After 4 years on a wordpress installation, I’ve decided to reinstall. I’m not sure what happened, but I was having perpetual mysql connect issues again and the db cache reloaded and hyper-cache didn’t seem to be helping.
EDIT: looks like I was hacked at some point. I’m reviewing things now, but it appears I was hosting a forum for someone.
Beer Advocate.com has just released their latest list, The Top 50 Places to Have a Beer in America in celebration of American Craft Brew Week. If you glance quickly at the list, you’ll be surprised to only see Portland listed once. When you scan again, you’ll realize that it is actually Portland, Maine. So Portland, Oregon does not have one of the top 50 places to have a beer.
Don’t storm off yet. Washington and Oregon have a tremendously low Beer Advocate membership population density, so the math used in calculating these locations often omits some of the best places to get beer if there are not enough reviews. Complicating this calculation is the fact that there is an abundance of places to get good beer. For Example:
Brewpubs in the State of Maine: 16
Brewpubs in the State of New York: 30
Brewpubs in the City of Portland: 27
So, the 18 million residents of New York state have only 30 brewpubs to haunt, while the 550,000 residents of Portland have 27. And that doesn’t even consider how much more craft beer we drink here in Oregon. We’d need our own Top 50 list.
I’ve now seen 3 separate references to Lagunitas new Undercover Investigation Shut-Down Ale, and I feel that I must give it a try.
I’ve lost the Rooftopbrew.com domain and moved to rooftopbrew.net. Damn registrar. Anyway, I’m also moving the domain from my iMac to a real host, so service should be – well – consistent. I’ll be updating the templates over the next couple weeks.
I added my recipe for my pumpkin ale to this site. I have brewed this twice with the same recipe and am really pleased with how it has turned out. It has a really nice balance of pumpkin and spices (not to spicy) and makes a good seasonal beer.
Give it a try and let me know what you think or if you have any suggestions.
I am half way through the production of a chocolate stout. So far it tastes good, and had a moderate Original Gravity (1.054). However, when I racked to my secondary fermentation carboy, I ended up leaving behind about 3/4 gallon of sediment and slurry. Normally I only have about an inch of sediment. Does this sound abnormal to anyone else? Would anyone have racked the sediment with the rest of the wort?
Of course my largest concern is that if it turns out really good, I will wish I had more than 4 gallons of it to drink.
Well this weekend I went a little crazy and decided to brew an Imperial IPA. I used 13.5 lbs of extract and a lot of hops (99IBUs). I used Galena and Cascade hops and decided that in secondary I will add some corainder and orange peels (really going for a citrusy flavor to overpower the alcohol – looks like it might be 9.2% ABV). Its bubbling away in primary, and I had to use a blow of tube rather than a typical airlock for fear of the airlock being blown off. I also kegged my Graduation Kolsch which will be drinkable in a couple weeks. Look for both recipes to be added shortly.
In case there were some of you out there that didn’t know about this, this weekend is the Oregon Brewers Festival here in Portland.
I’m really looking forward to it and will be there Saturday and Sunday.
Cheers!
Well, I kegged my robust porter on Sunday which I am calling Porter’s Porter after the dog. I tried it last night, and it still needs to carbonate a little more but other than that I thought it was pretty good. Not as hoppy as I expected, which is good cause I think it has a nice balance of maltiness and hops. Its a nice dark brown color from the chocolate and other roasted malts. I wish it had a little more body so next time I think I will add a little bit of Munich malt.
I also have a Kolsch lagering away which will be ready mid August. Its not my recipe but I thought I would give it a shot. I’ll let you know how it turns out. Also, look for some new recipes that I will be adding soon for the Porter and Czech Pilsner.
This April 7th lift a glass of beer for “New Beer’s Eve” to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the repeal of prohibition. Cheers!