Category Archives: Beer

Billings Montana? Ok, Twist My Arm, I’ll Go

I have been asked to deliver one of my training sessions in Billings, Montana for a small energy producer. I have been doing a little work for them over the past few months. Sessions in Midland, TX, Houston, TX, Laredo, TX and Williston North Dakota.

Midland – beer offerings are ordinary and lack variety for craft beers lovers.

Houston – Making its mark with some excellent local choices and establishments. I am working on trying them all – Karbach, St Arnolds and Southern Star are top notch. No Label Brewing in Katy is on my bucket list, as is Bayou Brewing….

Laredo…sorry my research is coming up empty.

Williston – pubs maybe

Billings Montana – Jackpot !!!!!! 8 craft breweries in the city limits and 10 in the greater Billings area…. Three days is only going to whet the appetite – I will provide a report out sometime around the 7th or 8th of September….maybe some updates via iPhone posts…. I do have to real work to do  – kinda….I have a trout fishing float trip scheduled for the 5th and the class is on the 6th. I will behave appropriately!

There are 4 beer brewers within walking distance of my hotel and Angry Hanks looks like a short cab ride away…. Most will offer tasters…those little 5 oz glasses……an easier way to taste a broad suite of beers….. it used to be that 5 pints wasn’t much effort but I would like  not be swayed by that 5th pint….The truth and only the unbiased/unhazed truth.

A little research brought up this photo…..looks like people I can relate to !!!! Yellowstone Valley Brewing Co. Staff.

Yellowstone Valley Brewing Co. – Head Brewer Ryan Koga, Room Manager Donnie Veltri, and Manager/Brewer George Moncure

I apologize if I am using your photo  without permission…..you were just such a handsome bunch that I could not resist.

TTFN

Bishop

Just a thought – old stories, mountain bikes, blood, beer and essentially flat trails……a birdie dropped a little something in my inbox today and the stories, to the best of my recollection, may find a forum here……beer and blood in the early mornings…could be fun. Thanks Pat.

 

Missed Beer Opportunity

It wasn’t quite the end of the world – it was a matter of electronic communications and proper behavior on my part. I rolled off to Bass Pro Shop Sunday afternoon for a manly man shopping day. When I arrived I looked at my iPhone and saw that I had an email from a Kingwood buddy and an awesome homebrewer and he was in need of some help.

My Mailbox indicated a 3:25 PM message that I did not get a chance to respond to until I was stopped in the Bass Pro Shop parking lot – Pearland, TX. Note for Mike….it said that you sent the message on Wednesday May 7th 2003 at 9:25 pm – I think something is amiss with your mail account. Message sent to me and good friend John.

“Sent: Wed 5/7/2003 9:25 PM

Just got thru putzin around the garage an figured itz time for a beer.  If you guys can get away, I need help finishing off the Bock so I can fridge my Pilz before the summer is over.Come on by for a brew or 2.”

I replied that I was in Pearland and would be happy to help with the inventory problem….I am good at reducing beer inventories!

I was able to swing by his house at 5:20 PM but alas….no answer to my thirsty knock.

Plan B – I saw a tweet that Flying Saucer had Southern Star’s ProAm 2012 in stock. This is a Double IPA that I sampled a few weeks ago at their brewery tour. It is an awesome beer. The local HEB typically has Southern Star offerings so I swung by…if I can’t get one of Mike’s homebrews I will seek out an acceptable alternative.

I struck out again but there was still an out left before retiring the side….I wandered the aisle and found – a six-pack of Alaskan Amber. Ok I am on base now, made my purchase and headed home where 3 thick T-bone steaks were seasoned and ready to throw on the grill. Photos via iPhone.

The Alaskan Amber fulfilling the role of grill-mate, a job well suited for this Alaskan offering.

Three Tbones – mine closest to the front with lots of coarse ground black pepper! Garlic French bread lingering in the far corner.

Salad with spicy ranch dressing joined the meal and finished off with a Lazy Magnolia Pecan Brown Ale. Shared the meal with my wife – she just cut the tender part out of the T-bone and told – no – asked me to keep my hands off of the remainder…she loves cold steak! I poured her a Bombshell Blonde from Southern Star – life really is good!

Mike – I am always willing to help reduce inventory….please invite me again…

TTFN

Bishop

 

Beer, Baseball and an iPhone

Over the past few weeks I find that I have been pairing beer with lots of things….fishing, fish tacos, brewery tours, vacation sampling and now baseball……that shouldn’t be much of a surprise for anyone that has attended a baseball game….the only pairing that I can think of that I won’t write about is beer and driving. This is a family blog, no, not really, maybe more of a responsible beer blog…yeah that should work.

I was off to Midland, Texas this week earning a little money so I can continue with my many hobbies. Wednesday of this past week the local AA team, the Midland Rockhounds were returning to town to open a stand vs. the Arkansas Naturals. The attendance was sparse… not like my previous visit of a month ago. The Rockhounds were rocking the Naturals! A 5 run first inning and it was hit after hit from there on. I think I may know why we saw the low attendance – The Rockhounds are in the cellar of their division with just 24 wins…..sad…..but the poor “Naturals” were in the same position for their division with just 17 wins to show for their efforts.

Midland is still in a drought and no relief on the horizon. Odessa is proposing a 40% increase in water rates – those lawns that have some color other than dead will soon join the desert look of the region. The other drought  is for local craft beers…. I do have to give the stadium vender a pat on the back for a variety beyond the standard Bud, Bud Light, Coors, Coors Light…..You can get  on draught – Dos XX’s, Shiner Bock (Texas Beer), Blue Moon Belgian Wit, Shock Top and ………….. insert 7 hour pause here because I just flat drew a blank. I sent my work partner for this trip an SOS call to help me out and then got busy with other tasks. An hour ago I was driving down Kingwood drive and ran into the word – Ziegenbock! Ah, that’s the beer I was drinking last night….and no I did not over do it….just two beers!  Wikpedia labels it as an “imitation craft brew marketed under Anheuser-Busch’s ICS (Import – Craft – Specialty) brand, positioned as a Texan beer to compete with Shiner Bock.” It is not a bad beer and competes well with Shiner Bock! Thanks Pat for sending the “Zig” text message….

Discussion on lost thoughts – I think they leave your brain as cyberwaves and float around until your brain collides with them and they can then be pulled back in. I am sure that we all have a unique harmonic frequency for our brain waves and when we encounter one of those orphan thoughts vibrating at “our” frequency we can recapture the thought. Makes sense to me….. the science geeks will say something like – you encounter some sensory clue, sight, sound or smell that allows the brain to connect that lost thought with the neural links that were associated to that thought or idea….. I prefer my harmonic mind meld explanation better.

As an aid for this post I am sampling a local beer brewed by Karbach brewery right here in Houston. I have previously enjoyed their “Hopadillo” IPA. Tonight’s choice is their Rodeo Clown Double IPA – mmmmmmm pretty tasty and one will probably be enough for the evening. Midland, Odessa, Lubbock and or Amarillo are in need a a local craft brewery – I correct myself…. Wicked Beaver Brewery is located up in the Lubbock area – they need to market in Midland! I just did a little snooping….these guys are committed craft brewers, creative, whacked out sense of humor (I like that!) and looks like they are branching out!

Wicked Beaver Brewing LLC | West Texas Craft Brewery | Dam Good Beer

I saw a photo on their Facebook that got me thinking. There are many many millions of beer drinkers in the US. If we all shift a significant portion of our $ spent on beer to true craft brewers we can help out the good ole USA.  Cut back on your Budweiser….. it is brewed by a Belgian-Brazilian beer conglomerate….Yes they have US breweries employing US workers but they own so much of the market your shift will not be a blip on their radar. There goes my Ziegenbock choice … Now Coors, is brewed  by the Canadian Molson Coors Brewing Company and is the third-largest brewer in the United States. At least it is North American. Drink Blue Moon or Killian’s Irish Red – close to craft beers.

Now my iPhone shots from the Midland Rockhounds game.

My Jumbo Dog, mustard, catsup or ketchup – whatever, relish, onions and the West Texas favorite…smothered with jalapenos!

From our seats…. somebody liked us and set us up with box seats. Thanks Zoe at the Residence Inn in Midland. Please note the Chevron(my former employer) sign on the outfield wall. The first of several Rockhounds home runs went out way above the Chevron sign.

Blue Moon Belgian Wit beers were quite common – Go Coors.

I have to give her credit – beer in one hand – social networking with the other and she glanced up when the crowd made noise!

And heeeeeeres Rocky –

The Rouckhounds have such a great family stadium and Rocky is a favorite with the kids.

Remember – Drink local – support the guys that lovingly CRAFT your beer!

TTFN

Bishop

Southern Star – Fishing and Homebrewing Aids

Well, I am starting over with this post…tried something new and the picture of Ben and two Spanish Macks was posted but the time spent with the blog story went off into cyber space somewhere….do you think it may reformulate and appear in the future? Oh well – what did I try to write earlier?

Three AM yesterday my son Ben and I left Kingwood Texas and headed south to the Galveston area. Our first planned stop was Tiki Island just before the big bridge over the intercoastal Channel. We launched with the intent of fishing under some lights around the docks of the homes on the island. We found some lights…we could see a lot of fish cruising through the lights with a few much bigger than the others. Fish were jumping all around us – in fact one jumped and landed on the bow hatch and then back into the water. A couple of sand trout took our offerings, I had a big. heavy strike and the line broke off – 6 lb line……

The sky began to get some color so we headed off to the grass and marsh area back toward I-45. I caught and land a real nice flounder on a soft palstic….not much else was biting so off to IHOP before the next location. After breakfast we headed south toward Jamaica Beach.

On arrival we saw several people wade fishing out about chest high in the water. As we were rigging up the kayaks a man and his daughters came out of the water, done for the day.They had a stringer of nice speckled trout. One of the daughters wanted to see some photos of the Jack Cravelle that the girls caught….big smiles on both of the young ladies. Another fisherman waded out of the surf with another nice stringer of specks. We were late for the speckled trout bite we were still there to fish.

As we were getting ready we also learned that the Spanish Mackerel were biting, so off we went…..Ben got into the Spanish Macks right away. I kept breaking off with the light line so I switched to the pole rigged with 15 lb line….I still couldn’t match Ben…..he was hammering the fish. Mackerel, sand trout, Jack Cravelle, sharks…. yes a few sharks, Gaff Top Catfish – I caught several of those too and paid dearly….I got punctured badly by the dorsal spine and bled like a stuck pig for a bit….I kept expecting Jaws to show up!

I was near Ben when he hooked one of the bigger sharks….the kayak swung around and he was being towed off to deeper water…..stripping line off the reel. Finally after a big jump the 4 foot +/- shark broke off and swam away. I was catching fish but at a much slower pace than Ben was. When we ran out of bait….I caught a few on soft plastic lures after the bait ran out, we paddled in. I saw Ben get himself lined up straight into the beach and surfed the kayak up on the small swells….. I also got a little lift in on the swells and had a little fun.

Where id the beer in this story? Ok I did have an ice cold Pine Belt Ale in 16 oz can by Southern Star Brewery before calling it a day…. just one. More once I arrived home safely. We fileted out the macks for fish tacos …. Friday night and I prepped the flounder to be baked. A couple of Pinebelt Ales aided the fish cleaning!!!!!

Today on the never ending honey do list I added the kegging of my American IPA ….. it had been deferred several times and I needed to get it into the 6 L minikegs. It always take a little bit of good beer to do any home brewing task. So – Bishop – how does a Pinebelt Ale sound – duh…always good! I also had a Bombshell Blonde – my wife Kathy says the aroma is good but the taste lags a little….everyone has their own opinion. I like it but it is a bit light on the robust flavors of the IPA’s I have grown fond of….

I continued scratching at an ongoing honey do bullet…clean the garage but that is a long-term project…take a break and fire up the grill. Pour a Diamond Bear Pale Ale from Little Rock Arkansas. That almost made it through the chicken grilling and fire management efforts….just a small fire…. minor carcinogen build-up before I controlled the blaze and also put the fire out in the drip pan….standard grilling procedures.  To go with the meal and aid in posting I popped the top on a Lazy Magnolia Indian Summer Spiced Ale…pretty tasty and I know Kathy would like this…she loves Shock Top And Blue Moon Belgian Wit so this would have a similar but I think less spicy flavor…just enough.

Now if I were in London, sampling the Olympic offerings……would I have some sweet choices at the local pubs…..no doubt.

I am a fan…. You need to try it….it kinda grows on you. Just bough another 4 pack this evening for the fish taco night tomorrow.

A little humidity sweat forming on the can…yes there is a temerature differential and a little moisture in the air….better drink it quickly!

Ben…still rubbing it in with his mackerel.

TTFN

Bishop

Southern Star Brewery – Conroe Texas

Saturday August 4th I organized a trip over to Conroe TX for a chance to tour the Southern Star Brewery over in Conroe and most importantly sample some of their beer. I had previously consumed the Bombshell Blonde Ale on several occasions and found it very drinkable –  one that my wife finds enjoyable….she is slowly broadening her tastes away from yellow fizzzy water! “Toureess” on this very warm and humid day were the true fans of craft beer. The brewery/warehouse is not airconditioned…..it would not be cost-effective! Big industrial fans stirred the air around to help!

My son Ben, best friend John and his son Ryan were in our group attending the tour. A hint for those touring during the summer…dress appropriately – three of the four in our party wore those breathable fishing shirts – Columbia and Magellan brands – Ryan was Mr. T-shirt. Yes I sweated as did most everyone expended energy to lift the glass to their lips. The tour was awesome – The head-brewer was very knowledgeable, answered all of our beer geeky questions and I learned some valuable tips to incorporate into my home-brewing activities. The crowd was packed with home-brewrs…..a great sign!

Although not in stores yet – the brewery’s new Pro-Am recipe is an Imperial Double IPA and it is awesome…. This is a great beer for IPA lovers. Bring your own lawn chair and misting fan if you want….The also serve up some killer beer brats as well as being some of the friendliest people you’ll ever meet. Drink and buy local – Houston has some great choices and Southern Star is a great choice….canned/kegged beer – they don’t bottle – cans are a better way to keep beer fresh and makes hauling them around easier….cans are much more easily recyclable!

Southern Star Brewery – Pine Belt Pale Ale – Yummy!

TTFN

Bishop

 

Mississippi Beer – I Survived the Ozarks

My Missouri Ozark adventures are behind me and we are now in the recovering town of Biloxi Mississippi! I say recovering, because the devastating evidence of Hurricane Katrina is everywhere. Along the coastal road much of Biloxi and Gulfport was wiped clean of homes and businesses due to the power of the storm surge. While riding along the beachfront you can see massive parking lots grown up in weeds void of any associated structures. Bare foundations and empty lots extending 3 or 4 city blocks inland. The devastation was significantly greater than the New Orleans damage. The New Orleans flooding was tragic, but the town, commercial buildings, historic homes, hotels, restaurants were not shoved 4 blocks or more inland and piled up as a massive dump sites.

My wife and I drove the beach front road in February of 2008, two and half years after the hurricane.  There were still massive piles of debris that were once beautiful beachfront homes, businesses – lives of the people smashed to pieces. What really struck me was how little attention the news media gave to the area hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina. The people here seem to have a resilient spirit and they just rolled their sleeves up and took care of business. I’m sure there was federal disaster funding but they took care of business. Spend some time and follow the link to the aftermath photos.

Biloxi, Mississippi Hurricane Katrina Aftermath Photos, Pictures, Images

For those of you that want a detailed understanding of the impact of Katrina’s storm surge – at the beach the water would have been 30 feet above with waves taking that up much higher because of the 100 mph winds. The link below is a detailed 16 piece blog with photos, maps( I like maps) and graphs detailing the event – storm surge went miles inland in many places.

Katrina’s Surge, Table of Contents | Weather Underground

So, in the spirit of my continuing adventures I hoist a “Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan Nut Brown Ale” to all y’all along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. To my beer drinking friends – man oh man – absolutely a fine tasting beer! It is also low on the ABV scale…about 4.3% which means you can enjoy several while maintaining the proper “southern decorum”. I am an IPA lover and they mak a “Southern Hops-pitality” beer that I must locate before leaving. Even if I don’t I run across it, a beer jobber that will ship fresh beer to your house from a multitude of craft brewers….. I had that idea in my head once – I wonder how they were able to read my mind and steal my business idea…. What is my recourse!!!! Maybe I will send them some of my business and maybe y’all can help them out…Sounds like fun! Check them out!

Beerjobber.com – Online Beer Store | Buy Beer Online | Craft Beer Shopping and Delivery

Two nights in the Biloxi/Gulfport area and then the migration back to Kingwood TX begins. I checked the gravity on my home brew  IPA that is fermenting before we left on the trip July 23rd and it was still too high. I stirred it up and would have liked to check again in 3 or 4 days but will have to let it sit on the yeast until I return.

We went to the Hard Rock Casino in Biloxi and my wife tripled her money playing video poker… we had her cash out and take the $30.00 winnings back to the trailer! Big time gamblers we are!!!! Not quite enough to get a case/flat of Lazy Magnolia shipped to the house using the Beer Jobbers site above but it would help….Hey Kath – we’ll order something that you will like!

Lazy Magnolia – Very nice beers!

TTFN

Bishop

Double Dose of Stupidity in the Ozarks

We drove from the Lake of the Ozarks to Rolla Missouri for my son’s soccer camp at the Missouri University of Science and Technology campus. Small town, small campus and a very good engineering school. After dropping him off we headed headed toward Licking MO to set up camp at Boiling Springs Resort.

The first act of stupidity was listening to Joyce – my nickname for the GPS voice. I should have listened to the other voice in the passenger seat, yes dear, I should have known! So, an ill advised turn led to a missed turn. Joyce said drive .3 miles then turn, turn and turn – which should have brought us back to the missed turn.
Well, no roads existed where she advised us to turn! In fact, the next three suggestions were also void of even a deer trail. So deeper into the Ozarks we go. The road, no it was really a two-track now with the trees closing in and I think I am beginning to hear banjos! Two miles, now three and I keep hoping now for a loggers truck turn about.
Just as I think the road is ending we go through a gate and there is a house with an area that looks big enough to get this 28′ trailer and truck turned around.
Ok – remember the backing lessons from the previous night Bishop – that is another story- and see if you can get this rig turned around.
I am making good progress and I notice a gentleman standing at the front door watching my maneuvers – no shotgun or banjo, I hope!
As I get it all ready to drive out of his yard I decide to satisfy his curiosity and let him know why I came for such a short visit.
Jim Stanford was his name and he was grinning like the Cheshire Cat as I told the story. He provided great directions and told us to turn the GPS off. It was a useless tool. Besides no roads were shown for 4 miles on the drive back toward pavement. His parting comment – ” You can use my yard anytime you want to turn around!”
I smiled and shook his hand and off we went….thank goodness there weren’t banjo players on his porch!
The second act of stupidity – parking the trailer on a slope, not real steep but steep enough, no wheel chocks and off the supports it rolled. Only a foot or so but enough to bend the trailer tongue jack and three of the four stabilizers!
I need a beer, a really good beer and maybe more! I am so pissed off at myself! No major town anywhere near and I need parts and probably a repair guy! Fingers crossed!
If this is my last post I may be squealing like a pig! I think I have 3 Boulevard Ales in the fridge. That may ease the pain!
TTFN – and maybe for a long, long time!
Bishop

Boulevard Amber Ale in Osage Beach MO

Ok, what a day! Should have been just a couple of hour drive from Branson MO to Lake of the Ozarks –

Eight hours later, several U-turns on Highway 54, a dead battery, a people watching event at Walmart waiting on the battery and so freaking hot – we are drinking cold beer and considering a Mac & Cheese gourmet meal.

Walmart gets high marks here in in Osage Beach for their beer but mediocre marks in the auto service dept. they stock a full suite of Boulevard Brewing Co. beers! I bought a sizer of the Amber Wheat Ale- bottle conditioned – just like my home brewskis. There is that home brew feel, in a good way, for bottle conditioned beer – a little yeast is added as they bottle the beer. Adds a nice complex flavor – that is what it says on the label and I do AGREE!

Kathy is drinking Corona Light, I forgive her! She was in need of more beer than I wanted to drink!

A few beers, Mac & Cheese, a few rounds of dominoes and a road trip with my wife – doesn’t get much better than that.

TTFN
Bishop

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Branson Missouri – Dueling Pianos

Looking for local beers while enjoying the fun at the Dueling Piano Bar in Branson Missouri. My wife decided to try the Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat Ale and decided that it wasn’t too bad. My first beer, yes I had more than one…is that a surprise. I am on a mission to sensibly sample every craft beer brewed in the local area! I had the Boulevard Pale Ale as the opener. It was pleasant – not a lot of aroma but the hopping was nicely done. It is brewed in what they call the International style…not wildly hopped like some of the American IP’s.

Next  I tried ……….. well it was a darker brown than a Newcastle but with a little more body…..Oh well it was very tasty but as always I want to sample the local stuff – as I was typing the memory came back! It was Three Blind Mice – A brown beer by Mother’s Brewing Company in Kansas City Missouri. Well worth the effort.

The bar keep lead me along and asked me to try another creation by Mother’s…… Anything for Mother’s, eh? He and I chatted a bit about me being a home brewer and he brought me a beer called Sandy – a hopped up wheat ale. He had it in bottles and it was the best of the evening. I like their website…..enough notes included to get me experimenting for the fall brewing season.

The bar – Dueling Pianos in Branson Missouri was a hoot….summer time on a Wednesday evening and it was almost too much fun….it wasn’t the beer, I promise but I sang almost every song they played….

If you look closely in the mirror you can see my wife, son, his girlfriend and me taking the picture!

TTFN

Bishop

West Texas is still too Dry

After my last blog and lament – about the persistent rain and draught beer drought in West Texas my wife shot me a note….”Try Murray’s Deli Hun!” – the only acceptable reply to her request is and was “Yes Dear!”

A night later Pat McAdoo and I tried Murray’s Deli in our search for good beers. At first we thought that my dearest one had been omniscient! Well, – they offered draught beers in three sizes, 12 oz, pint and 22 oz…..that was a good sign.

The waitress asked what I wanted and I responded with my usual” I’ll have a cold beer!”

She gave me that squint! “Ok” she said, “we have cold beer. What flavor do you want?” Then she asked. “Domestic or imported?”

“It all depends. I don’t want anything like Bud or Coors!”, I told her.

She ran off a list of a few, Guinness was first and she had Bass Ale, Shock Top, Shiner, Blue Moon, Miller and a few others….. I told her that I like Guinness but that was a “one and off to bed beer” at the end of the night so I will have a Shock Top – oops, she was back a few moments later…..the keg was dry then the second choice – the Bass Ale was dry….. I then asked about what they had in bottles?

She grabbed me by the arm and dragged me up to the beer case (gently of course) and said “Take a look and pick out what you want!” Even though she is not my wife I couldn’t help myself and said, “Yes Dear!”

She dropped me off at the case and I grabbed a Shiner “Wild Hare” Pale Ale….nice bit of hops but not too hoppy – insert chuckle here for the subtle humor –  It really was a pretty good beer. In a bit she came back by and informed us that the Shock Top was up and running again, yes, I just had to have a real pint! Still no Bass Ale keg in the back but….. Hun, Murray’s was a bit better but it looks like Midland is in a craft beer drought.

With the flood of workers to the Oil Patch Boom going on in Midland – a quality establishment with a good selection of great beers would be a boon….A business opportunity maybe????? The guys at the hotel bar thought that it sounded like a great idea! I need to take their advice with a grain of salt…It was obvious that they had been there a long time and several were managing to stay on their bar stool when we returned from the AA baseball game at the local stadium near 10:00 PM. By the way, the stadium has Ziegenbach and Dos XX on draught …. a good sign for beer lovers. Go Rockhounds! Who would ever name a baseball team like that…. I guess “Rockhounds” make a bit more sense from the geological side of an oil town…. They could have named them the “Doodlebuggers” – a term applied to the seismic folks that listen for acoustic waves bouncing off of rock formations deep below their feet. I wonder what the mascot would have looked like?

Bishop – me – on the left, Cash Owens, Aurora Owens, family friend and Jamie Owens. Photo by Pat McAdoo at the Rockhounds game. Any beer visible?

TTFN

Bishop