Beer Holster

Just in time for Christmas, here's the gift for the beer lover who has everything.

The Beer Holster

Weathering The Storm

The weather prognosticators are telling us the east coast will be hit with a major winter storm this weekend. While most folks were at the grocery store stocking up on chips, milk, and TP, I had more practical needs on my mind. My goal was to lay in a supply of good cold weather beers. The photo at the right shows the fruits of my shopping trip; Clipper City Winter Storm, Clipper City Yule Tide, Sierra Nevada Celebration, Anchor Christmas Ale, Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout, and New Holland Dragon's Milk.

If we're cooped up for too long, I also have the growler of Blue & Gray Minor Dementia I picked up this week as well.

What's in your storm survival kit?

❄ ❄ ❄ LET IT SNOW! LET IT SNOW! LET IT SNOW! ❄ ❄ ❄

Laptops and Beer

We all know that beer and laptops don't mix. No, I'm not referring to an email sent in anger or while under the influence. Spilling your beer can irreparably damage your laptop. A laptop repair company has shared its Top 10 list of liquid spills that damage laptops. Weighing in at number 5 is beer.

#5: Beer (6% of spills). Beer drinkers can't seem to hold their liquor around their laptops, either. Beer is part water, part sugar, part brown goo. American lagers, as well as Mexican beers such as Corona or Dos Equis, are lighter than many imported brands, and may do less damage to laptops.
[Emphasis added]

Perhaps, we should just do away with complicated measures of IBUs, SRMs, ABV, etc. and simply judge beer on its electronic damage capability (EDC.)

Of course, you should keep all liquids away from your laptop. But if you are curious about the complete list, it's here.

Local Homebrewers Rock

The Third Annual Virginia Beer Blitz was held Saturday, December 12 at St. George Brewery in Hampton, VA. This annual event is sponsored by The Colonial Ale Smiths & Keggers (CASK). The Virginia Beer Blitz is a BJCP/AHA Sanctioned Competition and accepts entries in all BJCP categories including Mead and Cider. I was happy to see that the Fredericksburg Brewing Insiders (FBI) made a good showing.

Fredericksburg Area Winners:
Arthur King - 3rd Place in Light Hybrid Beer for his 4th of July Blonde Ale, a Blond Ale

Aaron Zaccagnino (Zacc) - 1st Place in Scottish and Irish Ale for his Mr. McTavish, a Strong Scotch Ale
Aaron Zaccagnino (Zacc) - 3rd Place in Meads for his Holiday Delight, a Cyser

Leon Beck - 2nd Place in American Ale for his Patriot Pale, an American Pale

Chuck Arnold - 1st Place in Belgian and French Ale for his New Tools Pale Ale, a Belgian Pale Ale
Chuck Arnold - 3rd Place in Belgian and French Ale for his All Black, a Belgian Specialty

James Tweeddale - 3rd Place in Spice, Herb, Vegetable Beer for his Chili Pepper Lager, a Spice, Herb, Vegetable Beer

You can find the complete list of winners here.

As you can see, there's a lot of good beer being made right here in Fredericksburg, and not all of it in commercial breweries. Hat tip to Zacc for letting me know about the competition.

Pints For Prostates Video

Rick Lyke of Pints for Prostates has posted this video from the Pints For Prostates Rare Beer Tasting held September 29 in Denver, CO. Hear some of the legends of craft brewing speak out in support of regular prostate health screenings for men.

Pints For Prostates | Denver Rare Beer Tasting 2009 from Redtail Media on Vimeo.

Note to self...

Mad Fox Brewing Update

Bill Madden posted some exciting news on his Madd Brewer's Blog today. He's settled on a brewing system for the soon-to-open Mad Fox Brewing in Falls Church, VA. The brewpub is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2010 so this is an important milestone. Bill reports the system will have a 15 BBL brewhouse, and six 30 BBL fermenters. The new brewery will have an estimated minimum production of 6,240 kegs per year. That's a lot of good beer!

See Bill's post here for a complete description of the brewing system.

Minor Dementia at the Blue & Gray Brewing Co.

From the Blue & Gray Brewing newsletter:

Madison the brewer opened one of the oak bourbon barrel casks today to taste and see if Temporary Insanity Imperial Stout has matured into full-blown Minor Dementia.
We found him shortly thereafter beneath fermentation tank # 2 muttering something to the effect of "too good, do not sell". That kind of mixed message required clarification. Luckily, there is a high voltage plug behind fermenter # 2 and we were quickly able to electroshock young Madison back into coherency.

Blue & Gray Minor Dementia is the barrel-aged version of the brewery's Temporary Insanity Imperial Stout. It's that time of the year when you can experience Minor Dementia yourself. The brewery will be sampling and filling growlers starting today, December 11. See their website for hours and directions.

Southwest Virginia Brewers Profiled

TriCities.com has published a short article about three southwest Virginia brewers. Chris Burcher of Wolf Hills Brewing in Abingdon is featured in the article Cheers for Wine & Beer. Jim Strickland from Bull & Bones Brewhaus & Grill in Blacksburg, and Taylor Smack from Blue Mountain Brewery in Afton are also interviewed.

Chris Burcher calls himself a “Captain of Concoctions.” He’s a stream ecologist, with a doctorate degree, specializing in biology. And another thing: “I’ve brewed a lot of beer,” Burcher said, smiling. “Everybody who runs a homebrew likes to think about doing a brewery.”

See the complete article here.