A Good Beer Year?

Due to a number of factors: drought, increased corn production, increased demand – there’s a serious hops shortage going on. If you’re unfamiliar with hops, it’s overly-pronounced flavor in Imperial IPAs like Surly’s Furious, Bell’s HopSlam. The most approachable and comprehensive article I’ve found on the subject is from Chris Colby’s “The Bitter End: The …

Fermenting Alpha: Bavarian Hefe Weizen

This weekend, I invited Christopher, the Master in Fermentation Sciences, over to walk me through brewing up a batch of Bavarian Hefe Weizen from Northern Brewer. While I’m sure the extract kit didn’t take full advantage of his expertise, we had an excellent time and I picked up a few tips1 and got a better …

Flat Earth Releases Angry Planet @ Acadia Cafe June 30

From FlatEarthBrewing.com: “Flat Earth is sponsoring 10 hours of awesome bands and we will release our next and long awaited beer named Angry Planet, an American pale ale made with organic ingredients.” From AcadiaCafe.com: Flat Earth Brewing & Acadia Cafe Present Saturday, June 30, 2007 Time: 2:00 PM to 12:00 AM Cover Charge: $5.00 Ages: …

First Crack 96. Jeff Williamson on St. Paul’s Flat Earth Brewing

As Jeff Williamson, co-owner of St. Paul’s Flat Earth Brewing Co. awaits kegs to distribute the first batch of Flat Earth Pale Ale, he and I talk about; Getting a microbrewery off the ground How a new child changed his the direction of Flat Earth Flat Earth’s place in Minnesota’s beer scene. Listen to Jeff …

Surly’s Coffee Bender at the Acadia – Best of Both Worlds

Last night, I popped by the Acadia Cafe to update their podcast settings – it’s been moved to AcadiaCast.com. While testing everything out, Ted surprised me with a pint of Surly Brewing’s new Coffee Bender. It’s a fantastic beer, one that Omar hinted at during our podcast. The most complex of all Surly’s beers – …

First Crack 81. Omar Ansari Talks Surly Beer

Fewer than 6 months after seling the first keg of Surly Beer, Omar Ansari and I talk about starting a microbrewery in Minnesota. He shares the challenges of finding brewing equipment, zoning, and getting Surly into local bars and restaurants. We also do a live tasting of Surly’s new Belgian Saison-esque CynicAle Listen to Omar …