Topics

16

The Pub / in the sainted words of Homer Simpson

« on: January 29, 2011, 05:15:19 AM »

"Get thee behind me, Satan."

no, wait, that was "Mmmmmm, Bacon."
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/01/28/133304206/why-bacon-is-a-gateway-to-meat-for-vegetarians

17

The Pub / Strange Days

« on: December 09, 2010, 02:27:38 PM »

strange f##king days, indeed. today, our outgoing governer here if FL, fondly known as Chaingang Charlie, pardoned Jim Morrison on the indecent exposure charges stemming from the infamous Miami concert 40 odd years ago.
 
http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Music/12/09/ent.jim.morrison.pardon/index.html
 
I almost went to the concert, but I didn't have enough money (probably spent it on pot), but my roommate & his girlfriend were there. he said that Morrison never dropped his drawers as charged. our Lizard King was profane, certainly drunk & lacivious, but not 'indecent.'
 
Oh well, a travesty of justice has been righted, but big f##king deal...... 40 years too late. if I was a republican, I'd certainly think this was a waste of our taxpayer dollars. Jim's probably laughing his ass off in his Paris grave. I'll definately have to replay some Door's music over the next several days. 

18

The Pub / Who are you? Where am I? WTF?

« on: November 17, 2010, 08:41:14 AM »

Hey y'all,

I've been using the forum for a while now.Though I miss TechTalk (and look forward to V2), I really like the forum. It's a great community but, like many online forums, most everyone goes by email handles. I'd much prefer to get to know y'all better and names are a part of that.

For many years, Jeff Renner would post annualy (first of HBD & then on TechTalk) asking people to post where they were located as well as their names. Sometimes it helps give a better answer to posts (water issues, local supplies & beer resources, etc). This even resulted in folks posting their Rennerian coordinates - Jeff R being called the center of the homebrewing Universe.

I'd love to see more people include their names & locations in their profiles &/or signatures. I feel like I probably know a number of you by name, but not by your online handle. It would certainly help for all of us to get to know each other better & build our sense of community. Just sayin'

Mark Tumarkin

I

19

All Things Food / Spicy Black Bean Soup Recipes?

« on: November 05, 2010, 05:51:06 AM »

Our brew club meeting is tomorrow night. We begin our meetings with a pot-luck dinner. As it's going to be chilly here in N. Fl this weekend, I thought a spicy black bean soup might be just the thing. I'm giving a presentation on Black IPA's for the meeting, and I think it'd pair well with black bean soup. I've never made a black bean soup before, so I'd appreciate any good recipe help. Doesn't have to be spicy  - I can handle spicing it up if necessary.

It's only appropriate that I get a little help from my friends with the soup. Definately got some help on the beers for the presentation. We don't have much choice on the 'new' style here..... Stone Sublimely Self Rightous & Southern Tier Iniquity were the only examples I could get locally. So I reached out to a few friends to ship me some examples. Huge thanks to Denny & Drew! With their help, the local available examples, a couple of homebrewed examples (mine & two others), we'll have 7-8 to try & compare. I'm doing the presentation to get a better handle on the style for myself, and thought I'd share that with our club members.

Seems like black bean soup just might make a kick ass food/beer pairing, but I need your help...... thanks!!

20

Commercial Beer Reviews / Midnight Sun Brewing .....wow!

« on: October 17, 2010, 06:23:08 AM »

Midnight Sun Brewing .....wow!

Friday night I had the opportunity to attend a tasting of Midnight Sun beers. One of our club members, Jim Ritchhart, had been in Alaska and came back with a wide selection of their beers, mostly from their specialty & one-off series. The selection we had was strongly slanted towards their Belgian style brews; not a surprise if you know Jim.

Unfortunately, I left my notes at Jim's, so I'll probably miss some, but we tried Monk's Mistress, and the earlier version of it called La Maitresse du Moine, Panty Peeler Triple, Artic Devil Barleywine, TREAT (Imp punkin porter), Jupiter, Descent, Anchor (Brett wit), Pride (Brett Pale Ale), Because, and maybe one or two others.

I was very impressed. Consistently clean & well brewed (except where they wanted some wild funk), creative & experimental. Also had some standout art on their labels, as well as some entertaining creative writing in their descriptions. There was a discussion of label design in another thread. Midnight Sun has some very unique & attractive labels.... and their beer delivers on any promises made by those labels.

Anyway, try 'em if you can. I'll definitely be on the lookout for more of their fine beers. Probably won't show up often here in Florida, but you never know.