So Much About Beer In One Post, This One Is Only Headlines And Links...

From last Friday till today there have been a lot of beer news from my corner of the world so I'm going to highlight most of it here and go from there....

Friday I had 2 beers from Augusta Brewery in Augusta Missouri. The Brewery is along the Katy Trail and the Missouri River right across the bridge from Washington MO in the wine country hills. If you find your self in the area I recommend the Blonde Ale for a light and refreshing trail beer and the 1856 IPA for the Hop Heads out there.

Hibiscus Wit

Lunch on Saturday took us to Somebody's in downtown New Haven MO where besides the great burger I had the Hibiscus Wit by 2nd Shift Brewery   that is the local New Haven Brewery. If you can ever come by this beer on tap, I LOVED it.

After that we went to Hermann Mo to drive around the old German wine country of Missouri and to visit the Tin Mill Brewery that is one of the first places to stop once you get into Hermann.

the brew system

my case of beer

some of the smaller fermenters

I bought a case of their beer while I was there and even took some bad camera phone pics of the place. I also tried their Oktoberfest on tap which was pretty tasty but I had 4 six packs already so I decided to hold off before I bought more. ( I already had another case in the trunk so I tried to limit myself a bit)

From there I went to a wedding reception at the old Washington Brewery. This was the actual reason to be in the area but still couldn't pull myself away from the history. An interesting little fact about this building "In 1854, John B. Busch, an older brother of the famous Adolphus Busch, established a brewery in Washington, bottling the first Busch Beer." While it is not an active brewery today, as a brewer my self, I couldn't help but put my hands on the walls and hope my German roots absorbed a little of the amazing history of the place.

My Score

Sunday was a travel day, 2 cases of beer in tow I headed back to Springfield. During the 3 hour ride home my main study was washing and freezing strands of yeasts. I read 3 great articles on the subject and would be happy to share them with anyone that wants to really get into the crazy side of the biology of brewing....

  After a long shower and some laundry, I decided to try out a a beer that I just helped a friend bottle about a week before and see how it was coming along. Elise McCracken bottled her first beer, an amazing Double IPA that turned out bigger than life! She may not know this but I'm glad she moved to Nashville because as she comes into her own brewer, I'm glad I I wont have to compete against her on a local level!! She has an amazing pallet for beer and as long as I can keep her under the (delusion) that I know more than she does, the better off I'll be :) Love ya girl...  I also cracked open a bottle of another friend of mines beer. Ben Stange is an established brewer that has his own weekly talk show about beer on the radio called Beer Buzz through Tag Magazine.
Ben was also one of the Judges of our last big Brewing Comp at Creekside and we have been talking about studying together taking the BJCP and Cicerone certifications over the next year. If you don't know the difference in between the two, BJCP is a style program for Home Brewers and Brewers alike and Cicerone is made more for the Buisness, server/bartender, brewer/beer master, and then the final level is the "Master of Beer" (my terms not theirs)...

now to Monday...

Springfield Brewing Company is bought by local investors which amount to the Master Brewer and his team of brewers and business partners. I see this as a very good move for the business and can't wait to see how the beer improves from the sale.

Along with the breweries of the area, a link from Ben's page sent me to the Horseshoe Bend Brewery
This Brewery is starting around the Lake of the Ozarks and has some fun ways for you to donate a small amount and help them in a big way! Visit the link and imagine what it's like to get one of these brewery's up and going and give if you can....

Last but not least... if you like beer, work with beer, brew beer, or just want to understand beer.... you need to read Tasting Beer
I cannot stress enough on how I needed this book right when it came recommended by a friend. I open it and after the first chapter, felt like I already read it. Then chapter two and three came along and all of the sudden I felt like I knew nothing about beer. It got 5 out of 5 stars for a reason...

if you made it this far I'll have you know I got my hair cut last night and really have to question your motive for reading past this point...

Cheers

Keeton












 

Anyone From Ireland Out There? (Updated)(

I'm starting to form my Spring brewing game plan and first think to get done or at least started is a recipe for a true Irish beer. Being not from Ireland I'm looking for a little help to get the ball rolling. I like the idea of going with something like Ohara's Celtic Stout or Kilkenny Irish Cream Ale to represent my beer. 

Seeing that I have never had either beer but hear good things I'm hoping the the brewers of Ireland can help direct me what's fun and traditional or just the best beer maid over there right now..... I was thinking about Beamish  too or to get right down to it any good Irish beer that I haven't had before. That could be a local favorite or a big name.... Please tell me your Irish thoughts and opinions and together we'll build my Irish beer!! Thanks for the help in advance

Mead Update

After 13 months and way too much honey, the fermentation of the metheglin "citrus mead" has stopped fermenting. The picture is a draw I bottled about 3 weeks ago unfiltered to try tonight and all I can say is it's well worth the wait! The stats on it ended up as this, SRM 4.3, ABV 14.41%, Batch 5 Gallons, Mouth feel is light on the front but quickly coats the tongue. It's a ride, but a fun one!