What the hell is in my bottle?

So last night I popped a bottle of what was supposed to be 4 year old Stickenjab, assuming it was going to be crap. When I poured it, it was a lot darker than I remember Stickenjab being. I shrugged it off, and then took a sniff. WHOA. Definitely not an alt! The aroma was complex, estery, funky, spicy and so much more. Cranberries, cherries, ginger, coriander, cloves, pepper, honey, peach, and lots of acidity. The taste of this beast was pure delight. Sour, sharp, and funky, with strong estery fruit notes, spicy yeastiness, and a long tart finish. What the hell is in my bottle? Fucking unbelievable stuff for real! I was damn surprised, and hopefully Tom can answer my question tonight.

UPDATE: Upon discussion with Peggy, I believe it was the Two Druids Gruit Ale. So, if you ever encounter a bottle of it in your travels you should buy it, drink it, and love it.

Going All Grain

We cleaned out the basement yesterday at Earth, and upon doing so we discovered an entire all grain set up. Tom's. And it's now mine. That's right, not only am I going all grain, I'm doing it on the equipment Mr. Heavyweight started with.

I hope it's not cursed. I think my first all grain is going to be a brett porter - Perkuno's Funky G-String.

Penelope Funk Dot Com Slash Surgery Time

Fucking cats, man. We have 5 of them now, 4 of which - Ginger, Cassie, Jemima, and Sonic - are perfectly healthy. But the fifth one, little Penelope, developed a giant freaky growth in her mouth. Of course it would happen to my favorite, the one that adores me, the world's most perfect, nicest, and thoroughly well behaved cat.

Penny is kinda dumb and has a tenancy to chill with her mouth gaping wide open, which is what she was doing one day when Autumn noticed this giant bubble looking growth under the left side of her tongue. It was really fucking disgusting so we took her to the Mt. Airy Animal Hospital. I will never go back there again. Upon doing some research online I discovered it's what's a ranula. I mention this to the Animal Hospital and they looked at me like I was a nut bag. They said they could fix it, did a $400 surgery to remove it, and a week later it came back. Bullshit. I got taken for a ride hard.

When I called them back they said it should just die down, which it never did. All the while, Penny kept getting worse and worse. She could barley eat and drink, couldn't swallow at all, and hardly moved. She lost 4 1/2 pounds! It was scary to see her that unhealthy..

We wound up having to take her to a specialist, about an hour away, who knew exactly what it was - a ranula. A cat's salivary gland is up in it's jaw, and there's a tube that runs the saliva to a fine little duct in the mouth. Something caused trauma to that duct, which resulted in the gigantic bubble. They had to go into her jaw and physically remove the salivary gland! After that, they cut a hole in the ranula and sewed it to make it permanent, so that it would drain and eventually disappear.

Penny is home and happier than she's been in a long time. She's running around and playing with everyone, and she won't leave me alone. I'm super relieved to have her back! But, in times of economic recession like these, one has to ask one's self, "Did I really just spend $1733 on a cat?" Yes, dumbass, you did.

Weekend in Killadelphia

Nate came up (or down) for a visit this weekend, and it wound up being hedonistic and very beer filled for me. Good times, albeit not all remembered. We started our evening at Earth, where Nate chilled being a nerd and I worked. Had a few brews there before heading off to McMenamin's down the street. It was pretty bumping there but the tap list was on point. I had a Mad Elf, Orval, St. Bernardus Christmas, and a dozen fantastic hot wings. Drinking, eating, and mingling with the locals - what more could you want?

Next day we were off to Manayunk Brewing, which was a much better visit than my first time there. The beers were nothing stellar, but they weren't too bad either. Couple standard lagers/ales, but a few standouts. My favorite was the Double Down Brown, a coffee brown ale. Normally I don't like brown ales, but this one was pretty damned good. Schuylkill Punch, a tart raspberry lager, is always pretty delicious, though most disagree with me. Unfortunately, they had a beer called Festivus, a dark Belgian ale, and it was downright disgusting. Pure crap, couldn't believe it. The pizza I got was alright, and Nate's salad looked nice.

Nate headed back East, and I headed downtown with Autumn and Joe. We met our friend Mike at Nodding Head, the first time I've been there. I was thoroughly impressed. The place itself is cozy and comfortable, great for just hanging out. I got to meet the brewers and they are both cool folk with some nice equipment. 8 fermenters - you bastards. The 5 beers they had were very good I thought. The best of the bunch was Rudy's Kung-Fu Grip, a dark Belgian. Estery and fruity, but controlled and balanced. It was nice to see a 60 Schilling, a tough to come by style of low proof Scottish ale. What really impressed me was the fact that all the beers were clean with no infections or flaws. As far as brewing technique is concerned, they are at the top of their game. The food was also fantastic. Our frites were delicious, as was the baked brie and fried sampler platter. This is one of the best places I've been to in Philly yet.

The sun was down, my stomach was full, my eyes heavy. Went home and finished of the night with some Family Feud and a bottle of Unibroue 17. Good times.

What I Like About Mt. Scary

So we've been here 3 months and I haven't posted shit really about the neighborhood. Mt. Airy is a diverse, middle class, and closely knit community in Northwest Philly. There's not a whole lot to do around here, but what exists is really pretty top notch. I expect the area to blow up real soon. It's seems like it's becoming a hip destination for folks looking to escape the madness of downtown.

We have 2 of the best coffee shops I've ever visited within walking distance - Infusions and High Point Cafe (no website). Infusions offers beans from 3 different local independent roasters. Their beans are always fresh, and occasionally they can pull a pretty fantastic shot. High Point Cafe's beans, while delicious and perfectly roasted, come from Seattle. Their espresso is some of the best I've had in Philly, and their baked goods are fantastic.

High Point is right across the street from Weaver's Way Co-op, a community run independent food store. They own their own farm, and to be a member you must donate and volunteer 6 hours yearly. All the produce is fresh and delicious, they have lots of great fish, homemade soups, fantastic cold salads, great cheese, and lots more. It's very refreshing to see a true, community ran co-op.

Food wise there are some great options. (Insert Earth plug here.) McMenamin's (no website) is a great local bar/restaurant. The food is always fresh, delicious, and well cooked, and the beer selection is stellar. Always rotating taps with lots of goodies, including at least one Belgian at any given point. The bottle selection is small but good, and very reasonably priced. Another great food joint here is called Tiffin, a small but unbelievably good Indian place. Consistently rate the best in Philly, their food is top notch, service is stellar, and prices and unbeatable. I also have to shout out to Chef Ken's Cafe (no website). Ken is always serving great, down home style soul food with lots of flavor. A little pricey, but always worth it.

Last but not least I gotta mention TLA video. Best selection of movies to rent I've ever seen. Old films, foreign films, classic films, indie films, horror films, even gay films, they have it all. Thank God for this place.

In short, I like Mt. Airy. It's pretty alright here. Happy New Years everyone.

Two Tom's

There are two Tom's on (and in) Earth that I'm not a big fan of. Neither of them are allowed to read my blog. Thank you for your time.

Santos L. Halper's Dark Mild Ale

Yesterday was brew day at Earth and it was my turn to come up with the recipe. This is my first one so I hope it comes out well. We needed something we could put out quick so we did a real small mild - should be around 3.5% ABV. The base was all pale and pils 50/50, with some caramel, pale chocolate, and a little touch of smoked malt. We used East Kent Goldings exclusively, which were added at 60, 30, and 15 left in the boil. Gonna ferment it warm so, if all goes as planned, there will be a nice yeasty fruitiness mixed in with the sweet darker malts and the earthy hops. If all goes as planned.

We just tapped the Schuylkill Bitter the other day and it is freaking fantastic. 5.5% ABV so I guess it is kinda extra and a little bit special. As far as homebrewing is concerned, I'm still just too busy and broke to brew for now, but that will change real soon. I'm gonna just go nuts and do a few big batches I think. Old Ale? Barleywine? Big Ol' Belgian? Maybe even a big lager? Who knows.

Muckney Brewing Saison du Muqunee + What the Hell I've Been Doing

First off, Saison du Muqunee, brewed by the homebrewing homosexual duo of Justin and Dave. Good looking brew for sure. Cloudy straw gold with a nice white head that dissipates down to a collar but chills the whole glass. The aroma is really something else - spicy, ginger-esqe notes blend with a grainy, almost cereal backbone, with lots of underlying fruit - apple, pear, and maybe even peach. There is also a curry type smell which is real weird, but I dig it. The taste is wonderfully refreshing and easy drinking. Light fruits up front followed by some pepper and grass, with a long grainy, bitter, dry finish. Well fucking done kids!! I know this was your first all grain and I must say you killed it. Very clean with absolutely no flaws, perfect attenuation, and the yeast comes through flawlessly. Your best yet.

Secondly, what the hell have I been doing? The answer: working... like a motherfucker. But it's a lot of fun. For now we're not brewing too often, so mostly I'm the kitchen expediter. It's stressful but worth it. The restaurant is doing real well and the food is great. People are really responding to the beer as well. So far I've help Tom brew 3 batches. First was the Bradley Effect - a 3.8% ABV dark gruit. The advent of using hops in beer was not until the 17th century-ish (depending on where you lived), so to balance out the sweetness of the malts they used herbs. In this one we used yarrow, sweetgale, wild rosemary, and a bunch of others I can't remember. It's very interesting because not only is it tough to find a true gruit, I've never herd of a dark one. We brewed it with Doug whom, I doubt anyone remembers this, was behind Heavywight's Doug's Colonial Ale. The second batch is the Schuylkill Bitter which was originally to be an E.S.B., but we accidentally left a valve open on the brew kettle, so all the extra and special parts wound up on the floor. Tom blames me, I blame him, whatever. The last batch was O'nekrups Rebirth, later renamed Berkun's Finger (as in "hey, give me the finger"). It's a simple baltic porter based on Perkuno's Hammer only scaled back. All went well with brewing, and I can't wait for this one. It's aging with a lager yeast at 58 right now.

Damn, I went on and on. I need to blog more. I will try. Right now I'm drinking a 750 of 2005 Heavyweight Old Salty.. Thanks Tom. The beer here in Philly is unreal, as my ratebeer ratings will show. This is definitely a good beer drinking city, but goddamn it it is expensive. Well I'm done. I'm really gonna attempt to post more. Keep in touch, kids..

The Happening - You have been warned.

I know I said the blog is gonna be more beer focused, and I will be posting updates very soon on that, but I just had to warn all my friends.

I saw the new flick The Happening from M. Night Smilingman (I'll be damned if I'm attempting to spell his name), and let me just say it turned me into M. Night Frowningman. You want to know the twist? The big surprise ending? You kill yourself out of boredom.

We Made It..

Just to update - we made it. The move went well, just a bit longer than anticipated. Pretty much everything is unpacked now, we're getting settled in, and finally got the internet. The Comcast man was a mere 22 hours late for his appointment, and upon calling and bitching 7 times, I got $205.50 in credits. BOOM! Anyhoo, I'm still in training at Earth, and we're expecting to be open next week. Holy shit does the line-up look awesome! 4 house beers (mild, pale ale, biere de garde, rachbier), 8 guest taps (Victory, Sly Fox, One Guy, Dock Street, Philadelphia Brewing, Allagash and more), and a bunch of fantastic bottles which I've barely glimpsed. Food seems great, wine seems great, and Tom & Peggy are good people. I will keep the blog updated...