Jon Joins the Blogosphere

So, the fourth member of the homebrew 'exec board' joins the blogging world ... with a snappy blog address ihatehops.blogspot.com and name "Confessions of a Hop Hater".

Jon's Homebrewed Milk Stout

My friend Jon, co-exec of the homebrew club came over to borrow "Clone Brews" and brought me a bomber of his latest beer ... a milk stout (which he named ??, I forget). He used a bunch of lactose on this one, and oh boy is it creamy!

Malted milk chocolate nose, just a bit of lactic or priming sugar twang. Light coffee notes and sweet undertones. Dark brown-black clear with a thin creamy light tan lacing head atop. Medium bodied but very creamy, with light carbonation. Starts and stays quite sweet throughout, but not cloying. Some roasty notes with a creamy, tangy note. Clean finish.

Thanks, Jon! This'll be a great contender for March!

Tomme Arthur's Letter to eBay

Tomme Arthur, the master behind Port Brewing and Lost Abbey, has had enough with the jerks who buy his special release beers one day and put them on eBay the next. Absolutely hilarious!

Just the Cure for Some February Blahs!

Last night, the Indiana Homebrewers Club "exec board", as we semi-jokingly call ourselves, met at Dave's house for a February meeting pre-meeting planning session and, of course, tasting.

I was a bit late, and by the time I showed up, everyone was gnoshing on some good eats with some bombers waiting to be cracked. I can't remember who brought what, but there was some nice spicy sausage, Gruyere and Havarti cheese, then some St. Andre triple cream and a Spanish bleu (forgot the name) wrapped in grape leaf. Some apples and pears provided a sweet touch - and the hot appetizer for the evening was pieces of pheasant (courtesy of Eli) and pepperocini (sp?) peppers wrapped in bacon. Good stuff ... except for the piece of steel shot that I almost cracked a tooth on. The downside of shot game!

Anyway, in between discussion and food, we did manage to have some beers. Justin, who'd been in CA for a meeting, brought back several bottles of Russian River. Dave provided a Lost Abbey, Eli some Oskar Blues, and I brought a bottle of Belgium's finest. Our tasting list last night:

1. Lost Abbey Lost & Found, 750mL (Dave)
2. 2004 Westvleteren 12, 330mL (Nate)
3. Russian River Damnation, 750mL (Justin)
4. Russian River Redemption, 750mL (Justin)
5. Russian River Salvation, 750mL (Justin)
6. Oskar Blues TEN FIDY, 2x12oz cans (Eli)

All very tasty stuff.

Happy Groundhog Day

So ... Phil predicts six more weeks of winter. No surprise there, I guess. One of these years, I'll make the trek to Punxsy (especially now that it's only 30 miles away) and join the melee. But standing in a cold field with 30,000 people doesn't seem to be that appealing.

However, one of my cousins is a co-handler (at right in the picture here, that I stole from the Post-Gazette website), and he and the family up there make the yearly invite to come join. Maybe next year...