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National Homebrew Day

Dan Keashen — Mon, 10 May 2010 13:02:06 +0000

We didn’t produce a homebrew day video this year (check out our video from last year here). This year’s video contest entries are posted and I have been watching them all morning (here) on YouTube and it’s making me thirsty.

Fortunately our newest contributor (an actual writer!) Dan spent National Homebrew Day at his first brew day event, in Maple Shade NJ. Here’s his story…

MAPLE SHADE, NJ – The cast iron bell had rung and then was rung again for good measure. It was the sign that the Barley Legal Home Brew club reached its 100 gallon goal in the parking lot of the Iron Hill Brewery. Home brewers from the Philadelphia region pitched their tents and set-up their brewing equipment on a steamy blacktopped parking lot as a tribute to National Homebrew Day.

National Homebrew Day’s lineage dates back to 1988 when Congress proclaimed May 7 to be a celebrated day by beer geeks across the country. With that said, home brewing goes hand in hand with the founding of our country. You only have to look back to our founding father Thomas Jefferson, who kept a small brewery in his home.

Under the blistering sun, Chris Lapierre, the head brewer at Iron Hill’s Maple Shade, New Jersey location, cut a steady path from the brewery to the festival assisting local home brewers with water and other supplies to make sure the event got off the ground. Wearing his brewing galoshes and wiping sweat from his brow, Lapierre said Iron Hill played a critical role in providing the space, but local motivation was the catalyst for the event.

“This how I started out – I was a home brewer before I got into the business. Two out of the three owners of Iron Hill use to brew beer and play soccer together, that was their passion and that’s how they go into this business,” Lapierre said. “We have a great following from home brewers and they are our best customers, so we do as much as we can to support them.” Lapierre said Iron Hill offers second runnings to home brewers and provides the home brew club, Barley Legal, with its back dining room as meeting place.

As the music blared and grills were turned on high, about 30 home brew teams were working on a variety of different styles of beer. Dave Greenbaum was doing his part for the celebration by brewing a wheat beer and keeping an altbier and scotch ale on tap to quench his thirst while laboring over the mash and monitoring the brewing process.

“I got into brewing back in 1993 and really enjoyed the camaraderie that is created with other brewers,” Greenbaum said. “There is no competition out here, just a bunch of guys enjoying the day talking, creating and drinking beer.”

Close by, Vince Masciandaro and his son were brewing an American pale ale. He spoke enthusiastically on the benefits of home brewing.

“We are brewing beer just as good as the big guys and this is an economical way to drink beer,” Masciandaro said. “Look at this, you got all these guys out here sharing ideas and having a good time and speaking the same language.”

As the day winded down Lapierre looked back over the parking lot and admired the equipment that many of the brewers trucked in from all over the region.

“I’ll tell you what, a lot of this equipment is really impressive and I’m jealous of some beer that is being brewed our here today.”

Vermont Bans Out of State Beer

Tim Brady — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 16:20:31 +0000

In a shocking move this morning, Vermont Governor Jim Douglas announced that, in an effort to support local brewers, out of state beers would no longer be allowed in the State of Vermont.

“It’s a difficult time for small businesses and breweries in Vermont are feeling the impact.” Said local beer mogul, Moe Szyslak. “This move will help Vermont beer thrive.”

One of the biggest concerns is the border towns. Many Vermonters already cross into tax free New Hampshire to do their shopping and some are concerned that this may lead to them heading over the border for their drinking.

“Vermont has so many great beers, I don’t know why anyone would have to leave the state for a beer.” Szyslak continued, “I personally sell a lot of Duff in my Springfield pub, but I am not averse to selling some Otter Creek or McNeils up here.”

We will continue to keep you up to date on this story. A follow up press conference is scheduled for today, April 1st, at 4pm.

For all of the latest be sure to keep an eye on here for the beer or follow us on facebook or twitter.

Victory In Vermont

Amy Brady — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 13:46:15 +0000

VIDEO – Victory Brewing Company has recently been doing some expanding at the brewery. One of the reasons for the expansion is that as of today, Victory Brewing Company is now distributing in our great state of Vermont. We were lucky enough to get the first keg of Victory beer in Vermont at our Inn, and even more lucky to have Victory Co-Founder Bill Covaleski come up to share the first pint poured in Vermont with us!

In this episode we chat with Bill about the expansion of their distribution area and plans for New England. While Victory makes 30 different beers all of which are available at their pub in Downingtown, PA, Vermonters can look forward to trying the Hop Devil, Prima Pils, Golden Monkey, Storm King and Wild Devil starting this week. Your interest and demand will determine what other of their brews may make it our way.

A short while back we toured the Victory brewery and checked out their new restaurant space with Ron, the co-founder. If you haven’t seen those videos yet, check them out – Ron doesn’t make too many appearances on camera ;)

Victory is one of my personal favorite breweries. It was Victory’s Hop Devil that turned me onto those glorious bitter sweet hops nearly 10 years ago. It was also the Victory Golden Monkey that taught me a hard lesson about ABV. Bill’s motto is “Respect the Monkey”, I know first hand why … hehe.

According to Bill Victory is now available in 39 states across the US. So grab yourself a Victory beer and tell us which one is your favorite, and which you are hoping to see near you. We will see you next time on here for the beer, Cheers!

Moan and Dove – Changing of the Guard

Tim Brady — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:29:01 +0000

VIDEO – We are really lucky to have such a killer beer bar within a short drive of us and our Inn. So we were admittedly nervous when started hearing rumors of “the Dove” being sold. I am sure all of the Moan and Dove regulars shared our sigh of relief when we heard that the bar was being sold to Jason “Di-Cap” DiCaprio, long time bartender and generally awesome guy.

So as of last night, it’s official. After nearly a year of disasters, where everything that could go wrong did – the Moan and Dove has now officially changed hands. The previous owner, Daniel, has moved on to the city (Boston) and has opened a new beer bar in the old b-side lounge which we can’t wait to check out.

We stopped into the extremely crowded Moan and Dove for the “changing of the guard” celebration and shot this quick video with our flip video camera (hence the less than wonderful quality). It was great to see the area beer community out in support of Di-Cap and the Dove.

In the video Jason shares his story about his history at the Dove and the transfer of ownership. He also emphasizes that the Moan and Dove is what it is because of the wonderful and passionate beer community that makes it possible.

Congratulations Jason from us at here for the beer. We look forward to many great pints (and eventually earning our mugs) at the Moan and Dove. Cheers!

Our Vermont Inn – A Shameless Plug

Tim Brady — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:47:26 +0000

From the New York Times article - B & Bs Seek to Be a Guy Thing

We are honored to have been mentioned in the New York Times! The best part is that they called us “beer geeks”, which is why I thought now was a perfect time to remind our readers that we have a great little Inn in Vermont with it’s own private pub for our guests.

Our small pub has about 35 beers (3 drafts) and focus on both local and interesting brews. We also have a beer tasting every Saturday night at 5:30 p.m. where our guests can sample 7 Vermont beers from a variety of Vermont breweries – each poured along with some lite fare and of course local cheeses.

Not to mention, we are walkable to downtown Brattleboro, where you will find a host of great beer bars and pubs – including McNeils brewery – a local legend. We write about the great town of Brattleboro on our other blog – InnBrattleboro.com and tweet about the area on our Innkeepers twitter account.

Of course our inn is not just about beer, Amy makes some killer gourmet breakfasts every day and our rooms are luxurious and comfortable – no lace doilies here.

So if you are looking for a trip that works for both YOU and HER, be sure to check out our inn – Forty Putney Road Bed and Breakfast in Brattleboro Vermont. We would love to have you come stay with us.

New Homebrewers Association Website Launched

Tim Brady — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:49:58 +0000

This week a new website was launched by the Brewers Association for the Homebrewer segment of their membership. Not only is the new site more visually appealing than the old segment of the AHA site, it is far more functional.

One of the biggest functionality and association building aspects of the new site is that the forums are open for reading and participation to anyone - not just members. Simply register on the site (for free) and you can jump right into the conversation. This is a great move for building community and encouraging more potential members to “check things out”.

The new wiki also looks encouraging, with tons of recipes and a useful brewing dictionary. It’s nice that this site was launched with lots of valuable content, rather than just as a blank canvas, making the site useful right out of the gate.

I applaud the AHA for offering free access to many of the valuable resources on there (but certainly encourage any active homebrewers to pony up the $40 for a membership – there are tons of additional advantages). So cheers to all of those involved over at the AHA – the site looks great. Check it out yourself at www.homebrewersassociation.org

Twitter account suspended

Tim Brady — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:09:14 +0000

For some reason our twitter account @hereforthebeer was suspended last Wednesday. We have been good tweeters and as those of you who were following us know, we are not spammy nor have we ever sent inappropriate links your way.

Unfortunately after following the procedures for finding out why our account was suspended, we were only sent a list of reasons (from a bot) that is completely generic.

So we are asking for your help. Please tweet to @twitter that we are good people and not disturbing the tweetosphere. We submitted a “trouble ticket” but have seen online that it can take up to 90 days to hear back from that – ouch.

It’s amazing, considering how much spam we get every day on twitter, that we would get suspended.

I am sure it is an automated process, but how long does it take to get a human involved to help us?

Will our fellow beer lovers help us out? Please tweet:

Hey @twitter un-suspend @hereforthebeer – please re-tweet!

Otter Creek Quercus Vitis Humulus and Wolavers Alta Gracia Coffee Porter

Tim Brady — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:54:15 +0000

This is a quick video with Otter Creek brewmaster Mike Gerhart sharing their 2 new brews. First a new “Imperial Series” beer from Otter Creek, the Quercus Vitis Humulus- which literally translates to Oak, Grape and hop. The brew begins as a bold 27 degree plato barley-wine, warm-fermented with Bohemian lager yeast, then blended with Sauvignon Blanc grape juice and fermented a second time with a pure culture of Champagne yeast. Finally it is aged for a short time on lightly toasted French Oak. The six week process results in a complex ale which comes in at 12% ABV, with 38 IBUs. More about this beer here.

Also released this week from Wolavers is the next release in their Organic Farmer Series, Alta Gracia Coffee Porter. This is brewed up with organic roasted barley and chocolate malts for a rich, dark and robust flavor with an infusion of organic vanilla beans, and coffee from the Dominican Republic farm community Alta Gracia.

Alta Gracia is a non-profit farm that works to empower farmers with tools and techniques to grow quality shade-grown organic coffee. The result is growers who feel pride in their stewardship of the land, are paid fairly for their labor, and have healthy sustainable farms.

Growing coffee is hard work. Harvest must be done by hand so that only the ripe berries are picked. The farmers of the Alta Gracia farm community are paid fair wages for their work. It is the mission of the farm to teach neighboring farmers techniques to grow high quality shade-grown organic coffee that will allow them to get a fair price for their product. More about the beer here.

Monster vs Vermonster – the Battle Continues

Tim Brady — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:04:47 +0000

Earlier we shared the story with you about Rock Art brewery and their fight with the Hansen Corporation over the use of the name “Vermonster”. Here is a video with Matt Nadeau of Rock Art Brewery explaining the situation.

Vermont Craft Brewing Pioneer Greg Noonan Passes Away

Tim Brady — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:53:12 +0000

Vermont Pub and Brewery owner and brewer Greg Noonan died in his sleep at home early Sunday morning. According to this Beer Advocate forum post visitors to the Vermont Pub and Brewery on Sunday found the pub closed, with a sign posted: “Greg Noonan March — 1951 – Oct. 11th 2009. ”

We always enjoyed chatting with Greg, who had some of the best craft beer stories to share in Vermont. Always approachable and generous, he had a strong impact on many brewers in our region. His reach though, was in fact much further than just our small state. Debbie Cerda, the Austin TX craft beer examiner had this to say:

His books on brewing are mandatory reading for both home and microbrewers, including “New Brewing Lager: The Most Comprehensive Book for Home and Microbrewers” published in 1986 and re-issued in 2003. His sour-mashing techniques were featured in this article which appeared in the October 2008 edition of Brew Your Own magazine.

He was a well-known speaker at brewers’ conferences and author of numerous trade journal articles and books.

Greg was instrumental in getting “brewpubs” legalized in Vermont, lobbying the State for years to legalize small pub brewing and distribution. In New England he is often spoken of as the “Godfather” of brewing in Vermont and we have not met a brewery owner in the state that hasn’t referenced Greg in at least one aspect of their own brewery. Many sources cite that his lobbying work and research in Vermont was used as a basis to legalize pub brewing in other states as well.

In 2005, Greg received an award for innovation in brewing from the American Brewers Guild. Business People-Vermont reported on Greg in this article:

Noonan was brewing beer as a hobby while working as a manufacturing manager for paper and wood products companies in Massachusetts. Microbreweries were just becoming trendy on the West Coast, and he decided to pursue the commercial possibilities for his craft.

He had managed restaurants in New Hampshire and Boston and wanted his own restaurant to feature his brew. He used the results of his research for Brewing Lager Beer to launch his brewpub in Burlington.

“I specifically sited my brewery in Burlington because it’s where I wanted to live. I admired the politics in Vermont,” says Noonan. “I had $175,000, which is a shoestring budget in the brewing industry; brewing equipment is very expensive.”
He applied to several banks for additional funds, but lenders were skeptical. “The banks all said, ‘What is a brewpub?’ But I plunged on anyway with the money I had.”

Greg Noonan was an inspirational brewer, not only in the larger context of his influence on the industry as a whole, but also on a personal level. At any visit to the Vermont Pub and Brewery Greg was happy to talk “shop” and share a pint. Our last meeting with Greg was at the Craft Brewers Conference, where always a good sport in the interest of beer, he “volunteered” to be in this video at cask night. His generosity and dedication to the craft brewing world will be missed throughout Vermont and undoubtedly throughout the entire brewing community.

The background on Greg in this post was shared by Debbie Cerda, be sure to subscribe to her blog.

HereForTheBeer.com » Beer News

National Homebrew Day

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