And we're off...

The Monks' first two batches of 2012 are under way.  Brother Charles is going for a Scottish ale while I'm gunning for a chocolate oatmeal stout.  I love the way the Brewhaus smells while we are brewing!!  To fuel our efforts, I had a batch of chili cooked up that I brought over.  The sad thing is that there were only two of us.  There was a lot of chili to eat.  Thankfully Charles's family assisted.  Good eatin' and brewin' were going on. 

Looks like we will try to bottle next weekend.  Until then, I've got more beer to drink.  While brewing I had some Brewery Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence and Bell's Hopslam Ale!  Oh man!!  If you haven't have Chocolate Indulgence, it's Brewery Ommegang's Belgian stout with Belgian chocolate!!  The flavor in heavenly: rich, creamy, smooth and balanced.  Something that one can get addicted to (that's why I have another bottle in stock).  And then there was Hopslam!!  Wow!! All the label says is "Ale brewed with honey."  The incredible hops flavor mixed with the honey seems to mask the alcohol - 10% alcohol!!  I didn't know it was an Imperial Ale.  No wonder why Beer Advocate rated Hopslam as a WORLD CLASS beer. 

I won't say too much about the chili.  It's for a competition at work.  Muhahahaha.  Enough of this.  More later. 

Oh woe are we...

I know it's been a while since I've posted but I have to tell this.

Sit right back and I will tell you a tale of woe.  It's about thirsty people and a cask of po....et.  Poet.  I know... I should stick to my day job.

Yesterday I showed up at Hanger 9 a pinch before 5pm just in time for the New Holland Poet (their oatmeal stout) cask party.  Cheech was there with tap and rubber mallet in hand ready to whack away.  Patrick from Koerner Distributing was by the cask's side.  This is where the fun began but not as you would expect.  Cheech lined up the tap and gave a might whack or five.  The tap would not go in.  Cheech tried more.  Patrick gave it a try.  Even yours truly gave it a shot.  We must have tried to smack this thing close to 100 times and the tap would not go in.  Patrick finally called for a screwdriver and a towel.  He wrapped a towel around the tip of the screwdriver and tried to use that to puncture the bung.  To be safe we got a bucket to have below just in case the beer started flowing.  When we noticed the dark liquid staining the towel we tried the tap again.  The damn thing would still no go in.  At this point every smack of the tap is sending a spray of the aromatic liquid all over (I won't be able to wear that jacket at the office until I get it laundered).  Finally something flew off - it was the outer ring of the bung.  We got the tap in place and tried to get in it but the rest of the bung went into the cask.  There was no bung - nothing to form a seal around the tap.  The beer was free flowing at this point.  Cheech was calling for pitchers - LOTS of them.  They were pouring glasses from the pitchers as quickly as they could to keep the pitchers in supply.  Once the level of beer was low enough so nothing would spill out the breather hole, we put the cask on end and took a breather. 

I can guess what some readers would say: You guys don't know how to tap a keg.  This wasn't a keg - it was a cask.  It lays on its side.  There is a breather hole on top with a plug (and the plug did shoot out at one point during the whacking).  At one end there is a rubber seal that you have to hammer the tap in to get the beer out.  Cheech got his workout for the evening!!

The beer was worth the effort.  (More later...)

Ah brewing...

It was good to be back out at the brewhaus once again.  We currently have a slightly augmented robust porter going - boosted with extra chocolate malt - and a jazzed up honey weizen beer with cranberry honey from the Neighborhood Co-Op.  Both buckets are sitting comfortably in Charles's basement.  The airlock on the honey weizen was already showing life before I left.  Because of some busy scheduling going on, we may not get to bottle until late September.  Oh, if only we could brew beer for a living...

We lived by our principal of "It takes beer to make beer" by enjoying Samuel Adams Summer Ale to help close out the summer, Samuel Adams Octoberfest to welcome the soon to come cooler season, and one of my all season favorites O'hara Irish Stout. 

Now we also live by our principal of The Little Red Hen - "If you put in, you get out."  Three of us were at the brewing session.  Ten gallons split three ways is still a lot of beer.  I hope some more folks come to the bottling session. 

The most wonderful time of the year...

Ok... It's not exactly what you are thinking.  But, come on, this is a beer blog!!  Today is International Beer Day!!  From this article on Fox News:

Like most great holidays and celebrations, International Beer Day evolved naturally. The group of friends decided to celebrate the day on August 5 and managed to convince their local pub to celebrate it with them. They posted a small web site to thank the beer industry for bringing this nectar of the gods to all and got back to drinking.

But, of course, when the internet grabs a hold of something good, it goes global.  If you visit the International Beer Day site you can find places all over the globe (although I am a little surprised to not see any in Australia).  The closest listed party is over at the Da-Nite in Murphysboro.  None listed in Carbondale?!?!  Ok... Marking my calendar for next August and sending my beer contacts an E-mail.  This will not due.  The beer friendly town of Carbondale must have a party!!

Regardless, remember the misattributed quote, "Beer is proof that God exists and wants us to be happy."  Go have a good one.

Cheers!! 

     -Rev. Bobby Beerman
          Blessed be the brew!!

OH MY GOODNESS - A POST!!

What's this??  A post?? 

I know, I know...  I'm one of those people that allows life's priorities direct what is important and what is not.  For a while this blog was not.  I have a little more time so I'm revisiting this blog. 

So... where to start...  How about the stats. 

April stats had me at 14 beers for the month which boils down to a beer every 2.14 days.  It would have been lower except I went to the Schlafly special release party at Hanger 9 in Carbondale and had a few more than expected.  I had a couple and Ken Householder, the Schlafly representative, was kind to me and somehow another Hop Totty and another cask conditioned Pale Ale were in my possession.  That was some good beer.  I thought it was cool when Carbondale Mayor Joel Fritzler helped tap the cask.  A lot of people came out for the party.  Let me try to put into perspective on just how cool it was to have a Schlafly special release part here in Carbondale.  There were three parties – two of which were in the St. Louis area.  The only party outside of the St. Louis area was right here in Carbondale at Hanger 9.  It was a real treat.  Ken even commented that it was going to be a good party when he noticed that the Beer Philosopher, Shawn Connley, and yours truly were present and accounted for.

Next up in the drinking statistics was May which found me at 11 for the month – one every 2.8 days.  This month was HEAVY with new beer tastes.  Of the 11 beers 7 were new beers.  A couple of them, Dogfish Head Sah'tea and Left Hand TNT, were tea-based beers that harkened to my attempt with my Marsala Nirvana – Chocolate Chai Cream Stout.  The thing I found with the professionally produced beers is that they suffered the same problem I had – too much cloves.  Now I don’t feel too bad that it took me two attempts at making it to get it even close.

Most recently June found me at 10 beers – that’s one every 3 days.  I did keep up with my New Year’s resolution of trying a new beer every month with two from Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel.  At the end of the month I found myself in Florida where my old friend Yuengling Black and Tan was available.  It was good to get reacquainted with Yuengling.  What was really interesting is where I purchased the beer.  Right across from the hotel where I was staying was a grocery store with a liquor store right next door.  They were managed by the same company – Publix – and they had mostly the same stock although the liquor store had a little more in the way of liquor.  This brought to mind the debate in Carbondale about grocery stores being able to sell alcohol.  If alcohol sales in the grocery store were high enough to support them having it in stock and sales in the liquor store were high enough to support keeping them open then I don’t see where grocery stores being able to sell alcohol would hurt liquor stores.  I’ll comment on that in a different post.

So, at the half way mark, I’m at 71 beers so far.  71 beers over 181 days leaves me at one beer every 2.55 days.  So, what does that all mean.  Well… Good question.  Time to do some research and post on why I’m keeping track of it all.

I know... I know...

A friend and a person I consider a mentor talked to me about blogging.  He said something along the lines of "Sometimes you own the blog and sometimes it owns you."  Nothing owns me.  That is apparent because of my lack of posts here of late.  It doesn't mean I'm not still being beery.  I'm still pushing forward with my plans for a cancer/craft beer benefit.  I'm still tasting and questing for certain ones.  I've made a few good contacts for my sampling pleasures.  I still tract what I drink and when I drink it.  Will all the other irons in the fire (from the other hats that I wear in storm torn southern Illinois) things get a little busy.  With this being a long weekend, I will make an effort to catch up on some posting. 

Just know that we are planning a brewing session soon.  All will be made clear soon.

     Rev. Bobby Beerman

March Maltiness...

I know, it's not March Madness.  I was trying to be cute.

The numbers are in for March.  Drinking 19 beers for the month gives me a beer every 1.6 days.  In March I was on a porter kick.  I still drifted toward the darker beers (no big surprise) but I wasn't afraid to go lighter.  I have received some questions as to what it is I drink.  Ok... you asked for it (all links are to the Beer Advocate pages for the beers).  In order of consumption:

Belhaven Scottish Stout
Wells Bombardier
Young's Double Chocolate Stout
Hoppin Frog Silken Porter
Guinness Extra Stout
Smithwick's
Bell's Two Hearted Ale
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
O'Fallon Black Hemp
O'Fallon Smoke
 Murphy's Stout
CUF Monks' Robust Porter
CUF Monks' Dry Irish Stout
Fuller's London Porter
O'Fallon 5-day IPA
Schlafly's Coffee Stout
Steelhead Scotch Porter

Now I know what some of you are saying.  "That's not 19 beers."  True.  I did have some duplicates this month as I purchased a 4-pack of Murphy's Stout and shared a couple of the Sierra Nevada Pale Ales with Brother Charles during the bottling session at his house.  This month did herald the drinking of the latest two batches of beer brewed by this group (good stuff).

I got into a conversation with someone about beer and I started saying some of the good things about good beer (not that American lite fizzy moose urine).  They commented, "Of course someone who likes beer will say good things about beer."  I was tempted to say something making fun of that statement and finish it off with "Here's your sign."  Of course I'm going to say good things about good beer.  However, I'm going to also be the one that says there are bad things about beer (besides bad beer).  It is all about balance.  With some beers as well as with wine, one drink a day can be good for you.  It's when you cross over and keep drinking that there are negative effects - alcoholism, damage to your liver, etc.  I'm still where there are more days than I've had beers.  I don't ever plan on being at a 1:1 ratio or ever cross over where the beers have the advantage over the days.  I have and always will say good things about good beer but have a cautious undertone to everything.  I am enthusiastic and exuberant about beer but never to the point of harm.  Moderation and balance can lead to enjoyment of good things.

Blessed be the Brew!!