FOOLCiRCLE

Last night was an awesome night! Back in February I entered a homebrew competition called War of the Worts X. One of the categories was HopDevil Clone – the objective being you were suppose to brew a beer that cloned Victory’s HopDevil, and the winner was awarded a personal brewery tour with one of the two owners of Victory Bill Covaleski. Well I had an IPA in bottles at the time, though it was not made to clone the HopDevil nor did it taste a lot like it, it was worth the chance to try and win the prize. Fortunetly, I did win – check out the full story from february here.

Basically, here’s a shorted version of how my evening went, if you want more juicy details give my ass a call or fire off an email. Anyway, Todd & I got up to Victory in Downingtown, PA just before 6PM. We met Bill Covaleski at the bar. We came armed with ECPA II (HopDevil Clone) and an empty growler. Of course Bill was very curtious and welcoming which was a relief, and taller than I expected. But anyway, he offered to get us beers. Bill was drinking Prima Pils, I had a DTown Brown (which was like a cross between a mild and a porter, so maybe like a light porter or strong mild), and Todd had the HopDevil on cask condition (cask whore).

After another beer, Bill & Todd had the same thing, I had the DTown Brown on cask, we headed into the brewing area for the tour. First, he showed us this little area, maybe 20×50 feet and he said that all of there brewing equipment use to fit in that space (which Weyerbacher is now in possession of). Then we headed to the new brewing area and I almost shit my pants!

It was one of the most beautiful, well kept pieces of German engineering I had every seen. As Todd later said to me, “It felt like I was in a dream.” Bill explained everything, answered all of our questions, and actually made us feel comfortable and included, how cool. We passed through the brewers office on our way to the hops freezer. This room smelt like heaven! There were thousands of pounds of compressed hops everywhere, stacked from floor to ceiling, I loved that room. As Bill said, “You probably haven’t seen anything like this since the pages of High Times.” Wow! From the hop freezer we went to the where the fermentation and serving vessels are. The coolest part was seeing the costum made tanks for the Golden Monkey, these guy’s balls must hang low, I give them mad credit. From there we breezed by the quality control lab on our way to check out the cleaning system and then off to the packaging house. The packaging house totally had a Lavern & Shirley thing going on. The best part of the packaging house were the two cooler rooms. They had these two giant walk in coolers that were packed full of different Victory brews ready to be drunk. I literally think I saw an alleulia light shining out while a choir of angels sang, I definetly zoned-out until the door closed to say the least. I think Todd heard something more along the lines of Homer Simpson, “…ummmm beer.”

After the tour, Todd & I grabbed another beer. This time he had Prima Pils a la Bill-style and I had a HopDevil on cask. Unfortunetly at that time Bill had to leave, he had other obligations with his family that I am afraid that I may have made him miss. So we grabbed a seat and grubbed. We split hot wings, then Todd got the brat sandwich and I had a burger. I was happily surprised when the waitress told us our dinner was taken care off, I hadn’t realized that Bill was going to pick up the tab as part of the prize, which of course made everything taste even better. So we threw down a nice tip and headed on our way. Todd went to the gift shop and bought Cali his daughter a HopDevil onesy and a T-shirt for himeself. I filled my growler on the way out with the V-12. It was really a great, great time. I only have one complaint, which I know will sound lame, I was hoping to be able to try the Throwback Lager or the St. Boisterous – both of which were on the beer menu, but were no longer on tap. Just one more reason to go to Victory more often. Thanks again, Bill!

This year’s BUZZ OFF had 254 entries and was held at Iron Hill West Chester. I did not stewart or anything, but Karen & I did go up to hear the awards announcements at 4:00. They were running behind and finally started to announce the awards around 5:30 or so. Here’s what happened:

I entered 4 beers in this competition. I entered the ECPA in the American Amber category, the MacRae in the Old Ale category, the Red Card Ale in the Irish Red category, and the Honey pale Ale in the Specialty Beer category. Fortunetly, two of my beers placed!! The ECPA got a 3rd Place in its category and the Red Card Ale got a 1st Place in its category!! And as if that were not enough, the Red Card Ale then surprised me once again by winning BEST OF SHOW!! Amazed, . . . I honestly thought the MacRae and the Honey Pale Ale had stronger potential then the flip side, goes to show what I know. Here are all the result: 2005 BUZZ OFF Results

And because of the Red Card Ale’s 1st Place victory, it get’s an invitation to the Masters Championship of Amateur Brewing (MCAB) this year! The BUZZ OFF is a qualifing event for the MCAB. There are about 10 qualifing events from around the country, and if you get a 1st Place in any of the categories, that beer moves on to this invitation only national cometition. So this will be the second national cometition the Red Card Ale will be entered in just this year! Here is the MCAB webite, it looks as if it has not been updated from last year, so stay tuned for an updated site: MCAB site

Not only did all of this happen at the BUZZ OFF yesterday, but I also recieved all my information for the National Homebrew Competition in the mail yesterday. And, not only does the Red Card Ale go on to the second (and final) round, but the MacRae also will be going to the second round because of a mistake the judges made while judging, couldn’t really ask for more. So, all in all it was a good homebrew day, and I didn’t even make beer!

Like minds brought together through BeerAdvocate.com and a love for local, craft, micro, homebrew, belgian, specialty and all other forms of wonderful beer. BIF20 (Beer-It-Forward #20) is a little different then the typical BIFs. This one is a race between two teams, both starting and ending with the same person and circling (more like zig-zagging) through 12 other people as fast as possible, but at the same time trying to accumulate as many miles as possible, and share new and distict beers – quite a lot to think about during a “fun” race between two very competitive teams of face-less team mates. The two teams are Team Dexter & Team Sinister – I’m on Team Sinister! You can follow the progress of BIF20 here at this website.

I was fortunate enough to recieve a sick package from Mentor, in Iowa, containing:
One Windy City Suds local beer newspaper
One Millstream Brewing Co. pint glass
12oz. Bard’s Tale Beer Dragon’s Gold – Golden Sorghum Lager
12oz. John’s Generations Whita Ale – Millstream Brewing Co.
12oz. Maifest Lager – Millstream Brewing Co.
12oz. MacTarnahan’s Blackwatch Cream Porter
12oz. Pere Jacques – Goose Island Brewing Co.
11.2oz. Sahtia – Lammin Sahtia Oy
12oz. Robert the Bruce – Three Floyds
750ml Oro de Calabaza – Jolly Pumpkin (from DEXTER, MI)
22oz. Dark Lord Imperial Stout – Three Floyds (most SINISTER)
I also was speedy enough to turn the package around the same day I got it and sent a pretty nice package to Babydoc, in Kansas.

Obviously, I went a little crazy over the Dark Lord – I’ve only wanted this beer for over a year now, go figure.

THIS JUST IN: Red Card Ale is moving onto the Second Round in the National Homebrew Competition!! I entered 3 beers this year, ECPA, MacRAE and Red Card and the Red Card moves on achieving 3rd Place in its category, Scottish & Irish Ale. With 22 entries, I am totally stoked. Second Round is in Baltimore June 16-18th.
Congratulations Mike Kavanagh for your assistance on this lovely beer.
See more here: Results

Finally I’m getting around to posting something about the lastest brew. This beer is the only 05 Signature Series to date. It was originated, designed and brewed by Acolyte Brewer Mike Kavanagh with a lil’ help from B-Sharp. Basically the beer was a good time to make and helped show Mike how easy it is for someone to make good beer. For more info., guidlines, and personal reviews from Mike and myself, check this out:

Red Card Ale

HOPS BOPS XXII – This is an opportunity for you to have your homemade beer evaluated by BJCP qualified judges. Awards will be given for winning beers in all categories and Best of Show. Additionally, winners will receive points towards “Delaware Valley Homebrewer of the Year”.

Well, yesterday was the HOPS BOPS XXII, and this time I stewarded the competition. I probably got up to NoDDing Head Brewery about 9:45 and the judging probably officially began about 10:30. Basically my job was to keep things cool for the judges: picking up empty cups and bottles, refilling water, empting the dump buckets, sorting the beers – things of that nature. I thought I was going to be treated more like a judge’s bitch, but mostly everyone was pretty nice. Two tables were pretty generous with letting the stewards(3) have samples after they were finished with the beers. Basically the one guy was like, “You have to try these samples, if you are stewarding that means you probably want to judge, and there is no better way than to drink these homebrews.”
I entered five beers and only one placed. The MacRae got a 3rd Place in the Old Ale category with a score of 33. The other beers were: ESB in the Best Bitter cat. with a 29, The ECPA in the American IPA cat. with a 25, the Mild Session Ale in the Mild cat. with a 26, and the California Common in the CC cat. with a 28. So really all of my beers scored generally the same. The two big things that kept coming up as comments were, 1 – possible oxidation & 2 – possible sanitation problems. Honestly I’ve REALLY been working on those two things and still – same stupid comments.
The funny thing is, the ECPA got banging comments like, “Superlative bottle inspection, … Flawless technical merit, … Brilliant medium walnut color with a good persistant moussy tan head.” But then they ripped it saying it wasn’t to style, were my hops stale, not enough of this and too much of that. It was so inappropriately categorized (according to the judges) that one of them came up to the head steward (he’s been stewarding for like 10 years) and asked him if it were accidently in the wrong category and to double check the computer data base. Crazy! I love the ECPA and I think it is a classic example of an American IPA.

PLINY THE ELDER – 8.0%ABV / 1.071 O.G / 100 BUs

Pliny the Elder was a Roman naturalist, scholar, historian, traveler, officer, and writer. Although not considered his most important work, Pliny and his contemporaries created the botanical name for hops, “lupus Salictarius”, meaning wolf among scrubs. Hops at that time grew wild among willows, much like a wolf in the forest. Later the current botanical name, humulus Lupulus, was adopted. Pliny died in 79 AD while observing the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. He was immortalized by his nephew, Piny the Younger, who continued his uncle’s legacy by documenting much of what he observed during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Pliny the Elder, the beer, is brewed with 40% more malt and over twice the amount of hops as compared to our already hoppy IPA. Bronze Medal, 2004 GABF (Double IPA Category)

Guess who has what? And from what I have been told, some of the tag lines that follow this beer are: “Pliny makes Randall obsolete” & “Randall is Pliny’s bitch!”

We’ll see . . .

“Wort in the kettle – never ever do we settle
Bitter biting sharper than a stinging nettle
My job ain’t a job – I’m rolling with my crew
City to city – I’m swinging that brew
New sensation – brew fests around the nation
Pain Relievaz never get vacation
Shaky Hops-A-Lot is our lupilin staple
I brew what I brew and Randall’s no fable
Want no caking – our mash tun we’re raking
East Side versus West Coast – a ruckus we’re making
While you’re brewing beer worried about the size
The Pain Relievaz at the pub – cold kickin’ the prize”

I know this site isn’t normally “blog like” and I know the last two post have been “bloggish”, but at least they’re beer related. Yesterday Robert and I went down to Dogfish Head to return the kegs from the party. We got to the Milton location a little before three to return the kegs and picked up a 6th keg of ApriHop too, sweet! We took the tour with Matt Webster and Bryan Selders. This is my third time taking the tour in a year and everytime is more in depth and different. During the tour we got to try the Chicory Stout and the 90 Minute IPA. We also found out that DFH will be adding a 60,000 sq. ft. building to there already 27,000 sq. ft. building and adding a restaurant in Milton!

After the brewery tour we drove to the brewpub in Rehoboth. From 4-6 it’s $2 for most drinks, plus they have Randallized 90 MInute on tap. We each had 1 Randall, 1 ODB (Old Dirty Bitter in honor of Old Dirty Bastard, naturally), 1 120 Minute IPA & another Randall. While at the same time the Distiller Mike Gerhart and his assistant Katie let us sample a Rum Swizzle they had made. Really it’s a drink, but they served them as shots – I think we had 3 or 4 of those. Both Robert and I also got growlers of the ODB to bring home.

Before we left Mike was kind enough to give us a tour of the brewpub and distillery. It was really cool!! We talked and sampled for almost two hours. We tried the Honey Rum before the honey is added. We tried the Wit Rum before the spices are added. We tried the freshed Blue Hen Vodka I’ve ever had, and we got to sample the DFH Whiskey that may or may not get released – pretty sweet. Mike also told us about a recent visit from Beer-God Michael Jackson and how he had discovered a new “oldest fermented beverage” in China and wanted DFH to brew it after there success with Midas Touch. It is said to be from 6000BC and found in China. It was reserved for the king and his royal family only. They thought it brought them closer to God, and in the morning when they were throwing up and hung over it was there body purging because no human should be that close to God. It all sounded really neat.

To say that Robert and I had a dope beer adventure would be to belittle the night. I can’t wait until next Good Friday!

Call it a Friday, call it a party, call it the day after St. Patty’s Day, but all I know is that I needed some help drinking some beer.

Karen & I had a small get together last night and I think things went great. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was a “Fool Circle Event”, but it could have been. Basically I bought to 6th kegs of DFH beer in October 04 for the wedding. One was Punkin’ Ale and the Other was 60 Minute IPA. Well, with the generous gift from Iron Hill Brewery, these two 6ths were not needed. Well, time goes on and things keep happening, so finally we decide we want to drink them NOW, but we’ll need help to drink 10 gallons of beer, equal to 5 cases.

I feel as if everyone had a great time, I know Karen & I sure did. Big ups to Todd for coming through with the chimenea (fire pit), that definetly set things off right. We’ll have to do this again . . . SOON!!

What if Fool Circle was to only make 4 kinds of beer a year starting in 2006. Two parter: 1)What beer styles would you like to see attempted before the end of 2005 & 2)What 4 Fool Circle beers or styles do you think should be the 4 that Fool Circle should focus on for 2006?

Suppose said 4 beers start to become brewed on a very regular basis in larger quantity sized batches, so there would “excess” cases of beer available to be acquired through donations, would anyone be interested? And what would be a “fair” price?

Fool Circle is currently preparing to go in the following direction: All-grain -> 10 gallon batches -> kegs available. This three tier plan will hopefully be in effect beginning in 2006 and come to completion by the end of 2006.

Let me know your thoughts through the contact page. Thanks. B.

P.S. – I brewed a Mild Brown yesterday, should be a good session beer.

Competition number two for the year with awards number three and four for the year! Check the results page here.

Fool Circle pulled in two awards for one beer with this competition, AGAIN! First I’ll tell you what I entered, and then I’ll let you know what I won. I entered 4 beers in 5 different categories for this competition, this was the War of the Worts X competition, the largest in the area with 286 entries. I entered the Double Dubbel in the Belgian Strong Dark Ale category, the Hunting MacRae in the Old Ale category, the ECPA in the American IPA category and the Hop Devil Clone category, & the ESB in the ESB category. And the winner is . . .

The E.C.P.A. II!!! The ECPA won Second Place at the IPA table for being an American IPA and it also won Third Place at the IPA table for being a Hop Devil Clone. That’s great that I won both a 2nd and 3rd Place, but what about the Hop Devil Clone category, what happened to that? Somehow it appears as if both entries became lumped together, and there is no other mention of the Hop Devil Clone category AT ALL on the Keystone website anywhere.

Well, I now have the answer, I was the only one who entered a Clone! I don’t believe it, but it’s true. So since there was only one beer in the category, it had to be “lumped” with another. I finally wrote to the Competition Organizers and within minutes got back this response:
“Hi Brian, You are the only one who entered a beer in the “clone” category. With only one beer, we had no other choice than to consolidate with another category. However, we promised a prize to the clone winner and we always keep our promises, so you are a lucky man: you won the personal tour with Bill Cowaleski, Victory brewmaster.You will receive a certificate to that effect (unless you prefer picking it up at the store). Congratulations on your double-win! (and smart move to enter the same beer in 2 different categories) Best, Vince”

You can read more about the ECPA II here at Fool Circle!

You can read more about Victory’s Hop Devil here at Victory Brewing Company.