Category Archives: Homebrewing

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

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

Brewing Day has Arrived

Finally dug through my brewing kit and found a “roundtooit”!!! I always seem to be saying that I will scratch this or that off my list once I get around to it! I found “it” and the brew is in the kettle!

The batch is 5 gallons of an American IPA. While brewing I decided to try a Sam Adams ” Grumpy Monk” Belgian IPA. Pretty tasty! I thought I tasted cloves in addition to the hops- read the label and I guessed right! On my tongue is a lingering citrus, bitter orange taste. A bit like a beefed up Blue Moon. Not a Blue Moon that my wife prefers but one that is savored and enjoyed by my increasing fondness of all things IPA!

My next challenge will be fermenting temperatures! Last year’s AC work on the house has left my bedroom 6-8 degrees cooler than the rest of the house and the electric bill is nearly cut in half – two very good things in Houston. Now the dilemma!

Sweetheart, dearest one, we will need to share the bedroom with the fermenting vessel for a couple of weeks. I promise that it won’t cause any problems! I promise to not let the 6L mini-keg leak out into the back fridge like a recent event. I promise to provide back rubs on demand until this batch is properly kegged and conditioned!

Guys, did I over commit? I will look at the cost benefit ratio over the next few months. I may or may not be able to report back in much detail.

The Sam Adams with the brew kettle steaming away in the background. I also enjoyed an Amber Ale brewed by a local friend while making sure the watched pot continued to boil.
TRFN
Bishop

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More from New Mexico

I am getting pretty close to walking in my front door and getting the brewing area sanitized for the next batch of homebrew. I hope to boil tomorrow sometime.

I just left Carlsbad New Mexico  – yes that is in the good ole USA! Thursday night we sampled a meal at a restaurant called the Stock Exchange located in the “Old City Hall” at the corner of Canal and Fox St. Now don’t blink when driving around looking for it …. it is hard to spot. Lets talk beer. I asked our young waitress if they had any local beers and she told us now. After looking at the list I saw a “Marble IPA” – I decide to take a chance that it may have been brewed reasonably nearby. While she was of to grab my pint I searched for Marble Brewery on the iPhone and found that it is brewed in state, up in Albuquerque! I will put that in the category of local – if you have ever been to SE New Mexico, you will know that the distances are vast and local is just way too small. I will include Albuquerque in the category of local.

The Marble IPA was outstanding!!!!! Beer Advocate had a 91 rating in the list. I am not schooled in the art but I do know what my mouth likes and this was top notch! Then I tried the Marble Red….it was good, is there really any bad beer? So many beers and so little time…..I may have to get down to the Flying Saucer this weekend and add some notches to my card….just three at a time. The meal started great…the cucumber gazpacho was refreshing and then the bite of some hot peppers grabs your attention….I liked it but it could overwhelm some. The cooks definition of medium didn’t match mine – medium well was delivered but a steak is a steak – unless of course it goes to well done!

A steak, two roasted green chilis, glazed carrots and a Marble Red….Just it get any better?

Drink beer for whatever Ales you,

Bishop

New Mexico Beers –

I am spending the week in Carlsbad New Mexico earning a little more beer money for me and my honey. I have been able sample some New Mexico craft beers over the past couple of days. I have been reasonably well satisfied. I have tried the Santa Fe Pale Ale and the Santa Fe Nut Brown Ale. The pale ale was drinkable…..does a beer need to really be any more than that???? -….. The Nut Brown was more than just drinkable – full body, nice lace in the glass and just plain better than good. At the Yellow Brix Restaurant on Canal St. in Carlsbad.

On another night I tried a couple of beers from the Rio Grande Brewing Company – The Rio Grande IPA and the Pancho Verde Chile Cerveza. The IPA was very nice, not an overwhelming nose but a healthy and pleasant dose of bitterness. I have to admit that the Chile Cerveza was a disappointment. Poured from the bottle in a vigorous fashion and I could not produce anything resembling a head on this beer and Chile …..it must not have infused this bottle…..could have been a one off experience so maybe I should give it another try. At the Trinity Hotel in Carlsbad.

All of this beer talk has made me anxious to get home to brew a batch…… Maybe I can add some of my home grown chili’s and create something unique.

Spent today underground in the Carlsbad Cavern….. My partner and I walked in….lots of downhill and chose to walk out……lots and lots of uphill. Me thinks I need a beer! Cavern image slide show below with a beer theme.

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TTFN

Bishop

An Equal Opportunity Post

Most of my posts have beer, beer consumption, beer drinking, beer making and belches as the common thread. Well, I just copied from a friends Facebook post a serenity prayer that includes wine in its amazing bit of wisdom – and beer!

Wine is another one of God’s gifts that can be made at home just as homebrew and the skill set that home-brewers have can be easily transferred. So, pull a cork, pop a cap or pull the draught handle, sit back and enjoy the serenity induced state. No Hun, I am not drunk, it is just a blissful state of serenity – and besides you know that you love frogs…..you kissed me didn’t you?