It's been nearly five years since I posted on this blog about anything remotely close to that delicious fuzzy beverage we love so much. Mostly because I have been busy building a career, having kids, maintaining two homes all while trying to be a decent husband during the hours that I am home. Understandably and sadly, my home brewing equipment has been sold off and if someone asked me to batch sparge right now I would probably have to look up how to do it in my 'Joy of Home Brewing.' The location of this book at the moment escapes me. One more unfortunate casualty of a full life. This is not a plea for pity but is a fairly accurate reflection of the last 4.5 years of my life.

There was a time in my life when all I could think about was starting a beer bar with  my uncle and best friend where we would serve the finest craft beer available in Montana. It WOULD be served in the proper glassware, at the proper temperature, through clean lines from a keg holding beer at the peak of its quality. I'm not sure if those days are gone or sitting on a lonely ledge somewhere, seriously considering a final step off. I find it amusing how we go through these stages in life that include things we really want to happen that don't and conversely, things happen to us that we never wanted. I had endless passion and energy in my 20s- no kids, no wife, no big time responsibilities and had time to pack my head with all of these ideas and things I hoped to accomplish in the next 5-10 years. Then life just sort of...happens. Hardly realizing that time has passed, I found myself married, a homeowner with a baby on the way and freaking out because I was behind on the getting the walls painted for the baby's new room.

Back to beer. I am still a proud member of the ZCZ (Zoo City Zymurgists) Home brewing Club in Missoula (longest standing home brew club in MT) though mostly as a fringe member since no one can count on me to actually brew a batch of beer anymore. Hell, they can hardly count on me to show up for two meetings in a row! Craft beer has been and will continue to be a big part of my life but the joy I get from craft beer has fundamentally changed. The product is still great though less impressive as craft beer becomes a commodity (everyone, I mean everyone, brews a decent IPA). I find myself more drawn to the culture and the people involved than in the past. Still maintaining that craft beer people are the best people, this theory has been proven time and time again and not just in MT. All over the country, there is a culture associated with craft beer that can't be duplicated. The bluegrass festivals and sleepy ski towns come close but nothing beats watching a few people sitting at a table, smiling, sharing stories over a beer at your local craft brewing establishment. Long live good beer.

We are finally in the serious stages of starting a beer bar business...hopefully all of those nights of dreaming and brainstorming about pouring the best beers in the world to people who are willing to pay for them will finally come to fruition.

Lately, I have been thinking about what I want this blog to BE....let's be serious, it's a portal for me to transfer my rants about craft beer from mind to cyberspace

I am not writing for or to anyone except my single loyal follower (he might not even be that loyal) who I'm certain carries the same passion as myself when it comes to that sublime beverage we know as beer. I have not been brewing much lately so not a TON of news there but I will write a bit about the last two batches of beer... First off, a smokey, malty, full-bodied brown ale. I built the recipe to cater to my thirst for a mild smokiness in the more robust styles (porter, stout, wee-heavy). Final ABV is around 6.5 after a month sitting in secondary (and a slow but steady fermentation in the secondary). It will only get better with age.

The second, an english bitter. We stole the recipe from a traditional english ale recipe book and though we have brewed it four times, we can't seem to get the abv to cooperate and I know it all starts with the mash. We can't seem to hold a steady temperature for long enough, our temperature drops too low and we end up with too much fermentable materials. The challenge continues and is ever changing. Regular blog postings hopefully to follow.

Real men sparge!!!

My uncle/brewing companion were talking last night over a glass of North Coast Brewing's Brother Thelonius about bumper sticker sayings for beer geeks and came up with the following:
-"Real men sparge"
-"Everybody do the 'mash'
-"Mashing isn't just for monsters"
-"Homebrew in the kitchen...your wife will love it"
-"Nice mash tun..."
-"I'm stressed, let's have a homebrew"
-"Sparging isn't as dirty as it sounds"
-"Wanna check out my mash tun?"
-"Ya I'm a scientist...I homebrew"
-"Ya I'm a chemist....I homebrew"
-"Ya I homebrew...what's it to ya?"
-"Hold my homebrew while I pitch this yeast"
-"Hold my homebrew...watch this!"
-"Homebrewing=Instant happiness"
-"Homebrewing=Instant frustration"
-"Homebrewing=Instant confusion"
-"I'm a homebrew rock star in my own mind"
-"I am a completely adequate homebrewer"
-"Proud owner of a completely adequate homebrewery"

*Copyright 2012 by RB Completely Adequate Brewing, Inc.

Upcoming trip to Beer Country Earth!

Fellow friends and beer geeks,

Germany is in the cross hairs as we prepare for our trip across the pond in September.  Franconia/Bavaria is the destination and the Oktoberfest will not be missed.  In fact, we will be arriving in Munich during the middle of the Oktoberfest which in my mind is...just in time.

It occurred to me before I even started writing this blog that these postings would most likely be read exclusively by yours truly and I am definitely proving myself to be right.  However, maybe SEO will end up putting my blog postings in the list of "important beer geek talk" on google search...wishful thinking.

Lack of exposure to the internet public aside, I will be taking plenty of pictures of the German countryside and of the Oktoberfest-ivities and I look forward to making this blog a little more "viewer friendly" before I leave. The 28 day countdown starts to Guten Tag starts..........NOW!

Montana Brewfest is near....

Bozeman, Montana....land of mountains, rivers, green pastures and great beer.  This September marks the winding down of the brewery season in Montana but this doesn't mean there will be a decrease in quality micro brews on tap at this annual brew fest.  Join hundreds of other beer enthusiasts who travel from all over the region to congregate and celebrate Montana brewed beer.

As for me, I am working on making this brew fest an annual reason to get away and meet some friends over beers and good food.  Laughs will be in large supply and the beer will be flowing steadily indeed.  If anyone finds this blog posting online, feel free to comment and if you are looking for other beer geeks to enjoy this brew fest with, me and my buddies will be happy to oblige.

See you at the brew fest!  Cheers to these beers.

Laughing Dog Brewing

I had a couple of college buddies call me a few nights ago to rub in my face the fact that they had just finished a sampler tray of beers from Laughing Dog Brewing out of Sandpoint, ID and were now on their way to playing a friendly game of golf somewhere near Couer D'alene, ID.  I got to thinking about the creation of beer at Laughing Dog....  Fred Colby- Master hop manipulator? Yes.  Former electrical engineer? Yes.  Craft beer artist? Certainly.  Any craft brewer that has the guts to brew a 120IBU Imperial IPA before they were on the map or even remotely popular has to be a special guy. I love this brewery, I love their entire team from head brewer to their sales people.  Great people making great beer in the country we love.