Category Archives: Ale

Celebrating with Ashleigh

Yesterday my daughter Ashleigh turned 31! Well, I did the grilling for the event and, as most of the guests, we enjoyed some good beers. My Honey Blonde Ale homebrew was well received in addition to other craft beer offerings. 

For this special night I broke out a bottle of an Imperial Stout from Marble Brewery in Albuquerque,  New Mexico. What a great beer to help Ashleigh celebrate her 31st! Love you Ashleigh! Black as night, great head and very warming. 

  
We finished the evening sipping on my homemade Limoncello. I think that was a bit over the top for both of us! Very sweet, lemony and a hint of “Everclear” used for the base. It warms all the way down! 

Drink Local and Drink Responsibly

Bishop

Another Good Reason to Drink Beer

Not that I really need another reason but I have a very cool one now! For Christmas my daughters Lisa and Ashleigh gave me a US map with what appeared to be holes for quarters, 177 holes I found out later. Oops Dad, bad guess. It is designed to hold bottle caps. Now that is pretty awesome and as I pointed out, another good reason to drink GOOD BEER! 

  
I have already started and have a couple in the Colorado area, one in Georgia and one in a slot for Massachusetts. Only 173 more to go! 

  
I have a request for next Christmas, contingent upon filling the US map! 

  
http://www.beercapmaps.com

@beercapmaps

@pappadecker

Thanks Lisa & Ashleigh

Drink Local and Drink Responsibly

Bishop

Odell IPA Inspiration

Good beer, this happens to be one of my one of my favorites, can inspire wonderful accomplishments. While prepping snacks for today’s Texans game, I decided to smoke a couple of  T-bone steaks that I had purchased  a few days ago. Some intestinal issues over the past few days deferred grilling them as I was avoiding meat. Unbeknownst to me, my efficient wife decided to freeze them. Dang it! 
Looking for inspiration while sipping on my Odell IPA, I decided to smoke them while they were still frozen. My good buddy John stopped by and gave his two cents, “Can’t be done”, he says! The gauntlet was thrown and challenge accepted. With the delicious inspiration – the logic? – they were about 3/4″ thin and should cook slow enough to absorb some smoke and thaw as they cooked. Worked like a charm. 

  

Done to medium/medium rare and just yummy! 

  
Pecan and pieces of an oak Chardonnay barrel provided the smoke. Seasoning; Lowry’s seasoning salt, garlic pepper and a dash of sea salt. 

Pairs well with my Odells IPA, or should it be the other way around? Odells IPA pairs very well with smoked T-bone! 

Lesson, drink good beer and be inspired! 

Drink Local and Drink Responsibly, 

Bishop 

  

Beer, What Doesn’t Go Well With a Homebrew?

NFL Football is on and our Houston Texans are rolling! Grab a frying pan, add a healthy portion of coconut oil, about a third of a large onion chopped, a bell pepper chopped up and 4 tamales chopped into bite sized pieces. Oh yeah, some chopped garlic and various seasonings. Most importantly was the Honey Blonde Ale brewed right here.

In keeping with the local theme – the tamales come from a little yellow shack called Granny’s Tamales in Humble Texas, adjacent to the Backyard Homebrewers store. A coincidence? I don’t think so.

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Off to a good start!

 

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Starting to simmer, tamales chopped up and my Honey Blonde in the background.

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4 eggs for a little protein! Washed down with a good homebrew.

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Add cheese, hot sauce of your choice, salt & pepper and whatever your little heart desires.

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Add  salsa and a dollop of sour crème.  Small Christmas plate for portion control…..it is OK…..I can still go back for seconds.

Recipe measurements…..come on man……give me a break!

4 eggs….more if you  want

4 tamales …. Ditto

Healthy portion of coconut oil…..bacon grease  would be a  good sub.

Enough Onion

1 or more bell peppers

A mittful of cheese….my mitts are pretty big.

Some chopped garlic and whatever else your palate would like. Tabasco, Cholula, Srirachi sauces…..12, 24 or 36 ounces of your favorite beer.

Resource guide.

http://www.grannystamalesthree.com/

http://backyardhomebrewers.com/

Looking good….Texans are up 34-0 8:45 left…..Just for Miami to step up and whack the Colts!

Drink Local and Drink Resopnsibly

Bishop

Christmas Eve at Town City Brewery

Another new and delicious Brewey in town. I think we have a new Christmas family tradition!!!!! Kids, Ashleigh – 30, Lisa – 29,  Joe and no brother Ben and father, me! Oh yes, Lisa’s trail running friend Tina- 35ish! Parking is sparse but adequate. The flagship brews are awesome!

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The Chipped Tooth IPA and the City Porter are my favorites. The girls also enjoyed the White Oak Wit Beer. I also gave the Wit high marks! The Amber scored well with my son.

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Loved the decor and the natural edge slab tables. The staff is friendly and even better – knowledgeable!!!!

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Wednesday night is trivia night….. I am heading back this coming Wednesday to check It out!

http://www.newcitybrewery.com

 

Drink Local and Drink Responsibly

Bishop

Christmas Advent Calendar-Craft Beer Style

I am blessed with an amazing woman that consented to become my wife over 33 years ago. Among the many things we have in common is a fondness for beer, good beer! My fondness may cross over to an obsession for very good beers. As any good Catholic girl knows, Christmas is a time for Advent Calendars. FYI, Advent Calendars originate with the German Lutherans and has become common among most Christian faiths.

How does an Advent Calendar fit in a beer blog you might ask? It was discovered in my wife’s Pintrest account. I have one but I am not quite that Pintrest savvy – yet! Ok, how is it done? She built a massive book case thing out of oak with little doors for each of the 24 Advent days. Each little door was large enough and deep enough for a 12 ounce bottle of beer lying on it’s side. All hardware was polished brass and finished natural with high gloss Tung Oil. Each little door was built like paneled doors and the edges rounded with a router. SMACK!  Sorry I was dreaming!

Maybe next year! This year she used a shoe holder, 24 pockets that hangs on a door. Each pocket was numbered in Christmas colors. Each mystery bottle was wrapped in tissue and festooned with a ribbon. Isn’t she clever? See below;

Isn't that the coolest idea?

Isn’t that the coolest idea?

Today’s offering was from Lagunitas Brewing Company in Petaluma, CA. Hmmmm 1967 also comes to mind. Why? It is a story for another time, involves lifeguarding, beer, swimming, old friends and rock concerts!

Great beer! Great aroma, near perfect bitterness. Love it!

Great beer! Great aroma, near perfect bitterness. Love it!

What a gal and what a gift!

Drink Local and Drink Responsibly!

Bishop

 

 

Spindletap Brewery – Now Open! 

Saturday November7tg was the official opening date. Cloudy and misty day did not keep folks away. The owners are an interesting bunch, converting friendships into business relationships. Kind of a cool story if you take the time to read the back story. 

http://spindletapbrewery.com/?age-verified=2071f3a862

The building housing the brewery is an industrial type warehouse and that theme carries through to the decor and layout. The brewing room is spacious, well laid out and bodes well for future growth. Canning line has yet to be installed but it will not cramp the area. 

  
The name plays homage to a nearby giant 1902  discovery called “Spindletop” and a reference to the wood handles used in days of yore on beer barrels. 

  
Smile Lisa… She always does and it is a beautiful smile. Let’s go inside now. 

   
 
Fresh, clean and spacious! Look closely and you will see the steel Derrick constructed stools! I love the look of the long tables…. I think Lisa wants me to build some. 

  
I did manage to get a taste of the full suite! I really enjoyed the Hopper House Double IPA and the Honey Hole ESB. Not a bad beer in the bunch, all were flavorful and very well crafted. 

This is a place to take a big group of beer lovers….. You will not be disappointed. 

  Partners in crime or is it in “beer tasting”? Lisa and John enjoying the atmosphere. 

Drink Lical and Drink Responsibly

Bishop 

First Taste – Honey Blonde Ale

My wife’s comment pretty well sums it up! “I can drink that,” she says with a smile and a nod of her head.

I am a little more critical and would like to see a little more carbonation…It  has been about two weeks or so since I bottled it. I will give them all a little shake to stir up the yeast to wake them up and then sample again in a week. Flavor is very nice….not tickling my hop loving palate but it was designed to please the love  of my life – her nose goes up and wrinkles when one of those “hop bombs” that I love comes anywhere near her nose. The color….definitely honey as you can  see from the photo below. There is a bit of honey taste and aroma….I used my dark and robust honey in the recipe…it does  come through.

Nice beer....look close and you can see some bubbles rising and this blog post in progress on the lap top in the background.

Nice beer….look close and you can see some bubbles rising and this blog post in progress on the lap top in the background.

Choices…… the freezer is now available for use as a fermenting chamber….. I had a hive super that the bees had cleaned for me residing at 10 degrees F for a few days….kills any wax moth eggs that may be lurking and wanting to do their damage. The super is out, wrapped and ready for service next spring!

A mead is one choice…. small problem…..I need a bunch of honey, like 15 pounds. I am really not so much interested in the mead as I am in producing  some honey wine vinegar.  It may take almost 9 months to finish the vinegar ….. maybe a little longer to let it age. It might be ready for my “Farmer’s Market” table when I sell my honey next summer…….That is another story you can find on;

http://bishopsbackyardfarm.com/

Maybe a tandem effort….a mead and an Imperial IPA…..yeah that sounds good!

Drink Local and Drink Responsibly

Bishop

Honey Blonde Ale – One Step Closer

I racked the Honey Blonde from the primary to the secondary fermenter this morning. I was a few days tardy but it should not hurt the final product. I hope to bottle over the weekend and sit back and enjoy a cold one on or around October 17/18. 

The hydrometer reading indicates that fermentation is complete so I will let the beer clear up in the glass carboy secondary for a few days, chill, then bottle. ABV calculates at 5.64%. Not an all day session beer but very nice. I drank the sample I pulled – can’t let it go to waste! 

Color is nice – like a light honey color…. Go figure. Yes, a bit of sweetness in the flavor and a pleasant after taste. 

  From left to right, my honey in a squeeze bear, a bit of the extra sample I pulled and the hydrometer sample back right. The honey color is definitely evident.  The beer should clear up nicely in the next few days….. I will keep all y’all updated. 
Drink Local and Drink Responsibly 

Bishop

The Girl Can Brew !

The girl code named, “Madison the Mad Brewer”, also makes hand crushed, foot stomped wine….trust me, I saw the grape stained fingers in person and photos of her grape stained feet. She is an energetic young lady with what appears to be boundless energy and curiosity. The purpose of my visit with her last week was to provide a mini-lesson on the use of vintage, manual 35mm cameras. Many old cameras from that era required mercury batteries that are now longer available. The replacement batteries and the electronics of the old camera leave many users without a through the lens means to meter accurately. Madison has a hand held meter that she, like me, found the user literature to be less than clear.  We decided to make it a learning opportunity.

We loaded up an old Asahi Pentax Spotmatic 35 mm camera, with a dead meter, with Kodak Tri-Xand headed to the back yard. We used the hand held meter to understand measuring incident and reflected light, depth of field, metering for contrast and other thoughts. She is a very curious photographer and a quick student! We also discussed night and star shots that led to a discussion on the “B” bulb setting on the shutter speed dial. She is a quick student and I think I/we will see more creative efforts from her soon.

Let’s Talk Beer

In February she promised me one of her brown ales, “Squatch Drool”. As I type, and watch Atlanta kick the crud of of the Houston Texans, I am seeking solace in her offering. As I was about to leave after the camera lesson she remembered the promise and handed me the last bottle from the December 2014 batch. Yes, the girl can brew! You can honestly see it in her eyes! I suppose Squatch drool was modeled after Moose Drool by Big Shy Brewing Company, Missoula Montana. I give her interpretation high marks and it drinks “cleaner” on my palate than Moose Drool.

The eyes of a mad brewer, a fledgling vintner and a Mt. Whitney summiteer! I have heard rumors of fireworks daredevil but can't confirm!

The eyes of a mad brewer, a fledgling vintner and a Mt. Whitney summiteer! I have heard rumors of fireworks daredevil but can’t confirm!

Squatch Drool....Very, very good Brown Ale!

Squatch Drool….Very, very good Brown Ale!

Brew Date and Beer Description - Ages well!

Brew Date and Beer Description – Ages well!

Nice - pours a good head and a bit of lace....very satisfying. Thanks Madison!

Nice – pours a good head and a bit of lace….very satisfying. Thanks Madison!

Drink Local and Drink Responsibly

Bishop