I don't believe that I have mentioned...

home brewing? Oh yeah, I have mentioned that, at least once. Since leaving Knoxville my leisure time interest has shifted away from role playing games and toward home brewing. I really hadn't written much about role playing last year. Darn career, and company going bankrupt, getting in the way of my leisure time! I'm inching my way back into the rpgs a bit, it's hard not to enjoy writing silly stuff.

On the home brewing front, I'm brewing my way through Charlie Papazian's Complete Joy of Home Brewing. In fact, my batch from the first recipe in the book received a Best in Class, British Ales, award at the War of the Wort on May 3. I knew I had made a good beer but not an award winning beer? My score was 41 out of 50 points. That left plenty of room for a really great beer to win the class. Those other guys must have had some dirty bottles or something?

We don't have a reliable or convenient home brew supplier here in Muscle Shoals, Al. There's the Wine Maker Shack in Loretto, Tn. which is forty minuets away. They have all the basic supplies but their hours are 9 to 5, Mon. -- Fri, rather inconvenient hours for me. (Or for any other honest home brewer I should think.) Yesterday I visited a farm supply store in Florence, Longrider Supply. They have a mishmash of basic brewing equipment and ingredients, but no hops and no dried malt extract. As Sally says, how can you make beer without  hops?

I believe I have owned The Complete Joy of Home Brewing for twenty years. In all this time I would only describe myself as a casual home brewer. I would go for years without brewing a batch. Since I know the basics of home brewing, and I have certainly owned the book long enough, I thought I would brew my way through all the recipes in the book.

My next batch will be Wise Ass Red Bitter from page 179, the second recipe in the book. Since there is no local home brew supply store handy, I have used the resources of the entree-net to order the necessary ingredients. I plan for the brew day to be in the next seven days, possibly this weekend, I'll keep you all posted.

I should also mention; a fellow Muscle Shoals Masher, Randy Myers, who took 1st Place in the IPA category at War of the Wort. Congratulations to Randy and to all other brewers who participated in the competition.

Great Divide, Old Ruffian, Barleywine

On New Year's Eve I enjoyed a four year old bomber of Great Divide Old Ruffian Barleywine, it was heavenly. The carbonation was low with the thinnest layer of bubbles. The color was toasty golden brown, like a cup of hot tea.

The first sip revealed the malt body with no overwhelming hop flavors. The hop presence has mellowed over the years, now more traditional British Bitter or Pale Ale flavors are present. Up to this point I had only had fresh barleywines. There are none of the overpowering hops with which I am accustomed.

Surprisingly, the finish is very mellow. The mouthfeel is light but with a gritty, pale ale weight. This is the perfect beer for celebrating the New Year. I must buy more barleywines!

Grade: 5 of 5 possible pints. 

Happy Brew Year! Taproom 21 Copper Lager review.

The Taproom 21 brand is brewed by World Brews in Navato California and distributed in East Tennessee through Kroger grocery stores. A quick visit to Beer Advocate indicates that World Brews is a contract brewery. Regardless, Taproom 21 fills a gap in the grocery store beer shelves, between the $5.99 PBR and the $8.99 imports and craft brews. I believe it was, on sale for, $7.49 when I purchased a six pack of Copper Lager. I generally avoid these contract brews because they make me feel like I'm paying to drink someone's homebrew.  I thought I would give Taproom 21 a try and save $1.50 when I didn't want to drink PBR.

Copper Lager smells sweet and malty. The pour fills the glass with a lovely copper, golden brown beverage. The first sip is round and malty but a bit sweet. I actually detect a bit of butterscotch flavor. 

This is very light and drinkable. The hops are undetectable. 

Over all, I would purchase the Copper Lager again. There are really no outstanding qualities here, other than affordability. I'll have to grade this Copper Lager at 2.5 out of 5 possible pints.

I am curious about the other styles offered by Taproom 21, they offer a Pale Ale, Amber Ale and Wheat Beer. I will try these if I get the chance. 

Has anyone seen my Brooklyn Brewing pint glass, we seem to have lost it in the move?

Happy New Year to you all!



Revisiting Sierra Nevada Summerfest Lager

When I visited Asheville recently there were still a few cans of Sierra Nevada Summerfest on the shelves at Bruisn' Ales. I was told that Sierra Nevada had sent plenty of Summerfest to Asheville in preparation for the opening of their brewery there next year. I purchased four cans of Summerfest so I can prepare for the opening of the new brewery.  

The Summerfest pour produces a clear gold, moderately carbonated brew that looks like a white wine. Summerfest simply smells like beer and the first sip tastes of traditional, American style,  Pils but with much more hops in the aftertaste.      

I now realize that Summerfest is Sierra Nevada's tribute to traditional American beers.  The subtle hops aftertaste is probably  truer to the old style beers than their watered down offspring of today. It was great to find some Summerfest in Oct. This is one of my favorite beers which, for me, is the craft brew definition of  the traditional American Pils. 

 Despite all my praise of the American Pils style, Sierra Nevada is classified as a Lager and, I would think, easily fits into the California Common style. The mouthfeel resembles a heavier Lager style rather than a light Pils style beer.

Grade:  When I wrote about Summerfest two years ago I gave it a grade of 5 out of 5 pints, it wouldn't be fair to give it any other grade this time.

What is really going on at F.R.I.?

It has been a rather eventful year for us at Fanatical Recycling Inc. Back in August, our parent company filed Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. Now, the business has been sold and the buy-out transition is complete.

During the bankruptcy close-out there was a general attitude of apathy. Even before bankruptcy was declared there were a lot of problems with production. There were problems with shipping and with our info database. The problems with the database continue and I believe, unfortunately, that these problems will not be resolved until the closing of the 2013 business year.

All these factors were mentally taxing to the point of apathy, as I have mentioned, causing very little productivity in all things F.R.I. As the business year winds down I have been able to dedicate a bit more time to F.R.I. contributions. I intend for the pattern to remain in place for this fall and winter, and beyond.



With all this in consideration, along with other issues which I have not mentioned, the F.R.I. staff, myself, Sally and Iris, have decided to break from our current parent company and move the F.R.I. corporate headquarters to the friendly confines of North Alabama, specifically the Muscle Shoals area. As they say, "this should not affect the day to day operations of the corporation."

As a symbol of our dedication to the continued productivity of the Co, we introduce the latest product, currently in production. This will be a Honey Kolsch which was racked to secondary fermentation yesterday and will be bottled in two weeks.

Magic Hat Howl, Black Lager

So I've been writing about Magic Hat beers for nearly two years and still haven't written about #9, Vinyl, Wacko or their winter seasonal offering, Howl, Black Lager. Lemme get with the program!

With Howl and Ravell, Magic Hat is really leaning in the direction of dark beers and this is great too. Howl shares many of the flavor characteristics of Ravell but is a bit heavier on the tongue. My first impression of Howl leads me to believe that I'm drinking a Stout, this is no simple Black Lager.

The beer pours with plenty of foamy carbonated goodness. The first sip is a heavy coffee and dark chocolate flavor with just a bit of sweetness. Howl stays thick and malty through out and remains tart and stout as well. I'm tellin' ya, this one is a Stout! By comparison, Ravell has a  lighter mouth-feel and is more similar to other black lagers I have had.

Howl's not a beer that I'd hunt for in a six-pack but I'll  continue enjoying them when  Winterfest 12 Pack season returns. I'll give Howl a 3 out of 5 pints, while it was a great representative of it's style, perhaps I just drank it out of season? (Or, perhaps I should have enjoyed it with some chocolate chip cookies?)