"AND THE AWARDS GO TO....."

From the "Better-Late-Than-Never" department, we received our awards from the latest Garden City Brewfest in Missoula. This took place back in May. Good 'ole GBC walked away with two awards: Best Specialty Ale and Best Light Hybrid Ale. I enjoy brewfests, trouble is I don't get to very many these days as I haven't quite gotten the nerve up to chew through my leg because I'm shackled to the brewhouse! The summer is our busiest time of the year. If only we could spread some of the summertime business to the rest of the year!

In years past, I was the only brewer and cellarman. Well, those of you that know GBC know that we have been growing our Jim over the last couple of years. When he first started, all he had was a desire to learn more about the whole operation. He has endured many mind-numbing hours ensuring the kegs are sanitized, he has learned how to rack into the kegs, how to run our labeler, how to deal with me, and most importantly; Jim is becoming a fine assistant brewer. This provides a nice release valve for me. While I'm attending to one of the other thirteen-thousand details of this business (like writing the blog), Jim is able to continue with that day's brew. I give him a lot of grief (mostly about being from Wyoming) but I do appreciate him and his efforts quite a bit. Jim and his wife are in the process of opening up a storefront in Ronan, Montana for their screenprinting business, Image Quest. They do quality work, their prices are fair, and they have very reasonable turn-around times. Check out their website if you're in the market for custom-printed clothing: http://www.imagequesttees.com/.

Well, we have a new specialty in the tasting room, at least for a few more days. This one is called Sebastian's Select. I infused a few kegs of uncarbonated Oktoberfest with nitrogen gas. We pour it through a special faucet most people know as a "Guiness tap". What this does is to push the beer through small holes drilled in a disc inside the tap. The beer is agitated enough for the nitrogen gas to be "ripped out" of the solution. The nitrogen bubbles are much smaller and stronger than carbon dioxide bubbles. Also, since our atmosphere is composed of mostly nitrogen, these bubbles don't experience the pressure gradient that CO2 bubbles do and therefore are not as willing to pop. Bottom line is the bubbles form a thick, creamy head of foam. This action also pulls a lot of the hop oils out of solution so when you take a sip, you get a somewhat hoppy foam first and then a very smooth liquid body! YUMMIE!!! I put this on tap yesterday and every other pint I poured was the Sebastian's. Sebastian, by the way, is the name of our brewhouse. I didn't name it that. It named itself. As with all our seasonals, get in here soon or you'll miss out!
Until next, I remain your humble brewer.

State Of The State

Unless, you've been living under a log lately, you have probably heard about the "HOP CRISIS" (I use capitals so you understand the importance!!). If not it goes like this: the hop suppliers have been sitting on a hop surplus the past few years, this surplus has artificially driven the price of hops down, breweries have been buying these cheaper hops, the hop farmers can't meet the payments on their John Deere so they either: A)Get our of hop farming or B)they stay in hop farming but don't expand their planted acreage. Either way, the surplus gets used up due to increased demand. Oh yeah, world-wide hop harvest get decimated by diseases, drought, too much rain, or all of the above. Once again, whatever the cause the result is the same: Crappy Hop Harvests! So now, the average price of hops (if you can find any to buy) has gone from about $4.80 per pound to about $39.00 per pound. Let me type that out so there is no misunderstanding: four dollars and eighty cents per pound to thirty nine dollars per pound!!!

WTF!!!

Never before has the modern beer industry been faced with such an attack on one of their principles: hops! Toss into this whole mess the federal government's REQUIREMENT that breweries are to include hops in their beer for it to be considered beer at the rate of 7 pounds per 100 barrels (one barrel equals 31 gallons). Because breweries large and small are "allowed" to manufacture beer by the federal government and beer is defined by said entity as having seven pounds for every 100 barrels, it does feel like the small brewery's hands are somewhat tied. There are over 30 other plants besides hops that have been used to bitter beer but they have not be "recognized" by the feds as being an ingredient in beer. Myself, well, I'm looking at supplementing our hops supply by brewing a beer with some hops AND spruce tips. These are the new growth of Colorado Blue and Green Spruce Trees. I'm new in the whole "spruce tips" world but I'm very curious to see how my test batch of "spruce beer" turns out.
Oh yea, I'm also entertaining ideas for our next specialty brew. Please understand that it won't be an IPA or anything else really hoppy. Sorry, just not gonna happen. If you have any thoughts, tell me or email me or call me or slip a note under the door.
Well, the brewhouse has already started to heat up for the summer; freakin' roasting in there. So I guess we're on that seasonal treadmill once again!
Until next time,
Your Humble Brewer

HERE WE GO AGAIN....

Believe it or not, this picture was taken the morning of June 11, 2008. We awoke, here in Polson, to a building springtime blizzard. In a matter of 20 minutes, the rain turned to sleet and then VERY heavy snow. The trees accumulated a quick coating and, SNAP! Down came the bigger branches. One of the remarkable things about this weather was that it stuck around! The snow didn't melt that day or the next. The skies stayed overcast, low and gray. I was surprised with the tangible feeling that pervaded my attitude and almost everyone I meet those two days. We were all feeling more than a little cheated. We'd gotten through this winter weather already. Winter was over. We've earned our sunshine and warmth and singing birds! NOT FAIR!!! Well, yesterday the warm winds blew, the sun shone down and the snow melted, mostly. Our surrounding mountains are still locked in late-winter, snow-pack has returned. I guess the next event will be to watch for the rapid melt-off. Our ground feels extremely saturated. I understand the gates on Kerr Dam are already open and roaring. This was before this storm. If you're in the area, check out the dam. It's quite an impressive show when it's roaring the way it is now.
Until next time,
Your humble brewer

AHHH, SPRINGTIME, er, SUMMERTIME!!!

It's finally here, SUMMERTIME! The trees are full of flowers, the flowers are full of bees, the bees are full of pollen. This year's seasons definately seem to be marching a very strange, start-stop, sort of progression. Our winter was long and very drawn-out. The springtime seemed to last about four days (interupted by more winter), now we're into summer but only in the afternoons, the mornings are still in early spring! Whatever, I'll take it! Diversity sharpens the senses, quickens the blood. You're never quite sure what the afternoon will bring, or the next morning or the weekend. Growing up in western Colorado, now known as eastern California, once winter and mud season was over, you could lay down a certain bet that the day would start with blazing blue skies, followed by white puffy clouds around 2:30pm and then building into isolated thunderstorms by 4:00pm. The evenings would always be gorgeous blue again. All my friends loved this weather. I grew more and more irritated by the endless blue days (not just summer, ALL YEAR!). I craved weather variety, the chronic "wonderful blue sky" was smothering me with sameness! This psychotic, helter-skelter weather of northwest Montana is truly WONDERFUL!

Until next time,
Your humble Brewer.

LUCKY ARE THE BRAVE

MEMORIAL DAY 2008

We're staring down the beginning of a very beautiful day here in Polson. Current temperature is 50 degrees with a guess of rain today. But I don't see that now. Live for the moment, I always say.
I woke up this morning to an unfortunately familiar smell of dog poop. We recently switched our dogs to a "higher" quality dog food than they have been inhaling and one of the mutts' system can't seem to handle it, seemingly at random! So, I'm never quite sure, going to bed the night before, when I'll be waking up to "THAT" smell. Like I said, it happened this morning. My reaction was what you'd expect "GOD D*MN DOG, GET THE F@#K OUT! WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU?!?!" Or something like that. She's outside sulking, I'm inside fuming. I'm cleaning it up, grumbling to myself when this story comes on CNN about some US soldiers who are being deployed to Afghanistan but have a few days to visit their families. Problem is there is no money for them to make the trip! So citizens donated all the funds needed. I know, while this is a very real story, the timing of the telling of it was designed to generate solidarity, civic pride, etc. Well, it worked. But also, it showed me something else. It shook me out of my little, daily ego-centric bubble. While cleaning up liquid dog poop first thing in the morning sucks, I'm not being deployed to the other side of the world! It is far too easy for me (and others I suspect) to loose sight of things like this. I don't want to brand this rant as "Appreciate what you have-others have it worse-you don't know how good you have it!". Most of that is true however. But, that is human nature.

One thing I've stressed to my offspring is this: When you see a soldier and have the opportunity, STOP what you're doing, walk up to that person, politely get their attention, look them in the eye and just THANK THEM. Red state, blue state, white state, green state, republican, democrat, independent, pro-war, anti-war, pro-bush, anti-bush, morning-person, night-owl, WHATEVER!!! JUST THANK THEM! Okay?

Good ole' GBC will be open today. Jim and I will be at the helm. Today, we're gonna be brewing some North Fork or maybe Stout. Those two always seem to be a little tougher to brew than the others. Mainly because of their extended grain and hop bills. The amber calls for SEVEN hop additions and uses EIGHT different grains. I know, I'm getting lazier as I age. That's why I have a "JIM". Everyone should get one, it's great! Such a wonderful, labor saving device! You just point your "JIM" at a task and, before you know it, it's done! Alright, sometimes I have to point it at the task a few times. Just kidding, Jim. (Who am I kidding, he can't read! He went to the University of Wyoming.....GO CSU RAMS!!!)

It is my wish that our collective day passes with peace and harmony. Sounds too hippy-ish? Too bad. Maybe the hippies have something there. One more thing before I release you, yesterday NASA landed a very advanced craft near the northern pole of Mars, looking for water and evidence of life. Do yourself a favor, check out the recent pictures of the surface of Mars, sip on your favorite Glacier Brew, watch the sunset, be in the moment. Oh yea, pray for no more liquefied dog poop!

Until next time,
Your Humble Brewer

87 DEGREES IN DA' SHADE!!!

Surfin' Safari

Ya' gotta love Montana. Last week, we were getting snow, freezing rain, could see your breath as you walked to work (just me? okay...). Now, we're staring down 87degrees on Friday and hotter this weekend! Great news, right? WRONG!!! Think "Glacial Lake Missoula", think "Noah", think "Washed out bridges!". I know, some of you are saying "Don't be such a nay-sayer!". Sorry, it's just the way I roll. I love seeing the power of nature (from a distance, of course). This coming week holds the promise of exciting events happening along our western Montana waterways. We have had a significant amount of snow this year. Even lately. Now, suddenly, we're hitting the upper 80's and possibly the 90's?!? Excuse my American but, WTF?!? It is rare in my memory of such extreme temperature swings.
I have family in Colorado and I've been hearing stories from them of rapid melting causing culverts to dam and flood and then the next couple of days they get three inches of fresh powder! This may be climate change due to human activity or maybe it's part of a much, much larger cycle. One that our "recorded" history has yet to document.

Whatever the root cause, the results remain the same: Surf's Up!


Photo courtesy of the Montana Historical Society

HERE I SIT...

TICK, TOCK.....

Well, here I sit. In the tasting room on Wednesday night after 5:00pm. It's 6:20 in fact and no one has taken me up on my "Free Pint" offer. No one has said "MOLLYCODDLE" to me.

.......so sad.....