Reading List

Hey everyone, I just wanted to give a quick run-down of books that I am currently reading and will give some mini-reviews of:

• rereading John Palmer's How to Brew (the old testament) in conjunction with,
  
• Radical Brewing, Randy Mosher (the new testament) and Designing Great Beers, Ray Daniels (the lost gospels) ;)
  
• Eve Adamson's Beer: Domestic, Imported and Home Brewed
  
• Michael Jackson's Great Beer Guide and
  
• The Brewmaster's Table, Garrett Oliver
  

Alas, the Beer Hunter is gone.

It is a sad day in the brewing world. Michael Jackson, world renowned advocate for all things brewed and distilled has passed on to better places.

We'll miss you, Michael. There will always be a pint for you at our house!

1942 - 2007
www.beerhunter.com (picture courtesy of beerhunter.com)
lewbryson.blogspot.com
www.beertown.org
www.allaboutbeer.com

What? What does that sign say ahead?!?

"RIGHT LANE CLOSED?!? Dammit, it's 11 o'clock at night on Memorial Day weekend, we're 10 miles to the New York state line, and there is no one working here tonight! Dammit, I hate the Pennsylvania State Highway system! You know what I'm going to do, I'm going to make an IPA, an IPA that is so bitter, that it will burn on every sniff and every swallow. I HATE PENN DOT!"

Yeah, so that is the short and simple of a drive my wife and I had going to my in-laws house that weekend. Needless to say, I brewed this bad boy, and my effort of making an over-the-top bitter IPA kinda backfired. It backfired by coming out really, really, REALLY good. It is oh so smooth, citrusy, floral, and deceiving - at ~6.8% ABV.

This was also the first time I used whole-leaf hops. It was fun, but I think I am going to stick with pellets, as they leave less muck in the wort. However, at bottling time, I had a little bit of fun with some Cascade hops - I put them in a nylon bag and dropped them in my bottling bucket for some "fresh" hop aroma.

When it was all said and done, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Definitely worth brewing again.

Prost!

New Looks-a-coming!

A big what's up to everyone reading this. I know, it's been waaaaaaaaaaaay too long, and I said before that I would be updating this regularly. I'm sorry for that fib, but things have been going nuts for us in SaB-land.

I'm working on getting a facelift to the site and making it snazzier. I'll be sure to post once it is done.