What's happening in my world…
The House Representative bill, HB196, is up for a vote this Tuesday, March 4th.
Please call your representative and let him or her know that you want HB196 to pass!
Please visit www.legislature.state.al.us and enter your ZIP code in the box on the left hand side of the page to find out who your House Representative is, then please call them about HB196, the Gourmet Beer Bill.
Technorati Tags: Alabama, HB196, Legislature
Well, Karen and I decided to drink one of the Brasserie des Rocs Triple Imperiale bottles.
We both enjoyed it. The beer has a very complex flavor. It is on the sweet side, but it is not overly sweet.
Karen hadn't had a beer in over a year due to being pregnant and nursing. She truly enjoyed it.
Prior to drinking the Brasserie des Rocs Triple Imperiale, she had her first XXX Warlock Double Imperial Stout from Bristol Brewing Company. AT 18.4% ABV, this beer reminds me of a Port wine. Its flavors go well with chocolate, too.
My dad’s bar has come a long way. He has over 70 beers available and 10 beers on draft. He has multiple coolers setup to keep the beer at their preferred temperature, too.
The building is slowly coming a long, too.
The sign at the street is
being redone, which is badhy needed. The original sign was painted with what looks like a roller. It is hard to paint letters with just a roller. Both sides of the sign don’t even look the same. But, this will all be fixed with the new sign.
With the sign fix on the way, the inside of the building is the process of being painted to tone down the Irish green that is everywhere. The bar had been Patty’s Pub at one time so everything is covered with bright green and the colors of the Irish flag.
They are going the start some radio advertising, too. My dad has not decided the details, but it is in the works.
As I have indicated before, my dad purchased a bar. He has been in the process of making the changes he wants to the bar over past few weeks.
This week is big for changes at the bar. On Tuesday, his direct draw cooler arrived. Direct draw cooler is beverage industry speak for draft beer cooler with taps on top. This addition will give the bar up to eight beers on draft and room for storage, which will be great. I hate going to a bar or restaurant to learn that they are out of beer.
Today, the Glass Door Merchandisers arrived. Glass Door Merchandisers is industry speak for refrigerators with glass doors. He wanted the selection of beers to be highly visible to the staff and customers. They are replacing Deep Well Bottle Coolers, which are the coolers normally behind a bar with siding top doors.
He has a moving company down there today helping setup the equipment. Because, the equipment has to be lifted over the bar and it weights over 400 pounds.
He is hoping to have the coolers all stocked by tomorrow.
Well, my dad has been talking about purchasing a bar for years. He up and did it today!
He had been talking with the own of the business and the owner of the property. In the end, he decided to just purchase the business. But, the property owner is still interested in selling the property.
It is a neighborhood bar located at 3305 Bob Wallace Avenue, Huntsville, Alabama.
It has been operating under the name “The Nook”, but the name had legally been “Paddy's Pub”. The own had just changed the sign out front without notifying the state Alcohol Beverage Control Board.
My dad has a number of plans for the place. The first of which is to change the bar to non-smoking.
More to come …
The Alabama House Travel and Tourism Committee unanimously passed the bill to change the definition of beer to include beer with 14.9 percent alcohol. Presently, it is defined as having no more than 6 percent.
Now, the bill moves to the floor of the House.
You can read more at the following:
The actual bill in question can be read here:
The Alabama House of Representative bill has been put on the calendar for a floor vote this Tuesday, April 3rd.
We need the phone calls and emails from supporters of HB195. The following link will help you identify who your Representative is:
http://www.legislature.state.al.us/house/house_zipsearch.html
– Brian Allen
I got lucky and was in town for the 3rd Annual Firkin Rendezvous, which was held at Bristol Brewing Company in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Firkin is a term that means 1/4 and is the name of the keg that is a 1/4 of barrel. This kind of keg is typically used for a Cask Ale, which is the feature of this great event.
I was introduced to Mike Bristol during the event. He has glad to see that people from Huntsville, Alabama were enjoying the benefit. I indicated that I try to visit for brewery any time I am in Colorado Springs.
We they had great selection of beer from all around Colorado including Hercules Double IPA from Great Divide Brewing, Double Diff Strong Belgian Wit from Ska Brewing, Churchyard Strong Scotch Ale from Wynkoop Brewing, Blueberry Wheat from Durango Brewing, and any others. I was glad to see Bristol even had their XXX Warlock Double Imperial Stout on hand.
Well, I made to the release of XXX Warlock Double Imperial Stout at Bristol Brewery. I arrived at Bristol at 9 PM, which is closing time, but Russell Noel indicated they were still pouring.
I had Russell poured me up one of the XXX Warlock Double Imperial Stout. They pour you 4 oz glass, which is good given it is 18.4 ABV. Wow! It tastes great. The flavors remind me of port wine or brady.
I decided to purchase a six pack to take back to my dad's house so that he could try, too.
They only made about 40 case according to what I believe I was told.
You may have read in my previous post about the fundraiser held by Free The Hops at the The Flying Monkey Art Center.
Well, I bought a few raffle tickets at the event and won two of the prizes. Given Free The Hops is an organization formed to change the Alabama laws, you can guess that all the prize where beer in some form.
My father and I decided to have tasting at his house with our friend Bradley Smith. Bradley Smith established Custom Camper Covers in Huntsville, Alabama.
We started with Duvel, which is Belgian Golden Ale. It was an okay start, but it had off flavors for what some of us wanted.
We moved on to tasting Terrapin's 2007 Monster Beer Tour. We started Big Hoppy Monster, which everyone enjoyed to my surprise. I was guessing the beer would be too hopped, but it was enjoyed.
We keep the train moving on our tour of Terrapin beers with our next stop being All-American Imperial Pilsner. This was a good beer to follow the Big Hoppy Monster.
At this point, we decided to shift gear and go aluminum. As in aluminum cans, which brings us to Oskar Blues Brewery's canned ales. We started with Dales Pale Ale, which was good. The flavor caught me off guard from what I expect, but I adapted.
The Old Chub Scottish Style Ale was next and enjoyed by all.
At this point, we switched back to our last Terrapin, which was the “Wake-n-Bake Coffee Oatmeal Stout“. We knew this beer was off Bradley's scale. And, he agreed saying, “I think I will try another one.” The rich coffee taste drives the flavors in this beer. The body is not that heave, but it is not light either.
We went on, but the write will stop now.