Pouring in the land of dusty lamps and good eats

Got plans for this Saturday? There is a lot going on out and about and the further you sink into the suburbs the more interesting it gets. Union Jacks is having their Saisons In The Sun festival which is going to include the PA debut of Golden Cap Saison from New Holland Brewing Co. Tom, Justin and Company will be pouring from our bomber version of the Saison which was bottled with chardonnay yeast and made with 2 row as well as unmalted Spelt from Lentz Farm in Washington State.

I will be a little further down the road on Saturday. I am heading to the land that brought me such vinyl finds as Albert King's 'King of the Blues Guitar' and Miles Davis' 'Saturday Night at the Blackhawk' on the cheap*. Yes i am headed to the Antiques Capital of the USA. Adamstown, PA....home of Stoudt's Brewing Company and a lot of dusty desireables.

I'll be pouring Mad Hatter IPA, The Poet Oatmeal Stout and debuting Ichabod '08 two days before its official release. It's gonna be a great time in Adamstown and i'll be letting my freak flag fly with Born Cross Eyed providing heady tunes all the live long day. Sessions are from Noon - 4pm and from 7 - 11pm.

Info here...not sure how updated the brewery list is though...a certain Michiganic Brewing Powerhouse is notable absent. See you folks at the Micro-fest.

* Story I'll tell you over a beer sometime #4....the day i tore through Adamstown on a vinyl mission and discovered This American Life all by about 2pm. Only ask about this if you are a big nerd like me.

And just because.

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Stuff that Rocks

So i know the trend has been that i haven't been nearly as active as i used to be here at the Grain Bill. I've been trying my darndest, but i can assure you all that what i've lacked in time bringing you beer content i have made up for by trying to make your trips to the bar and to great restaurants that much better by slinging a roster of really great beers.

This is sort of a quick blast of all the things that would be blog posts of their own if the time was there for me to sit down and blog as they were happening. So consider us on our way to being caught up. The following things just freakin' rock:

TJ's Everyday and their mac and cheese. Oh and their $6 DFH 120 on tap. And their Rodey Grand Cru that's still hanging on. And their Southampton Saison.

Hold The Rope. Jesse Chew is an extremely nice guy and i'm glad i got to meet him the other day. The team of Hess, Campolos, and the rest of the Teresa's crew put on an awesome Beer Auction and raised quite a bit of scratch for the cause last Saturday.

The Pines Tavern in Gibsonia, PA. Wow. What a great restaurant with their own garden for produce. Jason and Lisa put together an awesome beer dinner and the staff is top notch. In the 'burgh 'burbs this spot is a definite winner.

Magoo's in Cranberry, PA and their growler filling ways.

The Bowen Crew for being so very awesome and fun to hang out with.

I had to come back for this one because i remembered last night. Jeff Bearer and family of Craft Beer Radio fame definitely rock too. They came to hang out at the Pines to talk beer and food too.

The town/city of Greenville, SC. Such a cool town. Blue Ridge Brewing Co and Jay Simpson's ESB, Barley's enormous and awesome taphouse, and the coolest restuarant / record shop The Bohemian. If you are ever in that neck of the woods you've got to check out Trip and his menu.

All of the cool and dimly lit bars of Columbia, SC. Thank you for the grappa kind sir. That record shop in 5 Points is trouble as are those rowdy Jersey transplants from the wine shop.

Grapevine is the place to be in Fort Mill. Best take out beer and small plates for miles on end. Read more!