!

Deschutes Brewery

             As promised I am finally going to post some pictures of mine and kelly's VIP tour of Deschutes Brewery in Bend Oregon.  First a little bit of back story.  I know that me and my lovely wife are not the only ones to ever receive a VIP tour to the Deschutes Brewery but for us to get hooked up in this way simply because Kelly used to work for the Meat Lockers is a really cool opportunity and was a lot of fun.  Not that one needs an excuse to visit Bend, but this made our little weekend out all the more special!

As you drive in to the Deschutes Brewery you are greeted by some beautifully large grain silos housing the delicious "fruit" of the beverage that is housed within these walls.  

Between here and the next picture we walk in to the main lobby and are greeted by the friendly staff at the Deschutes Brewery and offered some tastings of their amazing brews.  We gaze around at all the swag, all the normal brewery stuff, pint glasses, t-shirts, hoodies, and await our tour.

The tour begins and the first big stop is right here where all the magic happens.  We are told the story of the company that designs the boilers and mash tuns and such for Deschutes Brewery.  It's a pretty amazing story involving millions of dollars, shutting down highways for transport, and overseas commerce.  The company that designs these tanks is one of a kind and each of these tanks is one piece of seamless stainless steel, making them simple to clean because of the lack of space for contaminants to get stuck in. 

 Heres a little peek in to one of the tanks.  To be completely honest I'm not quite sure what this one is used for and while I may grasp the general procedure for brewing beer, I can't for the life of me remember what this tank is for. (beer geeks everywhere are laughing at me).

 Hops glorious glorious hops!!! Here is a picture of Deschutes Brewery's hop storage room.   We actually got to split open and taste one of the whole flower hops, it's bitter as one would expect and it smells like delicious beer!

 This is my very favorite picture of the tour!  I'm pretty sure our tour guide told us this is a secret room just so we'd feel special but if not then I'm about to spill the beans!  When you go down stairs in the brewery the tour guide shows you the room where all the employees gets a free pint of beer after their shift is over (one of the perks of working at Deschutes Brewery).  In this room you will see a door marked "restroom".  Well as the picture tells the story it really isn't a restroom, it's a staff tasting room.  In here there are many kegs hooked up with a few beers that the general public doesn't get to taste on tap (but we did)!  On the door is a dry erase board with the names of the brews that are on tap.   Some of the names are simply employee nick names for common brews, all of them are delicious!

Finally to end this blissful journey, a picture of my handsome face holding a sampler platter from the Deschutes Brew Pub.  You can get an amazing plethora of brews for a fair price at the brew pub along with some of the best food you could ask for.  If you venture here I recommend the garlic burger... this burger is seriously so good it will hurt you! Served on their fresh focaccia bread, a perfectly juicy garlicy flavored beef burger and beautifully displayed with their scrumptious french fries (or another side if you are silly enough to not like french fries).  The final word on the matter is, if you are in bend EAT HERE!

Thank you all for reading and for your interest in my blog, until next time enjoy your fine craft brews and hope to hear from you soon!