Monday, January 18, 2010

A new year, a new brew, a new view

My odds of brewing again soon... ...just got better with a visit to Artisan Homebrew in Downingtown. The once-fresh picked, since frozen are awaiting a secondary fermenter full of beer. It's gonna be a chocolate cherry imperial stout..and it's gonna be big. Hoping to work on it this coming weekend with expectation to be drinking it in late February, early March. Mike's a great guy running the show at Artisan. But, if I have any questions I want to consult with an online service, it might be at the newly-created BrewAdvice.com. I've plugged around a bit and it looks promising as a useful homebrewing tool to add to your resources. Just got back from a weekend in D.C., but you're not going to hear about it... ...at least until I get some other writing and planning out of the way first. There'll be three things to share with you. First, a marathon (not the running kind!) visit to Brasserie Beck, the relatively new and supercool Belgian Bar/Restaurant at 11th & K streets in downtown Washington, D.C. Then, a visit to the latest in the "chain" of Dogfish Head Alehouses...this one in Fairfax, VA. I've been to the one in Gaithersburg, MD so it would be a test of how consistent the theme is...shouldn't be too difficult, eh? Nearby I made a trip to Total Wine as well as World Market and discovered a few beers not available in Pennsylvania. Felt sorry for them and brought many home with me! As far as other new things going on around here... ...this week you'll hear/read me talk/write about 1) Hawaii (finally); 2) the McKenzie Beer Dinner on Thursday (you should go too, really); 3) and a couple of other new and interesting things that some of you will find to varying degrees both...new...and...interesting (maybe). Sorry, must stay secretive for the time being. In the spirit of the holiday... ...I'll leave you with some fine quotes that I've seen floating around as Facebook status updates today: ~ "A special haiku: Remember today: / Martin Luther King, Jr. / Love and sacrifice" ~ "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." ~ "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom." ~ "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." ~ "THE King"

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I have been wanting to brew a big chocolate cherry stout as well. Have you seen Jamil's Black Forest Stout recipe? I want to do a bunch of variations using my Man In Black Imperial Stout as a base, including an oak aged version, a cherry/chocolate version, a vanilla bean version and version using a belgian strain of yeast (ala Black Albert). Can't wait to hear how yours turns out.