Feast your eyes on the future: Robot Orders a Scone.

Yeah sure the robot was only ordering a scone… but with a slight upgrade of its hobo-tastic bindle (to say a closable basket), a better way to pay, and a way to show ID… you’ve got a great way to pick up some beer from the corner better beer store (arms would probably help too, though the better beer store employees around me are rather accommodating). No need to leave the cozy confines of one’s house (on say a cold, snowy day) or the B.B.Q. with all your friends… just send your robot on the beer run.

This is a step in the right direction for devices that deliver us beer, and moving away from the flinging or shooting variety.

[First seen on PopSci]

Author: Dave
Categories: Beer News
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When I read the article about the 2,550 Year Old Ale Recipe, the bit about the “barley [being] soaked in … specially constructed ditches until it sprouted” stuck out in my mind. I knew I had read about malting barley in ditches before and going through my old bookmarks I found said reference. In The History of Concord, Massachusetts (by: Alfred Sereno Hudson, Erudite Press, 1904) on page 91 there is reference to, “The process of malting was to cover the grain with a few inches of earth for a few days, until it was well sprouted, and then remove it to the mash tub.” Now I assume there was some drying of the malt involved, but maybe not? Interesting to see the “ditch malt” method still in use in Colonial America.

Author: Dave
Categories: Beer News
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You probably have a few beer cans hanging around (with the current uptick of craft beer being packaged in cans), so why not put them to some artistic use with a beer can pinhole camera. The pinhole camera can then be used to make Solargraphs. Seems like a neat project to take on, one you can even do with the kids.

[Originally seen on Hackaday.]

Author: Dave
Categories: Beer News
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Another Friday is upon us, so another trip to the better beer store has been made. This time I picked up a local brewery’s beer, Clown Shoes Hoppy Feet. It’s a Black IPA, so I am slowly but surely increasing that category on Sevenpack. That is all I have for an introduction so let’s get to the review.

The beer pours pitch black with a finger of tan head. Aromas of grapefruit and pine mixed together with chocolate brownie caress my nose. The aromas are not huge, so I only get them right before I take a sip. The mouthfeel is smooth and creeping towards “medium” on my imaginary “mouthfeel weight scale”. A definite bitter pine finish, though other aspects of the beer do shine through. A pleasant chocolate and pumpernickel bread base, mixed with some latent sweet grapefruit provide a nice lead up to the aforementioned bitter finish. Though the bitter finish sneaks up on me, it is certainly not out of control and well within bounds for the beer. The 7% abv is non-existent in the beer’s taste, and I only realize it when I read the beer’s label.

It’s a good beer and surprisingly more complex and enjoyable then I thought it would be (I have had Hoppy Feet, Eagle Claw Fist, and Pecan Pie Porter on tap, and none really impressed me, so I certainly went out on a limb when I purchased this bottle of Hoppy Feet). Might have to give their Hoppy Feet 1.5 (the imperialized version of Hoppy Feet) a go.

Author: Dave
Categories: Beer Reviews, Clown Shoes Brewing
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It’s Friday, so on my way home from work I hit up a local better beer store and picked up some goodies. One of those goodies is by an unknown brewery to me, Maine Beer Company. Seems the brewery, read from the beer’s label, was started by two homebrewing brothers and seems quite environmentally conscious (wind power usage, used grain donations, 1% all sales to environmental non-profits, etc). Lets see how their Peeper Ale is.

A nice one inch stark white head sits atop the beer’s hazy amber body with pine needles, pear, and mint greeting my nose. It’s an interesting aromatic combination that is surprisingly enticing. Medium body, shuffling ever so close to the “creamy” side of things, on the tongue with a big hit of mint that turns musty on my first gulp. As the head recedes to a thin covering, a pale malt aroma makes an appearance. Along with the mint, which gets kicked down a bit on subsequent sips, I’m noticing a nice water cracker malt note and a finishing of yeast. I am also getting some orange citrus notes as the beer warms. The beer is only slightly bitter, with tastes mixing very well together. As the beer comes to an end intricate lacing is left running down my glass.

Overall a very good first beer for Maine Beer Company. I was a little worried with the original aroma combination, but the beer worked well. A well crafted, enjoyable (it went way to quick) American Pale Ale. I look forward to their future creations.

Author: Dave
Categories: Beer Reviews, Maine Beer Company, Pale Ale
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With most of the country digging out from a massive winter storm, and said storm giving me the day off (snow days, they’re not just for school), I thought it was an apt time to think “warm thoughts” and pass along this Poor Man’s Chelada recipe.

Ingredients:
One beer (cheap lager, preferably mexican in origin, though not a necessity)
One bottle of hot sauce (my preference is Dave’s (no relation) Gourmet Temporary Insanity Sauce)

Steps:
Open the beer.
Add desired amount of hot sauce to said beer (I normally go with two to three drops of the Temporary Insanity sauce).
Give the chelada a little swirl to make sure beer and hot sauce mix.
Think thoughts of warm weather as you enjoy your drink.

Author: Dave
Categories: Beer Reviews, Lager
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