Thursday, November 29, 2012

Deschutes Debut In Chicago



Deschutes Brewery, from Bend OR., announced their Chicago debut via Facebook.....

"Attention Chicago beer fans! Your first chance to drink/buy our beer will be at a special sneak peek event hosted by Binny's South Loop location on Thursday, December 13th starting at 5pm. Supplies are limited so mark your calendars and don't be late!

Binny's South Loop is located at 1132 S. Jefferson St Chicago, IL


Complete information on their official release in 2013, appeared on the Deschutes website..

"Mark your calendars! Although our beer will not be officially available throughout the state of Illinois until January 8th, Binny's will be hosting an exclusive sneak peek event on December 13th that you will not want to miss! Eight of our beers will be on tap for the first time ever in Chicago. This will also be your first chance to grab a six-pack or bomber of one of our beers below to take home. Assistant Brewmaster, Tim Alexander, along with a few other folks from Deschutes will be hanging out to talk with fellow craft beer fanatics. Supplies will be limited so make sure you get there early!

Bottles for Sale and On Tap:
Mirror Pond Pale Ale
Black Butte Porter
Chainbreaker White IPA
Jubelale
The Abyss
Black Butte XXIV

Also On Tap:
Inversion IPA
Obsidian Stout Nitro

For more info visit: Deschutes Brewery




Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Avery Brewing Mephistopheles'

Avery releases their big bold and black Imperial Stout "Mephistopheles' "......



Sunday, November 25, 2012

Jackson Payer's 1952 Philco Kegerator



 
 Necessity spurns artistic craftsmanship for the restoration/conversion of this classic 1952 Philco refrigerator. This fully functional masterpiece is the work of homebrewer Jackson Payer, who marries all the attention to detail of a perfectly restored '56 Chevy with modern beer dispensing technology. The '52 Philco is "one-of-a-kind" and clearly shows Jackson's love and passion for home brewing. This unit was a submission in 2011 Siciliano's Market Kegerator Contest. The photos and information included here were part of an article from Sept 2011 profiling the contest.

Built on the same premises as the ale it was designed to contain, my kegerator is not about size, production, or mass consumption. It proudly stands for the principles for quality, passion, craft, beauty and hard work.

Touting two Perlick Perl faucets, CO2 manifold, and a custom stainless steel drip tray; my kegerator project did not always have such high aspirations. The spring of 2008 I had decided to start brewing all grain batches and kegging, no more bottling for me. But with a total budget of around $160.00, I was looking for a cheap fridge and minimal setup. I picked up a ‘vintage’ GE fridge on Craigslist for a mere $15.00. Shortly thereafter my buddy acquired a small Philco refrigerator, which I soon convinced him to part with. Having the same internal dimensions as the large GE, but much smaller external dimensions, it had potential for a great kegerator.

Since winter was fast approaching, the Philco sat till the spring of 2009 before the start of its restoration journey. In the meantime the GE fridge took on its current role of cellaring homebrew and countless ales from Siciliano’s.





When spring arrived, I dismantled the fridge and started sanding. The chrome was sent off to George Iverson, an automotive trim restoration specialist in Minnesota. Tired of the way typical drip trays looked with their crooked drains, exposed screws, and non-conforming shape, I set off to design my own. With a curve to match the shape of the fridge, an internal drain, hidden studs and bull-nose corners, it’s one of a kind. It has an internal sprayer to rinse the tray clean on each use. The refrigerator was completely restored from the ground up with all original parts, and high R-Value insulation. I settled on a 1956 Chevy color scheme of Adobe White and Sierra Gold. The summer of 2010 my buddy Russ over at Kenowa Body Shop painted it up for me.




The only thing left was to top it off with homebrew, which I did for the first time this spring. I eventually intend to create some custom chrome tap handles, but in the meantime my homebrewed, all-grain IPA tastes just fine on tap.

  





The original article may be found here: Siciliano's Kegerator Contest
For more info on Siciliano's visit:  Siciliano's Market



Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Bell's Winter White Ale




 Winter beers have arrived and first one on deck is Bell's Winter White Ale. This beer is a departure from the traditional malty complected "winter warmer" style beers you'll find this time of year. Winter White is variation of the Belgian Witbier. It pours a murky unfiltered yellow, almost the color of grapefruit juice, with a thin white head. Fermented using a Belgian Yeast gives the beer a Champagne like carbonation of tightly knit, very fine bubbles. It's flavor is dry with fruity esters of lemon and just a hint of clove. Winter White Ale is an extremely refreshing wheat beer, and a wonderful change from other more traditional winter seasonal beers. And it scores high on my "sessionable list" coming in at a mere 5.0% ABV.  I highly recommend this one. Cheers!

     

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Gearing up for Holiday Beer Festivals


 Amazing how time fly's. The holiday season is just around the corner and Santa's "Beer Elves" are readying themselves for the onslaught of Winter Beer Festivals. One of the first  is the "BevMo! Holiday Beerfest" in Los Angeles, CA. on Saturday Dec. 1, 2012. A long Christmas list of brewers will be offering their wares to kick the holiday season into full gear.  Firestone Walker, Epic, Green Flash, Karl Strauss, Lost Coast, Rogue, Lagunitas and Deschutes just to name a few. Get you tickets early because this event is a sure sell out. Cheers!

For more info visit: BevMo! Holiday Beerfestival