Brewing again

Made my first IPA last weekend. Tried some new stuff out and learned a few things.


I decided it was time to brew again. I wanted to try out brewing a modified Everyday IPA from Brooklyn Brew Shop.
The mash in and out went well but I changed a few things out when it came to sparging. I used a new, shallower top strainer lined with cheese cloth. This seemed to prevent the overflow problem I was having with my strainer. I still would like to build a new mash/sparge setup but I haven’t had the time lately.

During the boil I added my pelleted hops as directed by the recipe in 15 minute increments. The one change-up I made was I added honey at the start of the boil on a whim. I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen with that.

I still need to make a chiller too; for the time being I still use an ice bath to cool my hot wort.

I found my funnel and screen became clogged with hops when I poured the wort into the carboy. I had to stop and clear it twice to get the wort flowing again.

The other thing I noticed is that when I changed out my initial blow-off tube I had a hard crust of hops in the tube and around the neck of the carboy. The crust was blocking everything up. Usually I would leave it alone until I went to bottle but in this case it was so bad, about the thickness of a fist, that I had to clear it.

It’s a very cloudy, thick looking monstrosity at this point.

I’ll be bottling this Sunday…here’s hoping it turns out.

A trip to Seattle

I love Seattle! It’s such a great city with a great vibe of life and culture. There is always something happening there no matter what the weather. I just got back from a great trip there where I got to hang out with old friends and drink some great new beer.

My first stop was The Pine Box. This craft beer and spirit bar is located in what used to be a funeral home chapel. This was where Bruce Lee’s funeral was held in 1973. The bar is beautiful and the staff was very friendly. Their beer selection is constantly rotating with about 25-30 taps of various craft brews. I ate at the Baguette Box before the Pine Box opened so I did not try their food.

Our next stop was my must visit spot every time I go to Seattle. Brouwer’s Cafe is an awesome Belgian Bar in Fremont. Their 64 beer draft list and 300+ bottle list paired with their great food makes this my favorite spot. I LOVE their cheese plate. A nice Avec Les Bons Voeux paired with the cheese plate made for a great snack.

One the way to Port Angeles we stopped for lunch in Port Gamble, WA. This quaint little town has a great general store and cafe that features a nice list of local craft brews to pair with their fresh, local organic menu. This is a must stop at place for a good lunch.

 I went to Port Townsend to visit a brewery that I found out was no longer there. Instead we went to the Owl Sprit Cafe. This tiny cafe in Port Townsend, WA, was recommended to us by the local wine shop. The place is small but the food was big and tasty. Small beer list that featured Hale’s Kolsche and a red, white or blush wine by the glass menu. The staff was very nice and the food was well worth the wait.

The final pub spot was another of my old stomping ground places. When I left Seattle in 2010 I held my going away party at the Collins Pub. Another place for great food and great beers in downtown Seattle. This bar is located next to the Smith Tower on 2nd street. I used to go here a lot before catching the bus home from work. Their beer list is ever changing and they have some outdoor seating for the summer months.

Two other highlights from this trip:

Churchkey beer: This pilsner comes in a old flat-top steel can. Each six pack comes with an opener and instructions for anyone who needs help figuring out how to get to their beverage. Nice golden beer with a great, refreshing flavor. Right now this beer is only available in the Washington and Oregon area.

Strip, Strip Hooray: I lucked into traveling to Seattle at the same time that Dita Von Teese was holding her new burlesque review. This was my first burlesque show and I have to say  it was an amazing experience. We stood right at the stage and had a great view of the entire show. The MC, Murray Hill was hilarious. The performers were beautiful, and energy was vibrant. If you have the opportunity to see this show, do not pass it up.

Back to Long Beach

I’m back in Long Beach again…the good news is there was no glass in my glass at the Yard House and the Congregation Ale House is as good as ever.

I checked out the Observation Bar on the Queen Mary. Very cool art deco but the beer list is unimpressive.

Also had a chance to check out the Beachwood BBQ and Brewery. Great bbq with your choice of sauces. The prices are good considering the portion sizes. I had their Foam Top Cream Ale, the Tart Simpson and Knucklehead Red. Good brews that went with their food.

Not much else to report.

Philadelphia Beer Scene or how I found some cool beer places

Oh Philadelphia how I love your beer scene…you have now become my one of my favorite beer places.

I had to head up to Philly for training and an exercise with one of my co-workers. As I do for any trip I planned ahead and scoped out what others have recommended.

As with any trip where I’ll be somewhere for more than a few days I had to stock up. Our first stop was the Craft Beer Outlet. I love places I can get single bottles from and the Craft Beer Outlet did not disappoint. Add to that the fact that you can consume on premises and you have a recipe for success. After having a a Fegley’s Always Sunny Pale Ale and a Great Lakes Brewing Dopplerock we headed to the hotel.

Dinner for the evening was at Coaches Sports Bar. The food was ok but the bartender and the hockey game made up for it. A few Yard’s Brewing Philadelphia Pale Ales didn’t hurt either.

The next day I hit the Market Street area in Philly and the Triumph Brewery. Let me say I had no plans to stop in but I was cold and decided I needed to warm up. The food here was amazing, so good that I came back a second night with friends. I recommend starting with the pretzels.

The beer was great too. Any place that puts a nine beer sampler in front of me is starting off on the right foot. The lineup:

Feral Wheat
Amber Ale
Cream Ale - really tastes like a cream soda
Biz Journ Ale - I was disappointed that they had just changed out their kegs to this from a Rauch Bier but it was still good.
Bengal Gold IPA
Schwarzbier
Kellerbier
Belgian Something Else
Jewish Rye (cask) - tastes great if you like rye bread…I mean it really tastes like rye bread.

One stop at the Eulogy Belgian Tavern for dinner and a Eulogy Busty Blonde Ale and I headed home for the evening. Eulogy was good, loved the sausage plate I got and the Busty Blonde was a good Belgian.

Day three saw us checking out one of the Dinners, Drive-Ins and Dives recommended restaurants The Memphis Taproom. With a great food menu and a beer menu to match this place is a must stop if you are ever in Philly. You have my heart if you make good pierogies and polish sausage…thank you. And I’m sorry that the people I was with were a little rowdy.

We also made a brief stop at Kraftwork for one beer and I had a nice Duchess de Bourgogne to round out the evening.

Two last places to mention. We had one at the National Mechanics Bar and Restaurant. Great looking bar and cool environment make this place a staple. My only regret is that I didn’t go to the Irish Pol Bar. This Irish/Polish Bar had a great draft list and looked really cool.

Catching up & more travel: Silver Springs, Md., Beer Scene

It’s been a while but I’ve been on the road. I know, no excuse but I’m sorry. Coming soon will be a read on some great bars and places in Philadelphia, a revisit to Long Beach, Calif., and the Seattle/Port Angeles, Wash., area. But first I need to catch up.

I drove up to Silver Springs for a week-long class on April 8. Being Easter and the fact that it was Maryland where you can’t get a beer in a grocery store I was at a loss. I needed to stock the fridge in the hotel room for the week and didn’t have any options. I decided to wander and see if I could find a store that was open.

Thank the gods for Adega Wine Cellars & Cafe. Not only were they open on Easter Sunday but they had some great beer. After grabbing an Oliver Breweries 19 Anniversary Stout (which was awesome by the way) to sip on and buying some Port City Brewing Essential Pale Ale, a Leffe Blonde and few others that I have not yet consumed, I headed off to get dinner.

My choice for the evening was the Fire Station 1 Restaurant and Brewing Co. The food here is ok, typical bar food and the beer was the same as I remember from the first time I was there. I had:

Daily Crisis IPA
Avenue Golden Ale
Something Red
Stoney’s Stout

I was not a huge fan of their beers…sorry.

A brief stop at McGinty’s Public House for a Port City Porter and I was back to my hotel.
The week didn’t go well since my class was canceled as I walked in the door so I headed home.

A quick shout-out and honorable mention goes out to Whole Foods in Alexandria, Va., for having a great beer selection and a growler filling station…very cool.

Fort Dix, N.J., beer scene: Iron Hill Brewing and J.B. Brewing

Back from another stint on the road and a few more notches on the belt when it comes to new beers. This time I was up near Fort Dix, N.J., and had an opportunity to try two breweries with very different results.

First stop was Iron Hill Brewing in Maple Shade, N.J. The brewery & restaurant was packed on our Saturday evening visit. It probably didn’t help that the Final Four were playing. We hung out at the bar and were able to find a table after a short wait. The wait staff was great, answering questions and providing samples when we couldn’t make up our minds on a particular beer.

The food was great. The fish and chips and french onion soup I had were very tasty. The menu choices were huge and it took a while to figure out just what we wanted to eat.

The beer was just as good…

We had:

Chris Isn’t Here - A brown ale that had a nice hoppy tone.


Caprice - A Belgian ale meets American hops. Nice clean tasting. Fruity tones.

The Situation - Very hoppy pale ale.

Luca Brasi - This one was my favorite. A stout brewed with 43-pounds of ground and whole Sumatran coffee…smooth. Great balance of the stout and coffee flavor. I’m going to try and do this one as a small batch homebrew.

Decaf - Luca Brasi without the coffee. This was a cask ale that was still good but not as good as the brew with the coffee.

Rising Sun IPA - My partner in crime’s favorite. An IPA brewed with Japanese hops. I’m not an IPA guy but this one was good. Nice balance and good citrus flavor.

Vienna Red Lager -One of the regular beers at Iron Hill. It was my last beer of the evening and brought things to a nice close. Slightly sweet and malty.

Overall Iron Hill was a great experience and I look forward to my next visit. My travel companion on this trip liked it the Rising Sun so much he bought a growler.

Sunday evening we were staying on Joint Base McGuire-Fort Dix-Lakehurst and met some friends at the sports club on base. The base features a brewery that is run by service members and is available for command functions. Their beers are featured at the pub on base.

I had two of the J.B. Brewing brews. The Top Ale and the Angry Ale. Honestly they were both forgettable. They both had a dirty tap line taste and both tasted roughly the same.

The rest of the trip featured Magic Hat #9 and Tap Room 21 lager. Magic Hat is always a favorite of mine and, though I like sweeter, malty beers, I found the Tap Room 21 lager to be way too malty.

That’s it for this trip…stay tuned and remember: If you don’t like what you’re drinking, brew your own.

Abilene, Texas beer scene

I recently returned from a trip to Abilene, Texas, where my little brother lives and recently got married. I know Texas does have some good breweries. Personally I’m a fan of Real Ale Brewing out of Blanco, Texas and Saint Arnold Brewing Company out of Houston. I’ll touch base with both of them a little later.

Our first visit was to the Cypress Street Station Restaurant and the Abilene Brewing Company. The restaurant is built into a store front in downtown Abilene. The service was a little slow but part of that was the fact that we had a party of 10 for the wedding.

We all thoroughly enjoyed the food. The beer was another story. My father and I had a sampler of all of their beers. The flight featured Raggz Red Ale, Belgium Wheat, the Dubble Trubble and their Vanilla Ale. All of the beers had a flat mouth feel and their taste was very similar. Needless to say we were a little disappointing. On top of that they had several bottled craft beers but they were out of the two I wanted.

Thus ended the local brewery options…

We next ended up at Oscar’s a local Mexican restaurant. The restaurant left a lot to be desired…including a good meal. The rest of the long weekend was marked by the same question and answer game at every meal.

ME: “What beer do you have?”

WAITSTAFF: “What do you like?”

ME: “I like all kinds of beer. What do you have?”

WAITSTAFF: “Bud, Bud Light, Corona, Miller, Miller Light”

ME: “I’ll stick with water”

(I look at a table near me and see Shiner Bock)

ME: “Do you have Shiner Bock?”

WAITSTAFF: “Yes”

ME: “Why didn’t you say that when you were listing the beers?”

WAITSTAFF: (shrug)

Every time we went to eat it was the same story. Even at the wedding reception the bartender wouldn’t tell us what exactly the 10 beers were at the bar. We got nine of them, never did find out what number 10 was.

Thank the gods for Pinkies! I was able to get a six pack of Saint Arnold Lawnmower, a six pack of Real Ale Brown, Pale and Rye and a six pack of Alamo Golden Ale…the weekend was saved.
I send a big thanks to Saint Arnold Brewing Company, Real Ale Brewing and Alamo Beer Company for continuing to produce good Texas beer…keep it up!