Opps, I did it again!

My new best friend...sorry Dave, I invited Jim over to homebrew.

It has been since June since I last checked in on my blog....and it is never for a lack of things going on beer wise around here, but rather just the opposite.

I have just been too busy to brew, rebuild my keggerator, or help launch my brother's brewery....

With all the new brewery openings, winning gold medals for our Oktoberfest, the GABF, and the Pints for Prostates Rare Beer Tasting and all....it seems that I have fallen in with a rough crowd.

Dave and my buddy Jim drinking Sam Adams Utopia at Rare Beer V.

It is time to get back to brewing, trying to get it together for this weekend.  Dave and I have been fighting (via text) about what to brew.  I have been embarrassingly UN-accommodating.  I need to get over myself and just brew whatever....and brew it good.

I do have some other projects I need to get back to as well.  I need to build a collar for my keggerator so I can use all of my faucets.  And look into some new equipment as well.  This hobby is supposed to be fun, after all.

Gold.  I was sad they didn't put a plaque on the Maas this year, but it our first actual medal.

After the Great American Beer Festival, I was finally able to answer the age old question..."What's a day without beer?"  Answer:  The day after GABF and Denver Beer Week...I was/am a little burnt out on beer, whew!

Me playing firefighter at work.  I can't believe they paid me for this!

Pike's Peak Brewing Company Rebrands!

I think I first spoke about Pike's Peak when I served their beer at the first GABF I voluenteered at.  They are one of my favorite breweries, but I have had a hard time figuring out why.  The beer is good, they have simple food, it is located between my brother's and my house, more times than not when I am there, the brewer comes and says hi (he may or may not recognize me from previous encounters...just not know who I am)....

 

Ironically, the service there has been spotty....yet, I grant them a pass (for some reason) on this.  They do a nice business, and have a nice crowd, but who doesn't?  I like the rebranding, it means that they are serious taking the next step.  I would love some swag!

 

http://blogs.denverpost.com/beer/2013/06/11/pikes-peak-brewing-company/10628/#more-10628

I gutted my old keggorator and built this temp controller to power my new one.

Beer interrupted

My home made keggorator gave up the ghost yesterday. The chest freezer
I bought on Craigslist for $80 lasted 5 years.

Luckily, the temp controller and all the other hardware can be reused.

Sent from my iPhone

The Denver Post: Study of rare hops-loving blue butterfly gets boost from brewer

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Humans are not the only hop loving beings here on the Front Range.

Study of rare hops-loving blue butterfly gets boost from brewer - By Jeremy P. Meyer
The Denver Post

A quarter-sized butterfly with blue-and-purple wings and rarely seen along Colorado's Front Range is a mystery to researchers who only know that it loves hops even more than the state's legions of beer geeks. View Full Story

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Beer drone? Festival goers may see booze fall from the sky

I am uncertain if this is a brilliant use of technology, or a waste of decent brainpower.  Most likely the later.  How does a drone check your ID?

Beer drone? Festival goers may see booze fall from the sky
http://www.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57583599-1/beer-drone-festival-goers-may-see-booze-fall-from-the-sky/
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vessels and containers

The business of beer is also the business of packaging and delivery.  After Budweiser (AB In Bev) announced their latest gimmick can, and Sam Adams introduced their special craft improving can, and Dogfish Head in collaboration with other breweries developed the IPA glass, a friend of mine asked me about containers and glassware.

I seem to recall discussing this in a past post, but after a few years and a few hundred posts now, I can't seem to find where I had discussed it before, and therefore am in high danger of contradicting myself.  I am okay with this, but if you peruse my blog in reverse and find my comments on this topic in 2008 or 09 or10, I would like to revisit my thoughts.

As I recall, at the time, I felt that glassware is a matter of personal preference.  I am not sure what I felt my favorite glass was at the time, but I think I had a couple of German beer (pilsener and alt?)glasses that I got at an after GABF party at Rock Bottom that I liked.  Both being promotional glassware, broke in the dishwasher over time.  I also owned a couple of Sam Adam's lager glasses, and were thoroughly unimpressed...also they broke in the dishwasher.  My favorite "regular" glasses recently were ones I purchased from Great Divide and Wit's End...they were thin walled glasses, and suffered eventual death by dishwasher also.  The Wit's End glass died last week, exactly 1 week after I got to tell Scott Witsoe (owner, Wit's End) that I still had it (from when he opened) and it was my favorite....he also mentioned that he couldn't get that glass (or it was backordered).

The glass that I seem to use the most, and also hate the most, is the standard straight sided "shaker" or American Pint.  You know this glass.  Most bars love using this glass.  It holds exactly 16 ounces of liquid, stacks without breaking, costs less than a dollar a glass to replace, and takes a hell of a beating before it breaks.  It isn't even a beer glass, per se.  It is called a shaker because it is for mixed drinks.  It fits and seals into a mixer (see Tom Cruise in Cocktail...he's still a dick).  But the real reason bar owners love the glass for beer is best exemplified by a couple simple experiments.

Fill the shaker glass to within 1 inch of its top to simulate a decent craft beer with a 1 inch head on it.  Then pour it into a measuring cup.  That 1 inch of foam represents 3-4 ounces of beer because of the shape of the glass.  You buy a pint, but get 12 ounces served.  Over a 1/2 barrel keg (15.5 gallons), you get 41 extra "pints" short serving your patrons.  $41 pints at $5 a pint is over $200 per half barrel keg, or $160 at $4 per "pint".

This doesn't fly in Europe.  You will see European Glasses with the 375 ml line or 0.5 L line for proper beer measure.  This is by law.

Here in America, buyer beware. It isn't that I care so much, as I almost never need to drink more beer, but it is what you end up paying for a beer.

So, does glassware matter.  I used to say no....but I have not done any blind taste tests.  There was a premium glass maker that did a demonstration at one of our local brewing supply shops for $40, you got to sample 3 beers in their different glasses as intended for their styles (compared to shakers) and at the end got to keep their glasses.  I got permission to attend from my wife, but was too late to sign up, so for me, the jury is out.

I know my brother and I like to drink big beers out of fluted goblets, and I have an awesome English pint glass from Sierra Nevada (from the rare beer tasting in 2009), and some nice smaller glassware for tasting, and enjoying lesser amounts.

When it comes to cans.  I can't get on the bus.  I don't like drinking from a can, and when I buy a six pack, it is 90% or more from 12 ounce bottles....only if I need cans or if I can't get a beer that I want to drink in 12 ounce  bottles do I buy cans, bombers, or 375ml or 750ml sized beers.  I can't recall buying craft beer in a can....ever....but, I don't go to picnics, concerts, or elsewhere where a can can be consumed and a bottle can't.  I am more likely to fill my stainless steel growler with something (local or home brewed) before I buy a can.

This is even though cans are better vessels to store beer (think very small kegs) away from light, they are light weight (ecological to ship and carry), and can be 100% recycled.  I am a can bigot.  I do reuse my bottles....so minus the recycle argument....but still.

So, it is still a personal preference....but I do think it actually matters.  Glassware focuses the attributes of the beer, and makes it look or feel more appealing (like high heels on the fairer sex)....the shaker glass is horrible for everything except the seller, but if it makes you comfortable, it is the right glass for you.