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

Star Liquors Home Brewers Newsletter 10-29-12

The latest arrivals from Star Liquors in Durango:


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Oliver Gamble <oliver@starliquorsdurango.com>
Date: Mon, Oct 29, 2012 at 11:50 AM
Subject: Star Liquors Home Brewers Newsletter 10-29-12

Hello Home Brewers and Beer Lovers!

            We are moving into stout and porter season, I have quaffed enough fall beer to build up a great thirst for the big hearty stouts.  Age them in a barrel, throw in some chocolate or coffee.  I am even loving the dark lagers.  I just need a beer to stave off the cold that is beginning to creep into my bones, snow is just around the corner and I am not ready. With that lets get started with a monster winter warmer.

Brew Dog from Scotland has released a HUGE Imperial Stout “Tokyo”, with the usual blather on the side of the bottle, what matters is this monster is 18.2% ABV.  Tokyo is aged on toasted French oak chips and brewed with jasmine and cranberries, then dry hopped with a ton of Brew Dogs favorite hops.  A huge amount of flavor is stuffed into this .330ml bottle.  Sweet and bitter, roasted malt and coffee flavors are enhanced with the fruitiness of the cranberries and hints of jasmine.  Lightly carbonated and velvety on the tongue, the alcohol is present like a fine brandy but blends well with the cacophony of flavors.  Limited release and hard to get, this is a beer worth trying.  The $12.99 price tag is hefty for this beer but I think it’s a must try for the stout lovers out there.

Stranahans Well Built ESB from Breckenridge has been released again, very limited quantities have made there way past the mountains but we secured a case for your enjoyment.  Stranahans had been producing one of Colorado’s most sought after whiskey for several years now and has banded with Breckenridge to create this fantastic beer.  Aged for 6 months in the used whiskey barrels this small batch ESB really hit a home run.  7.8% ABV is blended well with sweet earthy molasses and hop bitterness.  Vanilla and wood are rounded out with a nice whiskey flavor that permeates the whole beer.  Warm on the finish with a nice lingering bitterness the Well Built ESB is a fitting name for a very solid beer.  $15.99 for this .750ml bottle is fantastic and with the great graphics on the bottle.  A beer that will catch your eye in your cellar or look great with your empty beer bottle collection.

Hopping the pond to Belgium Bavik-De Brabaddere has a lovely barrel aged pale sour.  Aged in oak casks for over 20 months this sour is really given an opportunity to develop in it’s home turf.  No cellaring needed to bring out the funk in this beer, the grapefruit, barnyard and delicate oak qualities blend together with the 7.3% ABV well.  Sweet malt up front is swirled away by a hearty sour wheat profile and finishes dry.  A .330ml is a steal for $4.99 with the amount of time it spends in an oak barrel.

Last but not least we are still in the fresh hop time of the year and Deschutes is brewing a new Bond Street Series “Chasin’ Freshies”.   Hops picked from the vine and rushed to the kettle hit a home run in the fresh hop style.  Pine, citrus, honey and lightly sweet malt carries the hop profile to the palate with perfection.  Bright and fresh with a pilsner malt flavor on the finish, this 22oz bottle is $4.99, and worth every penny.

I am waited with baited breath for the winter warmers to land, a few have trickled in but many more will arrive very soon.  I will review several next month as well as some of the gems I am trying to get my hands on.  Deschutes is the Beer of the Month for October and $6.99 a six pack is a price you can’t beat for this outstanding brewery.  On a last note Magic Hat has landed in Colorado, with their flagship #9 leading the way.  It has met with great success and I am being praised for getting my hands on this East Coast iconic brewery.  Stay warm out there and have fun drinking those great dark beers!

Cheers,

Oliver

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

Re: HOPS Brewsletter - October 2012

This latest Brewsletter really made me want to drink a beer right now. Perhaps it was all the talk about finding peace from the ever piling demands on my time and thereby my life. Thanks Randini, for turning on the flashlight in the dark forest of what I call my "schedule".  ~gets up and walks to the fridge~ A toast, to putting time on pause. ;)

HOPS Brewsletter - October 2012

HOPS – Homebrewers Of Pagosa Springs

 

Hiya HOPS Heads,

Well, lucky for you, it has been a while since my last Brewsletter (hold the applause, please). I’ve been a bit busy, as I am sure most of you can relate. Staying crazy busy is a funny thing. I think many of us create our own self-inflicted insanity. I mean, I don’t have to drive old VWs that need constant tinkering, have stupid chickens that need taking care of, have an insane beer fetish that keeps me brewing, bottling, cleaning and kegging for hours on end, but I do. All these ‘little’ things can add up to one big pain in the asparagus. My other problem is that I’m about as organized as a trailer park – post tornado. That certainly adds to my insanity. I figure if I could just get my poop in a group maybe I wouldn’t be so frazzled. But the thought of restructuring my organized chaos is daunting enough to make me want to drink beer. And in case you didn’t notice, motivation seems to fly out the window with the consumption of boozes. It’s a nasty cycle. It takes time to save time, but who has time to apply? That’s why I love beer. It’s like time stands still when you drink beer. Gazing deep into your pint glass you take a sniff. The slight, gentle aroma of hops lightly whisks your nose like a run-away Fruehauf smashing through a concrete barrier on Wolf Creek Pass. (Now that’s my kind of beer!) That first, flavor-blasted sip goes down so nice and refreshing. You slip away into beer-vana. Sure, all the crap of life continues to pile up in the background like a Texas freeway in an ice storm, but at this point, who cares? You have found peace, and somehow you have been removed from the insane world out there, which now seems to be in some way placed on mute. Ahh, for the love of it all – can’t I just stay here in my hoppy place? I think I’ll grab another beer and try…

 

Until next time, cheers and happy fermenting ~

 

Randini the Beer Spammer

 

Quote of the Day:  “There are three intolerable things in life: Cold coffee, lukewarm champagne [or beer], and overexcited women.” – Orson Welles

 

Tech Tip of the Day: Transferring beer using CO2 rather than a siphon (safer than carrying around glass carboys!): http://archive.maltosefalcons.com./tech/CO2_racking/

 

 

 

HOPS Meetings:

 

  • HOPS – New Business:
    • Next Meeting: Tuesday, the 23th is the next HOPS meeting, Pagosa Brewing Co at 6:00 PM. The YELLOW 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: Sour Beer (Oh yes, I’m serious!)
    • Discussion: Some ideas we want to go over include the following:

A)   Donated Homebrew Supplies – Raffle?

B)   Learn To Brew Day – November 3rd (Anyone want to host?)

C)      Other upcoming events found below.

 

UPCOMING LOCAL NEWS & EVENTS:

 

Mark Your Calendars:

 

  • October 23th – HOPS Meeting at Pagosa Brewing Co, 6:00 pm. Well, I guess we don’t really get going until 6:30, but come anyway.

 

 

  • November 3th : Learn to Homebrew Day! Let’s get together and brew some swizzle. Anyone interested in hosting?

 

NEWS:

 

  • For those of you that don’t already know, Eleanor and the Great Randini have a business where we sell spruce tips (new growth on spruce trees) to the beer brewing industry. We had a huge order from Goose Island Beer Co in Chicago this summer and they made a video about it. You may recognize a couple faces in there too… Check out the silliness here:
    http://www.gooseisland.com/pages/gran_g_s/314.php

 

  • Beer News Around Durango – For the latest news on the beer scene in Durango, check out http://beerat6512.blogspot.com/. Our neighbors to the West have a great beer town, along with some great writers and this is a fun place to check up on the happninz. Erich Hennig, my brew-brotha-from-anotha-motha just joined the team. Check it out – I think you will enjoy it!

 

 

Pagosa Brewing Company News / Events:

 

 

 

  • ~ Halloween Saturday ~ : 4pm - Tapping of Special Pumpkin Beers: Pumpkin Ale & Pumpkin Stout

 

5pm - Regular Menu & Dinner Specials

* Vampire Soup:

- Rich vegetarian tomato soup - $3.99/cup or $5.99/bowl

 

* Sloppy Boo's:

- Housemade sloppy joes using our Grass Roots Angus Beef served on a Garlic Toasted Bun w/ a side of Onion Rings! - $8.99

 

* Pumpkin Cheesecake:  

- Served with Whipped Cream - $5.49 

 

5pm - Kid's Coloring & Costume Contest (prizes)

8pm & 9pm - Adult Costume Contests (prizes)

 

 

 

FRONT RANGE & BEYOND NEWS & EVENTS:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

  • Interested in some new stainless steel homebrew kettles? Check out the email below if you are: 
    Good afternoon,
    My name is Ben Caya and I'm the owner of Spike Brewing LLC. I wanted to drop a quick note to your home brew club. If you're not aware, we make stainless steel home brew kettles. I just graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Over the past year my 'part time' business throughout school has turned into a full time job. We are a vendor on HomeBrewTalk.com and have been very well received thus far but I'd like to expand our reach to local home brewing clubs. I would really appreciate it if you could pass along information on Spike Brewing to your members. All our kettles can be seen and purchased on my website which is www.spikebrewing.com. As an token of our appreciation we have set up a 5% off coupon for any product we sell. To redeem the coupon members would only need to enter the discount code "Colorado" in the discount code section during checkout. Thanks for your time and if any members have questions or comments I would be happy to answer them personally.
    Ben Caya
    Owner - Spike Brewing LLC
    ben@spikebrewing.com
    262.370.4616
    www.spikebrewing.com

 

  • 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 – Wait, do you hear that? It sounds like a Fruehauf that is about to crash through your computer and spill your beer! Run away! Run away! (You can unsubscribe later…)