Sunbeams illuminating a coastal forest in Port Orford, Oregon

Chuggnutt!

Category: Beer

  • McMenamins Finally!

    Finally! McMenamins is on track to open the Old St. Francis School here, on November 15, 2004. Seems like we’ve been hearing about this for years, but this time it’s the real deal. (I hope.)

    Bend.com has an article on the opening. This paragraph is noteworthy:

    Gathering of stories, photos and memorabilia is currently under way to supply the artists with subject matter, as well as for documenting the school’s seven decades of experiences. Anyone interested in contributing is encouraged to contact McMenamins historian Tim Hills at (503) 223-0109 or via e-mail to timh@hq.mcmenamin.com.

    If you’ve ever been to a McMenamins, you know that the art, history and memorabilia play a huge role in creating their unique atmosphere. Seems like a cool opportunity to get a little piece of the action.

  • Mystery beers

    Part of getting ready to move next month is not only packing things up, but also disposing of excess homebrewed beer that’s been around for a while. And by “disposing of” I of course mean “drinking.” Some thoughts on these beers.

    The oldest I have in the fridge right now is a porter I brewed way back in Spokane, about, oh, ’96 or ’97, I’m guessing—maybe earlier. I had named this “Capricorn Porter,” after my astrological sign. It was a big beer; I don’t remember everything I put into it, but I do remember licorice, and probably molasses, and a lot more. I was very ambitious and over-the-top with it, but it still turned out pretty good.

    Eight years later, I had a sixpack left over and surprise, it’s still drinkable. Wouldn’t win any awards, but not terrible; it’s pretty astringent and you can taste the age. But this last sixpack held up better than I thought it would, considering it’s been through two moves and some questionable storage conditions.

    This weekend I also drank the last bottle of a batch of Toad Spit Stout that I had kept for a few years. (I don’t remember if it’s left over from a batch I brewed right before leaving Spokane in 1997, or if I brewed a batch here in Bend since then.) It was pretty good, a little sharper in the roasted flavor than it should be when it’s fresh, but enjoyable. If ever there’s a signature beer I associate with Charlie Papazian and beginning homebrewing, it’s Toad Spit. It’s a classic, from The Complete Joy of Homebrewing. Maybe this will be the first batch of beer I brew when we get moved into the new house…

    I also tried a small bottle of strawberry mead that I made for our wedding back in 1998. It has a bit of a kick to it; it’s very dry, with a mellow and at the same time lactic-sharp fruit bite to it. Not bad. And hardly any aftertaste, I thought, at all. A good sipping drink, I think, but I’m afraid of drinking too much in one sitting: mead aftereffects can be harsh.

    And finally there’s some unknown ambery ale in a Grolsch bottle, and I can’t remember a thing about it. The fact it’s in a Grolsch bottle tells me it was probably a batch of beer I made for my parents (who had an abundance of those and whenever I would brew for them I’d use their bottles), but I’m totally blank on the details. A true mystery beer! I guess we’ll just have to wait and see…

  • Beer for Dummies

    Amusingly, at the library today I picked up Beer for Dummies. Not because I need to learn more about beer (well, not entirely; beer is one of the few topics I have some in-depth knowledge on), but because I like the “Dummies” books and want to see how well the topic of beer is treated. A quick survey of the contents reveals a decent spread:

    • Ingredients
    • Brewing and homebrewing beer
    • Cooking with beer
    • Serving and tasting
    • Travel
    • Breweriana

    Should be an interesting read.

  • Portland Spring Beer Fest

    From /dev/beer I just read about the Spring Beer & Wine Fest going on in Portland this next weekend, April 9 and 10. Over a 100 different beers to sample. Sounds like fun, I haven’t been to a brew fest in ages. Too bad it’s short notice, though. Damn.

  • Governator No More

    Sadly, it appears that The Governator Ale is to be no more. Lawyers for Schwarzenegger basically issued a cease-and-desist. I mean, really. Where’s the harm? Arnold should’ve snatched up a bottle and gotten into the fun: like saying, “Hasta la vista, baby” and then drinking it, or, “I’ll be back… for more Governator Ale!”

  • The Governator Ale

    Governator Ale labelFrom this press release on MacTarnahan’s Brewing’s website (MacTarnahan’s and Portland Brewing are the same company):

    Thirty-five million Californians are getting their first taste of The Governator—a new beer commemorating the Golden State’s 38th governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Brewed and bottled by Pumping Iron Brewing Company [a DBA for MacTarnahan’s], The Governator Ale comes in a strapping, 22-ounce bottle adorned with a flexing beau, paying homage to the Austrian-born bodybuilder-turned-actor-turned-governor.

    It’s an ESB (Extra Special Bitter), and doesn’t sound bad. Anyone in California kind enough to send me a bottle or two? :-) (Unless, of course, I can find it here…)

    I also notice that the domain name pumpingironbrewing.com is available for registration.

  • Beer Brewing Software

    For some reason that I now forget I started digging around online tonight to see what the current state of beer brewing software looks like. The last time I’d played with any such software, I installed the evaluation version of ProMash on my old computer and tried it out. It’s probably the best piece of software for brewing out there, and to be sure it worked well and did a good job, but when you look at it you can’t help but notice the Visual Basic GUI-clutter-itis that prevents it from breaking through to the best-in-show program it wants to be. (See a screenshot here to see what I mean.)

    The two lists I found are Lee’s Brewery Guide to Brewing Software and the Open Directory beer software category, and I’m disappointed to report that the state of brewing software is right about where I left it. Even ProMash looks the same.

    Here’s a bit of a wishlist of features I’d like to see in brewing software:

    • Simple layout and navigation.
    • Visual color indicator—I want to see what color the 30+ SRM porter will be.
    • Staggered complexity by usage—if I’m brewing from extract, I’m not worried about seeing all-grain stats and figures to tweak on the recipe formulation screen.
    • Open source—open code, open databases.
    • Perhaps web-based. (I tend to see everything as having a web-based solution these days, go figure.)
    • Custom report generation.
    • XML data transfer. Data storage in a database is great, but I want to be able to export to XML for whatever I might need.

    To be sure, ProMash covers most or all of this quite nicely—its layouts and colors make my eyes bleed, though, and it’s not open source.

    Of course, complaining about the current state of affairs for a particular genre of software, accompanied by listing a bunch of desired features for said software, is usually followed by the self-same person announcing that they’re going to develop the ultimate version themselves. What can I say? I’d be tempted to do it, but I really don’t have the time—there’s too many other irons in the fire right now. Plus, I haven’t even brewed a batch of beer in over a year, so I’m not even qualified. Sometimes, though, you just gotta vent. :-)

  • Black Butte Porter

    I always (usually) (sometimes) take notice when someone mentions some of our fine local beers; so my attention was grabbed when I read that Tim Bray enjoyed a Black Butte Porter while waiting for a flight home today. Good choice, Tim.

    Black Butte Porter is not only the flagship beer from Deschutes Brewery, but also I think of Bend. It’s definitely one of the things we’re known for in some circles. In fact, if you ever visit Bend, you must go to the Deschutes Brewery and your first beer must be a Black Butte Porter, it’s that good (especially on tap at the source). Should you do so, let me know and I’ll join you. I might even buy the first round.

  • Philosophy

    I thought I’d share something I had forwarded to me in an email awhile back. I don’t know who wrote it, so I can’t give proper credit.

    A philosophy professor stood before his class with several items laid out on a table in front of him.

    As the class began, he picked up a large, empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, each about 2″ in diameter. When he had piled the rocks to the brim, he asked the students if they thought the jar was full.

    They all agreed that it was.

    The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar, shaking it slightly so that the pebbles rolled into the gaps between the rocks. Once more, he asked the students if the jar was full.

    Again, they agreed it was.

    With that, the professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar, where it filled the spaces between the rocks and the pebbles.

    “Now,” said the professor, “I want you to recognize that this is your life. The rocks are the important things – your family, your partner, your health, your children – things that would still make your life full even if everything else was lost. The pebbles are the other things that matter, like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else; the small details of life.

    “If you put the sand into the jar first, there will be no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are most important to you. Take care of the rocks first – the things that really matter. The rest is just sand.”

    At this point a student stood up, popped the cap on a bottle of pale ale and walked to the front of the room. Taking the supposedly full mayonnaise jar from the professor, he raised the bottle and poured it into the jar, filling the remaining spaces with the ale and proving that…

    …no matter how full your life, there is always room for beer!

  • Happy New Beer

    My first beer of 2003 (yes, on January 1) was Sea Otter Amber Ale, from Rogue Brewing. It’s a 22-ounce special edition beer you can only get from the brewery itself in Newport, Oregon, and a portion of the proceeds are donated to the Oregon Coast Aquarium.

    On my 30th birthday (just over a week ago, alas), I enjoyed one of the last 2 bottles of a homemade barleywine. I think I made it about 3 years ago, and it had aged nicely. Now there’s only one left.

    This weekend will be either Terminator Stout from McMenamins, or Toad Spit Stout, homebrewed by my good friend Justin.