The three week drought of posts should indicate that I have been up to other extremely important things, namely enjoying getting to know my new son Archer. But it felt like time to spend a few minutes with my other, much more neglected child.
So, what’s new with beer in Eugene? So much I’ll probably only scrap the tip in this post. First off, Falling Sky is open, their beer is flowing and they make a damn fine Pork-belly Cuban Sandwich. Eugene Beer Week is also shaping up nicely, despite me crashing the website for several hours Wednesday night. We shot big, asking $750 dollars for the top level of sponsorship and three businesses have stepped up so far. This put some much-needed funds in the coffers and right now work is being done to funnel some of that money into T-shirts and other EBW branded items. I’ll be sure to post some schwag-shots once they arrive. And once again, I’ll mention that if you are interested in sponsoring Eugene Beer Week, hosting events or just want to know what the hell this fine event is all about, head on over to the official website, eugenebeerweek.org.
On the homebrew front, I picked up a couple 3rd place ribbons from the KLCC homebrew competition for my Dry Stout and Berliner Weisse. I also got my first brew of ’12 in a few weeks back, a Norther German Alt, fermented on Wyeast Bohemian Lager yeast. I tried to get my son involved, but being two months old at the time, holding the mash spoon was the extent of his contributions.
I also have a new MaltMill on it’s way from Jack Schmidling, my first piece of commercial-scale equipment…small comercial-scale equipment. I ordered the iconic Maltmill gear-driven and with case-hardend rollers. This is the same setup the boys at Bonfire used to start their 3-barrel brewhouse and should last me from homebrewer on through to struggling 1.5-2bbl system operator.
And speaking of commercial brewing, we have a pair of new brews from Ninkasi coming out in the first half of April. Commonwealth, a multi-grain session ale brewed with Amaranth, Millet and Teff is being released April 1st, on draft and in bombers. The beer celebrates Eugene’s 150th Anniversary and all profits benefit Food for Lane County and the City of Eugene’s Cultural Services. On April 15th, Helles Belles is returning, this time on draft and in 6-packs. The German-style Helles is brewed using a traditional step-mash and lagered for a full 6 weeks. Belles is the first beer in Ninkasi’s Prismatic Lager Series.
Finally, a beautiful care package arrived in the mail today from Widmer. Inside the reclaimed-wood box were two bottles of Raspberry Russian Imperial Stout ’12, a tulip glass and a little bottle note tag, so notes can be taken on one bottle now, then stored with the second bottle for tasting against Rx2IS ’13 next year. More to come on this one.
Cheers!
Kevin
