August GOOD BEER News: Three New Beers - Something hoppy, something "perky",something dark and light at the same time... plus some new events too!
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Scott at East End Brewing
Aug 13, 2009, 12:51:56 PM8/13/09
to "GOOD BEER News" from East End Brewing
Hey there GOOD BEER Fans,
If you're having trouble reading this message... well, you're pretty
much on your own. I mean come on guys. It doesn't get any simpler
than a text only email
Welcome to the August 2009 edition of the GOOD BEER News from East End
Brewing. As usual, I'm a little late with the GOOD BEER News this
month. But also as usual, we'll make up for the tardiness with both
quality and quantity, because we've got no less that THREE NEW BEERS
to talk about here - one is still a pile of grain (and a hill of
beans), another is finishing up in the fermenter, and the third is
already on tap! Plus, we've added a few more really kickin' GOOD BEER
Events to the already packed calendar, to there's that to update as
well. And of course, there's the upcoming Steel City Big Pour, our
local festival favorite.
SESSION ALE #27: BLACK BELGIAN ALE
We never did come up with a snappy name for this beer, but that's
okay. I'll opt for an informative one instead. So as you can
probably tell, this is a dark, roasty Session Ale that's brewed with
our house Belgian yeast strain, producing a hard to classify, rather
dry-for-a-Belgian-style ale of about 4.5% abv, that's both dark and
light at the same time. It went on tap a couple weeks ago, so if
you're after some, move on it before it's all gone. Like all the
Session Ales, the batches are small and repeats showings unlikely.
HOPFEST 2009 - COMING SOON TO A BREWERY NEAR YOU!
It's hard to believe that it was just one year ago that I was
wondering if we'd have enough hops to get through the year. Though
the price of hops hasn't come down, at least now I can get the
varieties I need to cover our regular beers, but even brew something
special. This fall, we'll not only have our year-round BIG HOP on tap
(of course), hold over our lighter-bodied crisp, hoppy Summer Seasonal
PEDAL PALE ALE, and bring back your favorite wet-hopped Fall seasonal
and all time favorite BIG HOP HARVEST ALE (more on Harvest next
time)... but we're adding one more "bigger hoppy" beer to the mix, to
make a record lineup of four hoppy beers available all at once.
TRAILING EDGE BEER MAKING:
Usually we dip a little further back into history when we do a
special, one-off, or otherwise "weird" beer. This time though, we're
sticking with a modern invention that true American Style, through and
through, and something that people have been after me to do since I
got the doors open here. I'm not sure why I haven't gotten around to
it until now, especially because it always seemed so obvious, but in
about 2-3 weeks you'll finally be able to get your hands on a nice big
1 liter swingtop bottle of BIGGER HOP. (I told you it was obvious!)
You can call it an Imperial IPA or a Double IPA if you like, but
either way, with the pretty straight ahead naming on this one, I'm
sure you'll have no problem telling what's inside the bottle. We'll
also have a bit of this on draft around town in hopes of making sure
people know that it's available... Mostly because this is NOT a beer
to be aged or cellared. The sooner you drink it, the better it will
be - so spread the word on this one. I'd hate to see us with any
bottles here after the bigger brighter hop flavor has faded. It's
already in the tank, and we'll be bottling it up in another week or
two, so stay tuned for the release.
STEEL CITY BIG POUR TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW...ER, THEY WERE ON SALE.
The Premiere beer fest in this town, and my all-around fav-o-rite of
the year is about a month away, and that means we've been busy putting
together everything we need to brew this year's special BIG POUR
BREW. Each year, the festival organizers make a special request that
their most-local brewery brings something something special to the
fest, and because Construction Junction is all about re-use, buying
local, and sustainability, we're RE-USING the idea of a special brew
again this year, using some LOCAL ingredients that celebrate a local
hero of the modern SUSTAINABILITY movement: Rachel Carson.
WHO IN THE HECK IS RACHEL CARSON?
"Silent Spring" is probably Rachel Carson's most famous book, and it's
widely credited for starting the modern-day environmental movement.
It's publication brought about the eventual banning of DDT as an
agricultural pesticide, and a full review of the "better living
through chemistry" way of thinking that prevailed at the time. But
the coolest part of the Rachel Carson Legacy, is that she was a
local. Yep, right here in our own backyard, just over the Highland
Park Bridge from where we're making this beer and up Route 28 a bit,
tucked into a quiet street in the community of Springdale, you will
find the original, fully preserved and rather modest Rachel Carson
Homestead. It's a short drive to go and visit, or better still, pick
up the Rachel Carson Trail and go there on foot. She'd probably
appreciate that more anyway. For more info about The Homestead, and
Rachel Carson, see www.rachelcarsonhomestead.org and you can check out
the trail at www.rachelcarsontrails.org. You can even pick up a copy
of the book and a pound of locally roasted fair-trade organic coffee
during your visit. Yes, coffee. My second favorite brewed beverage.
SO, THE BEER IS CALLED...
The idea for this special beer was originally hatched at the Rachel
Carson Sustainable Feast (the big street fest they put on every year)
over a couple cups of LaPrima's "Rachel Carson Blend" iced coffee and
some East End Beer. It soon became obvious that a coffee infused beer
bearing her name would be the perfect fit for the Big Pour Brew this
year. So, "RACHEL CARSON'S EYE OPENER" will be a nice BIG Porter that
we'll infuse with 30 POUNDS of fair trade, organic, locally roasted,
Rachel Carson Blend coffee beans, that's been carefully cold-brewed .
(Get it? "Eye Opener"...Coffee? Enlightenment?) This coffee is a
regular offering from LaPrima (www.laprima.com), and a portion of the
proceeds from every pound sold benefit the Rachel Carson Homestead.
And starting on the day of The Big Pour, we'll even have some for sale
at the brewery by the pound, separate from the beer if you're into
that kind of thing... like I am.
THE BIG POUR SOLD OUT - WHERE CAN I GET THIS NEW BEER???
No, I don't mean they caved in to some big sponsorship money from
Coors and are planning a Blue Moon booth at the fest. That's a
different kind of "sold out". What I mean is there's no more tickets
available. So for those without tickets that are looking to catch the
debut of EYE OPENER, we're doing a simultaneous release of the beer at
the brewery during Growler Hours that day... meaning that it goes on
tap for Growler Fills on "Septembeer" 12th at 1:30pm, and not a moment
before. Please form a line in an orderly fashion... no pushing,
shouting, frontsies, or backsies. And definitely no decaf.
BIG POUR DAY GROWLER HOURS NOTE:
Since we're open on the day of the Big Pour, we get a lot of traffic
at Growler Hours that day - and we love that...some folks stopping in
before the fest, some during, and even some after. This last category
can create some problems for us, legally speaking, in that we're not
licensed to serve here - just taste. So, rather than turn everyone
away because of concerns about serving the already well-served, we're
making one small change to our regular Growler Hours format for that
day only.... From 3-5pm on Septembeer 12th, we're not offering any
tasters at the brewery. You can most definitely pick up as much East
End beer as you'll need to keep things rolling after the Big Pour, but
you just won't be able to taste any of it at the brewery during this
window. I hope you'll understand, so come early that day if you'd
like to taste the new beers at the brewery.
KINDA RECENT, KINDA PRESS:
This one is long overdue. Jerry Miller (formerly the guy behind the
huge beer selection at Roland's in the Strip), has opened a place of
his own in Homestead. Just across the tracks from the vast Waterfront
development that somehow manages to be almost completely free of Craft
Beer (sole holdout=Rock Bottom!!!), you'll find Blue Dust, which has a
bunch of bottles to go, and perhaps most importantly, keeps a bit of
East End Beer on some of their 26 taps. Have a look, and be sure to
tell Jerry I said hello: http://www.foodburgh.com/2009/07/blue-dust-homestea/comment-page-1/#comment-253
GOOD BEER EVENTS:
Aug 15: Millvale Brewfest: http://www.millvalepa.com/BrewFest08.aspx
Tickets still available, so I'll see you there!
Aug 17: Point Brugge's "Summer Evening Beer Tasting" featuring BIG
bottles from EEBC http://www.pointbrugge.com
Aug 20: EEBC Beer Dinner at Green Gables Restaurant, veg options
available Contact info on http://www.GreenGablesRestaurant.com
Sept 10: Meet the Farmers (and the Brewer) at Enrico's Biscotti in the
Strip. Ticket here: http://tinyurl.com/pfzd4z
Sept 12: Steel City Big Pour http://www.constructionjunction.org/pages/bigpour
SOLD OUT
Sept 18: The Enrico End of Summer Boat Trip! GOOD BEER, GREAT Food,
6:30-9:00. Tickets here: http://tinyurl.com/d44lcx
Sept 25: Beer Passport Night @ PNC Park- new improved event format,
tasters of 6 beers before the game: Tickets at 1-800-BUY-BUCS.
Sept 30: 2nd Annual EEBC/Local Foods Beer Dinner at Harris Grill:
Tickets by calling 412-362-5273 or see http://harrisgrill.com
That's all for this month so far. The rest will have to wait for next
time, with our BIG HOP HARVEST update, and all the wet-hopped goodness
that entails, and a few other things we have in the hopper. Oh, and
hopefully by then, you'll see a totally new setup in place at the
brewery as we move our entire Growler Service up to the front of the
building, into a much more efficient setup that should improve your
Growler Hours experience setup rather nicely.
Hope to see you here at the brewery or at one of these events some
time soon!
Cheers,
Scott
www.EastEndBrewing.com
BUY A GOOD FRIEND A GOOD BEER (TM)
If you're having trouble reading this message... well, you're pretty
much on your own. I mean come on guys. It doesn't get any simpler
than a text only email
Welcome to the August 2009 edition of the GOOD BEER News from East End
Brewing. As usual, I'm a little late with the GOOD BEER News this
month. But also as usual, we'll make up for the tardiness with both
quality and quantity, because we've got no less that THREE NEW BEERS
to talk about here - one is still a pile of grain (and a hill of
beans), another is finishing up in the fermenter, and the third is
already on tap! Plus, we've added a few more really kickin' GOOD BEER
Events to the already packed calendar, to there's that to update as
well. And of course, there's the upcoming Steel City Big Pour, our
local festival favorite.
SESSION ALE #27: BLACK BELGIAN ALE
We never did come up with a snappy name for this beer, but that's
okay. I'll opt for an informative one instead. So as you can
probably tell, this is a dark, roasty Session Ale that's brewed with
our house Belgian yeast strain, producing a hard to classify, rather
dry-for-a-Belgian-style ale of about 4.5% abv, that's both dark and
light at the same time. It went on tap a couple weeks ago, so if
you're after some, move on it before it's all gone. Like all the
Session Ales, the batches are small and repeats showings unlikely.
HOPFEST 2009 - COMING SOON TO A BREWERY NEAR YOU!
It's hard to believe that it was just one year ago that I was
wondering if we'd have enough hops to get through the year. Though
the price of hops hasn't come down, at least now I can get the
varieties I need to cover our regular beers, but even brew something
special. This fall, we'll not only have our year-round BIG HOP on tap
(of course), hold over our lighter-bodied crisp, hoppy Summer Seasonal
PEDAL PALE ALE, and bring back your favorite wet-hopped Fall seasonal
and all time favorite BIG HOP HARVEST ALE (more on Harvest next
time)... but we're adding one more "bigger hoppy" beer to the mix, to
make a record lineup of four hoppy beers available all at once.
TRAILING EDGE BEER MAKING:
Usually we dip a little further back into history when we do a
special, one-off, or otherwise "weird" beer. This time though, we're
sticking with a modern invention that true American Style, through and
through, and something that people have been after me to do since I
got the doors open here. I'm not sure why I haven't gotten around to
it until now, especially because it always seemed so obvious, but in
about 2-3 weeks you'll finally be able to get your hands on a nice big
1 liter swingtop bottle of BIGGER HOP. (I told you it was obvious!)
You can call it an Imperial IPA or a Double IPA if you like, but
either way, with the pretty straight ahead naming on this one, I'm
sure you'll have no problem telling what's inside the bottle. We'll
also have a bit of this on draft around town in hopes of making sure
people know that it's available... Mostly because this is NOT a beer
to be aged or cellared. The sooner you drink it, the better it will
be - so spread the word on this one. I'd hate to see us with any
bottles here after the bigger brighter hop flavor has faded. It's
already in the tank, and we'll be bottling it up in another week or
two, so stay tuned for the release.
STEEL CITY BIG POUR TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW...ER, THEY WERE ON SALE.
The Premiere beer fest in this town, and my all-around fav-o-rite of
the year is about a month away, and that means we've been busy putting
together everything we need to brew this year's special BIG POUR
BREW. Each year, the festival organizers make a special request that
their most-local brewery brings something something special to the
fest, and because Construction Junction is all about re-use, buying
local, and sustainability, we're RE-USING the idea of a special brew
again this year, using some LOCAL ingredients that celebrate a local
hero of the modern SUSTAINABILITY movement: Rachel Carson.
WHO IN THE HECK IS RACHEL CARSON?
"Silent Spring" is probably Rachel Carson's most famous book, and it's
widely credited for starting the modern-day environmental movement.
It's publication brought about the eventual banning of DDT as an
agricultural pesticide, and a full review of the "better living
through chemistry" way of thinking that prevailed at the time. But
the coolest part of the Rachel Carson Legacy, is that she was a
local. Yep, right here in our own backyard, just over the Highland
Park Bridge from where we're making this beer and up Route 28 a bit,
tucked into a quiet street in the community of Springdale, you will
find the original, fully preserved and rather modest Rachel Carson
Homestead. It's a short drive to go and visit, or better still, pick
up the Rachel Carson Trail and go there on foot. She'd probably
appreciate that more anyway. For more info about The Homestead, and
Rachel Carson, see www.rachelcarsonhomestead.org and you can check out
the trail at www.rachelcarsontrails.org. You can even pick up a copy
of the book and a pound of locally roasted fair-trade organic coffee
during your visit. Yes, coffee. My second favorite brewed beverage.
SO, THE BEER IS CALLED...
The idea for this special beer was originally hatched at the Rachel
Carson Sustainable Feast (the big street fest they put on every year)
over a couple cups of LaPrima's "Rachel Carson Blend" iced coffee and
some East End Beer. It soon became obvious that a coffee infused beer
bearing her name would be the perfect fit for the Big Pour Brew this
year. So, "RACHEL CARSON'S EYE OPENER" will be a nice BIG Porter that
we'll infuse with 30 POUNDS of fair trade, organic, locally roasted,
Rachel Carson Blend coffee beans, that's been carefully cold-brewed .
(Get it? "Eye Opener"...Coffee? Enlightenment?) This coffee is a
regular offering from LaPrima (www.laprima.com), and a portion of the
proceeds from every pound sold benefit the Rachel Carson Homestead.
And starting on the day of The Big Pour, we'll even have some for sale
at the brewery by the pound, separate from the beer if you're into
that kind of thing... like I am.
THE BIG POUR SOLD OUT - WHERE CAN I GET THIS NEW BEER???
No, I don't mean they caved in to some big sponsorship money from
Coors and are planning a Blue Moon booth at the fest. That's a
different kind of "sold out". What I mean is there's no more tickets
available. So for those without tickets that are looking to catch the
debut of EYE OPENER, we're doing a simultaneous release of the beer at
the brewery during Growler Hours that day... meaning that it goes on
tap for Growler Fills on "Septembeer" 12th at 1:30pm, and not a moment
before. Please form a line in an orderly fashion... no pushing,
shouting, frontsies, or backsies. And definitely no decaf.
BIG POUR DAY GROWLER HOURS NOTE:
Since we're open on the day of the Big Pour, we get a lot of traffic
at Growler Hours that day - and we love that...some folks stopping in
before the fest, some during, and even some after. This last category
can create some problems for us, legally speaking, in that we're not
licensed to serve here - just taste. So, rather than turn everyone
away because of concerns about serving the already well-served, we're
making one small change to our regular Growler Hours format for that
day only.... From 3-5pm on Septembeer 12th, we're not offering any
tasters at the brewery. You can most definitely pick up as much East
End beer as you'll need to keep things rolling after the Big Pour, but
you just won't be able to taste any of it at the brewery during this
window. I hope you'll understand, so come early that day if you'd
like to taste the new beers at the brewery.
KINDA RECENT, KINDA PRESS:
This one is long overdue. Jerry Miller (formerly the guy behind the
huge beer selection at Roland's in the Strip), has opened a place of
his own in Homestead. Just across the tracks from the vast Waterfront
development that somehow manages to be almost completely free of Craft
Beer (sole holdout=Rock Bottom!!!), you'll find Blue Dust, which has a
bunch of bottles to go, and perhaps most importantly, keeps a bit of
East End Beer on some of their 26 taps. Have a look, and be sure to
tell Jerry I said hello: http://www.foodburgh.com/2009/07/blue-dust-homestea/comment-page-1/#comment-253
GOOD BEER EVENTS:
Aug 15: Millvale Brewfest: http://www.millvalepa.com/BrewFest08.aspx
Tickets still available, so I'll see you there!
Aug 17: Point Brugge's "Summer Evening Beer Tasting" featuring BIG
bottles from EEBC http://www.pointbrugge.com
Aug 20: EEBC Beer Dinner at Green Gables Restaurant, veg options
available Contact info on http://www.GreenGablesRestaurant.com
Sept 10: Meet the Farmers (and the Brewer) at Enrico's Biscotti in the
Strip. Ticket here: http://tinyurl.com/pfzd4z
Sept 12: Steel City Big Pour http://www.constructionjunction.org/pages/bigpour
SOLD OUT
Sept 18: The Enrico End of Summer Boat Trip! GOOD BEER, GREAT Food,
6:30-9:00. Tickets here: http://tinyurl.com/d44lcx
Sept 25: Beer Passport Night @ PNC Park- new improved event format,
tasters of 6 beers before the game: Tickets at 1-800-BUY-BUCS.
Sept 30: 2nd Annual EEBC/Local Foods Beer Dinner at Harris Grill:
Tickets by calling 412-362-5273 or see http://harrisgrill.com
That's all for this month so far. The rest will have to wait for next
time, with our BIG HOP HARVEST update, and all the wet-hopped goodness
that entails, and a few other things we have in the hopper. Oh, and
hopefully by then, you'll see a totally new setup in place at the
brewery as we move our entire Growler Service up to the front of the
building, into a much more efficient setup that should improve your
Growler Hours experience setup rather nicely.
Hope to see you here at the brewery or at one of these events some
time soon!
Cheers,
Scott
www.EastEndBrewing.com
BUY A GOOD FRIEND A GOOD BEER (TM)
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