The Path of Pliny

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Ok look: You’re a truck driver, the road is your disco. Dance floors, headlights, in your blood there’s gasoline. You can only hit so many truck stops before you’re tempted to buy at least one of those CD’s, you know them, most likely contain any configuration of these tunes.

Who could blame you? But really, you’ve got a bit more outlaw in you than that. Your daddy taught you well. So as you pull out of York headed East for an 11 hour run, you slip in your copy of Waiting For Columbus and settle into one of the finest trucking songs that’s ever been written:

I been warped by the rain, driven by the snow
I'm drunk and dirty don't ya know, and I'm still, willin'
Out on the road late at night, Seen my pretty Alice in every head light
Alice, Dallas Alice

I've been from Tuscon to Tucumcari
Tehachapi to Tonapah
Driven every kind of rig that's ever been made
Driven the back roads so I wouldn't get weighed
And if you give me: weed, whites, and wine
and you show me a sign
I'll be willin', to be movin'

I've been kicked by the wind, robbed by the sleet
Had my head stoved in, but I'm still on my feet and I'm still... willin'
Now I smuggled some smokes and folks from Mexico
baked by the sun, every time I go to Mexico, and I'm still

And I been from Tuscon to Tucumcari
Tehachapi to Tonapah
Driven every kind of rig that's ever been made
Driven the back roads so I wouldn't get weighed
And if you give me: weed, whites, and wine
and you show me a sign
I'll be willin', to be movin

(Lowell George)

The long road will give a man a lot to think about. Getting out of Nebraska in route to Toldeo, OH with a clear mind and the warmth of Iron Skillet still coursing through him, day three of the trip probably had Pliny The Northside just a little ticked off, but not ready to declare war. Pliny The Springhouse? None the wiser. All hopped up and ready to roll it’d have to have been the Miller Chill that everyone had their eyes on.

Rolling into Iowa not a whole lot was cooking on the left side of the state, so our driver probably had smooth sailing straight through until just before he hit Davenport. Now with these times of ours being what they are you never know who is going to see something and completely overreact without taking a second to think or investigate further.

That friends is what happened in Walcott, Iowa on the afternoon of September 9, 2007. And I will recount that tale in full with foot prints, dog smelling prints, and twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one right now.

You see it was a normal afternoon, optimism smelled like tulips and everyone was in the garden. Home to the annual Truckers Jamboree , this is a ceremonial stop for trucks and due to our driver’s schedule he’d have to save his visit for the return trip. For a sleepy town Walcott, Iowa sure does have a buzz about it. People seem busy here, well, busier than Durant, but as the locals would tell you, that isn’t much of a feat at all. In this buzz and busyness is a feeling of community, Waclotts stick to themselves and take their disruptions quite seriously. Unfortunately, a disruption is just what they got on this unseasonably warm September’s day.

Neighbors and businessmen alike started spotting fleets of planes in the distance. Some seemed to be headed straight towards Walcott, others dovetailed and spun around as if they were engaged in a serious fracas over Davenport. After they’d seen enough dogfighting and barrel rolls for one day the citizens of Walcott hit the phones. Emergency numbers, government numbers, their green oasis was one giant airwave.

Some folks began to leave town driving West ahead of the pack while others stocked up on potables at the local Super Wal-Mart. As investigations began and schools prepared for evacuation one savvy member of the local government called over to Davenport to see what was going on.

And with egg on their faces the citizens of Walcott laid birth to a story that will live on for years to come. They’d been sent into a defensive chaos all on the count of the 10th Annual EFLIOWA. How they’d avoided disaster for the previous 9 years will remain a mystery forever.

This slight stir strained traffic a bit, not because of the few who fled, but local police set up a brief roadblock on I-80 just before Walcott. Once scooting through town and around Davenport itself, our driver enjoyed a smooth ride into Illinois. As he always does, he made ready for his trip through the Chicago suburbs with a stop off at his Vegas away from Vegas, Joliet, IL. A guy’s gotta stretch his legs somewhere, right?

So one last stop before the haul across Ohio. That stop is Gary, IL. In Gary our driver parks up at the historic steel docks and wanders over to Marquette Park to stand and stare out at Lake Michigan asking himself, “What if?” over and over and over again for a while. It’s very therapeutic for him. After an episode like the one in Walcott, IA he surely had a lot for the pondering.

And really from here on out I’d have to assume the whole trip ended rounded out quite unmonumentally, I mean, Gary to Toledo is a breeze and Toldeo to KOP can be done in the same time that some beer loving blogger who sits at a crummy day job asking himself, “What if?” over and over and over again can put in a full shift. And really is driving beer across country that different than a desk job? I mean I’ve got..err some guy at a desk has google images, he can imagine they’re whizzing by at 70 mph, he’s got music, he lets his mind wander into endless daydreams as he stares forward at the same thing ALL DAY LONG.

Anyhow, Pliny, Perkuno, Black, & Bastard tap in a few hours. Our glory awaits.



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The Tale of The Tap

April ’08 – Pliny vs. Pliny – The Tale of The Tap

So what do we know about these two kegs? To hear one keg tell it, he wasn’t quite feeling like his normal self and still managed to blow in half a day. Round two is just a few days away and we’ve got a contender waiting who’s hungry, who’s heavy, and who’s ready to pour. Let’s go to the stat sheet:


Pliny The Spring House

Age from Brewery Departure: 31.14 Weeks
Weight: 159.977 lbs (seriously)
Diameter: 16.5 inches
Gallons: 15.5

VS.

Pliny The Northside

Age from Brewery Departure: 32 Weeks to the day
Weight: 159.977 (for real)
Diameter: 16.5 inches
Gallons: 15.5

So how did these kegs get here? When did they arrive? Today we’ll look at the first leg of delivery, the rules governing it, and the wild ride that would eventually pit Pliny against Pliny.

Here’s the cold hard facts. Russian River last shipped beer to the East Coast on September 7, 2007. At the time, Kunda Beverage in King of Prussia was the only destination Russian River was delivering to in PA. Now we can’t know everything that happened on board the truck, like other deliveries and stops, but we can certainly use the internet to lead us towards some general guesses and assumptions.


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This is the path from Russian River Brewing Company to Kunda Beverage. If a truck left wine country on September 7th traveling East on Route 80, one thing is for sure: he’d be cranking the AC. A brutal heat wave had just let up in California, with temperatures well past 100 degrees. All that air conditioning is gonna cause a stop off for gas sooner than later. At maximum, my research shows a 300 gallon fuel tank on the smallest truck available with a cabin for the driver. If the guy is hauling from coast to coast, I’m assuming he has a cabin. Let’s also assume that some fuel was gobbled just getting to Russian River and call the Initial Fuel Reserve (IFR from here on out) 285 gallons.

My reading shows that mack daddy truck drivers get 7 miles to the gallon, but can we assume that the driver of the Pliny was indeed a real mack daddy? No. I don’t know how many drivers out there are getting 7 miles to the gallon. More reading shows about 5 - 6 to be a bit closer to reality, so let’s give this guy the benefit of the doubt and call it 6 mpg, even with the heat situation that was going on at the time. Now with an IFR of 285 it looks like that truck should have gotten about 1700 miles from Russian River before needing to refuel. That’s just about halfway.

I know, I know. I’m doing an awful lot of assuming here. I mean what if he didn’t leave straight for Kunda from Russian River, in all likelihood he didn’t. But play along, won’t you?

Driving a sled like that is big business and as with most things in big business we have to assume a certain amount of regulations and blanket requirements. So let’s assume that drivers are required to fuel up around their last 100 miles of gas or in this driver’s case, about 17 gallons. This would put our driver in York, Nebraska for his first fuel up.

But we’ll get back to York later. We’re getting ahead of ourselves here.

I’d say it’s a far stretch to believe that any human, let alone a non-mack daddy trucker, would drive 1,585 miles non-stop. I mean, let’s be serious. Not to mention more legality and regulation. Again, we’ll have to make some assumptions here. We’ll say our driver was on the job for one hour when his cross country travels began. Assuming that the hour officially started when he left for RRBC to pick up Pliny and any other charms that Vinnie was sending our way.

At most this guy could only drive 14 hours total for the day, before having to rest for 10 hours and with one down he’s got 13 hours ahead of him on the first leg of the trip. Like anyone in their right mind, this guy is gonna have to at least stretch his legs, go to the bathroom, splash some water on his face. Using time as our measurement, we’re gonna give him about an hour total stop time in this thirteen hour stretch. For a trucker, I’m saying that’s three stops. Two just to stretch the legs and one for a proper meal.

With all this in consideration the truck could technically make it to the Evanston, WY area before our driver would be forced to take his 10 hour rest. For some very simple reasons though, I doubt he’d have gone that far. He’d have had to take very brief breaks and with a man driving cross country I’m sure timeliness is one thing, but it’s not the kind of trip for an all out spring. The last stretch of Route 80 out of Utah would leave him with very little option for his reprieve, so I think it best to assume he saved the state border for the morning. This puts our man in a part of Utah that gets little recognition, a part that sits in the shadows of Salt Lake City and Wyoming as if it were some cruel valley in a Townes Van Zandt tune. I am speaking of course about the town of Echo, UT., famous only for its reservoir and its tavern. With 10 hours rest to kill for a man who can probably survive on 6, this is the place to be.

Echo, UT (I don’t think it’s a coincidence that there’s a truck in each one of those pictures.) This is probably a traditional stop for our driver, who probably knows the staff, menu, and jukebox at the tavern as well as he does his own hometown. So the assumption is that he, all of the Pliny on board, those antagonizing cases of Miller Chill, and the rest of his cargo holed up in Echo for the night.

In the morning after a quick bite in the truck he hit the road for York, Nebraska and the first fuel up of the trip. My understanding of the regulations on our driver are that after 14 ours of service and 10 hours of rest, his next work day can only last 11 hours.


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As you can see this was a long day for our beer driving buddy. With only 20 minutes of breaks, a good stop for fuel at a nice, reputable truck stop would be a just reward for time served. The final stretch of the first leg could have been slowed by several events, no doubt irritating our driver and making him scramble to make up time elsewhere as he worked against the clock.

The drive across Wyoming is normally a breeze at just over five hours, but in Cheyenne, some guy was having serious issues surrounding his local library. A surprising amount of footage can be found here.
Across town at Frontier Park, Rib Fest was in mid-swing tying up traffic in and out of the city. Luckily for our driver, anyone heading East towards Lincoln, NE would have already been out of his way if they were traveling to town for any events surrounding World Rabies Day .

Once into York, odds are that our guy chose to stop in at Petro Stopping Center instead of Sapp Brothers because of Petro’s easy access right back onto Route 80, not to mention their superiority in food offering. Sure a sandwich from Subway in a pinch is good, but to travel a half-mile or so away from the highway when you’ve got Iron Skillet just past the exit? No question. Two words: Salad Bar.



So that’s leg one in the books. Despite his tireless efforts and cheetah like energy, the driver is forced into another 10 hours off the clock. He was well entertained in York though, with attractions like:

Chances R Restaurant and Lounge
Sunset Bowl & Lounge
Sun Theater

Tomorrow we will keep trekking on until we have the kegs tracked fully to their final destinations. If you're still tuned in to this post, i owe you a beer.

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Pliny - Real Talk

During this brief intermission between Pliny events (I mean, let’s be honest Pliny is the big bait on the hook here) I think it only fair to take a good hard look at something that has been, unbeknownst to me, bubbling up for the better part of seven months now.

As the craft beer industry sees changes and challenges every single day, we as drinkers and supporters of this clandestine mission of the mash sometimes stick our noses in every nook and cranny of the industry. In a way it is easy and innocent, there are so many friendly people in the trade that everyone just gets chatting and before you know it word and words travel quickly.

Take for example the roller coaster of this Pliny business. Two bars tapping in less than a week of each other, initial excitement by most, those who know the ins and outs of things for a multitude of reasons know that PA hasn’t received any Pliny for a good long while, we all resolve to take what we can get and move on. Many had a taste at The Drafting Room’s Hop Fest on Saturday and noticed a big void in hop aroma and flavor, many also noted that a Pliny past its prime is still a darned good beer.

But beneath the surface there is something going on here dear readers. Something that is more serious. Due only to lax regulations, planning specifics, and a segment of the industry that is very adamantly debated do I bring you the coverage that I offer today. If you live in a wishy-washy world of every beer being the experience of a lifetime and every tasting note ending in exclamation then please do not click forward into the rest of this post ‘cuz I’m about to ruin the image and the style that you’re used to.

April ’08 – Pliny vs. Pliny – The Gloves of Repeal

VS.

With one Pliny tapped and another making his way towards the ring it’s come to light recently that there’s a certain half barrel whose mouth is a bit bigger than his ball lock. (Rumors of overcompensation due to a less than standard dip tube are already flying.) It seems as though Pliny the Northside, waiting in the wings alongside the Bastard and the Black IPA, is talking a good game. Now I don’t have any quotes, but the streets are talking and they’re saying they’ve heard some serious trash talk wafting up from Ortino’s cellar.

Apparently agitated that he’d been ducked for recent events and feeling like he should have been tapped during the fall months, Pliny Northside has now issued a challenge to the drained Spring House keg. He wants a fight to the finish.

Pliny The Spring House has already responded with his recap of how this beef began. “We were coming over from Sonoma on the same pallet and the shrink wrap was a little tight on his side. He was pressed right up against a stack of Miller Chill cases and they kept taunting him and threatening to ‘salt his rim’. He really had it bad from the get go. I guess he’s lashing out at me now because he thinks I got some sort of free ride.”

When asked why he wouldn’t just take the high road and roll away, Pliny just replied, “A keg’s gotta do what a keg’s gotta do.”

Pliny The Spring House is the first to admit that he wishes he had more time to train for a bout like this, but he absolutely refuses to back down. “I felt a bit out of step when I went on Saturday at Hop Fest. My hop flavor had faded big time and all those piney aromas were gone. I couldn't even smell myself.” He’s quick to diffuse any allegation that maybe he’d been beat before even stepping into the ring. “I’ve got a strong backbone,” he exclaimed. “I’m a 2-row boy and I’m .86 of a week younger. If he thinks he’s just gonna wander into the ring and beat me he’s got another thing coming. 12 hours is the real deal.”

That’s right folks you heard it here on the Grain Bill first (if you haven’t heard it already), The Drafting Room – Spring House kicked their keg of Pliny in about 12 hours. It is safe to say that Ortino’s Northside has their work cut out for them.

So there you have it: A challenge has been issued, not from bar to bar, please don’t make that mistake, this is a challenge from one keg of Pliny to another*. Tune in to this merry little blog tomorrow for the full Tale of the Tap where we look up close and personal at the stats on these two kegs, make unwarranted predictions, and take a look at just how these kegs got to where they are today.

In the mean and between time, this is an open call to my comments section for anyone who wants to leave tasting notes on Pliny The Spring House. They may be evaluated once the Northside keg has come and gone in the event of confusion, inebriation, or a recount.

* - Feel free to remove your disbelief from suspension at any time, sometimes I leave mine there for weeks on end.

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Hop Fest, TDR Spring House, a roundup.

The Drafting Room's Spring House location rolled off of their firkin of Bitter and robbed the hop farms leaving a wake of ethanol seeds in their dust. Their 3rd Hop Fest showed a great and varied list of beers from around the US and celebrated two of my favorite well hopped Belgian ales as well.

Spring House had their pre-planning hats on for Hop Fest. Guests had their choice of full 12 oz pours (for almost everything), 10 oz tastes, and 5.5 oz sample glasses ordered Sushi style in any configuration they pleased. It was really nice to be able to taste those beers I was curious about and have all of the must haves without having to get rolled out of the joint.

I actually took some notes on Saturday, so here was my schedule:

Nugget Nectar (on cask) - this was trailing off a bit, good but i've had fresher casks of NN in my day.

Pliny - the big boy. Everyone knew this keg had been waiting a while. Darn if old Pliny still doesn't taste really good. It lost a lot of flavor and aroma in the months. (Tune in tomorrow for some hard hitting, breaking news on this front)

Houblon Chouffe - oh yes. I love this beer and this keg was pouring wonderfully. Of my first three beers, the one that travelled the farthest tasted the freshest. Go figure.

On to the flights...5.5 oz'ers

Maharaja
Lagunitas Hop Stoopid
Sly Fox Sterling IPA
TDR 13th Anniversary (brewed by Troegs..Imperial Pils with Nugget, Warrior, Hallertauer, and one or two more varieties). This was one of my favorite beers of the day.....of the week.

Then something dangerous happened...my second flight arrived. In 10 oz glasses.

I looked at the table and knew it wasn't meant to be. Especially with Maximus as the day's finale`.


Dock St. Rye IPA
Great Lakes Elliot Ness
Green Flash IPA
Lagunitas Maximus

We had some food somewhere in the middle and in that regard TDR has never let me down.


"That's a lot of beer on the table."

A lot of familiar names and faces out on Saturday. Some just a few feet away without my realizing. The hard consonants were in full effect: Capone, Kolesar, Chandler. Soft cons didn't slouch either: Med, Ms. Hugger, and Michaelson all great folks to chat with.


Meeting of the minds.

Next stops...Victory Dinner, Ortino's Northside, Full Mooner (at which i believe i'll be pouring. This Sunday, Ugly Moose garage. I think its DFH, Sly Fox, and Weyerbacher. Factual details to follow, or email me.) Read more!

Devils and Saints on the Main Line (Bill Covaleski Interview)

Most of us can clearly remember some of the best meals we’ve ever had. Those meals stand out as peak moments in our lives. Unfortunately, modern life, for most Americans, provides too few moments like these. Even those of us who cook seriously go through times when all our meals seem rushed and our food is little more than fuel. Even when the meals are good, there’s often something missing. This is where beer comes in.
- Garrett Oliver

Beer Dinners. This is where we as craft beer drinkers, makers, and manipulators put on our best and take ourselves seriously. And for good reason. A chef with a mind open to good beer brings a bevy of flavors and textures into his kitchen. Whether these dinners teach you something or just please your palate, they shine a light on the efforts of two hand crafted worlds and put their convergence on the main stage.

Bill Covaleski, co-founder of the Victory Brewing Company is no stranger to beer dinners. With a host of regular and seasonal releases at his disposal, he’s got Victory booked up with events from intimate 5 course meals to beer and tapas pairings all over the area.

Most immediately, Bill will be sharing some of Victory’s finest and most interesting beers with a dinner menu put together with Teresa’s Next Door chef and co-owner Andy Dickerson. The sold out dinner is right around the corner hitting plates and pints this Monday, April 14th. There will surely be leftovers on tap throughout the week, so if you don’t have a ticket to the big table, then definitely show up for leftovers.

Covaleski had a few minutes away from his massive construction project at VBC to provide the A’s to my Q’s.

How’s construction coming along?

Very well. All on the construction crew are still talking about May 1 finish. These will be two crazy weeks ahead!

Are you maximizing dining space, brewery space, or both with these renovations?

The dining area is swelling into space that was dedicated to brewing, before we expanded in 2004 with a new brewhouse in a new portion of the building. We'll increase seating significantly, like double! We got so tired of watching young couples arrive on Friday and Saturday nights, one kid in a baby carrier and one over their shoulder and get turned away with an hour plus wait. Those are precious moments of relaxation for young families. We know, we've been there. If those folks choose to spend their precious moments at Victory, then by all means we want to accommodate them. No new brewing areas need be developed at this time as the 2004 renovation bought us excess capacity.

So what can we expect at the Victory Dinner this Monday at Teresa’s Next Door?

You can expect some great creativity from Chef Andy as well as our great beers. How does St. Victorious Doppelbock with morel and aged goat cheese puff pastry sound to get you interested? Five courses of such delight, including a V Twelve dessert.

What is it about a beer dinner that allows a brewery to connect in a different way with the people that enjoy their beers than they get to through marketing or beer festivals?

Well, it's more intimate. A much better forum to exchange information and insights between the creators (brewer and chef) and the appreciative audience. I, personally, enjoy and appreciate the audience's insights. Also, the timing allows the conversation and relationship to evolve, rather than the quick hits of a beer festival. And, no one at a beer dinner approaches you and says "what's your strongest?"

What do you enjoy most about doing beer dinners?

The interactive nature of them. First, our beers inspire the creativity of the chef. Then, their dish with our beer causes sensations for the consumers that they, hopefully, share with us. The tongue is a reference instrument so every new sensation is evaluated against the last input. So, fireworks can fly!

I’m sure practice makes perfect, but can you think of any definitive, perfect pairings for some of your beers? Maybe things from past dinners or things straight out of your kitchen?

HopDevil Ale with a really great cheddar like Cabot Jasper Hill clothbound is just so right, every time. But, that said, the fun is in discovery. When a Chef picks out flavors in our beer and brings them to life in an inspired dish, that's the moment that rewards everyone.

A very memorable dish was prepared by Chef Aaron Wilson at the Dilworthtown Inn's Innkeepers Kitchen a few years back when he took on Hop Wallop, not a beer of immediate subtlety. Aaron picked up on the refreshing menthol flavor in the hopping a spun out a savory, spiced lam ragout over mint taglietelle noodles. I was floored and licked my plate.

With summer right around the corner what should we be keeping our eyes open for from Victory?

Throwback Lager, available now, is our lager send-off before all of the ales of summer like Whirlwind Witbier and Sunrise Weissbier. Now, bear in mind that our renovated bar will feature 20 draft lines and you can imagine that there are fun things bubbling away in the cellars right now to make the draft line up exciting. Maybe even a dark and delicious return of something somewhat between the lager and ale world...
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The Pliny and the Pity

Two days, two taps, two Pliny’s. That’s what we’re down to here in the ‘burbs. Unless someone has something hiding there are two kegs of Pliny left for quite some time in these parts. While construction, mail order, and distribution are picking up and giving Russian River a well deserved spreading of their wares, we East Coasters will have to sit back and wish them well.

You could, of course, go to Savor and catch Pliny and Supplication, but as far as tavern accounts go, the word on the street is that we got nada for a while.

So if you want to get in on this hopped up wonder of a beer, then you best make your way to The Drafting Room, Spring House or Ortino’s Northside on the 12th and 18th of this apey month, respectively.

The Drafting Room is having Pliny guest star amongst a host of lumulites this Saturday at their 3rd annual Hops Fest. The list is ‘killer’ as you’ll hear me say most times we’re drinking good beer together. See for yourself:

Green Flash West Coast IPA
Sierra Nevada Celebration
Drafting Room 13th Anniversary Ale
Lagunitas Maximus
Bear Republic Racer 5
Dogfish Head Aprihop
Lagunitas Hop Stoopid
Russian River Pliny the Elder
Victory Harvest Pils
Avery the Maharaja
Dock Street Rye IPA
Sly Fox Sterling
Chouffe Houblon Dobbelen
Boulder Mojo Risin
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Founders Devil Dancer
Troegs Nugget Nectar (Cask Conditioned)

Plus Great Lakes will have a surprise keg-o-somethin’.

Lets focus for a second here…Pliny, Houblon, plus Nugget Nectar on cask. This is merely the tip of my iceberg friends. That’s a healthy dose of humulone, holmes.

So from there we’ve got to take a look at Big John O’s, Ortino’s Northside.

At a 4pm Friday tapping of this as yet unnamed event the swankiest of the Schwenk will tap a year old Founder’s Dirty Bastard (shimmy shimmy ya), Stone’s delicious 11th Anniversary Black IPA, Pliny The Elder and a few other so far-unannounced beers as well. Last time I was in they had Bruscella on tap and Dulle Teve bottles priced in a most friendly way. I can count in years how long it’s been since I’ve had anything to eat at the Northside, so I am looking forward some great food to go along with these superb offerings.

But then what? Well if you’ve got friends in warm places and haven’t already worked a deal with them then your boat has sailed my friend. Russian River’s mail order stash of Beatification, Supplication, and Temptation is no longer available. I suppose we’ll just be watching these bottles of Damnation dribble away until our river runs dry, as they say. Read more!

A Mish Mash of Melangica

I missed The Session this month. I started in on it, a blistering bio of Bob The Beer Hero, but things just didn't pan out. Sometimes they don't. Check out Stonch though, he runs a great blog and is hosting The Session this month. Visit a few times today as i'm sure the posts will be pouring in. There were a ton last month.

Anyhow...it's been a while since a proper post, so i'll just give a quick round up of what is on the horizon for me and for Grain Bill.

I really wanted to get an interview with Rob Tod in before he hit town, but i got the dates screwed up and thought i had more time to contact him and try to set it up. He might be doing a night at Teresa's Next Door this summer and if so i will try to get a hold of him beforehand. Anyhow, Mr. T is at Tria tomorrow night. Info here. If you haven't done a Tria class, seriously, pony up the dough and check one out. I'm hooked. Jon and his folks do a really good job over there.

Next weekend is starting to look like a big one for me. I think i will take a maiden voyage to The Drafting Room's Springhouse location for Hop Fest. Mr. P is making the trek from wine country along with a really nice lineup of other beers, so it feels like the place to be.

That Monday is the Victory dinner at Teresa's, looks to be a good one and especially so for the price. Bill Covaleski will be in the house and he'll be bringing some serious beers along with him. Should be a good one, hopefully an interview will develop on here before or after the event.

So that's it really. Incubus Day at Sly Fox today and then a big night of nothing major. If you're so inclined, i am bartending at the Tiki Bar's original location tomorrow night. Always a good time to be had there, so come say hello.

Oh also, i have visions of a bi-monthly beer tasting series in my sleepy town of residence and have the first one lined up. Earthmart, a great store with a focus on health, conscious, and environment is into the idea of organic beer. So on June 5th, a Thursday, The Grain Bill will be pouring beers from Peak Organic Brewing and Wolaver's, Peak may have a rep in the house, it'll be a very small donation (i'm thinking like $3) to hang out and taste from 6 - 9pm. More info as it rolls in and gets closer to the date, but i just wanted to put a feather in yer caps.

My sister is under the knife as i type so i am waiting for the 'all clear' call from Mom. Read more!