Cold February Morning (audio)

Recorded Saturday morning but I missed the window to have this posted on Saturday, so it is a 'day late' but still freshly cold!

Spruce Pond, not far from the house is cold this morning

The link for the listing of beers made by the "Band of Brewers" can be found here
http://steves2cents.blogspot.com/2016/02/band-of-brewers-6-kettles.html

If you are in eastern MA and can get to Deja Brew, it is a good place to do your brewing!
http://www.deja-brew.com/

(and how cold is it this morning? yowza, coldest real temp I have seen in my lifetime!)

yes, that reads -13.0 degrees F

Band of Brewers 'master'

If you know Brian, you would agree that he is always willing to help. Monday night, as on most bottling night's, Brian is busy organizing things to ensure everyone gets what they need (clean bottles, empty boxes, etc.) so the kettles get emptied in a timely manner and then the delivery of the beer to take home can begin.

I had a roll of duct tape in the car and needed to get it to help repair a box or two. While I went to the car, Brian stepped in to my bottling station so we wouldn't miss a beat.



So just for the record, in case anyone ever doubted Brian that Brian knows how to bottle beer, the photo says it all!

Thanks for stepping in.

"the manufacturing license is too restrictive for smaller breweries"

At a time when the economy is still in trouble, with jobs at a premium, this is not the kind of change to make.

On Monday, the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission denied a farmer-brewery license for the planned Idle Hands Craft Ales brewery in Everett. The next day the commission issued an advisory about how those licenses, used by nearly every brewery in the state, will be issued. 

  "The basic issue is that you have a whole bunch of breweries that will have to change how they are operated," said Ipswich Ale Brewery President Rob Martin, who is also president of the Massachusetts Brewers Guild.

....

A small brewery producing 600 barrels of beer (roughly 18,600 gallons) would need a 20-acre farm to grow enough barley to qualify for the license. It would also take three or four years before hop plants are mature enough to use in beer, Martin said. 

"It's really a difficult problem," he said. "I think the edict was put out there before all of the nuts and bolts were looked at to see if they actually make sense."

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/archive/x643165260/Mass-brewers-hopping-mad-over-license-policy-change#ixzz1U3IEVL4a

Deja Brew - variety pack

Image by shersteve via FlickrFriday night was brewing night at Deja Brew. We had six kettles lined up for our group and made the following beers:

Goibniu:

A Great rendition of a true Scottish Ale

Killer Honey Ale:

A smooth red ale, light hop palate and good malty character

Oktoberfest Beir:

A slight fruity accent with a deep gold color

McTartan’s Scotch Ale:

McEwan’s Clone – Amber & slightly sweet, some smoke

Llevar Porter:

If you like Ravell , you’ll love this one. Vanilla accents

Hearty Christmas Ale:

A hearty Ale, spicy, flavorful and inviting!

Four of these we have done before and were so good, we wanted to do them again. Two are new: McTartan's Scotch Ale and the Hearty Christmas Ale.

We return to bottle on the weekend after Thanksgiving.

Deja Brew is a good deal of fun and a great way to truly understand and appreciate beer. I learn something everytime I go.

Additional posts on the Deja Brew experience can be found here.

Deja Brew, deja brewing

Friday was another beer brewing night at Deja Brew. Five kettles were in operation for our group to make the following:

Off Kilter Scotch:

Full-bodied & malty, a Scottish style strong ale.

Downtown Brown:

Similar to Smithwick’s Ale. Light in body, heavy in flavor

Llevar Porter:

If you like Ravell , you’ll love this one. Vanilla accents

Red Rider Ale:

Similar to Killian’s Red. A mild hop content, and smooth taste

Light Irish Stout:

This recipe is lighter than the dry, intense stouts of Ireland.

We'll go back in three weeks to bottle and bring home the goods. If you are looking for something different to do with a group, consider brewing some beer. Fairly easy work, nice facilities, excellent guidance from Ray, Donna, Mike, Greg, et al. A good excuse to cook while sampling some of the varieties made by others.

How easy?
As Greg put so well: "beer is meant to be brewed with one hand. The other holds a mug."

Where is Deja Brew?

Deja Brew is located at
510B Boston Turnpike Road,
Shrewsbury, MA 01545

We're on Route 9 - across from Scrub-a-dub
Phone: 508-842-8991

Our hours of operation:
Wednesday - Thursday Noon to 8pm
Friday 3pm to 8pm
Saturday 9am to 5pm
*Sunday Noon to 5pm

*Closed Sundays Memorial Day to Labor Day

For prior postings on Deja Brew, follow this link