We're Back In Black

The dark beers have been tapped! Union Jacks on the Manatawny has got 12 delicious stouts on tap including New Holland's The Poet oatmeal stout. I'm seated at the bar next to Mr. Cask Ale Kev who says, "Black beer is delicious."

Come on down. Event is 1pm to close or as we all like to say: 1pm to ? Read more!

Ooooh whatcha gonna do...

... when Dr. Joel goes to Capone's all over you.

Hope to see folks there. ETA 11:15 am-ish. Read more!

Sheesh.

Read more!

Go Bryan Go

Kolesar to the finish line. Read more!

OH....free tasting today

Hello my burbian friends. I almsot forgot....

I am pouring samples of beers from the New Holland Variety Pack, featured here, today at Towamencin Beverage. 1555 Sumneytown Pike. Come hang with Charity and i as we marvel in the delights of such beer superstars as:

Mad Hatter IPA
Sundog Amber Ale
Full Circle Kolsch-style Ale
The Poet Oatmeal Stout
Ichabod Pumpkin Ale
Cabin Fever Brown Ale

And speaking of Sundog, i got word last night that Molly Maguire's, that pub at Bridge & Main Sts in Phoenixville that we know and love and remember from a recent beer dinner, has added New Holland's Sundog Amber Ale to their full time beer menu. So now in the space of about 50 feet you can have yourself some fine food and Sundog before heading next door to Fenix for a few glasses of The Poet. Read more!

Sir, That Hatter of Yours, Its Been Deconstructed

Just wanted to give you folks an update on what some of you caught and some of you missed last night at Teresa's Next Door. As promised we deconstructed New Holland Brewing Company's Mad Hatter IPA and paired up a plate of goodies that we felt brought out the layer of flavors hidden beneath each cap or tap waiting to hit 'em with the Hatter.

I showed up at TND with a bag full of goodies and a little bit of time to spare before running down to The Beer Yard to pour free samples. From a bag of rose hips to queso fresco to garam masala, we had a little spice throwdown. We brainstormed a bit and i left only to come back to Teresa's to find a really awesome menu of food that i proceeded to taste my way through during an evening of New Holland beers on tap.

Taken verbatim from the menu @ Teresa's Next Door

Fables of Deconstruction
An amazing creation from minds created by the Mad Hatter! An IPA broken down into flavor components: 8oz of Mad Hatter IPA surrounded by: Cascade Hop Tea, Honey Comb Duo, Ginger-Apricot Chutney, Lavender Brulee, Hop Brulee, Cacao & Pasilla spiced nuts.

Rose Hip Hop Hemp
A salad of mixed greens, oranges, hemp seeds, lavendar peppercorn goat cheese, in a malt, hop, and rosehip vinagrette.

India Plantains
Twice fried plantains sprinkled with Masala Curry.

Dry Rubbed
A 28 day dry aged New York strip steak rubbed with chiles and chocolate grilled over a wood fire served with barley risotto and grilled asparagus.

Quesadilla Ranchito
Corn tortillas with smoked pork, chorizo, and queso fresco served with corn salad.

Delicious food and some fun pairings. The honey comb on honeycombs really paired well with Mad Hatter. Between the texture and the sweetness and some bitterness cutting through from the beer it was a great match. Same for lavender, same for cacao and pasilla nuts. Awesome stuff and a good crowd too.

Final Note:

Bryan Kolesar from The Brew Lounge is about to end training mode and step into race mode. He's been on a beer diet leading up to his big sprint, so let's all wish him luck. The faster he crosses the finish line the sooner he can have another beer. I am actually about to make a drawing how i envision the race going. I'll post it when i'm done. Read more!

hoppin at TND

Posting from my phone here at Teresa's at the bar sipping on hop tea. The pairings are almost all put together and I am pretty excited for them. Hop brulee, hop tea, something spicy, something sweet.

Join me after 7 while we deconstruct Mad Hatter IPA and sip on Dragons Milk & Pilgrims Dole. Hope to see folks for the Beer Yard tasting from 5 to 7 and then New Holland beers at Teresa's Next Door. Read more!

Feel The Power Tonight @ Sidecar

I have been talking about and waiting for this event for months now. It's not even an event, its a party. We are throwing down tonight at the Sidecar Bar & Grille @ 22nd and Christian. Soul Food menu, Soul DJ, Cabin Fever, Mad Hatter, Dragon's Milk, The Poet. Brush those flurries off your shoulder and come hang out.

5pm until whenever you're done- show up after work, show up for dinner, show up for late night beers. Pay As You Go. If you need anymore details pop me an email or just show up.



If you're non-city bound tonight grab your first taste of this year's Christmas Beer from Sly Fox over at Teresa's Next Door in Wayne with Brewers Brian O'Reilly and Tim Ohst along side of the Beer Lass, Suzanne Woods. Read more!

More Suburbs, More Beer, More Places To Be

File under: Things to keep an eye on.

Limerick, PA just a few short miles from where my Mother spent an entire teaching career, an old favorite is turning into a new shining beacon in the land of low flying airplanes and nuclear towers. Gary Fry and his wife hope to have Craft Ale House (located on Ridge Pike in Limerick) open on December 1st. What's now bare bones and blue prints is soon to be another great suburban beer destination.

What many local folks will remember as the Limerick Deli is turning into a 16 tap, 100+ bottle pub with fresh food from scratch and a cozy atmosphere. Cooler space is already dedicated for take out beer. Those drives to and through the suburbs just got even better. With exciting and ambitious plans for events once Craft Ale House is alive and ticking, things seem to be lining up just right at Montco's newest beer bar.

Website is under construction, but i'm sure info will be up soon.

Plenty of back roads to and from, i had an 'ah-ha' moment on my way home and cut my drive time in half. The only thing that makes me nervous about Craft Ale House? So many members of the Thursday Night Social Club live nearby. It's hard being a Hellfish these days. Read more!

Philly Folks - Two Things Coming Your Way This Week

I meant to get this up earlier for all of you folks who actually plan ahead. But that's fine, in a way, i did. Its always fun to make it up as you go anyway, so i'm inviting you to do so tonight at The Institute (12th & Green) for a bit of a Dragon's Milk sensory experience. We're dishing out flights of our bourbon barrel aged strong ale with three pairings that will tune you in to the different layers and flavors of 'The Milk'. Enjoy your beer with a cheese, a chocolate, and an ice cream pairing. I'll be in the house with Heather, Charlie and the rest of the crew for the evening and we'll be discussing all the fine details of barrel aged beer, truffles, and anything else that's on our minds. I might even bring a stack of records along for the turntables.

Then Thursday Thursday Thursday, the event to set your pants on fire (again?):

S O U L P O W E R

The Sidecar Bar & Grille
22nd & Christian
5pm - ? ? ?

On Tap:
Cabin Fever Brown Ale (all sorts of limited right now)
Mad Hatter IPA
The Poet Oatmeal Stout
Dragon's Milk

Soul Food menu
Soul music all night long
Pay As You Go

It'd be great to see folks out. It's been awesome being home for the whole month and this is an event where we can share some great food and drink and hang together. Read more!

Local Buds plus a little afternoon heiser

Okay this post got longer than planned, so business first instead of second. I am pouring samples of a bunch of New Holland brands in celebration of the release of our sweet fall/winter variety packs at Exton Beverage today from 4pm to 6pm. Come hang. PDGA guru Greg Ramirez might even sign your driver when you stop by.


Way back when i was going to do a series on Grainbill called, 'Know Your Blogger' and i was going to catch up with other beer bloggers and interview them and do a nice profile thing. I still think that would be a lot of fun, but right now time isn't really permitting that....ironically i sit and share beers with some of these people pretty freqeuntly, so i realize that i'm blowing opportunities left and right.

Anyhow, that said i'd just like to highlight two local blogs that haven't gotten a lot of mention here before and remind you all of a third gem that's gotten plenty of print in the Grainbill archives.

Up first is Adam and Beer Bits 2 . Adam is a dedicated homebrewer and always has entertaining and informational posts, porjects, experiments, and boughts with his own beer buying willpower up for reading on his site. Between he and his travelling, running, blogging, brewing neighbor thier hood goes uses a lot of bandwith and a lot of water. They're just overcompensating for all those neighborhoods in America with no bloggers and no homebrewers.

Next is Brian over at I Am Beer Wise . Now look, we aren't going to give Brian a hard time for hailing from Pittsburgh, rather we're just going to be thankful that we've got him over on the Philly side of the world. Brian's blog is full of detailed looks at our area's great bars and events as well as some mighty fine beer too. He and i both suffer from that strange unnamed syndrome of realizing that we go to a lot of great bars and restaurants but can't nearly keep up with all of the ones that we need to go check out. Brian's full of insight and fun stories, buy the guy a beer when you see him and check out I Am Beer Wise.

And of course, that artful dodger in his Dr. Joel's best, fall collection courderoy suitcoat: Cask Ale Kev should definitely be on all of our minds right now. He is a year older and wiser, he is coming off of a pretty serious academic probation that almost ruined his 2000's and he may go into some sort of joyous combustion at the big cask event tomorrow. Read more!

Keg Mountain, here I come

Let's put all of our beer gang differences aside and come together tonight folks. It doesn't matter if you're a Hellfish or part of the TNSC band of brothers we can all come together to share some beers and enjoy New Holland Brewing Co's winter seasonal: Cabin Fever as well as those old classics Dragon's Milk and Pilgrim's Dole.

Cabin Fever draft is going to be pretty limited until after it gets very cold outside, so this will be one of a few chances to grab up some draft. Hope to see you fine folks out at Ortino's Northside this evening. Read more!

Pre-Construction

Read more!

Fallen Bach

For you morning birds... here's the mix and the cover art. The notes are coming, i'm actually going back for a 45 min morning siesta (its weird, i'm awake but i dont need to be awake yet, so i'm going for mine).

If your name is JR. Enjoy, you're actually on here before i can email you and ask if you want to come here and download it or receive the total package.





Ok, siesta over and well worth the trip.

The Tale of the Tape

Fall mixtapes seem easy enough in concept, you know the mood you want to set, you know the feelings you want to convey; its like trying to turn something you can see and touch into a collection of songs. This summer and early autumn i've been on the road like never before. New towns, new friends, new bars, new adventures...A lot happening, but then i get back in my car for 10 hours and its just tunes and thoughts again. So many of these songs are ones i've been listening to on the road and others are ones i plan on listening to on the road a lot.

Its interesting though, in my listening to different sections of the mix i took a weird screening approach: i've been laying on my carpeted floor with a blanket bunched up like a pillow with my head boxed in by my desk. Yeah, i've been laying with my head under my desk. I started out doing mindless things like playing freecell (if you've got a particularly hard game number, give me a shout, i run the show at freecell), but my mind would drift off to work stuff or what i wanted to cook for dinner. Somehow laying under my desk eyes closed made for the best listening station. Honestly, at this point i'd recommend it.

Warmth sputtering from the heater, floor gently vibrating from the dishwasher whirring in the kitchen, and three walls of wood grain surrounding me from the shoulders up i kind of found a little apartment zen. I'm not gonna lie, i'll be going back in for more.

So there were a few albums where i really felt i could have picked any song and been just fine in the winding tracks of Fallen Bach, so they surely must be fall albums. They are as follows:

Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther
My Morning Jacket - At Dawn
Tin Hat Trio - Book Of Silk
Any sound ever recorded by The Band

I like listening to a mix all the way through before i look at the tracks, but if you're unlike me (how dare you...) then the track list is in the picture below. If you want a link to download the mix, shoot me an email. Also, i'd suggest opening up the blog twice since this is just one long 1 hr & 20 min track. If you click away accidentally you'll be starting the mix all over again.




Read more!

Oh so many chances to taste the fruits of the New Holland tree

Philly. Burbs. People. Friends. It's New Holland month in whatever town i wake up in lately, but hometown of mine: We've got the whole month together. I've got a lot of beer for people to taste and a slurry (how do you spell 'sloo'? slue? shlue? this is why i say slurry...plus you don't use a sloo in brewing, not that i know of) of different ways to experience them.

I'm hitting the event trail starting this coming Thursday 11/13 and never coming up for air.

11/13 - Ortino's Northside - Hellfish in Old Man Land
- Cabin Fever, Pilgrim's Dole, and Dragon's Milk will be on tap. Hang time, let's talk New Holland history and future at the summit of keg mountain.

11/14 - Exton Beverage - 4 to 6 pm - Variety Packs at PA's coolest indoor frolf course - Tasting 5 or 6 New Holland brands in celebration of the release of our Fall/Winter Variety packs. I'm up for beers at the Drafting Room in Exton afterwards for a few bottles of Black Tulip if anyone wants or i'll march East on Lancaster Ave and do the fertile crescent tour. Come out next Friday and tell me where we're going afterwards.

11/18 - The Institute (12th & Green) - Dragon's Milk flight night
If you can wrestle bombers of Dragon's Milk out of the hands of Charlie, Heather, and I then you can play too. We're pairing Dragon's Milk in flights with cheese, chocolate, and ice cream. Ideal for splitting in pairs, but solo and big numbers work too. Let's get beer on the table, where it belongs. If you hold your pinky out all hoity toity you might even get a prize.

11/19 - New Holland Beer Dinner @ Molly Maguire's - Phoenixville, PA
If you haven't seen the menu and the lineup then give yourself a little scroll down below. $45 includes 6 beers, 5 course, tax, tip. Pretty darn good. From our session beers to some of the big boys, there will be a lot to taste at Molly's.

11/20 - SOUL POWER @ The Sidecar Bar & Grille - 22nd & Christian - Philly
Man, i am so excited for this one. Poet Oatmeal Stout, Mad Hatter, Dragon's Milk Cabin Fever, Pilgrim's Dole - Soul Food & Soul Music. I could really use a lot of my Philly friends at this one. It's going to be a blast. Pay As You Go. And go. And go. And go.

11/21 - Beer Tasting with the boys at The Beer Yard - Wayne, PA
I'll be pouring 5 or 6 beers again to further celebrate and puncuate the variety packs. 5 - 7pm

Then walk with me folks...

11/21 - Deconstruction: Mad Hatter IPA - Teresa's Next Door
Andy D, Teddy, and i will be picking apart Mad Hatter piece by piece and pairing foods to its flavor components. 7:30 pm and on. We're gathering in the front of the house. When all is said and done i may crack open a bottle of Dragon's Milk too. If you can't wait, hop over there right now and grab some.

Then its all quiet on the eastern front as i count down the days to the greatest holiday of them all....Turkey Day. Wow, my thoughts on this amazing day are worth a post of their own.

Black Friday at the shhhhh spot. I may have a beer on tap, not sure yet. But i expect to see many factions of many Philly beer crews at this one.

Black Saturday - 11/29 - Back In Black - Union Jacks Manatawny
Another one of Tom's great events. All stouts all day. I'll have The Poet on tap and will be ready to go into a lovibond coma. These events are always packed and we'll all be in the holiday mood. So lets have some stout.

DECEMBER
That's right pilgrim, it doesn't stop in November. December's got more distributor tasting, New Holland at The Foodery, and a crazy pub night in Lansdale with 7 New Holland beers on tap and people taking home New Holland pint glasses. Come celebrate great craft beer with me at any of these events. Its going to be a fun, long, crazy month. Read more!

5:30 PM, All Dark in Chester County

I've been sitting at my computer since about 1:30 this afternoon. It's fall mix CD time and that requires my immediate attention today. The bathroom and kitchen are a little less tidy than i'd like, but this is far more pressing. Mr. Harvey Portveurte dropped, 'The Fall Classic' on me when he swung in from Chicago last week and its tight. It's not that we compete in these mix CD matters, but more we inspire each other to shake the laziness off and stay in our apartments for entire days handpicking tunes for our CDs. I've got my title, i've got my prinicple photography done, and i've got an intro plus 6 tracks worked out. I think i'll spice things up here at Grain Bill and upload the mix when its done. I'm giving like that in these days of Autumn and World Effing Championships.

For now, you get two songs that've been stuck in my head all weekend.





In closing, Parkerford Brewing embodies the spirit of fall. Read more!