I understand the call for people to buy American products. I understand it'll create jobs or keep money in the American economy. But I don't understand our want to deprive very poor countries of money for products they work just as hard to make. I don't understand why our people are more needy than their people. I know we're American and these American workers need jobs and our spending creates those jobs. In order to support American workers we also have to stop buying from foreign countries, abandoning the workers living in poverty far beyond what some of our poorest Americans will ever experience. I don't know why Americans are more deserving of this money that circulates around the World when we have a government that pumps out money it doesn't have to help support them while families in the rest of the World survive on thirty cents a day. I know some of our fellow country folks are living lives tougher than I can fathom, but I also know that there are people in this World that rely on Americans buying things that they make to scrape together the absolute bare-minimum needed to live.

I like the idea of buying American a lot, buy I like the idea of buying from a hard-working human even more.

Beers From Lancaster, PA

I'm snowed in so I decided that it is time to get back on the beer blog horse and write about some of the beers I've been fortunate enough to try in the past couple months. This fall I was fortunate enough to have a good friend transport me some very delicious beer from Lancaster, PA. Lancaster county has a rich history of brewing. Apparently in 1810 Lancaster accounted for 7% of beer brewed in the US. To quote deceased Baltimore Sun columnist, "Lancaster occupies the same place in America that Munich does in Germany."* A bold statement, sir. Fast forward to now and just based off the two that I got to taste, Lancaster Brewing is bringing back the fire. In my care package I received the Strawberry Wheat and the Milk Stout. Two very different but equally pleasing brews.

The strawberry wheat was your typical session/summery wheat beer and the strawberry was used very well. It added just enough sweetness to keep me from feeling like a beer lover's girlfriend who wants in on the fun but is frightened by dark beer. It uses light hops and would be great to drink large but still responsible quantities of at a barbecue, bocce ball tournament, or to make a summer arts festival tolerable. I'm hoping I'll be able to get some next summer.

On the cover of the milk stout is either a very concerned or smug looking cow staring right at you, sort of like a Bovine Lisa. But once you get past the guilt or awkwardness of her gaze you get to a wonderfully thick and lip-smacking dark beer. Non-fermentable lactose sugar gives it the 'milk' title and also adds a creamy sweetness to the beer (both facts are news to me). Dark roasted malts give it a great chocolate and coffee taste that in my opinion is great anytime but some consolidate to cold weather seasons (like now) but what do they know. I don't want to let this beer be my favorite milk stout because theres no telling when I'll get to have more, but it really is one of the best around.

Bottom line is Lancaster Brewing makes great beer. If you're in the area visiting your Amish cousins or looking for the next bowling prodigy, check them out.

*All quotes and photos taken from Lancaster Brewing Company's Website.

Bottling the Porter/ Brewing the Pumpkin

This is the red ale malt steeping, its basically like making tea. You put the grains in, for this recipe it was chocolate malt and crystal malt and they steeped for 20 minutes, giving it that dark and beautiful color. It smells kind of like plain oatmeal and doesn't remind me of anything that smells good.

This is the mash boiling, its got all of the ingredients in it at the point i took the picture. I added in Williamette flavoring hops and boiled for 40 minutes before I added in two cans of pumpkin and a large amount of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and allspice, then boiled for 10 minutes before I added in the Williamette finishing hops. After it boiled the last 5 minutes I filtered it through a colander and some cloth into the bucket with 3 gallons of water, once it cools I'll add in the yeast and then it'll be set to start fermentation.

So we'll skip ahead (technically to the next step after the beer is in the bucket.) The beer fermented for two weeks, one in the plastic bucket and one in a big glass carboy. Then it goes into the bottling bucket that has a small spout at the bottom.

The porter looks amazing, it already tastes good too, let's all be excited together!

What you see here is Scott Jeffries bottling the porter. We named it Dirt Poor Porter, it has to do with the syllables, its complicated smart guy stuff we get into. Before we started bottling we heated up about a cup and a half of priming sugar, this add somes sweetness to the beer and also gives more sugar for the yeast to eat, increasing the alcohol content a bit. So now its in that bucket and theres a little tab at the bottom of that tube that lets the beer our when you press on it, so you press it onto the bottom of the bottle and voila, beer flows like wine.

Scott is using his man muscles to cap all of the bottles.

The semi-finished product. Two more weeks in the bottles fermenting and then we'll cool it down and crack it open. The Dirt Poor Porter, we hope you can afford some.

Rye Beers for Charity

On Sunday night I had two Rye ales, Sweetwater Crank Tank, and Founder's Red Rye. Rye ales are similar to regular ales but rye is included into the brew in addition to the regular grains and most of the time the hop taste gets bolstered and a spiciness gets tossed in. It's good that these beers were lip-smacking good because the Dallas v Redskins game was weak.

The second rye I enjoyed was Founder's Red Rye. This one gets the gold medal for the night based on flavor, which is why I'm mentioning it first. The scent was an enveloping, floral, hoppy bouquet that wasn't as strong as the Crank Tank but it made up for that with a much broader flavor. You could see it in the deeper red color and you could taste the roasted, maltier quality of this beer. The richer malt taste paired well with the big hop flavor and an enjoyably bitter finish that hangs around. Rye is used well in this to boost up the hop taste and also add the darker color and taste. You should go out and grab one of these, you'll be happy you did. I'm happy I did and I feel like I might be drinking a lot more rye infused beer because of it.

Sweetwater Crank Tank Rye'd is great for its flavor and also because proceeds go to support Camp Twin Lakes, (some details here) a camp for children living with illnesses or disabilities. Part of the sales from the beer go directly to Camp Twin Lakes and there is also a bike ride to support the camp on October 23rd and 24th (more details there). The beer itself is delicious, I knew I liked rye ales but this has reaffirmed it. The scent is wonderful, its like putting your face in a bouquet of flowers. A big floral punch, sweet, pungent, and kind of sticky comes with the sip, then you're left with a lingering bitter taste. I recommend it for two reasons, first because it is very good, if you like hops and strong, aggressive beers then getcha'self some. B; sales benefit a great charity, and who wouldn't want to drink beer and help someone ELSE out.

The Crank Tank!

A Smuttynose Bad A IPA was also drank, but it doesnt fit with the rye theme. But I recommend it, it's strong, delicious, and Smuttynose's other beers should be tasted, too.

Happy Labor Day

I hope you're all enjoying your labor day doing something relaxing and having a nice craft brew. My dad and I are sharing some Abita Satsuma Wheat and and assorted variety of Sweetwater. He made ribs, too. Try your hardest not to be jealous.

The other night I got to taste the latest Sweetwater Dank Tank, its the Magnum IP (play on Magnum PI). I felt an extra strong bond to this beer as Tom Selleck's likeness is on it and we both have luscious mustaches. The beer itself is delicious. Its an imperial pilsner, double the ingredients of a regular pilsner and it weighs in at 9%ABV. The taste is rich, its almost similar to a belgian white but its the beer itself is clearer and the carbonation is tighter. It's got a pleasantly sharp scent with some floral hints but its heavy on the sugary aroma. The flavor is sweet and yeasty but it has a nice bitter finish to it that sticks for a few seconds after you get it down, which comes from the lovely 2lb dosage of Cascade and Sterling hops they add to each barrel. This beer seems like it'd be good with any kind of Italian or Mediterranean food. I'm having it with some spaghetti with chicken asiago sausage and its working well together, and I can see it going well with some pizza too.

Aziz Ansari stand up. Watch it.

The porterI brewed a few days ago is fermenting now too, I was going to take a video of the bubbles coming through the airlock but I realized thats nowhere near as exciting as I think it is.

Brewing Day

This afternoon I'm starting my 2nd homebrew. It's a robust porter and its way more exciting than the campbells soup ingredients I used last time. Its got the grains you steep, for this recipe it used chocolate, crystal, and black malts, the obligatory campbells soup liquid malt extract, and 3 different kinds of hops, Northern Brewer bittering hops, Williamette flavoring, and Williamette aroma. The brewing this time was much more involved, steeping the grains, specific boiling times for each of the hops before you add the next, just how I like it. We didn't have a mesh strainer though, so there is a lot of sediment in the beer, which I don't have a problem with, it'll settle before stage 2 fermentation.

I also had the Brooklyn East India Pale Ale tonight before dinner. I like some of Brooklyn's other beer but this was the first time I've seen this IPA. It smells sweet but still isn't near as floral or sharp as you'd expect an IPA to be. I'm doubting if its their version of an IPA because it's pretty weak in comparison to the stronger, more adventurous india pale ales. I think its like East India, pause, Pale Ale because theres a good malty and nutty flavor you'd expect from an ale but its lighter in color and slightly hoppier than the normal ale. They also have have another beer I've seen that is supposed to be a really strong, hoppy brew but I haven't gotten to try it. Brooklyn makes a good lager but this one isn't really something I'd pick up again. It'd be easy to drink a few of it but it doesn't give much reward for someone looking for a lot of flavor or anything distinct to remember the beer by.

I watched the movie Brazil today while I was brewing. It was very good. Its a sci-fi movie from Terry Gilliam, a la Time Bandits except with a Blade Runner feel. The scenery is very well done, and I love that the characters keep whistling the same tune that the background orchestra is playing. A guy gets arrested after a typo in the central government office and a lowly government employee more occupied with dreams of flying around looking like David Bowie has to deal with his incompetent boss. Hes also in love with a lady he keeps seeing in his dreams and also in reality around his central offices but she keeps escaping his grasp. Lots of intricate, bizarre, and trippy special effects without CGI, which I love.

"Tell the twins I said Hello!"

"Triplets actually."

"My, how the time flies!"

You guys should get around to trying this, it sounds delicious and it will be hunted down.

This has become a beer blog.

Hey everybody!

I have been prompted to start blogging about the beers I drink. They're really pulling my leg over here. But on the reals I am going to start writing about the beers I drink. I will be taking some sassy pictures, telling you what I taste in them, what I could compare them to, what I would drink them with, if I would recommend it, and if I would drink it again (There are no promises I'll remember to do all that). I'll even throw in some corny jokes I've heard lately, and some uneducated opinions about sports and some more world views you didn't think would come with your ticket. I'm looking forward to sharing this type of thing, as beer is something that I cherish for the pure enjoyment, creativity, and the deliciousness it brings, and also the pure and wonderful craft that it is. Sharing it with people who also enjoy it will be a great reward. If there is anything else you guys want to hear let me know, I'd be happy to add some more for you all.

Sincerely,

Richmond