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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

366 Beers

I guess this year is 366 beers. But if I change the name of the blog it might not come up on searches, so hence all you get is a clever post.

I have been hella busy, so you get posts from just N8 this week, but thought I would at least chime in once. Had some great beers at the beach this weekend. And the Arrogant Bastard 3 pack tasting with Nate last night that gave me a headache this morning. And brewed the Stout. I wish we were brewing a Leap Beer tonight, but might have to just settle for stopping by Hop N Grape to see if he has anything special, then heading home to finish the growler of John John Juniper Pale from Rogue. Juniper Pale aged in Juniper Gin Barrels. hhmmmmm, tasty.

On another note I think I am at about 640+ beers total tasted in the past 5 years. I am awesome.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

It's Brew Day!


Today Gus and I will be brewing batch number five, six if you include the Apfelwein, which will be our first stout!  L-Town Brewery's stout will be named after one of the most famous volcanoes in history, Mt. St. Helens.  Mt. St. Helens is about a 90 minute drive away from Longview and both Gus and I have been up there on numerous occasions.  Our homage to the mountain will end up being as dark as the ash-filled sky on May 18th, 1980 and should have a very smooth finish with a hint of vanilla.  I'm extremely excited for brew day and for our first attempt at a stout.

Beers in Seattle

This past weekend I was visiting my girlfriend up in Seattle and I made the usual trip to Top Foods to go beer shopping Saturday evening.  I ended up with a six pack comprised of New Belgium's Cocoa Mole, Rogue's Hazelnut Brown & Chocolate Stout, Elysian's Men's Room Red, Stone's Smoked Porter and Bridgeport's Raven Mad Imperial Porter all in 22 oz. bottles.  Needless to say that this was one of the most expensive six packs I have ever purchased.  It was also one of the most delicious.  I had previously sampled all of these beers except for the Raven Mad which I thought sounded interesting.  If you are a fan of barrel aged big beers I would suggest trying this one if you get a chance.  Overall a really enjoyable mix of beers.

(L-R) Men's Room, Hazelnut Brown, Cocoa Mole, Smoked Porter, Chocolate Stout & Raven Mad

Sunday we decided that we'd head downtown and check out Pike's Place market.  Before we made our way to Pike's we ended up stopping by Bob's Homebrew Store just to see what they had.  We met Bob who is a super nice guy with tons of knowledge and I ended up picking up a carboy dryer, some more Starsan (can't ever have enough Starsan) and the most recent issues of BYO and Zymurgy.

Whiny the Complainer
After leaving Bob's we stopped by Big Time Brewery for some lunch and some brews.  I tried their sampler and enjoyed a Prime Time Pale Ale, Atlas Amber Ale, Coal Creek Porter and a Breakfast Cereal Killer Stout that is brewed with Stumptown coffee, cocoa nibs, oatmeal, Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies, Cocoa Puffs and Cinnamon Toast Crunch.  It was probably the second best beer I had while we were there.  The first being their Whiny the Complainer Triple IPA.  This is what a good IPA should taste like.  The added hops complimented the big grain bill perfectly.  Absolutely delicious! 

After we left Big Town we swung down to Pike's Place and I located a supplier for the Scotch Bonnet peppers that will be needed to make our Apocalypso.  The vendor offered me a taste but I politely declined.  It's good to know where I can find them fresh though for when we do brew our spicy, sweet wheat ale.  All in all it was a great beer drinking weekend in the Emerald City.  I'm looking forward to my return trip to Big Time to sample some more Whiny. 

Monday, February 27, 2012

Troubleshooting a Kegerator

Earlier this week I discovered that my newly converted kegerator had a condenser that would not quit running.  I double checked the coils to make sure they were all clean and looked around the seal to make sure I wasn't losing any cool air out of it.  Coils looked great and the seal was intact so I was really confused by the non-stop running condenser.  I was messing around with the fridge Friday night and ended up turning the cooler completely off with a switch inside.  My plan was to wake up Saturday morning, turn the switch back on and see how long it takes to cool enough for the condenser to turn off.  Or so I thought.

I wake up Saturday morning and open the door to the kegerator.  I'm not quite sure which emotion I was feeling when I discovered the inside of the fridge was abnormally hot.  This confused the shit out of me.  I quickly turned the fridge back on and after I could hear the condenser running I double checked the coils and the seal around the fridge.  The coils still looked fine but for some reason when I was checking the seal I noticed a little crack in the top left corner where it seals against the fridge with light shining through.  What the....

Curious as to why the lightbulb is still on in the fridge even when the door is closed I quickly reopened the fridge and searched for the light switch.  I quickly located the switch on the ceiling of the fridge.  The tray that was on the door is what turned the light off when it was closed.  Since I had removed that part of the door to fit both kegs inside the light had been on non-stop.  It's amazing the heat a 40 watt bulb will put off in a small, enclosed area.  I grabbed some electrical tape, taped the switch to the off position and shut the fridge door. 

I had to head into town for a couple of basketball games (I coach one of the finest second grade basketball teams in all of Cowlitz County) but when I got home I noticed the condenser was off.  Sweet!  I opened the door and checked the temperature and it was nice and cool.  So I reached in and pulled the light off and closed the door.  I spent my weekend in Seattle visiting my lovely girlfriend and when I returned home this morning I made sure to check on the kegerator.  The condenser was still off and everything inside was nice and cool.

I'm extremely relieved that I figured out the problem but at the same time feel like quite the dumbass for not figuring it out sooner.  Luckily we didn't have any beer in the fridge yet.  We are going to be kegging the CCWA NWPA tomorrow night and since I'm force-carbing we should be sampling it by Friday evening. 

Friday, February 24, 2012

Stormtroopers need more training

Went to transfer from primary to secondary and apparently our bucket of imperials still take laser blasts like they aren't wearing armor. I.E. they need more training. Bubbling every 30 seconds.

Also, over in Long Beach and hit up Rogue in Astoria on the way. Pretty sweet beers as always and coming home with a box full while we wait for our beers to be ready. The John John Juniper and GYO beers I tried were Good, especially the John John. I may have to stop for a growler on the way home. It was spruce pale ale aged in their spruce gin barrels. Man I wish I had some now.

Did find another beer blog too. http://thedeliciousbeerblog.blogspot.com/

And the breweries are doing multiple beer tours now. I really want to take one of those and visit some more places.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Kegerator Completed!



Inside the Kegerator
  Last night my good friend Doug stopped by to help me put the kegerator together.  Mission accomplished! 

We had to do a few minor alterations to the fridge to allow the kegs to fit inside snugly.  We started by cutting the shelving out of the inside of the doors but neither of us really liked how that turned out.  So we decided to cut most of the panel that was inside the door completely out.  Much better.

Door Taps a.k.a. Beer Dispensers!

After we got the inside of the fridge finished we started measuring out where the taps would go.  We put them fourteen inches apart on center.  That way if I ever decided to add a third keg to the fridge we can just put the new tap right in the middle.

It is a great feeling having a kegerator sitting right there in my living room.  It will be an even greater feeling when there is beer in it.  We should be kegging the NWPA tonight and transferring the IIPA into the secondary to dry-hop.  By next weekend I should have two beers on tap!  Very nice!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Time to Build a Kegerator!

So yesterday I received three boxes of draft beer goodness from Fed Ex in the form of my kegerator kit.  Two 5 gallon corny kegs, a five pound CO2 tank, two through-the-door shanks with faucets and all of the hookups are now sitting on my living room floor just ready to be put to use.  I'm hoping here in the next few weeks I'll be able to pour myself a nice, cold one anytime I want.

In addition to my kegerator parts showing up I also picked up the fridge from my good friend Matt Jones.  Matt Jones happens to be the drummer for the Dead Giveaways, a local punk rock group, and his old beer fridge shows off his love of music in the form of a heavily-stickered door.  In doing some measurements last night it unfortunately looks like one of the tap-shanks will be going right through the Neil Diamond sticker, damn it!  I may do some re-arranging to see if I can save any of the stickers. 

So it looks like tonight will be the night that I put it all together.  My first keg is going to be filled with some delicious CCWA NWPA that is just waiting in the secondary fermenter.  Keg #2 will be filled with the Stormtrooper Imperial IPA sometime towards the end of next week.  I believe that we'll be transferring the Stormtrooper soon and adding the hops for the dry-hop so it'll be ready to keg.  I plan of force carbonating the second keg and will hopefully have both taps flowing for L-Town Brewing's inaugural tasting party.

We're also planning on brewing three to four beers here in the next couple of weeks.  I'm hoping I can talk Gus into a possible double brew day here in the near future.  Next on our plate is the St. Helens Stout followed by either the Apocalypso, Erik for President (a Beer for the People!) or Abby's Hefeweizen.  It should be a very good beer drinking Summer.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Collaborate and Listen

Ice is back with my brand new invention...
yes we grew up in the 80s and 90s..

I've had a couple collaboration brews in the past month. And I am on the search for more. Kick by New Belgium was awesome. Allies win the war from 21st Amendment was also awesome, and in a can no less. Both were made with Elysian, who makes fine beers.

I actually posted on a weekend. Because searching 365 beers I found a link work must have been blocking. Maxim 365 beers in a day I'm sure there were days we had 365 beers in a day in college, or maybe even at wiffle ball all stars. And I know we have made some giant beer can pyramids. But to combine both those things, and considering the good beers in cans now, this sounds like a pretty fun thing to attempt one of these days. We would of course need Willie to help, and somewhere between 20-30 additional people, but why not?

I also had the Black Sheep Monty Python Holy grAle, which was not bad. And originally tried to post this using my ipad2. Which didn't work. Try getting with the times Blogger...

Also, this is post #400. not too shabby.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Still Tasting

That title has a double meaning. I swear I could still taste the spiciness in the Cocoa Mole from New Belgium the next day. Crazy taste explosion on that beer.

Also, I have resurrected my beer list from 07-08, and with some obvious mental lapses that I have can not add because I don't know every beer I had from 08-11, I think I have a pretty good list of most of the beers I have had and a bunch more I want to try. I have at least 624 checked off the list (including a handful of home brews) so I am back on track to try and beat Barry Bond's record of 762 home runs. I say I should have it by the end of baseball season, if not by the beginning...

Had a few Japanese/Korean beers at dinner last night for Nate's birthday. Checked off the list and go good with Asian food, but nothing to write home about. Now looking forward to a long weekend of trying some more beers and hopefully brewing up a Stout. And if Nate's keg supplies ever show up, also kegging one beer and transfering the other to keg in a few weeks.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Apfelwein

We brewed a batch of Apfelwein last night. No that's not a typo, its a German fermented apple cider. Basically Apple Juice, Sugar, Yeast, and time. Just starting to bubble a little this morning but nothing through the airlock (which is full of green apple vodka, just in case of suck back) and this takes quite a bit longer to ferment properly, so should be a good summer/fall brew for those who are beer adverse.

Nate brought over a bottle of the New Belgium Cocoa Mole, basically super potent chocolate pepper beer. Take a big drink and its actually spicy, which is a crazy change from normal stout. James also came over again, and brought some of his hard cider, which was a nice complement while we brewed our own applejuice.

P.S. Happy 35th Nate. time to start plucking grey hairs down below...

And we are also in the midst of planning a tasting party. Between trying a few 5oz glasses off Amazon.com (which are a little too big for a paddle my uncle's wood shop class made), possibly ordering some glasses from peelepaddle.com and maybe even a paddle, and of course just adding to my brewery tasting collection from Rogue in Astoria next week, somehow I will figure this out before March. Considering my collection consists of the 12 pack of 5 oz glasses, one 4 oz Rouge glass, and one 4 oz glass from disneyland back when we went to Rose Bowl, I have some work to do...

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Slackers

We both failed to post yesterday. I believe Principal Strickland from Hill Valley High would refer to us as SLACKERS! But we have been busy brewing, and drinking and planning to brew, which meant somehow we both thought the other was posting yesterday.

Sorry to disappoint both our readers. Anyways, with two beers bottled, and two bubbling away in the primary and secondary, the next plan is brew an Apfelwein tonight or this weekend, and hopefully brew a stout this weekend. I also look forward to trying the New Belgium Cocoa Mole that Nate grabbed in Seattle for me.

In the meantime I tried a Sam Adams Wee Heavy on Monday night (it was 10% ABV, very nice and I would recommend trying one if you can find one). And a couple Bridgeport IPAs last night at Valentines Day dinner, followed by a can of 21st Amendment Hop Crisis when I got home. The Hop Crisis was crazy hoppy. Like I was looking in the can to see if it was dry hopped in the can. And it was 9.5% ABV or something crazy, which could be deceptive coming in a can and make for an interesting tailgate if you were down for being that guy at the football game...

Also it is Nate's birthday tomorrow. He may not even post again this week...

Monday, February 13, 2012

My closet smells hoppy


My closet is now a brewery. Or at least it smells like one with two hoppy beers in there fermenting. We brewed our fourth batch on Friday after bottling our second batch.

Here's Nate with the goodness from his Thursday night shopping Trip. And here's Nate hard at work Friday night adding said goodness to the brew.




















And for fun, all four caps we had made up for our first four batches. Coming up with the names and designs is half the fun. And brewing is half the fun. And drinking is half the fun. Hmmm, I guess brewing is 150% fun compared to just drinking at 100%. We should form a study...

We were also graced by the presence of a fellow brewer, James. He even brought beer and a wort chiller. As we lengthened out our brew by boiling before and after adding the extract, having the wort chiller was nice because we were able to finish in 3-4 hours still instead of the 4+ it would have taken using ice water to chill the outside of the kettle. Thanks James!

And lastly, here is yours truly bottling our first beer. We would frame it for a keepsake or something, but we will most likely just drink it.

Friday, February 10, 2012

The Brown is Bottled

Bottled the first batch of LTB brew last night. Even tried what was left in the secondary. Not bad. Now it remains to see whether it turns out as good as expected. I love some brown ale and I am looking forward to 3 weeks from now. We have more great pictures and will try and upload them today or tonight. Meanwhile we are bottling another tonight, and brewing batch #4 tonight hopefully too. Wish us luck.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

22oz Roundup=Success

Off to Booth's last night who reportedly had a stash of 22s he has been saving. And scored a case of empty 22s, which saves us at least $20 and means we are ready for the upcoming bottling session tonight or tomorrow of the Brown and the Pale.

On top of that Booth and I tried a couple beers from 10 Barrel Brewing, the ISA and the Apocalypse IPA. They were both good, but if you were only buying one I would go for the ISA. It was a little extra better great success.

Here we have the beers put to bed for the night.




And a nice pic of the layers in the CCWA that we are dry hopping. Should be interesting when I breath deep on this and burn my nose hairs off again...

Also just found a pretty funny blog from an Australian brewer called BeerFingers while searching for a picture now located stage left. I would like to have a beer with this guy. F'in Hilarious in a Dennis Miller type way, except with Australian references I don't get instead of references to stuff too boring for me to pay attention to.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Weekly Hop N Grape Trip

The first step is admitting you have a problem. I admit it.

The second step is getting help. But I could carry the box of 22s out to my car on my own, so I didn't need help. So maybe I don't have a problem. I think the Arrogant Bastard, McMenamins Ruby and McMenamins Kris Kringle we had while working on our beer make my point a little foggy.

Before we could transfer the CCWA NWPA, I decided to see if Hop N Grape had any of the Elysian Apocalypse beers or any presidential themed beers. Yes on the Elysian, and yes they have some 21st Amendment beers which I will go back and get, but they didn't have the Yards Brewing ales of the revolution that I found online yesterday, so bummer. Also didn't have any Presidente, although I didn't expect them to have that one. My fridge was already full and I bought eight 22s instead of the one or two that I planned to buy. So maybe a small addiction. Anyone know where I can get some Yards?

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Add More Hops!

We've been talking about brewing batch number four and have been throwing around a couple of ideas and this is what we've settled on.  Stormtrooper Imperial IPA will be straight up hops kicking you in your mouth.  With eight ounces of hops added throughout the boil and dry-hop this beer will be sure to please any hophead.  It should weigh in at roughly 7.6% ABV with 106 IBUs. 

Gus and I plan on brewing this batch sometime this week and kegging it after a few weeks in the fermenter.  We're also bottling our Beach Dog Brown and Sacajawea Pale this week so it should be a busy week.  I'm really looking forward to brewing the Stormtrooper just because I love the smell of hops.

In other beer news, I should have in my possession the parts for my kegerator build by the weekend.  I'm hoping to get everything put together sometime next week and having an operational kegerator filled with CCWA NWPA and Stormtrooper IIPA by the end of the month.  I'll be sure to post some pictures of the kegerator build after it's complete.    

Photo Found


Found another photo on my wife's phone I missed when uploading last week. The brewers hard at work on the CCWA NWPA.

I am so thirsty.

On a side note, I just want to say "YOU SUCK" to the NBA refs in Portland. You consistently day in and day out do a horrible job, sometimes for our team, sometimes against, but always blowing calls, being inconsistent, just overall poor showings. But to blow the final couple calls in regulation and force overtime against the Thunder was unforgivable. I hope the next time you order a beer it has gone bad. Or someone spits in it. Or the next time you buy beer the bag breaks in the parking lot. I hate you.

Also just found the motherlode online... Kegerators. Nate is building one, and I have an old bar my dad and I purchased last year and plan to finally get around to fixing it up to hold multiple beers. My garage will soon be the coolest bar on the block...

Monday, February 6, 2012

New Belgium's Cocoa Mole


Spicy sweet goodness
 I was in Seattle over the weekend visiting my girlfriend and we decided to go on a beer run.  The Top Foods near her house has an amazing selection of beers, so off to the beer aisle we went. 

A few weeks ago at Tops I stumbled across New Belgium's Grand Cru, which is another beer from the Lips of Faith series.  As I'm not really a fan of Belgian beers I was a little worried I would like it but this one was alright.  I could definitely taste the Saison yeast that was used in it but it wasn't as overpowering as some of the other Belgians I have tried.  When I heard about the Cocoa Mole it reminded me of Roots chocolate habanero stout that they had during winter and I knew that I had to try it.  Luckily the Grand Cru was all gone and had been replaced with the Cocoa Mole.

The first taste is very smooth with the chocolate flavor coming through.  As you swallow you notice the pepper flavor and a little, tiny bit of heat.  It's amazing how well the chocolate and peppers compliment each other.  I was a little concerned that at 10% ABV the alcohol taste would be overpowering but the chocolate and peppers cover it up completely.  If you have a chance to try this beer I highly suggest it.  I think I may have to grab a few more 22s of it before it's all gone. 

Super Beer

The Super Beer was this Sunday between the Patriots and the Giants. To celebrate Randy brought over a growler of Fort George bourbon barrel cavatica stout and it was outstanding. I might have missed some of the game talking beer and chasing kids around, but it didn't matter. We had food and friends and I got to drink this beer. Which made the day great. I also got to finally try a few Lindemans Lambics which I always assumed were fruity Belgian beers from the labels, and that is exactly what they were. It would almost be hard to call them beer, kind of like cider beer is beer. And they were good, I just couldn't drink a whole bottle. A couple tasters of each were plenty. All in all a good day.

Friday, February 3, 2012

good night

Yes, last night was a good night. Guinness Foreign Extra is even better than their regular stout. The Draught is a middle thickness, and the black lager is just like it sounds, closer to a lager. But all four varities are good and it was fun to try three of them back to back to back.

Then we rocked some Lego Rock Band. Because "cue the Toys R Us music" I don't wanta grow up...

Nate can belt out some Wanted Dead or Alive. Can't wait for birthday karaoke...

Also got caps ordered, which was the whole reason for getting together. That took about 5 minutes, or 2 hours if you count the rest of activities...

the Big Three Five


Cold beers on tap
 I've wanted to build my own kegerator for roughly the last five years.  With my 35th birthday quickly approaching I've decided that now is the time to make it happen.  Happy Birthday to me indeed!  

I originally wanted to set up my kegerator to hold a half-barrel keg (15-1/2 gallons) because that is how most of the breweries keg their beer.  Now that I've been bitten by the homebrew bug I plan on setting this keg up for two Cornelius kegs (5 gallons).  The benefit of the Cornelius kegs is that a single batch of homebrew will fill it completely and I could probably fit four or five of them in my fridge if needed.  Another added benefit is that bottled beer takes three weeks to condition while kegged beer only takes three days. 

Gus and I decided a while ago that we would be bottling our Beach Dog Brown and Lake Sacajawea Pale Ale.  Since I've decided to build my kegerator we agreed that we should keg our CCWA NWPA and the soon to be brewed Stormtrooper IIPA.  So instead of just having the brown and pale ale ready to go we will also have the kegged beers to enjoy.  As of right now March 3rd is going to be the glorious day that we finally get to enjoy our beers.


Mmmm, beers
 Another thing I would really like for my birthday would be more carboys.  LTB currently has two carboys and one bottling bucket that we also use for our primary fermenter.  More carboys = more beers that we can brew!  I already plan on buying another bottling bucket and would like to see us have five or six carboys total.  That way we would be able to always have a batch of our favorite beers brewing plus have the space to do some experimenting. 

These last few days I have tried my hand at constructing some recipes.  Our first two batches were recipes that we got from Erik's cousin Gunnar and Jim at Your Homebrew.  Batch three was found on the internet with some minor modifications made to it and batch four will be more of the same.  But in the next month I plan on brewing two of my original recipes, the Apocalypso and Gnate's Gnarleywine.  The Apocalypso should be ready to taste in a month to a month and a half.  Gnate's Gnarleywine won't be ready to drink til early 2013 although I'm sure Erik and I will crack one before that to taste so we could compare it to the final product.


McGuyver would be proud
 With all of these carboys that we plan on obtaining we will definitely need a way to clean them.  After some searching online I've found a pretty easy cleaner that I will be able to build with parts from work.I also found another carboy cleaner DIY project that involved a five gallon bucket, a carboy dryer, a 1/5 hp pump and some PVC piping that I may attempt down the road.  For now this easy setup should do just fine cleaning our carboys. 

With about four feet of 1/2"PVC piping, four 1/2" 90* elbows, four 1/2" tees, one 1/2" cap, one 1/2" MNPT adapter and another adapter to go from the MNPT to 3/4" garden hose thread I will be able to build the cleaner.  I'll glue it together like the picture to the right and drill 1/8" holes all the way up the stand pipe.  We should be able to hook it up at my place or in Gus's utility sink and hold our carboys upside down over it and clean away.  I've heard some horror stories about using carboy brushes and I hope that this will make the job easier. 


the Ultimate Fermenter
 I'd say the final item on my ultimate wish list would be this Oak barrel that was used to age bourbon.  Woodinville Whiskey, here in Washington state, sells these 5 gallon buckets after they use them to age bourbon.  I've seen some of the breweries sell their oak barrel aged beers in the $10-$15 range for a 22 ounce.  If we could somehow replicate that with one of these barrels that would justify it's $120 price tag, right?  If any homebrewers out there have experience with using a barrel please leave us a comment to let us know how it worked out for you.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Rubinator

Leaving the Blazer game midway through the 4th (thanks to the absolute drubbing they were putting on Charlotte) I had time to stop by McMenamin's White Eagle. There was a band playing as always and made me pine for my younger days when it used to be common to stop there or Widmer for a beer after games.

I also found a few fun facts on the McMenamin's Beer Blog like the fact that their Terminator Stout was 25 years old in 2010 and Hammerhead was 25 in 2011. We of course missed those cool anniversary parties, but I am going to have my own party. I bought a couple 22s of Ruby and Terminator and plan to make Rubinators before the Superbowl. I didn't get any hammerhead but will have to grab a few on my next trip. The reason I didn't get any is because I was able to snatch up the last two 22s of Kris Kringle they had down in the basement (okay, I was told they were the last two but I am not naive enough to believe 100% they were the last two, but I assume they are almost out) and I plan to drink one tonight while ordering our first couple batches of bottle caps.

I also had a Laurelwood Espresso Stout at the Blazer game last night. In case I haven't said it before, thank you Laurelwood for having a pub in the Rose Garden. I love Widmer, but all they serve is Hefe and Droptop, or Hefe and Drifter, and those get old, especially at $9/beer.

And lastly, thank you to the Blazers for scoring over 100 last night for more free Chalupa coupons from Taco Bell. I wonder if Charlotte does that promotion. If they do it's probably score 100 and everyone gets a free car. Because they are horrible.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Movin On Up

We are Back.
With regular changes (to format, links and lists at left, photos, posts, etc.) now coming fast and furious please let us know what you think. Or send us recipes or links. Or photos. You get the idea.

Any feedback is appreciated if you happen to find your way here. (or find your way back if you used to follow back before 2008)

So Many Good Beers

One thing that I really loved about living in Portland was the abundance of great beers. There was the local watering hole, the Goodfoot, that had a great selection of micros on tap. I had my two favorite breweries, the Lucky Lab and the now defunct Roots, on my drive home so I could stop and enjoy a pint while getting my growler filled. The Rogue and Deschutes public houses on the west side had some of the best beers I have tasted so I would try to make the trip on a somewhat regular basis. Plus I had the Belmont Station only ten minutes away and their selection of over one thousand different bottled beers made it a great destination on the search for new and exciting beers.

It looks like Longview is finally catching on to what good brew really is. One of my favorite bars, Porky's, recently expanded their beer selection and they keep some very good beers on rotation. Now that Hop N Grape is open I have a place that reminds me a little of Belmont Station, only Hop N Grape also has beer making supplies making it the ultimate one-stop brew-shop. With Parker's offering their own beer and two other groups getting ready to open microbreweries in the area the future looks very bright. Last week I sampled quite a few good beers.

On my first trip to Hop N Grape my good friend Cory had told me that I had to try the Creme Brulee Stout. He told me it was a nice, dark beer that had a sweet, vanilla aftertaste to it. And he couldn't have been more correct. This stuff is good! While I was at Hop N Grape I also tried a Rogue Chipotle Ale and it was nice and light with just a hint of the chipotle kick. It went well with the pulled pork sandwich and pepper jack mac n' cheese I had.

On my second trip to Hop N Grape I decided to try the Collaborator Steel Bridge Porter that was a joint effort between Widmer Brothers and a Portland homebrew club. It was a great porter but the one that followed it was the Fort George brewing Working Girl Porter that is brewed with coffee. This stuff is delicious! I also tried Ninkasi's Sterling Pilsner, New Belgium's sour pumpkin ale Kick and Georgetown's IPA Lucille. They were all very good although I don't think I could drink a whole bunch of the sour brew.

I visited Hop N Grape again last weekend and sampled some Kona Brewing Koko Brown and Rogue XS Imperial Russian Stout. The Koko Brown was so good that I had him fill my growler and then filled another growler with some Creme Brulee. Those two growlers served well during our last brew session when we finished them both off. Hopefully we pleased the Beer Gods.

In between all of those trips to Hop N Grape I also had a chance to stop by Porky's for a delicious burger and a tasty pint of Elysian's Nibiru Yerba Mate Tripel. I am not a fan of Belgians at all but I did enjoy this beer. It is also the first of twelve limited edition beers that Elysian will be releasing this year for their 12 Beers of the Apocalypse. Here's a little bit more info on the Apocalypse series.

AN APOCALYPTIC BEER ADVENTURE
In a year-long run-up to the end of all time (according to the Mayan calendar), Elysian Brewing Company and Fantagraphics Books, both of Seattle, are planning a series of twelve beers, issued on the 21st of each month in 2012 and featuring the label artwork of Charles Burns. Taken from Burns’s weirdly apocalyptic work “Black Hole,” the labels will adorn Elysian’s “Twelve Beers of the Apocalypse,” featuring the creativity and unusual ingredients for which its brewing team is known. What twelve beers would you brew (and drink) if you knew they would be your last?

First up in January is NIBIRU, named for the mysterious planet X supposedly on a collision course toward Earth. The Elysian / Fantagraphics Nibiru will be a Belgian-style Tripel flavored with an infusion of yerba maté. Combining the tasty esters of Belgian yeast and the compelling tea-like flavors of the South American herb mixture, the beer will weigh in at around 7.6% alcohol by volume. A mixture of German Northern Brewer, Czech Saaz and American Amarillo hops round out the uniqueness of this first beer of the Apocalypse. Oddly enough there’s another apocalyptic-themed Nibiru out there: a super volcano currently burbling most dangerously beneath Yellowstone National Park. It too is scheduled to end life as we know it very very soon.

It is truly a great time to be a beer lover!