Advent Calendar Day 4: Christmas Cards and Fall Beer

I am a little late in getting my Christmas Cards out, but I took the evening and addressed all of the cards I have addresses for. These will go out in the mail in the morning. I feel really pretty accomplished for the evening.

I felt so accomplished that I treated myself to a Crown Valley Imperial Pumpkin Smash. 

This beer is a homage to to my definition of a fall beer. This beer pours dark and thick. While I was pouring the beer looked like it was boiling in the glass as it tumbled over itself. The bottle actually tells the drinker to make sure to drink the beer between 55 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit. A far cry for the cold mountains of the Rockies. Why you ask? Well I have this beer cold and let it warm. The aroma and spices come alive and dance in your nose and mouth as the beer comes to temperature.

The pumpkin, chocolate, and roast characteristics of this beer warm me right up on a chilly night. Though it is a kind of a heavy beer, so you may want to have a lighter dinner if you drink this.

Go ahead and drink some Holloween as you ponder next year's costume! (It is never too early! I am thinking something clever my self or Star Wars related!)

4 down... 20 to go!! Advent Calendar Day 3: Chance, Charity, Christmas Tree

Advent Calendar Day 3: Chance, Charity, & Christmas Trees

Tonight I was tricked! C tricked me into cleaning out some of my old boxes of random things. In addition to dust these boxes have collected random things over the years. The premise was that she and I were going to put up a Christmas tree in basement. A common name for this room is a "Man Cave". She prefers "family room" or just the basement. I prefer the man cave nomenclature. This is why I like to showcase mainly beer related items. Maybe I should post about the different items down there... I digress...

The menace known as C tricked me into cleaning out some old boxes under the guise of putting up a Christmas Tree with all of the beer and brewery related as ornaments.This great idea got me excited to go through my stuff and find stickers from breweries like Cinder Block or Boulevard. Pins for Allagash and flyers from Nanobrew Fest. All of these were given a ribbon and hung with care on a Christmas tree in the Man Cave.

This is where I realize I have been bamboozled! I look at the room with odds and ends strewn over tables, couches, and floors. I had a soap opera horrifying realization moment! I knew then that I would have to go through the stuff I have had haphazardly rifled through to put it all away.

In the process of recycling old papers and putting some things away, I found an opportunity to donate some of my belongings so that others may enjoy items I have been blessed with but wasn't currently using. This is always a good opportunity to declutter and give to those less fortunate than me.

As I was doing a good job of getting giving and cleaning, C relented and picked my next Advent beer. I was giving a lot to chance on this one. I didn't know what to expect. She fortunately selected Boulevard's Mid-Coast IPA! This beer pours orange with a nice head on it. As designed the IPA is pretty hoppy and really brings the bitterness in a way that is enjoyable and crisp. I found the piney notes from the beer funny as I picked up the Christmas tree needles from floor. I really do enjoy this beer and was a good one to drink as blew the dust away and decorated a Christmas Tree. 

3 down... 21 to go! Advent Calendar Day 2: River North IPA and Rock & Run

Advent Calendar Day 2: River North IPA and Rock and Run Brewery

C and I recently went to Rock and Run Brewery to enjoy some brunch. They have a really good menu if you are in the mood for breakfast or lunch. They even added some new items! While we were there, we splurged and got the small growlers because C thought they were cute. She also pointed out that we could use them to share home brews out of the kegs we plan to use in the near future. (More on that in a later post!)

One of the choices for the mini growlers was River North IPA. This beer is not over powering nor is it going to wreck your palate. I would in fact consider this India Pale Ale inviting as well as enjoyable by most moderate tastes. If you are thinking about trying an IPA for the first time, this one might be something to consider. The beer pours nice and smooth. Has nice head retention. The hop profile is nice but is balanced by a malt backbone. In other words, any bitterness that the beer has, while noticeable, is countered by a sweetness that mellows the beer out.

While, the beer is not going to blow you away with how good it is, it is a very enjoyable beer that makes for a good IPA. River North Brewing is new to the area and this beer normally comes in a tall boy can four pack. Give it a try and tell me what you think about it!

Like I have said before, for me the holiday season is about sharing and showing appreciation for those you care about. So take some advice from me and grab some beer and share it with those you are close to and smile because you are enjoying the good times.

2 down... 22 to go! Advent Calendar Day 1: Boulevard Beer Dinner

Advent Calendar Day 1: Boulevard Beer dinner!

It is December 1st and that means Christmas carols and decorations, snow, family and loved ones, snow, and of course beer. Being raised as I was in a Catholic family, we were well versed in the advent season. We would light the candles in anticipation of the season. With each candle we knew that Christmas was drawing near.

I don't know if you have noticed or not but I may have a thing for good beer. When I heard about a beer Advent calendar, I knew I had to do it! I am going to share with you at least one beer a day for the rest of December up until Christmas.

I do like to go big so my first iteration of this year's Advent calendar is actually a beer dinner!

Boulevard teamed up with a local BBQ place called Summit Hickory Pit put on a four course meal, with each course paired with a beer. The dinner was local and it wasn't expensive like some many beer dinners can be! Also beer and BBQ go so well together that you couldn't go wrong.

We were started off with my go to beer. Tank 7 is a beer that I can drink anytime and is my "go-to" beer. Tank 7 is light and crisp. I think Tank 7 is the benchmark for good beer. The beer was paired with some amazing sausage and smokey delicious BBQ baked beans.

The second course was a couple meaty ribs paired with Boulevards new Backroads series Last Splash. A wet hopped IPA that had a nice malt characteristic. It went really well with the juicy ribs. Wet hopping by the way is the technique of putting fresh picked hops into a brew within hours of being picked, in this case less than 36 hours.

The third course was amazing. The servers bring out huge plates with a mound of brisket, next to a pile of rice, broccoli, and cheesy roll. When I say mound of brisket, I am not saying a few slices of brisket. I am talking about each plate had two chunks of brisket, each chunk weighing 5 or 6 ounces! This lovely dish was pair very nicely with a Double-wide IPA. The hop and malt balance of the beer really brought out the flavors of char and smoke.

 The final course for the dinner was a delicious apple crisp bread pudding thing with ice cream. The dessert was paired with Sixth Glass, a Quadrupel Ale which is a Belgian style dark ale. This beer really brought out the succulent flavors of the apple. It also made me want to go home and get out some Bourbon Barrel Quad which Sixth glass is the base of.

Overall I really enjoyed myself and had great company. Some beer dinners leave you wanting to go to McDonald's because there wasn't enough food. This one I felt like I had gotten up from Thanksgiving dinner again! I got to eat some really good food with some great beers. The people at Boulevard really have a passion to share quality beer.

I feel this is a great start to the Advent season and will start us down a path of sharing and good times which is what the holiday season is all about! 1 down... 23 to go!

Beer descriptions by @Jeremy_Danner have included dissecting a frog n high school & a social movement to have uniquely identifying ringtones
— Alex Workman (@scoutingthetaps) December 2, 2014

Silver Crawl!

You may or may not have noticed recently that a certain brewery turn 25 years old. Actually at least two breweries turned 25 years old recently. In 1989, Odell Brewing and Boulevard Brewing Companies both started sharing the joy of quality beer with the masses.

This fact might make you feel old because you were at Ponak's on November 17, 1989 drinking a pale ale that was most likely bought for you by some guy at the bar. Or this fact might make you feel really young because last weekend you bought your first legal beer, an unfiltered wheat in a sleek black and yellow aluminum bottle. Either way this makes you feel, as Kansas Citian I know I feel proud and have a lot of respect for any business that can perpetuate itself for 25 years. A small business that turned the corner driven by a commitment to excellence born of passion. This commitment and passion driving the business to a regional, if not a national player in the industry in 25 years is really something to celebrate!

Good thing there was a celebration for both Odell and Boulevard here in Kansas City! More specifically in Westport with the Silver Crawl! Silver, if you didn't know, is the traditional celebratory symbol of 25 years.

Odell and Boulevard organized a pub crawl in Westport and they did it right! Having heard of the pub crawl through social media, C and I jumped on the chance to get a couple of only 600 tickets to join in on the Silver Crawl. A ticket got you a nice t-shirt and a passport book to take along your journey.

Possible stops on the pub crawl included:

• Local Pig Westport/Preservation Market/Bridger's Bottle Shop
• Harry's 
• Kelly's
• Green Room 
• Harpo's
• Port Fonda
• Riot Room
• Westport Ale House
• Firefly

Everyone of these stops had some good beer on tap, including a couple of collaboration beers that Odell and Boulevard put together as a celebration of 25 years.

As there were two versions of the Anniversary beers, there were also many reviews we heard as we went through the day. One of the brews was hoppier and crisp. The other was smoother and mellow, maybe because of the lack of a strong hop presence. I wont tell you which is which because I want you to tell me your thoughts about the beers. I also want you to help me find both on tap at the same bar. So let me know!

If good beer on tap is not your thing or not enough to get you out of your house, good people and a chance at a trip to GABF would have enticed you? Well it did for me! I got to chat with Jeremy Danner, Matt Shadid from Odell, not to mention Trip from Boulevard, (You know the guy that Long Strange Tripel is named after?). These guys and other friendly smiling faces representing both breweries were present and eager to hang out with supporters of the breweries.

What was that about GABF? That's right Great American Beer Fest! If you filled your passport by going to six of the bars and getting a stamp at each place, you were entered into a drawing for a trip to a week of beer drinking in Denver, Colorado. Beer drinking doesn't even do the event justice! GABF brings beer from all over in, what is for me, a bucket list event!

While I was not able to win the trip, C and I had a lot of fun, drank great beer, met great people, and even got a free shirt out of the deal!

I look forward to other celebrations in the future because both breweries are doing well enough that there is plenty to toast to!

"Arm wrestle @matts_odellbrew and you could win some sweet @OdellBrewing gear! #SilverCrawl #Blvd and #Odell pic.twitter.com/yf4O6H5ld2"
— Odell Brewing Co (@OdellBrewing) November 8, 2014

Brew Labs, Imperial Porter, the brewing process

This is my lovely face making some beer!

I have been home brewing for right around four years now and I would say that while I know some stuff, there is a tremendous amount of information, techniques, calculations, chemistry, and guidelines that I need to learn.

 In the four years of brewing, I have largely done extract brewing, with a little dabbling in the partial mash technique. Extract Brewing is a technique for brewing that is least effort intensive and will not set you back very far in the pocket book. My lack of experience with grain based brewing ended this past weekend. C took me for a surprise trip to Brew Lab KC in Overland Park.

Brew Lab is not just a beer shop for ingredients and equipment. The shop has a very knowledgeable staff

Three vessel all grain system at Brew Labs

that can literally walk you through the steps of the brewing process. I say literally because the shop also has extensively equipped stations for brewing beer. These stations include three tank systems that heat and circulate water as it transforms into wort. No matter what your experience is with home brewing, the people of Brew Lab can guide you through ingredient selection all the way through the tube hook ups, filtration, and pitching the yeast. I made an Imperial Porter that will be ready in about a month and a half. I learned A LOT about the brewing process, specifically the all grain process.

That's me! You know stirring stuff!

Sidenote: I might need help drinking the Imperial Porter, any volunteers?

Often during tours of commercial breweries a brewer/tour guide will use terms for their equipment that are second hand for them. Everyone taking the tour is in a rush to taste the beer at the end. They seldom ask the question, "Well what does that do? What purpose does that huge tank serve in the process?" Because I finally learned, took the time to ask those questions, while observing the brewing process through this past weekend here are some terms that are important to that brewing process.

• Extract
• A syrup like substance that is the result of water absorb sugars from the malts that would have been used in a batch of beer
• This syrup reduces the steps in the brewing process
• Extract brewers start with the boil instead of starting with a hot liquor tank and lauter/mash tun (Discussed below) 
• This is generally speaking the introductory brewing process for most home brewers
• Partial Mash
• This process is very similar to Extract brewing. While the water for the brewing process is getting hot for the boil, a brewer will place a mesh bag of milled grains into the water. This allows the heating water to rinse the grains of starches that will be converted to sugars during boil
• All grain

• The full brewing process of extracting starches from malted grains and boiling to convert them into dissolved sugars, along with the added hops
• Here are few pieces of the all grain process:
• Hot Liquor Tank
• This is a misnomer for me at least, there is no liquor involved with the Hot Liquor Tank
• This vessel heats water and that is it.
• The Brew Lab had a copper pipe spiral through the HTL from and back to the Lauter Tun quickly warming the wort to the appropriate temperatures
• Lauter tun (AKA Mash tun)
• This vessel is responsible for getting the grains stripped of starches so they can be converted to sugars during the upcoming boil
• This is done by rinsing the grain with hot water
• Sparging is a process to ensure that as much of the sugar is extracted as possible
• I found out there are a few different methods to sparge but for the purpose of this post we will leave it at that the wort is drained from the grains and water is added back to continue washing the grain
• Brew Kettle



A dark Imperial Porter! Yummm!

• This is where a majority of the ingredients are combined and dissolved using the heat of the boil
• Generally speaking this process is 60 minutes
• This time can vary as the whole point of the boil is to dissolve as much of the sugar in wort
• This makes beer a solution and for me the preferred solution
• Fermentation 
• Fermentation is the process of transforming wort into beer
• This is done with the addition of yeast after the wort has cooled from the boil
• Fermentation is usually done in a container that will let carbon dioxide out but not let in the outside air
• This is a delicate process as the beer is very susceptible to infection and going bad
• Yeast 
• Yeast is an organism that thrives on sugars around it
• The yeast will eat sugars in solution and leave behind alcohol and carbon dioxide
• DING! The lingering question about the importance of sugar throughout this process has just been answered
• Different strains of yeast can bring different flavors as they will react differently with the sugars present
• Just know a beer is not beer until yeast has pooped in it. Food for thought
• Adjunct
• Any fermentable ingredient other than malt, water, hops or yeast in a wort that affects the properties of the beer is considered an adjunct ingredient
• This can include anything from vanilla in a vanilla porter and raspberry in a raspberry wheat to yeast nutrient making the yeast more stronger during fermentation to corn and rice that lighten a beer's flavor
• For more on adjuncts reference a good article in Brew Your Own Magazine on Adjuncts

The anticipation as the brew ferments!

This is a lot of information! I am overwhelmed just typing it and I am still getting a hang of some of this jargon. Please ask questions if you have any, or correct me if you feel I have missed something. I would love to learn more. I know that the people at Brew Labs helped me get further down the path of home brewing.

If you have ever wondered what it would be like to brew a batch of beer or maybe you want to make a great present for friends and family, then go to Brew Lab in Overland Park.

Robin Williams: My inspiration to write, experience the world around me, laugh, and most of all live

Boys, you must strive to find your own voice. Because the longer you wait to begin, the less likely you are to find it at all. Thoreau said, "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation." Don't be resigned to that. Break out!
- John Keating, Dead Poets Society (1989)

Yesterday this world didn't lose a leader of faith or politics. We didn't lose a warrior or saint. No, this world lost a flame in a darkening cave. The world needs laughs, satire, and jokes of all kinds. We lost renewable source of cheer and hilarity.

You might be wondering why I am writing about Robin Williams. I am a beer blogger. What does Robin Williams have anything to do with beer?!

I have been inspired, moved, and driven me to write about the world around me and seek ways to inspire others. All of this by a comedian no less. One of the reasons I love the English language, is because of him.

Robin Williams was a man of many faces, voices, and talents. With one sentence, he could be telling a G rated children's story full of hope, wonder, and inspiration. In the next he could make you blush with his descriptions of a compromising and humorous situation.

The man was more than his roles, his stand up. He made the words he spoke come alive. Those words become fingers prodding our feelings, thoughts, and aspirations. Whether he made you laugh at his caricature depicting the invention of golf. Or made you forget Apple's attempt at commercialization and branding, instead compelled you to want to see the world and describe the awe inspiring fleeting moments that pass us by on a daily basis.

We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.To quote from Whitman, "O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless... of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?" Answer. That you are here - that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?
-John Keating, Dead Poets Society (1989)

Most of us as kids, if we don't remember him from anything else he acted in, he can most be recognized a big blue genie from the Disney Classic, Aladdin! This was also where I get one of my nick names! Yes, some people call me Laddie.

"Aladdin! Hello, Aladdin, nice to have you on the show. Can we call you Al, or maybe just Din? Or how about Laddie?"
- Genie, Aladdin (1992)

While over the next few days, details about what happened to the man in last hours and theories about the tortured thoughts that ravaged his brain will surface. We will need to remember all of the positives his life brought and not the negatives his death threatens. We will need to remember that he made us laugh at our weakest moments. In some very influential movies, he made us think and challenge ourselves.

All of life is a coming home. Salesmen, secretaries, coal miners, beekeepers, sword swallowers, all of us. All the restless hearts of the world, all trying to find a way home. It's hard to describe what I felt like then. Picture yourself walking for days in the driving snow; you don't even know you're walking in circles. The heaviness of your legs in the drifts, your shouts disappearing into the wind. How small you can feel, and how far away home can be. Home. The dictionary defines it as both a place of origin and a goal or destination. And the storm? The storm was all in my mind. Or as the poet Dante put it: In the middle of the journey of my life, I found myself in a dark wood, for I had lost the right path. Eventually I would find the right path, but in the most unlikely place.
- Patch Adams, Patch Adams(1998)

While Robin Williams has been called home, let us not lose the path and keep on going and not let life pass us by. Let us use our words to not only describe the world around us, but the landscape of what is on the inside. Never feel afraid to describe a hell you may be experience! Always share the joys and blessings you have. You never know who is listening who may need you or you may need them. As long as we keep talking and expressing ourselves, we will never be alone.