The Craft Beer Blast

November, 2012

November is here; time for the beginning of holiday fun and excesses. The autumn beer season is rolling along; in fact, some seasonal beers are already gone. Soon, the holiday seasonals will be out, signaling the start of winter. Locally, it is really fall! The temps are in the 70's and we just dodged our last hurricane. I'm sure the folks up north wish they could say the same. A few years ago, I read about a Thanksgiving beer tasting and tried it with great success. There are more varieties of the beers available now, so the menu can be changed to tastes. Fortunately, I wrote about the event and menu as the original link is dead. It is on my Food and Beer page for anyone to use. Take the idea and make it your own this year. It was great fun and made that Thanksgiving memorable. There are still some pumpkin beers available so enjoy them at Thanksgiving as well.

Recently I was interviewed for an on line publication Passport Miami. This is created for the ever growing Brazilian tourist market. It will help them find their way around Miami and learn about things to do while visiting. I have been in several publications and other media lately, so I now have a 'media' page. This page will show where I have appeared and links to articles or archives where older articles can be viewed.

The "Style of the Month" for November is Porter. A dark beer with origins in London, Porter is enjoyed year 'round. The roasty tastes of porters go well with the hearty warming foods enjoyed in the cooler months. Porter has an interesting history; they almost died out and were written about by Michael Jackson, the Beer Hunter, which generated interest in the almost extinct style. Fritz Maytag, of Anchor Brewing, read about Porter and started brewing one in 1972. Many modern craft breweries now make Porter and the style has become popular once again.    

The Brewery of the Month for November is Oskar Blues Brewery. I haven't visited the original brewery in Colorado, but recently visited the new production brewery in Brevard, NC. Still under construction, they will be brewing by December. I also attempted to visit in May but never saw the real property. Since then, they bought the present place and are developing it as quickly as possible. It will be fun to go back there next year, and see it really up and running.

The 1st annual Biscayne Brewers Bash is November 4th at the FIU campus Kovens Center 3000 NE 151 Street. There will be 40 beers by local brewers. Also featured will be foods made from the same grains as the beers. Enjoy your Sunday at this fun brewers bash with all local products available.  

Don't forget to Drink Locally and support local breweries wherever you are.

Cheers,

Larry

Sunday Nov. 4th 12 - 4 Advance Tickets $25

On Sunday November 4th join brewing enthusiasts and beer lovers at FIU Biscayne Campus for the first annual Biscayne Brewers Fest. Try 40 different beers from 15 local brewers. Breads and pretzels made from the grains used in brewing. Hosted by Biscayne's Renowned Engineers of Wort aka BREW FIU. Kovens Conference Center 3000 NE 151 Street.Advance tickets $25. See the website or call Zhi at 305-310-6825 for more information. 

        Style of the Month -  Porter   

In the early 1700's, Porter was a strong beer developed by brewers blending different mash runs from the same malt, with the resulting beer being called "Entire". The name Porter came from the beer's popularity with porters and others in the working class, but that popularity soon extended to the more refined citizenry as well. Soon, Porter became the world's first truly global beer, as its strength and body made it resilient enough to be shipped throughout Europe, to the American colonies, and as far as China and Australia. Guinness brewed it's first batch of Porter in 1778 and soon brewed only Porters. Their Stout variant became a mainstay; Guinness brewed their last original Porter in 1973. The style was revived in the US by Anchor Brewing in 1972. Today, many small breweries make a Porter, one of the most popular dark beers at some craft breweries.    

     Brewery of the Month

Oskar Blues Brewing Co.

Oskar Blues was the first American craft brewery to can their beers. They are celebrating their 10th CANniversary in November. What started out as a small brewpub in Lyons, Colorado, has become one of the most popular breweries around. People really love their hop forward, aggressive beers, all in cans.They are opening a second production brewery in Brevard, NC. I first heard the news last spring and went to Brevard to see where the new brewery would be. The location, as it turns out, wasn't decided upon yet, so the building I found could be called a 'red herring', as it was a brick and wasn't the correct location. This enabled OBB to find the real location, a much better choice, on the other side of town and on an entire piece of property connected to the local bike path. In October, I visited and found a huge empty metal building with offices and a small pilot brewing system still being assembled. I was welcomed and allowed to wander around to take pictures of the future brewery. Follow this link to read about the day of my visit. After seeing my webpage for the new brewery, it will be hard to believe that beer will be flowing in December. The brewing plumbing is done, and the equipment is on the way. I believe they will be brewing in December just not at full capacity. I look forward to my next visit when I will be able to see incredible progress from the empty building I saw last month. Cheers to them!