Finally...

We know its been a long time since our last post and yes we owe some sort of explanation, but the truth is... we've been busy/lazy. Since the trip to Ohio in early May, we've been having a difficult time getting back into the swing of things work related and brewing related. Additionally, the super garden discussed in the previous post has been planted and with the planting and regular maintenance involved, the brewing has sadly been put on the back burner. We are happy to say that this is not the case anymore! On Saturday (or Sunday) a batch of beer will be brewed, although it is still yet to be determined what variety it will be.

In our own news involving beer, we have the following updates. The Ohio trip was a great time with most of the time spent with family. The Great Lakes Brewery tasting and dinner was awesome as we got to try four of GLB's best brews: Eliot Ness Amber Lager, Dortmunder Gold Lager, Grassroots Ale, and Edmund Fitzgerald Porter. The Edmund Fitzgerald Porter is the most decorated porter style in America. Also, while in Ohio, a trip to World Market was taken to try some of the beers from other nations. Because most of them were consumed in the same night and this was almost a month ago, all of them are not remembered.

The trip to the Great Lakes Brewery was a blast but we quickly found out that they had canceled tours for the day. We consoled ourselves over several pints and some delicious locally grown mushroom pizza with gorgonzola. Not only does this company make great beer but their food is ridiculously amazing.

On our own brewing front... we still have the I.P.A to look forward to on the bottling process. We tried to bottle the Choco, Orango, Cayenno Craziness Stout but it died during the bottling process due to technical difficulties. It did taste pretty good, before it found itself on the floor of our kitchen.

We will be back on the brewing bandwagon in the next few weeks and continue to stockpile full bottles instead of the several hundred empties our friends have helped us accumulate.

Here is somewhat of a list of the beer we've tried over the last month or so:

Duvel
Dogfish Head 90 minute IPA
Wexford Irish Cream Ale
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barley Wine
Guinness 250 Anniversary Stout
Samuel Adams White Ale
Rogue Cayenne Ale
Rogue Mocha Porter
New Belgium Skinny Dip
New Belgium Mighty Arrow
New Belgium Sunshine Wheat
Oxford Organic Wheat Ale
Buffalo Bill's Blueberry Oatmeal Stout
New Glarus Fat Squirrel
Capital Brewery Island Wheat Ale
Great Lakes Brewery Edmund Fitzgerald Porter
Great Lakes Brewery Eliot Ness Amber Lager
Great Lakes Brewery Dortmunder Gold Lager
Great Lakes Brewery Grassroots Ale
Great Lakes Brewery Burning River Pale Ale
Great Lakes Brewery Commodore Perry I.P.A.

Slainte!

National Homebrew Day!

Happy National Homebrew Day everybody.

It's kind of sad to say but we did not know this until dinking around on the internet a while and we happened across this interesting fact. Tonight, I will be attending a beer tasting held by the Lorain County Chamber of Commerce in Ohio and will be part of just 50 people who will get to experience this. The event is hosted by the Diso's Bistro and will be put on by the Great Lakes Brewing Company. On Saturday, we will then tour the Great Lakes Brewery and eat at their Brewpub before heading off to catch our beloved Cleveland Indians. On a side note, we will also be going to the Westside Market in Cleveland, one of my favorite places to experience the diversity of the city and to really see Northern Ohioans.

Slainte!

Taxford