Homebrew Party Tomorrow Info

Hello HOPS Heads,
Just a reminder that tomorrow we are having a homebrew party at Sandy and Debra Sandoval's house. Most of us are brewing Stout, but come and brew whatever you want - or, just come and drink beer and watch us brew. Quoteth the Sandy:

"I plan on having a TV inside and outside with the game on. The garage has the beer fridge and dart board. Patio tables will be set up in the brewing area and the garage." Also, they will be cooking some veggies for the crew, but bring your own meat for the grill and brewskis.

Eleanor and I picked up a growler of Mole Stout from Ska today (it's fresh!), so we will be sharing that too. Hope to see you tomorrow!

Cheers ~ 
 
Randini

P.S. - If you need directions or a phone number you can call me at 946-7839 or go to our website at pagosahops.org and look at previous postings for the details. We plan to start brewing around 11:00.

Randini2

Star Liquors Exciting News!

Hiya HOPS Heads,Just thought I would pass this on. I am headed to D-town tomorrow so lemme know if you want something. 
 
Randini


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Oliver Gamble <oliver@starliquorsdurango.com>
Date: Wed, Nov 28, 2012 at 12:31 PM
Subject: Star Liquors Exciting News!


Beer Lovers!
It is a happy joyous day at Star Liquors, today I had great beer roll in the door!

Pliney the Elder is in the building (one per person per day)

Deschutes The Abyss

Russian River Supplication

The Bruery 5 Golden Rings

As promised when great beer comes in I will shoot you a quick note, you can also check us out on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter.

Cheers,
Oliver


-- Oliver Gamble Beer Manager Star Liquors, Durango, CO. 970-247-2258 oliver@starliquorsdurango.com www.starliquorsdurango.com

Stout Competition Rules & Misc Brew Info

SPAM!!! Oh yeah, I am full of it... (in many ways)

I talked to Tony at Pagosa Brewing and for anyone interested in brewing this weekend that does not have all the ingredients necessary, Pagosa Brewing may be able to help. Quoteth the Tony: "We have whole kernel malt for this weekend brews. [Randini - I will have a mill there for crushing them] We've got the whole range of malt we can sell by the lb. Hops are also available.  Will need to check inventory on varieties.  And, we have some dry yeast too."

So contact Pagosa Brewing ASAP if you know what ingredients you are lacking.

Below are the rules for the competition.

Cheers ~

Randini

**************************************************************************************


 Pagosa Brewing & Grill
Stout-Only Homebrew Competition
For Stout Month 2013

(Sorry, professionally experienced brewers excluded)

 

In conjunction with our upcoming Stout & Chops Month in February 2013, we are challenging Stout Lovers to create a homebrewed Stout to help us celebrate.

 

In 2012, we offered 16 different Stouts (8 in-house & 8 guest). The winning homebrewer will have the opportunity to join us and brew a full sized 6bbl batch of their Stout recipe, which will be featured for Stout Month 2013.  The winning brewer will also receive a $50 gift card & bragging rights.

 

RULES:

1)     Entries must be Stouts (no Porters, Black IPAs, Black Lagers, etc.)

2)     Entry must be under 8% ABV.

3)     This is an AHA sanctioned competition & BJCP style guidelines will be used for judging: http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style13.php

4)     Creativity of ingredients is encouraged, but not required.

5)     All entries must be delivered by Friday, 1/4/13 to Pagosa Brewing.

6)     For each entry, three 12 oz. bottles are required.

7)     Entries need to be labeled with names, styles & any necessary info.

8)     Participants cannot have professional brewing experience.

9)     Brewers cannot use our house yeast.

10) All winning recipes will be considered Pagosa Brewing recipes, and at our discretion may (or may not) be brewed by us in the future.

 

For questions, please email: tony@pagosabrewing.com

 

Good Luck & Happy Brewing!

 

Cheers,

Pagosa Brewing & Grill

Attn:  Stout Month

118 North Pagosa Blvd.

Pagosa Springs, CO 81147

Group Grain Purchase

Hi again - I have a feeling you are going to hear a lot from me today. I am, after all, a most accomplished beer spammer! ;-)

We have had several members express interest in getting another group grain purchase going. In the past we have ordered from Colorado Malting Co in Alamosa. If anyone is interested in buying bulk grain (it comes in 50lb bags) let me know how much of what you are interested in. Normally they offer base malts and pilsener malts, but very few specialty malts. Send an email to me directly randy@speeddirect.com with what you are interested in. This is not yet a commitment - once we find out how many people are interested we can let you know about pricing. We won't place an order until everyone knows pricing and what is available.
 
Cheers ~
 
Randini the Beer Spammer

HOPS Meeting Recap & Group Brew This Weekend!

Hello HOPS Peoples,
Thanks to all for attending the meeting last night - there were some mighty fine Porters! Just a few things to recap and give you a heads up on:
  • Mark your calendars - Next month (December for those lost in time) the HOPS meeting will be on December 18th. We will be sampling Winter Ales. The Red Color Group is up for that, but everyone is welcome to bring what you want. Also, there will be a Pink Elephant gift exchange. Bring a bomber of some fun for trade. If you don't feel like being involved with that side of the meeting that is fine, come anyway.
  •  Pagosa Brewing Co Stout Competition - Pagosa Brewing is hosting a competition for their February Stout Month. Homebrewers need to have their entries submitted by January 4th. Judging is on the 5th. The winner gets to brew their recipe with Pagosa Brewing on the big system! Plus there are other gift certificates and prizes that will be awarded, and you will get a BJCP feedback sheet for the beer you submit. The details on the competition will be emailed separately.
  • Group Stout Brew This Weekend - Sandy & Debra from the homebrew club have offered to host a brew party this Sunday to get some Stout in line for the afore mentioned competition. Bring your equipment and brew, or just show up and watch others brew - either way. Below are the details for the brew party this weekend:
*********************************
(From Sandy):
My back yard and deck will work for as many brewers as we can get together this Sunday, Dec 2nd.  Everyone is welcome, brew or not.  
I'll have two grills working and a fire pit out back.
BYOB and meat and anything else that you want to bring.  There will be plenty of vegetables to round out any meal.  
In order to be finished before dark, we should begin around noon.  Anyone can come and set up earlier, I will start before noon, probably around 10:00.

Sandy Sandoval
251 Twincreek Circle

Go north (on N. Pagosa Blvd) from the brewery to Sweetwater in the bottom of Dutton Creek.  Turn left on Sweetwater, go to the end and you are looking across Twincreek Circle at our house on the left.
*********************************** 

If you have any questions just send me an email at randy@speeddirect.com.

Cheers ~
 
Randini

HOPS Brewsletter - November 2012

HOPS – Homebrewers Of Pagosa Springs

 

Happy (late) Thanksgiving HOPS Heads! I love Thanksgiving and all that comes with it. And thank God for all the good stuff we have to be thankful for. For example, I love turkey. Turkey bird. Crama-lama turkey in my pumpkin pie slot. Gravy-stuffing-mashpotater mixed together happy maker heaping mound of fun filled flavor. Wow, you could make a rap song out of that. With a mix of iambic pentameter even. Anyway… I wish I could make a beer as stimulating as Thanksgiving. Ok, that didn’t really come out right. When I hear the word Thanksgiving, I think of family, food, fun, flavor, an extra full belly, gravy on my face and stuffing in my teeth. It’s awesome that one word conjures up so much funk. If I could brew a beer that was so awesome that just the name of it made people’s eyes roll back and drift into a tryptophan induced bliss, I would be the coolest person on the planet! I am not too sure about throwing a plate full of leftovers into the boil, but it sounds somewhat intriguing. Maybe I will take the safe route and just crack a homebrewed Porter and share it with some good peeps. Brewing with sleeping agents sounds too risky anyway. So on that note, here’s to all the good stuff we have been blessed with and are thankful for – I hope you enjoy good fermentables, good family and good times for another year to come.

 

Until next time, cheers and happy fermenting ~

 

Randini the Beer Spammer

 

Quote of the Day:  “There are two reasons for drinking: One is when you are thirsty, to cure it; The other, when you are not thirsty, to prevent it.”

— Thomas Love Peacock, Melincourt, 1817

 

Tech Tip of the Day: Tips for Better Extract Brewing: http://archive.maltosefalcons.com./tech/Extract_Beers.pdf

 

 

 

HOPS Meetings:

 

  • HOPS – New Business:
    • Next Meeting: Tuesday, the 27th is the next HOPS meeting, Pagosa Brewing Co at 6:00 PM. The GREEN COLOR GROUP is up, so if you are in this group, make sure you have been in touch with your Color Group Leader to find out what is in the pipeline.
    • Style of the Month: Porter - Yummmmm
    • Discussion: Some ideas we want to go over include the following:

A)   Donated Homebrew Supplies – Raffle?

B)      Other upcoming events found below.

 

UPCOMING LOCAL NEWS & EVENTS:

 

 

NEWS (Pretty quiet this time o’ year):

 

 

 

Pagosa Brewing Company News / Events:

 

Mark Your Calendars:

 

·         February - Stout & Chops Month at Pagosa Brewing Co – AND rumor has it there may be a Stout homebrew competition lined up for this too. Opportunities for prizes and maybe even a chance to brew your recipe with Pagosa Brewing Co! Stay tuned for more details as they come around…

 

 

 

FRONT RANGE & BEYOND NEWS & EVENTS:

 

Nope, no new-news here either…

 

 

 

FOR SALE / FOR FREE / WANTED:

 

  • Wine Bottles – We have some extra bottles around if anyone needs them. Most have been de-labeled. Contact The Great Randini at randy@speeddirect.com if’n ya wannum.

 

  • WANTED – Refrigerator that can be used for a kegerator.

 

 

Anybody else have anything you want to list? Beer related or not, just lemme know and I will circulate your stuff around the universe. Well, my universe…

 

 

Links:

 

  • Homebrewing News – A website started by our buddy Bill Downs here in the Four Corners area that focuses on product reviews and more: www.homebrewingnews.com

 

  • Local Beerlover Networking Website: Check out www.brewerfest.com for a social beer lover’s networking site. It works kinda like Facebook, only without all the loser teenagers counting how many totally irrelevant “friends” they can amass proving how completely lame they are. This site is actually cool! (Yes, a big fan of Facepuke here…) Joseph from Pagosa Brewing started this one up and it has some great photos of HOPS junk, plus it is free to join! Sign in and rock out with your beer out.

 

 

 

UNSUBSCRIBE – Ok, but first you must answer this one question: What is your name? What is your quest? What is the flying air speed velocity of a turkey (African or European)? Answer me this and you will be permitted to pass…

Star Liquors Beers Newsletter November 2012

More goods from D-town. 


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Oliver Gamble
Date: Mon, Nov 19, 2012 at 2:27 PM
Subject: Star Liquors Beers Newsletter November 2012
To: 


Hello Beer Lovers and Home Brewers!!!

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and pairing beer with food is an alternative to the traditional wine.  Light wheats and lagers to start the evening, pale ales and blonds with dinner and finishing the night with a hearty coffee stout, that’s my kind of turkey dinner!  Enjoy friends and family and break out the cellared beers to wow the guests.  Home brewers, I know you have that special beer you have been working on and watching bubble for the last few weeks, may your creation tantalize your taste buds.  Today we will walk all over the world to discuss some new treasures I have found.

Hommel Ale brewed by Van Eecke in Belgium is a hoppy golden bronze ale that blends winter, summer and aromatic malts to create a wonderfully hoppy Belgian ale.  Cereals and yeast blend together to form a caramel sweetness that finished with a hoppy bitterness.  Lovely esters of pepper, honey and grass merry together to make this a very drinkable Belgian ale.  I typically don’t buy European hop heavy beers because they lose a lot of the hop quality, but I went out on a limb with this one and do not regret it.  A .750ml bottle is a great $9.49. 

Just across the English Channel in Scotland we pay a visit to Brew Dog and their Hardcore IPA, 22oz of this quaffable beer costs $6.99 and that’s a great price for Brew Dog.   Floral notes and grapefruit with a caramel sweetness on the nose carry over to the pallet.  Green pine cones, grapefruit and a moderate malt body followed late with a big long lingering hoppy bitterness, all around a great Double IPA, highlighting the huge 150 IBU’s.

Traveling several thousand miles to Juneau Alaska we visit the Alaskan Brewery. Their limited production Pilot Series Baltic Porter hit a home run.  22oz of this dark ecstasy is only $6.99.  A porter brewed with dark cherries and vanilla beans create a winter warmer that was right up my alley.  Smooth dark chocolate notes with hints of cherries and vanilla blend together with a semi sweet roasted malts.  Finishing off dry with a mild heat this beer was delectable and kept me warm all night long.  Great for an after dinner drink or a whole evening sipper, the flavor evolved as it warmed.

Back from around the world we end up in Colorado and head up to Denver to see our buddies at Odell Brewing Company.  They have been doing great things with their limited releases and The Meddler Oud Brune is no exception.  A blend of several generations of brown ale aged in oak barrels for 18 months with Lactobacillus and Brettanomyces added create a beer with depth and complexity.  This sour has an aroma of wood and dark fruit with hints of vanilla and vinegar.  Flavors of earth and tobacco blend with tart dark fruit, wood and toasted malts.  Not a bracing sour like some, The Meddler has balance and masks the 8.9% ABV nicely, a cork and cage .750ml run $14.49.

Just to prepare you for more of the holiday season and a house full of guests we have gotten our hands on some St. Bernardus Abt 12 in 3 liter bottles.  The label is a one-time release that is sure to turn into a collector’s item.  $39.99 for this giant bottle is a great price for making you the guy to know at a holiday party this year.   Next month will be all about winter warmers and holiday beers.  With that I wish you all a happy Thanksgiving!

Cheers,

Oliver

-- Oliver Gamble Beer Manager Star Liquors, Durango, CO. 970-247-2258 oliver@starliquorsdurango.com www.starliquorsdurango.com

Learn To Brew Day - Tomorrow, Saturday the 3rd (Kind of...)

Hi all,
Tomorrow is officially "Learn to Brew Day!" It is a day when people across the nation get together and brew beer. Normally we try to arrange a group brew here in Pagosa, but then again, this is Pagosa, and it turns out half the populous 'round these parts be huntin'. At the HOPS club meeting I asked if anyone would be interested in said event and the vast majority were going to be in the hills.

That said, Eleanor and I will be brewing, but probably not tomorrow. We are waiting for some yeast to arrive and it is not due in until Saturday (maybe afternoon) so it would be too late to start a brew. We are considering brewing on Sunday though. SO - if you are brewing tomorrow and would like some company, reply to this email and let the HOPS world know about it. If you are interested in attending a brew and nobody replies to this email, call me at 970-731-1348 and we can work something out!
 
Is anyone really running this crap-show or what!?   :-/

Cheers, and happy homebrewing (wherever and whenever that may be) ~

Randini