…not really, but it was certainly less than ideal. I made a higher-gravity hefeweizen , nicknamed “el jefe weizen,” today. I mashed indoors and heated water and boiled the wort out in the garage. My garage is detached and unheated and no thanks too the cold weather, it took me a while to reach a boil. The poor propane tank was cold, and I suspect I was nearing a freeze-up as my usually-noisy burner was relatively quiet, even at full-bore.

The wort reached a boil and I added some hops and decided to stir a bit. A stroke of idiotic genius hit me and I stirred just a bit too deep, dipping a couple of knuckles and the end of my thumb in boiling wort. It was a first, and hopefully a last. Ouch! The beer is presently chilling and my fingers are crossed that nothing else goes wrong… wish me luck!

If you’re heading to the Food and Wine Experience (Feb 24-26) look for
the Minnesota Craft Brewer’s Guild booth. We’ll be the one without any
decorations (you’ll understand what I mean if you go). Planning on
having 6 breweries there each day, serving probably 4 beers each, so
we’ll have a better beer selection in our little booth than most bars in
the state.

The 6th Annual Autumn Brew Review will be Oct 7, 2006. We’re limiting
tickets to 2500 this year, and after the Winterfest experience, I don’t
doubt we’ll hit that. This will probably be the last year at Peavey–we
need more room. We’re kicking around the idea of having a VIP hour for
those of you who are willing to pay a little extra and have a run of the
event without the crowds. I’ll keep you posted.

The 6th Annual Winterfest will be Jan 20, 2007 at the Landmark Center in
St Paul. New digs, more space, should be fun.

Last but not least, I’m putting a PDF on the website
(http://www.mncraftbrew.org) of the
really cool t-shirts we
had printed. Price is $15+ shipping (if I have to send it–I can’t
believe it would cost very much to send a t-shirt). The only sizes we
have now are L and XL. If you need a different size, let me know and
we’ll get one made next order.

I just caught wind of this one, a superbowl chili cook-off at Minneapolis Town Hall. I predict good times and lots of gas. 🙂

Join us before and during the Super Bowl Sunday, February 5th, for a Chili Cook-Off. Enjoy a bottomless bowl of chili with all the fixin’s for a mere $6, and it includes a pint of beer! Then join the fun and cast your vote for your favorite. Doors open at 2:30pm.

We just received Aver Hog Heaven back in and two new products from Avery. The one that intrigued me the most is The Czar Imperial Stout at 11.03% ABV!! NWOW!!!!! I will bring this one home tonight and try it so everyone can have a review when they stop into the store. Avery also just launched their New World Porter that is a traditional porter with a kick, it is dry hopped. Stop in and try one of your old favorites or possibly find a new one.

Winter Ale, Altbier and cribbage, oh my!

Winter Ale (8%abv): We harvested the hops growing on our patio this fall and used them in our Winter Ale. We also threw in some unique spices (caraway and fennel) resulting in a subtle “bready” flavor with a touch of licorice in the finish.

Altbier (5.8%abv): Light and crisp with an emphasis on the malt. Deep ruby red in color and fermented cool then lagered for 2 months to promote the crispness of the style. We brewed this in the German tradition incorporating a double decoction mash to pull out the intricate flavors of the malt.

Barley John’s will be hosting a Cribbage Tournament Sunday Feburary 19th at noon. The ante is $10 with the split going 65% First Place, 25% Second Place, 10% Third Place. The winner will be the person who has won the most games with the tie breaker being person with most points (double your points for a skunk!). There will be food and taps! You must register to participate, so click on the link to the left to register, we hope to see you there. Remember to bring your own cribbage board for “home field advantage”. Early birds can start at 11:30am and you must have your games started by 12:30p – no late entries. This’ll be the only winter tourney and there won’t be another one until May or so…. so, if you’re suffering from the winter blues, hang out with us instead for an afternoon of beer and comraderie and a chance to win 65% of the pot if you’re the lucky 1st place winner.