FOOLCiRCLE

An Announcement from Trey:

Last Friday night, I got together with Mike, Page and Fish to talk openly about the strong feelings I’ve been having that Phish has run its course and that we should end it now while it’s still on a high note.

Once we started talking, it quickly became apparent that the other guys’feelings, while not all the same as mine, were similar in many ways — most importantly, that we all love and respect Phish and the Phish audience far too much to stand by and allow it to drag on beyond the point of vibrancy and health. We don’t want to become caricatures of ourselves, or worse yet, a nostalgia act. By the end of the meeting, we realized that after almost twenty-one years together we were faced with the opportunity to graciously step away in unison, as a group, united in our friendship and our feelings of gratitude.

So Coventry will be the final Phish show. We are proud and thrilled that it will be in our home state of Vermont. We’re also excited for the June and August shows, our last tour together. For the sake of clarity, I should say that this is not like the hiatus, which was our last attempt to revitalize ourselves. We’re done. It’s been an amazing and incredible journey. We thank you all for the love and support that you’ve shown us.

— Trey Anastasio

Well, it’s confirmed – I didn’t win anything at National’s. That’s OK, I honestly didn’t think that I would. National level, best of the best to start out with, plus there were between 3,500-4,000 entries! Here are a few of the comments about the beers, just so you get an idea of what they were saying:

• MacRae Scottish Export Ale – “Cabbage overwelms everything else.”
• Dry Stout – “Roasted grains out of balance with sweetness.”
• Licorice Stout – “Whole lotta licorice! licorice should be more balanced.”
• Califonia Common – “A nice quaffable refreshing beer, but not a good example of a CA Common.”

So basically I paid good money to get my beers ripped, that’s OK, that’s what I enter for – constructive criticism. Plus, most of the people that do enter brew “to style”, I more brew to brew . . . whatever that means!?

HOPS BOPS XXI – Best of Show – Brian Moore with the Califonia Common!

The Califonia Common took First Place in the American Pale Ale – California Common Beers. The Licorice Stout also took Second Place in the Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer category, extra special thanks to Robert Desjardin for his assistance. The other two beers didn’t place.

Here are some comments from the beer score sheets on the beers:

• Califonia Common – “So pretty. I recently tried Anchor Steam on tap in San Francisco, this really captures the rustic hop character and balancing maltiness of the style. Good job.” “A good representation of style with just a bit too much hop flavor. Good malt complexity and a clean ferment leaves me wanting more of this!”
• Licorice Stout – “Lots of anise. I want more stout in it. More sweetness would help balance it. Lactose would be a good addition.” “Licorice, licorice. Anise dominates. Beer needs to be sweeter and more stout like.”
• MacRae Scottish – “Watch temperature on mash/steep. Bottled too soon.” “Sweet toffee flavor with a lot of hop bitterness on the finish with some smokey phenols.”
• Irish Dry Stout – “Well made beer. Needs more roast and hop bitterness.” “Very clean. Good clarity. A little sweet. More roasty flavors would help.”

Well, that’s all there is for now. I guess we just sit back and wait for responses from nationals, and prepare for the BUZZ OFF.
Check the results here

Homebrewers of Philidelphia and Suburbs presents HOPS BOPS XXI HOMEBREW COMPETITION, Saturday, April 24, 2004 10:00 am, Sponsored By: Homesweet Homebrew, Hosted by: Nodding Head Brewery & Restaurant

HOPS BOPS is an opportunity for you to have your homemade beer evaluated by BJCP qualified judges. This is a BJCP sanctioned competition (www.bjcp.org.) Awards given for winning beers in all categories and Best of Show. Additionally, winners will receive points towards “Delaware Valley Homebrewer of the Year”. This is a closed competition. Only judges, stewards and competition staff are allowed to attend.

HEY everybody, you know the Fool Circle style – we in their! We’re putting the MacRae Scottish Export Ale, the Irish dry, the Califonia Common and the Licorice Stout up to the test. Last year I entered six beers and placed with zero. This year I hope to do better. Next competition is the BUZZ OFF in May, keep checking back!

HOPS BOPS XXI

The American Homebrewers Association’s 26th Annual National Homebrew Competition is on! It is the world’s largest homebrew competition, and yes I entered it. So the big question is: Will I be crowned Homebrewer of the Year? Probably not, but that’s fine with me because I’m about to get some national reviews on my beers.

I entered four beers. The MacRae Scottish Export Ale, the Fool Circle Irish Dry, the Fool Circle Califonia Common, and the newest of the new the return of the Licorice Stout. Sorry, the Anise in Wonderland didn’t make the cut – that shizzy will have you talkin’ like Tweedle Dee! The first round judging is April 23 – May 2, 2004. Second round is June 19, 2004.

To find out more, peep this: National Homebrew Competition

“Send us your best homebrew labels and you could win some great prizes! Hurry – deadline is April 15, 2004. – Enter our 9th annual homebrew label contest! Enter as often as you like, but you can only win one prize. Winners will see their artwork featured in the July-August issue of Brew Your Own and win some great prizes from BYO advertisers.”

So, what do you think I did? That’s right, me, Mr. Label-Junkie himself entered a few labels into a “new-style” of beer contest. Well, I actually entered seven . . . but since I can really only win one prize, who’s counting! I entered the Moore’s Light, the Three Threads Porter, the Diet of Worms Dopple Bock, the Hogshead Porter, the MacRae Scottish Heavy Ale, the Fool Circle Irish Dry and the E.C.P.A.

If any of you cats are feeling extra saucey, go ahead and enter some action yourself, all it takes is a little picture, a little name and a little lie!

Brew Your Own Label Contest

What is said “Animal”, you may ask? Said “Animal” is what dreams are made of. Full on props to my nizzles over at DFH – keep up the slap-happy-crack-monkey style!

THE STRANGE, BUT TRUE, STORY OF RANDALL THE ENAMEL ANIMAL.

“Just try the Beer”
“The result is a beer with a refreshingly herbaceous flavor”
The New York Times

Randall, a Dogfish head invention, is an organoleptic hop transducer module.

A three-foot-long, cylinder-filter packed with a half a pound of whole leafhops that we affix to the beer line leaving a keg (for example, our 90 Minute IPA).

Our 90 Minute IPA is an ideal beer for Randall due to it’s high alcohol volume. The alcohol in the 90 Minute IPA grabss the oils off the hops in the Randall on the way to the tapfaucet inducing the most pungent and glorious fresh hop experience known to man (or woman).

We unveiled Randall at the East coast vs. West coast Lupulin Slam at RFD in Washington DC. A Randallized keg of 120 minute IPA won the event for theeast coast!

A number of beer bars and brewpubs have already placed orders for a Randall of their own.

Randall is great for educating beer lovers on the taste, touch and smell of whole-leaf hops.

This is an on-going experiment, so let us know what you think! You can e-mail sam@dogfish.com
Dogfish Head will soon be selling Randalls, so let Sam know if you want one!

What we have here is a full-scale Randall Revolution!

Check these guys out! Dogfish Head

That’s right, it’s All Fool’s Day (is that anything like All Soul’s Day?)

Reguardless . . . you know I got soul. So, here it is, a groove, slightly transformed, just a little bit of a break from the norm. The new and improved FoolCircle.net (complements of DJ Diggidy D, cuttin’ it up on the wheels of steal, gots to give credit where credit’s due) is, . . . still under construction. Under construction like a carpenter’s house or a mechanic’s car, an ever evolving landscape with a “honey-do” list longer than Randall the Enamel Animal, holla!

So, go ahead, poke around, see what you see, let me know what you think – what do you love, what do you hate, what do you wish was in the house, or what do wish wasn’t here?! All my Fool’s on the left go “Ooh! Ooh!” And I already know, the brews is still under way, there’s plenty of arcade games in the hizzy buts we gots pool and darts and other pub favorites on the way too.

Keep comin’ back cuz it’s only gonna get better!

(And there isn’t a spell check, so you’ll all have to get used to my bad-spellin’ wacked-ass english)