31 January 2008

Pop Quiz, Hotshot!

Test your brew know-how! Go to http://www.pikebrewing.com/, click on "History" in the middle of the image, then click on "Pop Quiz - Test Your Beer Knowledge" on the right.

I got an 86...I don't know much about Pike Brewing Co. and I don't know everything about brewing either; the more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.

Cheers!!

28 January 2008

Westy's

I usually don't frequent the Mechanicsburg/Camp Hill/Harrisburg area, mostly because it's about an hour from my house on 2-lane roads. Fortunately I finally got around to stopping by Westy's in Camp Hill while out furniture shopping. I've heard good things about it but it really doesn't do it justice until you get there and see for yourself.

And in a state where the word "variety" is just as much a foreign concept as being able to buy a 6-pack of beer without signing over the deed to your house, it's truly a diamond in the rough.

The staff were very nice and helpful. My son walked out with a 4-pack of Steward's Birch Beer and I with a sampler case of Southern Tier (IPA, pale ale, raspberry wheat, and Tripel), but not before I perused the isles 5 or 6 times. I truly felt like a kid in a candy store! Many national and local brews were on hand: Stone, Bell's, Victory, Sly Fox, Sierra Nevada, Sam Adams, Southern Tier, Ommegang, Rogue, Penn Brewery, Avery...the list literally goes on and on.

Unfortunately they don't have a working website at the present time; directions and a list of what they carry would be helpful. But beggars can't be choosers, I suppose.

Check 'em out:

Westy's Beer Distributor
420 St. Johns Church Road
Camp Hill, PA 17011


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09 January 2008

Happy Brew Year!

Welcome to 2008!

First, a thanks and hello to some fellow homebrewers that have pumped up the activity on the blog! I tip my pint of Troegs Troegenator dopplebock to you!

Doesn't seem like that long ago I finally made a New Year's resolution to do something with that homebrew kit that was sitting in my basement for a year or so...

No, really!

And like any other homebrewer I was instantly hooked. So I did 10 extract-with-grains batches before deciding to try all-grain. 5 years, 58 all-grain batches and 510 gallons later, here I am.

That's 4,040 beers! Granted, a few of those batches were tossed due to one reason or another. Everyone gets at least one infected batch. Luckily, I've only had one or two. And lots of it have been given away, supplied at parties, etc. Fortunately, my liver isn't the sole beneficiary!!

So as we march into 2008, I've made a few Brew Year's resolutions: to take a shot at the top dog and defeat the competition in my homebrew club, and to try some new, haven't-brewed-this-yet styles (Schwarzbier, Saison, etc).

Next up: a Bavarian Dunkel and a Maibock, back-to-back on brewday!

Cheers!