Raised from the Basement

While the March Hare was a complete 7.62% success... and it left everyone raving and drooling and mad as a ... I don't know... mad as a something, the real treat this weekend was when someone raised a bottle of Lit Bier and a bottle of Red from the basement after 2 years.  They were smooth and tasty and now the are in Beer Heaven.

I can't help but chuckle at the irony of all this.

March Hare Heads South

Yeah... this is the March Hare.

It's tasty. 

This squad is heading south for the holiday weekend.

None shall return.

Transfers Today

Just transferred the March Hare to keg for carbonating and transferred Blond... James Blond to the bright tank.  The Hare should be ready just in time for Easter and the Blond will be ready for the first weekend in April!  I just can't wait!  I measured their gravities and added them to the graph.

The Scoresheets Came Today!

We got a packet from the brewing competition with the AHA/BJCP score-sheets in the mail today.  I have to say, the feedback was awesome--- especially for the stout (which, I might add -- went on to the "best of show" advanced round)!

Some highlights...

Regarding Young George:

• "Enjoyable beer."
• "Nice complex yeast profile"
• "Nice drinking beer, lots going on with the subtle smoke character"

Regarding the Stout:

• "Great full mouth-feel"
• "Very pleasant beer, lite chocolate subtle roast, super mouth-feel - don't change that!"
• "Very drinkable"
• "Nice job cracking a smooth mouth-feel."
• Scored on the higher end of the "Very Good" beer rubric... 36/50.

Probably the most useful feedback was to "watch fermentation temperatures", a known problem in our current operation.

"Onward and Upward", as they formerly said in the ladder building industry.

What's next?

Get that kegerator built!  Then, ferm. temp. won't be such a challenge!

This ain't the Mudclub...

What a GREAT open house at C.B.Fisk today!  Opus 141 meets Hopus 141!  Thank you to all who helped make this happen... that would be Emily and everyone up there in Gloucester!

Mr. Smith Goes to Gloucester

I'm thinking of keeping a yeast strain in a refrigerator in the basement: "Andromeda".
Today is the day... the Opus 141 open house and I'm bringing 5 Gallons of "Hopus 141" up to Gloucester!

In other news, the "March Hare" is safely conditioning in the conditioning room in secondary and a co-brew with Aaron called, "Blond... James Blond" is getting moved this weekend to secondary.
Not much else going on except we're still waiting on the score-card from when we submitted a couple of beers to a competition last month.

Other than that, I've been having dreams about pallets of Sanke kegs laser etched with "The Bevtown Brewer".