Thanks for Last Saturday!

Well we had a tremendous day last Saturday at the Killer Kapowski release party. thanks all for coming out on such a great weather day and supporting us. Sorry if I didn't get a chance to chat with you. We DO still have it left at the pub. Please come on down and grab a couple of bottles before it is all gone.



Dave Really enjoyed the KK. Sorry you missed SF beer week.



Where the magic happens


If that goes up on e-bay, I'm gonna be pissed!



cheers!
MAtt

Killer Kapowski to be released Saturday at 1PM

For those of you coming down Saturday for the release, I thought I would give you a few details on the logistics of the day.
-First, we will be bottling roughly 1440 bottles for your enjoyment.
-Currently there has not been a limit set, but it will be determined when the crowd shows up (I assume it could be a 1 case limit)
-Each bottle is $10. Case is $120.

-CASH IS NOT REQUIRED, BUT HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. IT COULD EXPEDIATE YOUR TIME HERE. THERE IS A HARRIS BANK ATM 1/2 BLOCK DOWN THE STREET!!! also, having close to the correct change makes for a less stressful day for me ;)

-We will have StationMaster Wheat, Pullman Brown, Celebration IPA, and Ore-Gone IPA for sale as well. Transactions for those beers will be seperate from the KK and Wooden Hell Sales and can easily be purchased with credit card or cash at anytime during the day.

-We will have Woden Hell Labels AND Collaborative Evil Labels for sale for $2. Downstairs only!



















-There will be a mug club tapping for those members starting at noon. they will be showing their mug club cards, so don't try to infiltrate the club. But do get signed up on the waiting list while you are here.

-Numbered tickets will be handed out as you arrive. THERE IS NO LINE. IT IS TOO COLD! Hold onto your ticket until 1PM. We will start calling numbers to head downstairs (via the front of the building) where sales will be happening. I assume 10-20 people at a time. While you are waiting feel free to have lunch or drink some beers. At the bar, Expect to either pay for your purchase or leave a credit card for your tab. With the number of people here and several people getting up to go purchase KK, it will be very hard for the bartenders and pub servers. Help 'em out if you can.

-As you wait in the short line at the basement door, you will be asked to write your name on your numbered ticket (if you choose) and put it into a drawing for the chance to purchase more Wooden Hell. If any is left. MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN.

-If you have NOT picked up your Wooden Hell, you will do it downstairs when you buy (if you choose) your KK.

-Once everyone has satisfyed their need for KK, we will draw for the leftover Wooden Hell.

Make sense?
Eat drink and be merry!
Matt

New Digs

Some people have pointed out that my post re: the change of venues for me never did mention the brewery I will be headed to. In the event you haven't heard, it is Oakshire Brewing in Eugene, Oregon. They are a small and growing production brewery that began in late 2006. Oakshire specializes in locally produced craft ales, with a nod to sustainability and organics. Big things are happening at the 'Shire. stay tuned.
And fear not, we are laying down the groundwork for a seamless departure and transition here at FSBC.

Cheers
Matt

Tap List 01/28/09

Recession Ale (3.0% a.b.v.)
Our beautiful rendition of an American Mild. Delicious citrus and grassy nose out of a golden and hazy straw colored body. Recession Ale has a light mouthfeel but is probably the most flavorful beer you will ever have at only 3% a.b.v. The Chinook, Amarillo, and Cascade hops assert themselves but help you forget the economy is in the toilet. SPECIAL PRICING! $2/12oz $3/16oz $4/20oz

Obama-Brau (5.0% a.b.v.)
This smooth and drinkable brown ale has soft toasty malt character topped off with a balanced dollop of pure American hops. Thanks for voting. Let’s have a beer!

Celebration IPA (7.1% a.b.v.)
Let's Celebrate a New (and improved) year in 2009! Our reddish IPA is crafted with three American hops (Chinook, Amarillo and Cascade) and are balanced by the medium-bodied sweetness of the malt and the alcohol. The bold citrus and pine type flavors linger on your palate and blend magically with the caramel malt flavor.

Munich Winterbock (6.5% a.b.v.)
This started as a Munich Style Dunkel which is a dark malty lager made in the Munich style, and then it fermented lower, dryer, and made a stronger beer than we anticipated. Plus it’s winter.
Munich Winterbock is an amber/copper/brown colored lager made with lots of munich malt for a bready malt flavor. The nose hints at a touch of roast malt used with little to no hop aroma. The flavor is predominately malt but not sweet. This beer has a clean and crisp finish that makes you want to drink some more.

Guest Tap: Anchor Old Foghorn
Guest Stout:Boulder Brewing Co.'s Obovoid oak aged Imperial Stout

Sausage Fest '09

Please join us on February 21st 2009 for Sausagefest 09, a celebration of handmade sausages, craft beer and artisanal cheeses.

The event will start promptly at 1:00 PM and run until 5:00 PM. We are limiting ticket sales to only 150 to make sure there's plenty of sausage for our hungry guests.

Tickets for Sausafest 09 can be purchased online by visiting http://www.brownpapertickets.com. Search for Sausagefest 09.

Sausages for Sausagefest 09 are all original handmade creations just for this wonderful event. Beer is provided by Rock Bottom Chicago and several guest breweries. Cheese will be provided by the Marion Street Cheese Market in Oak Park, IL.

We'll be there with Killer Kapowski!

Double Deuce at Shootout

We grabbed second place in Beer with Killer Kapowski baltic porter and Second place in Pairing with Killer Chocolate Tart paired with Killer Kapowski. Check out the Chicago Beer Society's page for details.

Pairing
1. America’s Brewing - Bol Le Hautes Terres with Peat Smoked Scotch Ale.
2. Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery - Killer Chocolate Silk Tart with Killer Kapowski Baltic Porter.
3. Rock Bottom E/W (Chicago & Warrenville) - Seared Kobe Beef Medallions with Andouille Potatoes, Spinach, Balsamic-Chipotle Glaze, Tomato Emulsion and crispy carrots. Paired with CBS Düsseldorf Alt.

Beer
1. Rock Bottom E/W (Chicago & Warrenville)
2. Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery
3. Rock Bottom N/S (Orland Park & Lombard)

Westward Ho!

Many of you may have heard by now, but the Van Wyk's are hitchin' up the oxen and makin' new life in the western frontier. A couple of weeks ago I accepted a job in Oregon and will be leaving Flossmoor Station Brewing Company.
In the five and a half years that I have been fortunate enough to lead the brewery at FSBC, I have come across some great people, brewers, suppliers, and customers. I'll miss creating beer for you all but fear not, you will be in good hands. I'm confident that the tradition will live on with my replacement and you will still be enjoying great beers and great service long after I am gone. It was true five years ago when Todd left FSBC and will be true again.

Near the end of March I will end my run at Flossmoor Station and head to Eugene Oregon. It should be an interesting and fun journey traveling half way across the country with my wife and two very excited kids. Hopefully we will not have to hunt for food along the way. And hopefully we also won't have to create a tombstone for anybody.......










Didn't you just love playing Oregon Trail when you were little.? As you can see it holds a special place in my heart. Flossmoor Station and Chicagoland will too and I'll probably be making references to them in my future posts on the www. I'll give you some more on my destination and perhaps a way to follow my exploits out there if you have time to kill. Certainly you don't think I would stop being connected to my loyal readers, do you?

Please stop by in the next two months to have a beer and chat for a bit. I'd like to see you one last time...

Label Approval

Well, we certainly have had a lot of questions about the new label for our Baltic Porter, so I thought I would explain the timeline a bit and our thinking. When we decided to bottle our award winning Baltic Porter, Killer Kowalski we enlisted Joe Krystofiak again, artist on the Collaborative Evil and Wooden Hell, He designed a great label very similar to the one posted below. We submitted the label for approval with the government and chose not to check on consent to use the name. Joe and a few others suggested we should consider that first. However, we had a handful of others in our camp who felt it wouldn't be a problem. Well after much delay, most by me and some by the government (not Joe-he's awesome. contact me if you need graphic design work done or check out http://www.ellipsisdesign.net/ ) we were told we could not use the name "Killer Kowalski" on the label unless we had written proof from the estate on their letterhead. Well, we weighed our options and checked our time. Sadly we had set the release date and there was really neither time to have Joe start over or hope to get permission without having to give a large some of money to use the name. Since the plates needed to be made for printing the label and so forth, we were under the gun.
Then, I had a Zak attack! The name Kelly Kapowski rushed into my head and the beer was renamed. After a little research into all things Saved Be the Bell, we found that episode 1.4 featured Zac being threatened by and angry Kelly and he referred to her as "Killer Kapowski". A new beer was born.

Fatal Distraction [1.4]

Kelly: So many boys, so little time.

---

Zack: Kelly.

Kelly: Hi Zack.

Zack: So Kel, big dance friday night, huh?

Kelly: I haven't asked anyone yet Zack.

Zack: Really, well I just want to know that I'm keeping my calendar clear, you know what I mean?

Kelly: I know what you mean, you want me to ask you?

Zack: You could do worse.

Slater: You could do better.... a lot better.

---

Mr. Belding: Zack, calm down. Just tell me who's threatening you.

Zack: Kelly "The Killer" Kapowski.

Mr. Belding: Kelly Kapowski?

Zack: Yes.

Mr. Belding: Excuse me for a minute.

[turns head to laugh]

Mr. Belding: [still snickering] What's she gonna do? Spike you to death with a volleyball?

Now, I would like to mention that this beer is now way was meant to be associated with Kelly Kapowski or Saved By the Bell and any reference to the real thing is merely coincidence! We were simply inspired by the above references or something like that.....

Rest assured that the beer we have made was the original award winning Killer Kowalski and purchasing said beer will bring as much enjoyment as you experienced when we served it on draft. Sorry for all the confusion. See you at the release on February 7th
Cheers!
Matt

Obama Brau can not be bottled.

So this was approved by the local committee to be given and sold to the local Inaugural Ball to be held here in Chicago next Tuesday. Sadly, it appears that Obama endorsed this and therefore is not allowed on the front of our bottles. But, dont be sad if you are headed to McCormick next Tues or just coming down here to watch the historic day in our pub. You will find something of the sort on draft. On behalf of the TTB and Flossmoor Station...sorry!

Killer Kapowski

Beer School Beer Festival

When:

January 17 : 1 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Price:

$40. Reservations recommended

Event Phone Number:

773-281-4989

Sheffield's

Neighborhood: Lakeview

3258 N. Sheffield Ave.

Chicago, IL 60657-2211

773-281-4989

Sample rare and specialty craft beers from more than 15 breweries including Bells, Peak Organic, Allagash, Flossmoor Station, Two Brothers, Three Floyds and Goose Island. Reps, brewers and owners are on hand to discuss the picks. Admission includes 12 drink tickets which are good for one beer each; purchase additional tickets for a fee.

Tap List 01/07/09

Big Black Pumpkin (8.0% a.b.v.)
Hey Look, we found a keg hiding in the cooler.

Organic Woody (10% a.b.v.)
While Supplies Last
Bourbon Barrel Aged Belgian-American IPA

Celebration IPA (7.1% a.b.v.)
Let's Celebrate a New (and improved) year in 2009! Our reddish IPA is crafted with three American hops (Chinook, Amarillo and Cascade) and are balanced by the medium-bodied sweetness of the malt and the alcohol. The bold citrus and pine type flavors linger on your palate and blend magically with the caramel malt flavor.

Munich Winterbock (6.5% a.b.v.)
This started as a Munich Style Dunkel which is a dark malty lager made in the Munich style, and then it fermented lower, dryer, and made a stronger beer than we anticipated. Plus it’s winter.
Munich Winterbock is an amber/copper/brown colored lager made with lots of munich malt for a bready malt flavor. The nose hints at a touch of roast malt used with little to no hop aroma. The flavor is predominately malt but not sweet. This beer has a clean and crisp finish that makes you want to drink some more.

Guest Tap: Dark Horse Perkulator Coffee Doppelbock
Guest Stout:Left Hand Milk Stout

Flossmoor Station to release two new bottled beers!

-UPDATE 1/7/08-

All of the available bottles of Wooden Hell have been reserved. Thanks to everyone who sent us e-mails. We look forward to seeing you starting January 20th.


Wooden Hell
Bourbon Barrel aged Barley wine
Bronze Medal-Strong Barrel aged beers 2006 GABF
Two time gold medal winner-Festival of Barrel Aged Beer














Killer Kowalski
Baltic Porter
Gold Medal-Baltic Porters-2007 GABF
Silver Medal-Baltic Porters-2008 GABF


Release details

KILLER KOWALSKI BALTIC PORTER:

The Killer Kowalski Release date is set for Saturday, February 7th at 1PM. The beer will be sold for $10 per bottle. We WILL have nearly 120 cases ready for sale on that date. Right now, no bottle limit has been set. If it all sells that day, it is gone. Anything left will be sold at Flossmoor Station and COULD be shipped to the distributor, but no promises.

WOODEN HELL BOURBON BARREL AGED BARLEYWINE (2 BOTTLE LIMIT!!!):

This will be sold on a pre-order basis. $15 per bottle. 2 BOTTLE LIMIT!! There are only 360 bottles available for sale!!
Procedure (read carefully):
*Send an e-mail to orderflossmoorbeer@yahoo.com with:
-name
-phone number
-address
-desired number of bottles (either one or two)

*You will receive a confirmation response (an "out of office/vacation" type response) This is your confirmation letter. Print it!

*Bring the confirmation letter with you anytime BETWEEN TUESDAY, JAN. 20 and SATURDAY, FEB. 7
YOU CAN NOT PICK UP YOUR BEER BEFORE 11:30 AM on Jan 20.

*Your name will be on a list at Flossmoor Station and we'll sell you your beer when you come in.

*You may pick up your Wooden Hell at the Killer Kowalski Release Party (if you have ordered it)

*Any remaining or unaccounted for beer will be sold on Saturday Feb. 7th at the KK release party

*Questions and comments can be directed to flossmoorstation@yahoo.com (not the order e-mail)

Thanks-back to bottling........

Tap List 12/30/08

Celebration IPA (7.1% a.b.v.)
Let's Celebrate a New (and improved) year in 2009! Our reddish IPA is crafted with three American hops (Chinook, Amarillo and Cascade) and are balanced by the medium-bodied sweetness of the malt and the alcohol. The bold citrus and pine type flavors linger on your palate and blend magically with the caramel malt flavor.

Munich Winterbock (6.5% a.b.v.)
This started as a Munich Style Dunkel which is a dark malty lager made in the Munich style, and then it fermented lower, dryer, and made a stronger beer than we anticipated. Plus it’s winter.
Munich Winterbock is an amber/copper/brown colored lager made with lots of munich malt for a bready malt flavor. The nose hints at a touch of roast malt used with little to no hop aroma. The flavor is predominately malt but not sweet. This beer has a clean and crisp finish that makes you want to drink some more.

IPA for Change (7.1% a.b.v.)
Obama-Nation! The transition team needs a beer too, let's hope this gets made the official IPA of the new White house administration.

Guest Tap: Dark Horse Perkulator Coffee Doppelbock
Guest Stout:

Strong Ale Fest Continued

Wow.. I guess I must have been on vacation. Started this recap and then set it aside. time to finish the update.....

So as I alluded to, I traveled to San Diego a week or so ago(edit: a month or so ago) to Pizza Ports Strong Ale Festival. This Fest began 12 years ago as a brainchild of Tom Nickel formerly a handful of brewpubs and now of O'Briens), Tomme Arthur Port/Lost Abbey and Jeff Bagby, head of the pubs for the Pizza Port Empire. The idea is two days of beer sampling. All beers are over 8%. Woot! This year, their 12th, celebrated the 75th year since Prohibition ended and the goal was to gather 75 strong ales. Well, they overextended themselves and nabbed about 103! Beers were mostly from California but they also collected several from Arizona, Chicago and the East coast as well. And all were over 8% abv. Yeah, that's a lot o alcohol. but more on that later, let me back up.

I arrived in San Diego on a Thursday night. Christmas carols were ringing thru the speakers at the airport and as I exited baggage claim I could feel the warm tropical breezes blowing in the doors and I could see the palms. Weird, really weird. I'm a midwest boy and Christmas means cold and snow. (In fact as I type this it is about 1 outside -that's Fahrenheit in case you wondered-and ice galore) Once I got over that, Jeff Bagby picked me up and we grabbed his better half-much better half, Dande (and their pooch) and headed over to the semi new Toronado. What a great line-up of beers and a great place to tip back a pint. When I walked in the door, who did I see, but the one and only Pete Crowley of Rock Bottom Brewery in Chicago. Wow, half a country away and I run into my buddy. Oh wait, I knew he was doing a brewery audit in La Jolla and had planned to meet up with me . So, we had a few Califonia brews and parted company. We drove up to Carlsbad, about 20-30 minutes north where I would be staying for the night.




Upon arriving at Casa de Bagby in Cardiff by the Sea, I encountered one of the largest beer collections I have seen in a long time. I like to drink beer, evidently Jeff does not (just kidding, pal!) He has rare beers, common beers, vintage beers, and oh yeah, 12 beers on draft. Yeah baby! Maybe a pic or to of his shelves if he sends them over. Once again, forgot the camera (stupid!)

On Friday morning we headed up to Carlsbad Pizza Port, with a pit stop for Breakfast Burritos-sweet! I helped a bit with set up. That consisted of perilously riding up on a fork lift to hang tarps. (If you work for OSHA, stop reading at the last paragraph). It seemed like "tarp overkill" because rain was not in the forecast, but I was reminded that double IPAs get skunky real quick in the San Diego sun! AHA! You are not in Kansas anymore toto.

Around 11 AM I jumped in Jeff's truck and motored over to Stone Brewing in Escondido. All I can say is wow! Check out the website. I wish I had my camera. This place is just awesome-not only the state of the art (and clean) brewhouse but the gardens and the menu are great. Wish I had some pics to share. I had been there before, but it was for the Craft Brewers Conference gathering and seeing it with less crowds was much better.

Then I headed to the festival. They have a VIP session from 1-4. Less crowds. Rare beers that will run out quickly. Dark Lord from our very own Three Floyds ran out first. Yeah! Did they just send a growler??? This was a great feature to the fest as you could move a bit better and hit the rare beers. I met up with Pete (RB Chicago) and also Marty (RB La Jolla) who would be our taxi driver Sat to Lost Abbey.










Next Stop:Bed. Since the hotel was a mere 6 blocks away, we could sneak away whenever we "needed" to. A quick stop in the PP bottle shop to buy some beers that we would pass out with on the nightstand (hint: keep your a/c cranked in the hotel room, and the beer you passed out with will still be cellar temp. in the morning.)

Hydration!! A little vitamin water and a walk on the beach and I am ready for the day!













Pete and I caught up with Marty again and had lunch in Oceanside. There is a new brewery that is waiting to start brewing. Kirk McHale, formerly of Pizza Port, is owner/brewer-but is being tied up by the city and has a dormant system collecting dust. Good Luck Kirk!

From there we headed to Lost Abbey. Oh goodness does Tomme have barrels galore. We sampled straight from the barrels. Need I say more??





But I will. This is a picture of their bottling line. Homemade I am told. I was blown away that they just had a 8 head tabletop-ish filler. We have only 4 heads, but I think we are more automated. Sure we spent a whole lot more money, but I think it's time to upgrade and pump a little bit more beer out of there. Come on Tomme, beer drinkers await!





So, we were set up like kings (well, visiting brewers) atLA and then headed back to punish the 'ol liver and try take on a few more of the beers we missed Friday.



Hey, is that 2008 World Beer Cup Small Brewpub Brewer of the year, Tonya Cornett? Why yes it is. She was in town to brew a collaboration beer with Tomme at Lost Abbey. What a great person-and brewer.



So the fest wound down. I assisted Pete to the Extended Stay America about 11:30 (just to make sure a car didn't run him down and leave Rock Bottom Chicago brewerless) and then headed back to PP for post game festivities. Needless to say, much of the details are a blur, but I think I recall jeroboams of Duvel and something else, shutting down a bar down the street, drinking in the dark, a stray roll of red duct tape (sorry Jeff) and a stroll around Carlsbad looking for some place to feed us. Dennys it is folks. Bring on the omelet at 4AM!

Blurry eyed and foggy headed it was time to venture back to the midwest on Sunday morning. Thanks to Pete for the lift and entertainment of course. Major shout to Jeff Bagby and the entire PP empire not only for a kick ass fest, but also for extreme hosting skills. We will definitely be back! I'm not sure if I could handle 70 degree walks on the beach in December every day, but...wait, yes I could!
Awesome trip........

Chicagoist names Collaborative Evil Beer of the Week

Chuck Sudo over at Chicagoist.com had some great things to say about CE. If you don't read chicagoist on a regular basis, you better start. They write about us a lot. Check it out.

Tap List 12/17/08

Munich Winterbock (6.5% a.b.v.) On Tap 12/18/08 7 p.m. (8 p.m. for non-mugclubbers)
This started as a Munich Style Dunkel which is a dark malty lager made in the Munich style, and then it fermented lower, dryer, and made a stronger beer than we anticipated. Plus it’s winter.
Munich Winterbock is an amber/copper/brown colored lager made with lots of munich malt for a bready malt flavor. The nose hints at a touch of roast malt used with little to no hop aroma. The flavor is predominately malt but not sweet. This beer has a clean and crisp finish that makes you want to drink some more.

Big Black Pumpkin (8.0% a.b.v.)
Made with 100lbs real pumpkin, 20# cocoa nibs, and pumpkin pie spices (ginger, allspice, nutmeg, clove, and cinnamon). Nice and spicy in the nose, full bodied porter, with a smooth chocolate finish.

IPA for Change (7.1% a.b.v.)
Obama-Nation! The transition team needs a beer too, let's hope this gets made the official IPA of the new White house administration.

Guest Tap: Anchor Christmas Beer
Guest Stout: Founders' Breakfast Stout

Strong Ale Fest 2008

...Strong enough anyway. That's me waxing poetic about who knows what with Pizza Port Carlsbad's Jeff Bagby's dad. Anywho, I had the distinct pleasure of traveling out to San Diego last weekend (yeah, boohoo, right-rough life) for the 12th annual Pizza Port Strong Ale Festival. They had about 103 beers over 8%! And you can see it in my eyes I am sure. What a great weekend! Toronado, Stone, Lost Abbey and Pizza Port. Oh and 75 degree sunny weather. When I get the pictures from Pete Crowley (Rock Bottom brewer who I tagged on with) I will tell the story of the week. I like to do it with pix better. For now, know that it rocked and below is a pic with Pete at Lost Abbey's brewery infront of a few of the 8 bazillion barrels Tomme uses to age beer. Awesome!

Surly Darkness Tapping

December 11th @ 6 p.m. we are going to tap into our 5 gal keg of Surly Darkness. Snifters for $5.00 until it runs out. Open to everyone, not just our Mug Club Members. Stay and watch the Bears play the Saints and enjoy a free half-time buffet.

Tap List 12/04/08

Big Black Pumpkin (8.0% a.b.v.) [almost gone]
Made with 100lbs real pumpkin, 20# cocoa nibs, and pumpkin pie spices (ginger, allspice, nutmeg, clove, and cinnamon). Nice and spicy in the nose, full bodied porter, with a smooth chocolate finish.

The Curse IPA (7.3% a.b.v.)
Matt's beloved Cubs proved their worth again this year. Let's drink to forget with a big American IPA made with Columbus, Simcoe, Cluster, and Cascade hops.

IPA for Change (7.1% a.b.v.)
Obama-Nation! The transition team needs a beer too, let's hope this gets made the official IPA of the new White house administration.

Guest Tap: Founder's Red Rye
Guest Stout: Founders' Breakfast Stout

mmmmmmm...Hard Cider!

I spent the week in Iowa City with the in-laws. It was nice to get away and it was pretty tolerable, perhaps due to the mind numbing beverages I brought along. Boy, did we consume a lot of beer! Anyway, as the week came to a close, "the men" decided to get away while the little buggers napped and take in a company making hard cider (among other things) in rural Iowa. You probably haven't heard of the little town of Sutliff Iowa. In fact, I'm not even sure if it is a town-village, hamlet, burg? In fact I hadn't heard of it and I grew up less than an hour away! Nonetheless it is a little area along the Cedar river, just south of Mt Vernon and Lisbon and North of Solon. Oh wait, haven't heard of those either. Ok, it's close to Iowa City and Cedar Rapids. But this isn't an Iowa geography lesson here. It's about a great place called Sutliff Cider Company. I first heard about it a month ago as my parents were taking the Harley out for a fall ride through the countryside. For whatever reason they stopped, took the tour and found it was a whole lot like brewing beer. After tasting their hard cider, I knew I should stop by. I contacted Scott, the owner/cider maker. (Ok, someone tell me, brewers make beer, vintners make wine, who makes cider? is there a name?). Scott said he'd be in the Friday after Thanksgiving so we made the trip north about 30 minutes to the Sutliff Cider Company.

What we found was way more than expected. To say the least, Scott is passionate about his cider just as any brewer or vintner is about his drink of choice as well. We got a great tour. Here is a

little peak(forgot my camera, but bro-in-law Jeff came to the rescue until his battery died-still pretty good despite the camera phone pix):

In the main pressing room. An apple press is a new gizmo for me and I found it pretty cool. Sadly they were not pressing juice today as they normally do on Fridays.

Scott enjoyed "theifing" a little out for us. Ok, it was actually a lot. We tried 9 month old cider from four different barrels and even a little experimental perry (fermented pear juice).

Enjoying our cider right from the barrel with pa-in-law John. In the background are the 7 barrel fermentors. The cider is hazy in these tanks for many reasons including the yeast in suspension. After aging in the used wine barrels, it drops bright and delicious but is pretty dry with little sugar content. Scott then blends back each barrel along with some fress juice for the right amount of sweetness to accompany the tart crispness from this great cider. This is truly the art of cider making, I think. After that, they bottle it on a tiny bottle filler not unlike the one we use in our cellar.

A little blurry, but this is in their new tasting room where many of the barrels of cider will sit and age for 9 months before being blended and bottled. they have a lot more aging space now and are looking for bigger fermentors as well. I would kill for racks and racks of aging barrel space!

Sutliff Cider company makes three main products, Hard Cider, Soft Cider (non alcoholic) and Pure Cider (fresh press unpasteurized cider) John got to take a jug straight off the tank. yummy!

If you are ever in the Northeast area of Iowa take a little side trip to Sutliff. You'll be glad you did. Now, time to go crack a bottle out of that case I purchased.....

Tap List 11/17/08

Big Black Pumpkin (8.0% a.b.v.)
Made with 100lbs real pumpkin, 20# cocoa nibs, and pumpkin pie spices (ginger, allspice, nutmeg, clove, and cinnamon). Nice and spicy in the nose, full bodied porter, with a smooth chocolate finish.

The Curse IPA (7.3% a.b.v.)
Matt's beloved Cubs proved their worth again this year. Let's drink to forget with a big American IPA made with Columbus, Simcoe, Cluster, and Cascade hops.

Collaborative Evil (10% a.b.v.)
[Almost Gone!]


Hoppy Little "O" (6.5% a.b.v.)
Just like last time, except a little easier drinking. A beautiful marriage between a hoppy American IPA and a belgian ale. And made with organic malt of course.


Guest Tap: Surly's Coffee Bender
Guest Stout: Founders' Breakfast Stout
Wood Aged Beer (while it lasts): Oak Aged Pullman

Google Calendar added

Now you can track our upcoming events more easily. I've added a calendar to the bottom of the Blog that you can add to your personal Google Calendar if you use it. Our Public Calendar ID is: (Calendar ID: m20g437s7fhg51pfnqn96b57k4@group.calendar.google.com)



Hope this helps!

Barrel Aged Beer Now!

What do we do with leftovers from FOBAB?? We drink them, duh? We put Jenni's Sleepi ale on the bar Monday night and was out sometime Tuesday (sorry). Currently we are pouring Organic Woody(may last til Friday afternoon). I think we will do Wooden Hell next and finish out with Pullman Reserve (which we have to most of.) Hurry, these won't last more than a day or two each. Ask your bartender for today's selection.
cheers!

FOBAB doubly successful

We had over 100 beers, we had two sessions, we had over 1000 people. This year's Festival of Wood and Barrel Aged BeerSM was a huge success. We won silver for Wooden Hell in the Barleywine category, and silver in the experimental category for Jenni's Sleepi, a blend of Pullman, raspberries, and oak.

All of the volunteers, brewers, and workers deserve a big thank you for such a smooth transition between GI-Wrigleyville and the Plumber's Hall.

Here are some photos.


The hall right after setup.

Judging

More judging



The crowd during session 1.

Matt and the Sleepi one herself showing off our two silver medals.

City Provisions Dinner Wednesday, November 19th

Just a reminder about the awesome dinner we have coming up with City Provisions. If you haven't seen this week's Time Out Chicago, here is the reminder:

Featuring Flossmoor Station Brewery, Flossmoor, IL
Dietzler Farms

Wednesday November 19th, 2008
7 :00pm
City Provisions
1820 West Wilson
Chicago

$60 all inclusive

-MENU-
ON THE TABLE
fall spiced popcorn
Zephyr Golden Ale
ONE
organic split pea soup with braised oxtails
Station Master Wheat Ale
TWO
Albondigas, roasted poblano salsa
The Curse IPA
THREE
cumin cilantro marinated flank steak, fingerling potato latkes, roasted red pepper cream
Hoppy Little O
FOUR
Pullman brown BBQ brisket, beer battered onion frizzles, on Texas toast, sweet potato
mash, Collaborative Evil syrup
Pullman Brown
FIVE
big black pumpkin ale cake, homemade marshmallow, and pumpkin crème anglais
Big Black Pumpkin
-MENU-



Flyers if you would like to print and hand out to your friends.

GABF judging review

Our notes just came in the mail from the Judging at this year's GABF. I'm always excited and nervous to read the notes because I have a hard time being objective about my own beers. In a blind tasting with judges from all over the world, a lot of them being fellow brewers, it's always great to get feedback. In '06 when we "won it all" the notes were overwhelmingly positive. We sent six beers and won medals with four of them. Last year we sent eight beers and "only" won one Gold Medal. This year we also sent eight beers and again, we "only" won one medal but the notes were again very positive. I want to try to give you a little insight to the process and show what's it's like to those who choose to participate.

When you get your envelope it has stapled packets with a cover sheets like this:


The first thing I always dart my eyes around for is that first "yes" "no" check box. Yes means that your beer went on past the first round of judging. We entered eight categories (with number of entries in parenthesis): 75 Barley Wine (55), 14 American-Belgo Style Ale (36), 38 Baltic Style Porter(18), 48 American Style Amber/Red (65), 17 Wood-and Barrel-Aged Strong beer (79), 35 German-Style Schwarzbier (23), 15 American-Style or German-Style Sour ale (34), 76 Pro-Am (58), and 64 Belgian Style Strong Specialty Ale (44).

Every year the competition gets bigger and therefor harder to win. As far as judging goes, categories with 12 or fewer entries are judged in one round, 13-48 entries are two rounds, and larger than 48 are three rounds. The Yes or No check box lets you know that you beer went past the first round at the very least. If you entered American IPA with 104 entries and your beer made it out of the first round, that might not mean nearly as much as a category with smaller number of entries. Some judges just try to wean out the beers with faults first. Any dink can be a reason to knock it out. But I've never judged at GABF so maybe Matt can chime in later to give a different perspective.

The beers that we had go on to the next round were Sheol, Killer Kowalski, Panama Red, Black Wolf Schwarz, 12, and Collaborative Evil. When you're at the awards ceremony and you're mentally biting your nails you hope that somehow all of your beers will win. Normally there isn't much chance of that. Winning even a single bronze is a great accomplishment that many people can't or don't fully understand. These are the best beers in the country, and to a large degree the world. Winning an award feels great. It gives your ego a boost. It makes cleaning kegs for hours on end or bottling until you're numb in the mind worthwile. You can tell people that, "Yes, I did make the best such and such beer in the country." So having said that, when you "only" win one award after winning more than one in the past, it can be a little dissapointing. Not as much as getting shut out; because that really sucks. However, this brings me back to judging notes.

Six of the Nine beers that we sent out went on to the next round. That's awesome. The judges for the most part really seemed to like our beers. The fact that only one meddled doesn't hurt nearly as much once you see that in the judges minds you had a really good beer. Some of the notes are great, like this one:



Some of them are entirely unhelpful, like this one:



Can you read what that says? Because we can't. Thanks for the silver medal but I can't tell if you liked our Baltic Porter or how we can improve it back to Gold status.

Regardless, my point is that if you are submitting beers to the biggest and best Beer Competition in the US, it's great to know that you were really close to winning on a bunch of your beers. Once you get past the first round and there are four or five or six beers that the judges are trying to decide on for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, it can come down to the smallest thing. It doesn't mean that your beer is bad but it's up to the people at the table at that point and if your beer gets that far you've done well.

I think we did well this year. I look forward to next year as we begin planning and plotting on how to take back the mantle of "Best Small Brewpub" in the country. Hopefully. If we're lucky enough. If our beers all taste great. And I guess if the judges like them too.