Water Cooler Cannon

Ssshh. Don't tell the nannies. We've already seen what happens when they see someone misuse a household object as a weapon. Just look to Illinois, where trying to fix a clogged drain now requires a photo ID and your name recorded in a database. If the guardians of the nanny state realize that there's a cannon that will fire common water cooler bottles they just might break out in hives.

Hunting Beer With BreweryMap

Here's another app that will allow you to use your iPhone to find new breweries on your trips. BreweryMap provides an interface to an online web site of the same name. The 99¢ app was created by the folks at Pint Labs. You can search for breweries by location or brewery name. The screenshot at the right shows hits on the two brewpubs in the Fredericksburg area, Blue & Gray and Battlefield. Selecting a brewery will bring up a page with more information such has website, business hours, address and phone, as well as a list of the brewery's beers. Searching by brewery name will bring up a list of similar names to from which to narrow. As expected the mapping function will give directions to the brewery from your current location.

There's also a function that allows you to find the breweries along your route when traveling. Entering your starting point and destination will give you a list of breweries you'll passing by. 

The creators claim the BreweryMap database contains over 3,100 breweries and more than 10,500 beers. Unfortunately our two local breweries only listed one beer each. However, the app uses the data maintained at BreweryDB.com. By heading over to BreweryDB.com beer fans can update the database used by BreweryMap. The same information is available from your computer at BreweryMap.com if you want to do some planning before you hit the road. With the contributions of craft beer fans, the database should get more complete over time.

The brewery database seems to current, even if the beer lists are limited. Even fairly new Virginia breweries such as Corcoran and Hardywood Park are represented. I think I'll keep this app on my phone for those times when I find myself in a new area and looking for a new brewery to visit.

Regional Beer News

Here's a trio of news articles local craft beer fans will find interesting.

‘World of Beer’ Coming to Ballston
According to this article, Florida-based World of Beer is planning to open a franchise in Arlington, VA. The business will offer a rotating lineup of 50 beers on tap and 500 beers in bottles for onsite consumption and carryout. A July opening is anticipated.

D.C. is fermenting a brewery culture
Greg Kitsock writes in the Washington Post about the growing brewery presence in Washington, DC. There are currently four breweries operating in the Nation's Capital. A fifth is expected to open in early 2012. Two additional DC breweries currently in the planning state would bring the total to seven.

Dogfish Head's Lead Brewer Ben Potts: A Week In The Life
Ever wonder what it's like to be a brewer for a leading craft brewery? This article tracks the activities of Ben Potts, the lead brewer at Dogfish Head Brewing & Eats in Rehoboth Beach, DE. It's not all fun and games, but Ben finds time for that too!

Words To Live By

Humans have a God-given right, actually it's a command, to protect themselves and those in their care. In fact this responsibility has been described as a "grave duty." Contrary to popular thought, the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution is not the grantor of this right, the Amendment exists as an affirmation of what man naturally possesses. For those of us fortunate enough to live in Virginia, we also have the Virginia Constitution as yet another written reminder. Specifically we can turn to Section 13. Militia; standing armies; military subordinate to civil power:

That a well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state, therefore, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.

There you have it. God, the U.S. Constitution, and the Virginia Constitution all standing united to reiterate the right to be armed for self defense. That's a pretty strong triad giving us words to live by. Literally, words to live by.

VA ABC Having 'Morning-After' Regrets

I first caught Discovery's "Moonshiners" program over my Christmas vacation last week. The show gives a dramatized view of moonshining in Franklin County, Virginia. Also featured are, apparently real, investigations by VA Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) agents. I watched a couple of episodes but found the show a bit tedious and repetitive.

Now it seems the agency charged with enforcing Virginia's alcohol laws is having second thoughts about their choice to participate in the series. The producers of the show say the illegal liquor production in the the TV show is simulated and that no moonshine is actually being produced. However, that's not made clear to the viewer. And that is apparently causing some residents to question the state agency's cooperation with the show. The VA ABC claims it did not know that the documentary would portray the production process, and say they would not have taken part had they known.

The history of moonshine in Virginia is quite fascinating. I reviewed "The Wettest County in the World" a few years ago. This book gives an historical account of the Bondurant clan of Franklin County and their moonshine enterprise during Prohibition. If you have an interest in the subject, I recommend the book highly.

See "Va. agency objects to 'Moonshiners' portrayal" for more information on the VA ABC quandry.

My Answer To Those "Coexist" Stickers

I've acquired a sticker that makes a more realistic point, and one I can support over the "Coexist" version.

The sticker is available here.

Note: I am not affiliated with the company in any way, and I paid for this sticker.

New Year Traditions

I don't know when they became traditions, but for as long as I remember Colleen and I have been enjoying our own New Year's food traditions. As midnight on New Year's Eve approaches, we break out pickled herring and crackers. Other than the occasional Christmas Eve, I think this is the only time we ever eat this tasty treat. And each year I wonder why I waited a year to enjoy it again. Of course, there's always a good beer or two to go along. This year we had Sierra Nevada Celebration and New Belgium 1554 on hand. Celebration is a Winter staple in our house. The New Belgium beers have only recently been available in Virginia, a development I've been enjoying recently.

Dinner on New Year's Day always sees a bowl of a cold black-eye pea salad on the table. This is one of those meals that we've been enjoying since the early years of our marriage. But again, rarely on any other day. I remember many years confusing the produce man at the grocery store with our requests for jicama for the salad. In recent years we've simply opted to leave that ingredient out of the preparation with no loss in enjoyment of the recipe.

Typically we have some form of pork to accompany the salad. This year a slow cooked Cranberry Dijon Pork Roast was the choice.

We have a lot to look forward in the coming year, but for the next few days I am especially looking forward to enjoying the leftovers of these two dishes.

Black-Eyed Pea Salad

Ingredients:

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup rice vinegar

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons orange juice

3/4 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard

1/4 teaspoon dry mustard

Salt, freshly ground pepper to taste

2 cans (15 ounces each) black-eyed peas, drained, rinsed

2 green onions, sliced

1 each, diced small: red bell pepper, celery rib, small peeled jicama, peeled carrot

1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, finely chopped

Directions:

1. Stir together garlic, vinegar, oil, juice, mustards, salt and pepper in medium bowl. Add peas, green onions, bell pepper, celery, jicama, carrot and cilantro; stir well.

2. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight. Serve cold over baby spinach leaves.

Notes:

As mentioned above, we no longer include the jicama called for in the recipe. Besides the difficulty in finding it, the root crop is fairly labor intensive to peel and chop. This year Colleen substituted lemon juice for the orange juice which imparted a citrus kick to the salad.

Happy New Year!

Well, 2012 is upon us. It's time for the requisite reflection and prognostication post.

The past year saw major changes here at Musings Over A Pint. I decided that this blog would more accurately reflect my actual musings in real life. That change was marked by both support and admonishment. There were even some commentary made online on other blogs taking me to task. Apparently there is an unwritten rule among some craft beer fans that once the subject of beer is brought up, one is not entitled to speak of other subjects. That must lead to some boring parties. I have found readers who share my other interests to be much more accepting of a varied discourse. This new openness led to a record number of posts, and comments from visitors, over the past year. I gained many newfound online friends and followers, not mention learning of many new and interesting blogs. Interestingly, most of the referrals to this blog actually come from non-beer blogs. However, most google searches that send folks to these parts are still beer-related, and those searches overwhelmingly concern Virginia craft breweries.

Happily for the craft beer fan, 2011 saw the expansion of several Virginia craft beer breweries. I still feel Virginia might just be the most exciting place for a craft beer fan to live. Of course, nothing goes with good beer like good food and there's no shortage of good food experiences to share.

My experiences with pistol shooting were a big part of the posting this past year. Through those events I've made many new friends. I participated in 13 USPSA matches last year, including two Sectional matches and an Area championship. There were also several steel matches thrown in for good measure. I was very happy to meet my goal of earning a "C" classification in USPSA.

My church life reflects who I am as well. Some of the thoughts I shared on that aspect of my life were surprisingly popular. I've enjoyed musing on how that faith is related to enjoyment food and drink, and also the God-given right to self defense.

For all of you blog visitors, new and old, I'm glad you stopped by!

So what is in store for 2012?

More of the same I hope. I look forward to continuing with frequent posting here, on many subjects. The sub-heading at the top of the page, "Random musings about beer, faith, food, shooting sports, family, politics, and ..." will be honored in full. Political correctness, which I feel is a sign of weak convictions, will not be promoted. Whether anyone reads this stuff or not, the writing is cathartic for me.

So, there you have it, a totally non-specific look towards the future. I've purposefully not written any detailed goals. I find little value in "New Year's Resolutions." I have lots of fun and interesting things to look forward to in the coming year. I hope you do as well.

I wish you and yours a peace-filled and prosperous 2012.