Days of the Beer, November 7

The beer for today is Harmon Brewery Puget Sound Porter.

On November 7, 1940 Galloping Gertie, or the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, collapsed into Puget Sound.

The bridge spanned the Tacoma Narrows strait between Tacoma and the Kitsap Peninsula. It had originally opened on July 1, 1940. During it's brief time span, it was the worlds third longest suspension bridge, behind the Golden Gate Bridge and the George Washington Bridge.

The wind-induced collapse happened at 11 a.m. due to aeroelastic flutter. No people died in the collapse, although a cocker spaniel was lost in a car.

As to the beer:

Harmon Brewery and Restaurant is located in downtown Tacoma. They produce 5 year round beers, seasonals and cask conditioned ales.

Our brown porter is brewed with eight different malts to produce a smooth, well balanced, dark beer. A specially roasted barley provides a hint of chocolate. 5.6% ABV

So, for the Tacoma bridge that fell into Puget Sound, have a Puget Sound Porter from a brewery in Tacoma.

Days of the Beer, November 6

The beer for today is Cintra Pilsen from Cervejarias Cintra, in Brazil.

On November 6, 1854, John Philip sousa was born. Sousa was a composer and conductor for American military and patriotic marches. he eventually became known as "The March King".

Sousa started playing the violin at 6. When he was 13, he was enlisted in the Marine Band as an apprentice. He apprenticed there until age 20. He left to join a theatrical orchestra where he learned to conduct. He returned to the U.S. Marine Band as it's head in 1880 and stayed there for 12 years.

Sousa wrote 136 marches, some of the most popular were: "Semper Fidelis" the Official March of the United States Marine Corps, "The Stars and Stripes Forever", "The Liberty Bell" credits theme for Monty Python's Flying Circus. He has also written marches for several universities including Kansas State University, University of Nebraska, Marquette University, and University of Minnesota.

As to the beer:

Cintra Pilsen if brewed by the Cervejarias Cintra in Pirai and Mogi Mirim, Brazil. The brewery was started in 1998, by Jose Sousa Cintra. Cintra started as a snail trader, then elevator operator, then sold watercolor paintings. After four years in the Portuguese Navy, he acquired a mineral water company. After he started brewing in Brazil, he purchsed a brewery in his native Portugal, and started selling Portuguese Cintra. He sold that and kept the Brazilian breweries.

The Cintra beer is a pilsener type of beer with a golden shinning color. It is a refreshing, less filling, dry beer with an intense taste and low caloric level. Its aroma is slightly fruity with hints of malt balanced with Hallertauer premium hops. Its foam is white, creamy with a medium sustainability. The alcoholic content is moderate, thus its freshness and less filling taste yield moments of pleasure one after the other.

So, for the guy who probably got you tapping yoru foot in rythm more times than you realize, have a beer that is made by a guy with that middle name.

Days of the Beer, November 5

The beer for today is O'hara's Irish Red.

On November 5, 1913, Vivien Leigh was born. Vivian is best known for two of her roles, Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and for Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939).

Around 1937, Leigh read the Margaret Mitchell novel Gone with the Wind, and determined she would be Scarlett O'Hara. At that same time, David O. Selznick was looking for an actress for the role. He agent put her name in the search, and she auditioned. The four women who were up for the role were Paulette Goddard, Jean Arthur, Joand Bennett and Vivien Leigh.

Leigh won the Best Actress Academy Award for her role. She won it later again for Streetcar.

As to the beer:

A fruity and aromatic beerwith a distinctive smokey like finish, Molings has a traditional hop flavour to balance the sweet malty caramel taste.

O'hara's Irish Red is from the Carlow Brewing Company in Carlow, Ireland. It comes in at 4.3 ABV. The brewery was established in 1998. They are probably better known for their Celtic Stout.

So, for Scarlett O'Hara, have an O'hara's Irish Red.

Days of the Beer, November 4

The beer for today is Seabright Brewery, Cobra Kai Rice Beer.

On November 4, 1961, Ralph George Macchio was born. He is best known for his role as Daniel LaRusso in the Karate Kid series.

His first major movie role was with C. Thomas Howell, Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze, and Matt Dillon in The Outsiders. His later films included My Cousin Vinny, Crossroads, and Beer League.

In The Karate Kid, Macchio moves to Los Angeles, and accidentally makes an enemy of Johnny Lawrence (played by William Zabka), who is the start pupil of the Cobra Kai karate dojo.

Eventually Ralph wins.

As to the beer:

Seabright Brewery is located in Santa Cruz.

Surfers, collegiate types and young families converge in this popular Santa Cruz brewery for some upscale pub grub and a stellar selection of award-winning beers. Whether seated on the outdoor patio or in one of their comfy, inviting booths, the cheerful, veteran staff is always 'on' and delivers everything with a smile. Regulars line up for weeknight specials like Neighborhood Night Tuesdays with all night happy hour and free live music on Fridays. Just a short walk up from the water, a visit to Seabright is the perfect way to cap off a day at the beach.

Cobra Kai Rice Beer appears to be a seasonal brew and isn't listed on their website.

So, if you are around Santa Cruz, and want to celebrate The Karate Kid's birthday, go have a Cobra Kai Rice Beer, it's 4% ABV, so it won't kick your ass too bad.

Teach a Friend to Homebrew review

Well, Saturday was Teach a Friend to Homebrew day. I think it went really good. We had the Josh and Audra, Ty and Linds, Dirty Steve and Ann, Kai and Janelle, Paddy, and Thad over for the day.

We started out brewing around 3:30, and first went with the IPA, which we named Fun Bags. We took the base kit for the IPA, then added some additional ingredients (it came with 3 oz of Cascade). Friar Tucks had a very limited selection of Hops, so Thad and I picked up an ounce of Spalt, and a tube of high gravity yeast. On Saturday, Thad went to the Champaign pet and hobby store, and picked up two more ounces of hops, (I'll list what they were later, after I go check on the fermentation).

We started out cleaning, then got to the boiling. Our kits both had crushed grains, so we steeped them for the recommended 20 mintues, along with an explanation of why we were doing it. Then we added our LME and first set of hops. Every 15 minutes we added another ounce of hops, and we boiled for about an hour and 15 minutes. At the final addition, we threw in the wort chiller to sterilize that.

We encountered an issue, when I noticed the wort chiller wouldn't attach to Kriddy's faucet, so we found the garden hose and hooked that up. At the end of the boil, we rushed outside and hooked up the chiller. The temperature of the wort dropped from around 212 to 72 degrees after running 6 gallons of water through the chiller. We rushed it inside and filtered out the 6 ounces of hops and then topped off our water to five gallons. Threw in the liquid yeast, along with the dry packet that comes with it. Took our OG, and it came out about 1.052. We covered it, filled up the air lock, and set it in Kriddy's laundry room.

Then, we got to clean everything, again.

At this point, everyone who was at the football game showed up, and we pretty much repeated the process, this time making a brown ale.

Everything went the same, except we got our temperature dropped with only 5 gallons of water through the wort chiller, as the outside temperature had dropped significantly.

As we were brewing the brown, everyone was trying to think of names for it. The IPA got named "Fun Bags" earlier, due to one of the unique health benefits of a compound in hops that makes breasts grow larger. Sticking with the "bag" theme, the brown was almost named colostomy bag brown, but it was decided no one would want to drink that. Eventually it became known as the "Brown Note".

It's OG was 1.040 (I believe).

We cleaned up, and that was it.

During the day, we all sampled some of mine and Thad's previous brews, including the Punkin Pumpkin Ale (which everyone really seemed to like), In My Country Chocolate Stouts YOU!, regular Vast Right Wing Conspiracy Stout, and a bottle of Oatmizzle Stoutizzle.

The chocolate foamed up again, and the oatmeal also had significant foamage.

Everyone seemed to be interested in how to brew... well, except for Kai, as he would rather run to the store and get bud light; but that's just Kai...

Everyone got to taste LME, and sniff several varieties of hops. Most people took turns stirring, and cleaning.

Hopefully, it leads a couple to brewing their own, I think Ty seemed the most interested... brew kits, they make a great Christmas present!!!

Days of the Beer, November 3

The beer for today is Port Dock Black Bart Milk Stout.

On November 3, 1883, "Black Bart the poet" got away with his last stagecoach robbery, but left a clue that lead to his capture.

Charles Bolles was an American Old West outlaw who left poetic messages after each robbery. He was one of the more notorious stagecoach robbers who operated around Northern California and southern Oregon.

The Black Bart character was taken from a Sacramento Union newspaper serial called The Case of Summerfield. In it, the villain was dressed in black, with black hair, a black beard and grey eyes.

Bolles the outlaw, was a polite and good mannered fellow, He told the driver to "Please throw down the box." He was courteous and didn't use foul language. He covered his body in sacks and linen to hide his clothing. He eventually began to leave poems at the sites of his crimes. He was very successful and made off with thousands of dollars a year.

It is believed that Bolles committed 26 robberies.

At his last attempt, Bolles held up a stagecoach at the same spot as his first, on Funk Hill near the present town of Copperopolis. The stage driver was Reason McConnell, the stage had just crossed Reynolds Ferry, on the road from Sonora to Milton. At the ferry, the driver picked up Jimmy Rolleri, the son of the ferry owner.

Jimmy had gotten off to go hunting and was going to be picked up at the other side of the hill. When he got there, the stage wasn't there, so he travelled up the road and found the driver and the horses. He learned that Bolled had unhitched the coach and forced McConnell and the horses to go over the other side of the hill, while he attempted to get the lock box. Bolles couldn't get the strongbox out, as Wells Fargo had bolted it to the floor inside.

McConnell told Jimmy that there was a holdup, took his rifle and fired at Bolles but missed. Jimmy took the rifle back and fired one or two shots. Bolles dropped the items he took from the box and fled.

The incident was investigated and some personal items of Bolles were found at the scene, including some of Bart's handkerchiefs with a laundry mark. That mark was traced to Ferguson & Bigg's California Laundry, where it was identified as belonging to Bolles. Bolles confessed to several earlier robberies, believing that the statute of limitations had expired.

Wells Fargo only pressed charges on the final robbery. Bolles was convicted and sentenced to six years in San Quentin. He was let go after four years for good behavior.

As to the beer:

Port Dock Brewery Hotel is located in Adelaide, South Australia. They produce six beers including Black Bart, and an alcoholic ginger ale, Ginja.

Dispensed with a high nitrogen gas, giving this Stout it's thick, rich, creamy head! Brewed with the inclusion of Lactose(sugar of milk) giving the Stout it's initial sweet taste, followed by a chocolatey smooth mid palate and a sweet dry roasty finish... Cheers!

So, for Black Bart's last train robbery, 125 years ago, see if you can find a Black Bart Milk Stout. It'd probably help if you were in Australia.

If you aren't, then Bear Republic, from California at one point made a Black Bart Imperial Stout, but it hasn't had a review on Ratebeer or Beer Advocate since 2007.

Days of the Beer, November 2

The beer for today is Steamworks Spruce Goose.

On November 2, 1947, the Hughes H-4 Hercules, made its first and only flight. The aircraft was built from wood due to wartime restrictions on the use of aluminum, it ws nicknamed the "Spruce Goose" by its critics. The Hercules is the largest flying boat ever build and has the largest wingspan and height of any aircraft in history. It is currently in the evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon.

Despite the nickname of "Spruce Goose" the plane was built of laminate birch.

On Nov. 2, the aircraft took a series of taxi test runs. Howard Hughes was at the controls, he also had a co-pilot, two flight engineers, 16 mechanics, two other flight crew, seven press corps guests, and seven industry representatives on board. After two uneventful taxi runs, four of the reporters left to file stories, but the remaining people stayed for the final run. After the plane picked up speed, it lifted off, and remained airborne 70 feet above the water at a speed of 135 mph for about a mile.

The plane has never flown since.

About the beer:

Steamworks Spruce Goose is a spiced beer, from the Steamworks Brewing Company in Durango, Colorado.

Inspired by Vikings. It goes without saying that it’s bold.
Beers made with spruce or other types of pine were brought to Scotland by the Vikings who brewed ales and spice with fresh spruce shoots to prevent scurvy on sailing voyages. Spruce beer was also drunk before battle as it was thought to bring out one’s animal instincts. Spruce Goose, our modern-day version of the Viking’s beer, is a darker brew with complex earthy flavors throughout.

The beer is 7.3% ABV and is available from November 1, to January 31 in 22 ounce bombers.

So, for the maiden and only flight of the Spruce Goose, see if you can find yourself a Spruce Goose.

I expect to hear a review from the Colorado Contingent, sometime soon.