I wouldn’t say that I’m sick of brewing beer, per se, but the tasks that surround beer brewing are starting to get a little old.  For example, bottling.  And cleaning.  And cleaning.  And organizing.  I have a lot of bottles, and with my new all-grain system, a lot more equipment, and every time I want [...]

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So, the short story is that I didn’t get the Best Brews Intern position.  The long story is that I got screwed out of…something.  Here’s what I wrote, cross-posted from my main blog:
I’ve been writing about how I was one of the finalists for the Best Brews Summer Intern position and how I was going [...]

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My apologies for the sporadic updates.  It’s difficult for me to write about every beer I have, mostly since I have so many of them.  Nothing tremendously mind-blowing, alas.  I did come across a beer I had to pour out because I couldn’t drink it, but I swear, I gave it my best try.  Midnight [...]

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My thoughts on batch #1 were pretty clear: don’t shake the starter.  I’m still cleaning yeast and malt off surfaces in the kitchen, and the ants that are constantly scouring my kitchen for tidbits sure liked a couple of stray splatters I missed.  I also realized that I had taken my OG reading incorrectly, so [...]

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I did my first batch of the year today, and I think it came out really well.  I used 3.5 lbs. of extra light bulk malt extract, 3.5 lbs. of wheat bulk malt extract, and 3.3 lbs. of Breiss Sparkling Amber malt extract, along with Mt. Hood, Cascade, Fuggles, and Willamette hops.  Topping all that [...]

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This past weekend my girlfriend and I took a trip up to Seattle, partially for touristy stuff, partially because I wanted to go to a couple of brewpubs and visit McMenamins numbers 45, 46, and 47, respectively.  All in all, it was a good trip.
We traveled by train, so it was a nice relaxing few [...]

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I had a bottle of Beer Valley Brewing’s “Highway to Ale” barleywine-style ale last night.  I wasn’t familiar with Beer Valley, but hey, 10.5% ABV always get my attention.  Plus, Highway to Ale?  Sounds like a song a cockney AC/DC would sing.  But I was impressed.  Very impressed.  It actually didn’t taste anything like a [...]

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You know what?  Beer reviews shouldn’t be at the tail end of a three 22 oz. bottle evening.
Very nice, very bitter, it’s gets a thumbs-up.  I’d definitely buy it again.
Oog.

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Thick.  Dark.  9.7% alcohol.  What, pray tell, is an “old ale”?
It’s very tasty, that’s what it is.  I say again, I’m really not much for describing nuances of beer and I’m more for just saying yay or nay.  This gets a yay.  It reminds me of…something.  It’s very smooth, and doesn’t have the bite that [...]

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Each time I’ve gone into Belmont Station lately, I’ve seen this beer and been tempted by it.  India Pale Ales are my weakness; Imperial IPAs are my kryptonite.  Each trip, I see it, I pick it up…I see the $10.99 price tag…I put it back.
Tonight’s different, though.  I feel like splurging tonight.  So I bit [...]

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