What's the Reverned Drinking?

Last night I had the pleasure of drinking a bomber of Epic Brewing's Brainless on Peaches.  The label says it is a part of their Exponential Series.  Wha?  From their website:

Epic’s special line of ales and lagers for the accomplished consumer or the ever-curious.  This is where the Epic journey never ends…

 Hmm... Ok.  More specifically about the beer from the site:

We took our double gold medal winning Brainless® Belgian, added organic peach puree and aged it in French Chardonnay casks from Sawtooth Winery. Drink from a Pinot glass, serve on the warm side of cold, it develops nicely as it warms displaying more fruit and wine.

 They even have notes broken down based on the batch.  The batch that this one came from was #8.  You can read their notes here.

 With the weather hinting (like a sledgehammer) of being warmer, sometimes my tastes go a little lighter in color and I like exploring the fruit adjuncts.  The pour was angry.  Even as gentle as I could, I got 1/3 beer, 2/3 head. But what beer I got was a nice golden color with lots of carbonation.  The taste was good.  The peaches didn't overwhelm the flavor.  And at 10.5% ABV there wasn't an alcohol burn.  Bombers would be better to share with friends than try to tackle on your own.  Nothing against it but for a session beer, this one is good spread around.

Now, I know some of you in the southern Illinois area might be saying, "We can't get that around here. Where'd you get it?"  Good question.  My day job sent me out east to Richmond, VA.  Since I was driving (12 hours one way, UGH!) I made sure to do a little shopping.  Not far from where I was working, there is a nice store called Corks & Kegs.  Imagine a store the size of some of the bigger liquor stores in Carbondale but it dedicated to beer and wine.  The bigger bottles of beer are laid out in racks like you see most wine bottles.  They had a good selection and, as expected, stuff that I could not get around my beloved southern Illinois.  I made sure to make a few select purchases and will have the pleasure of trying them.  Although, with as many big bottles as I purchased, I'm more tempted to have a tasting at my house.  It's a little awkward to tell my wife that I'm having only one beer and then down a bomber of a high alcohol beer.  Regardless, if you find yourself in the Richmond, VA area, make sure to stop by and check out Corks & Kegs. 

Anyway, that's it for now.  I've got chores to do around the homestead.  Maybe I'll have one to help the work go quicker.  Until later, have a good one.

Brewing?

Well, Brother Charles and I were thinking about brewing this weekend (in light of some changes coming up) but it dawned on us that this Sunday is Mother's Day.  Duh...  We AREN'T brewing on Mother's Day.  But something will be coming up soon (like maybe NEXT weekend) because we have a need to brew!!

Tales From the Hopvine

The ol' hopvine has interesting news.  I mean... Um, what?  Oh, the hopvine?  It's the beer version of the grapevine.  You mean what I know...

Anyway, first of all, Kindling is working on expanding in terms of a brewery.  A certain old friend of mine is going full time there and they are trying to work it up where they will have a brewery.  This isn't a new idea.  Larry was talking about a brewery years ago when I worked there.  But with my old friend there, I'm sure they will gain momentum with it.  They are also planning on cutting back the amount of the big name beers and making more room for craft stuff.  They were leaders of craft beer back in the day but now everyone is carrying it.  They want to be able to improve on the craft beer scene instead of fighting the others.  My prayers go out to them.

Next on the list is the possibility of a major midwest brewery opening up something here in Carbondale.  Schlafly is looking to open up a new brewery.  They are doing a lot of "contract brewing" where they lease space from other breweries to help keep up with production.  They are looking at three possible locations to open up a brewery to help bring brewing back in-house.  The attractive thing about southern Illinois is the possibility of also acquiring farm land so they can grow some necessary ingredients - helping reduce costs even further.  Heck, if they need an IT guy, I'm the man!!  While I won't work for beer - I do have bills to pay - I will accept beer as a perk.

That's it from the hopvine for now.  Until later, have a good one.  I just had some Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA.  That will count!!

Blessed be the Brew!!

UPDATE: With some other conversations I've had, this MIGHT be going to the Champaign, IL area.  I say MIGHT because things are always "in discussion" so it MIGHT change.  I'll keep you updated.  

A Day in Forest Park

For those who read this blog, you'll have to wait until later for my impressions on the 17th annual St. Louis Microfest.  The whole thing - trip up, walk through the park, drink, walk back through the zoo, dinner, and trip back - took about 12 hours.  I'm tired.  Aaaand a little sunburn.  Regardless, I'll be updating soon with notes about the incredible time at Microfest.  Until then, have a good one.

MICROFEST!!!

If you are sitting there saying "Wha?" I won't feel bad.  This fest was brought to my attention by a good friend and fellow brewer Marika Josephson.  I've been to the St. Louis Microfest site and thought that it would be cool.  Today, my wife had an article from STLToday and there, amongst a list of some big name breweries, I see Scratch Brewing Company - a brewery started in part by the a fore mentioned Marika.  This is awesome!!  I think this will be their first big pouring.  And they will be in good company.  If you get a chance, shoot up to St. Louis on Saturday and congratulate them.  But make sure to celebrate responsibly.  A total of 110 breweries will be there.  That's a lot of beer!!