Straight-up draft beer system owners and home brewers alike will likely find this faucet the cat’s meow. Every faucet that Perlick puts out there is a trustworthy one, and their newest addition is no exception. The Perlick Perl Flow Control Faucet is innovative in that it features a knob that increases and decreases flow restriction within the faucet, for a perfect pour every time.

Whether you’re pouring an especially lively home brew, small samples or beers with insatiably billowing heads, this faucet can handle the job well and leave you with a perfect pint, instead of a glass full of foam. Another great feature of the Perlick Perl Flow Control Faucet is its elongated spout, which makes filling growlers and large-capacity glasses a breeze.

Do yourself and your system a favor and grab your own, just $45.99.

TAGS [ DRAFT BEER SYSTEM | BEER FAUCET | DRAFT FAUCETS | PERLICK | PERLICK PERL ]

Mac and cheese may be one of the best comfort foods on earth. I’m not talking about the Kraft boxed nonsense (although that can be tasty, given the right situation) – I’m talking about hot, homemade, gooey, cheese infiltrated noodles with a delectable crunchy topping that adds a nice contrast in texture.

There’s a sports bar across from our office that just redid their menu and they have a whole half of a page dedicated to various mac and cheese dishes. I’ve only tried the Buffalo chicken and lobster versions so far but I plan to go back and try them all. Each serving contains approximately one billion calories so it might take me a while (I like to save the best, most indulgent comfort foods for days that actually require extra comfort) but I will make it happen.

I’m also going to try my hand at this Beer Mac and Cheese recipe that I found on Pinterest (my new favorite website) – and I can justify it by saying it’s for work (kind of like all of the craft beers that I consume.)

Photo Credit: howsweeteats.com

The recipe originally came from the blog How Sweet It Is and I’d like to say it looks pretty darn sweet (although you can substitute the word "sweet" with pretty much any adjective meaning "to-die-for").

I can’t take any credit – I’m just sharing the love here. Enjoy!

Easy Beer Mac and Cheese
serves 4-6

2½ cups uncooked whole-wheat elbow noodles
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
8 oz milk
8 oz beer (amber ales work well)
8 oz freshly grated cheddar cheese
4 oz freshly grated parmesan cheese
¼ tsp smoked paprika
Pinch of black pepper
Pinch of nutmeg
½ cup panko bread crumbs
10 large basil leaves, chopped for garnish

Photo Credit: howsweeteats.com

Preheat oven to 375°F

Prepare water for pasta and boil according to directions, shaving 1-2 minutes off of cooking time since pasta will continue to cook in the oven

Heat a saucepan over medium high heat and add butter

Once melted and sizzling, whisk in flour to create a roux and cook until bubbly and golden in color (about 2 minutes)

Add milk and beer into saucepan whisking constantly, then add cheeses and stir until melted

Turn heat down to medium and continue to stir, cooking for 5-6 minutes while mixture thickens (it will most likely NOT thicken like regular mac and cheese because of the beer, but you want it to thicken a little bit)

Stir in pepper, paprika and nutmeg

Add noodles (once cooked and drained) to a casserole dish and pour cheese over the top, mixing gently to combine

Top with panko bread crumbs and an additional sprinkle of cheese if desired

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly and golden on top

Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes, then top with fresh basil

TAGS [ BEER MAC N CHEESE | BEER RECIPES | BEER IN FOOD ]

Samuel Adams has teamed up with social media guru Guy Kawasaki to brew up its very first collaborative ale. Pop on Facebook to vote on the newest beer’s color, clarity and hops/malt/yeast ratios now through February 5th.

For what it’s worth, I think that Sam Adams truly has a great handle on its use of social media as a company. What’s more social than having all of your fans help design the next product you create? Crowdsourcing a beer or any product can almost guarantee interaction and success at the product’s unveiling. Cheers to Sam Adams and Guy Kawasaki for their efforts and here’s hoping they make a habit out of it – I’m thinking a six-pack of crowdsourced beers would really hit the mark.

Have you voted on what the next Sam Adams brew should be? Tell us what you’re going for in the comments section below!

TAGS [ SAMUEL ADAMS | GUY KAWASAKI | CROWDSOURCING | SAM ADAMS ]

This past week I’ve been positively buried in draft tap handles… physically. I can barely get to my desk, in fact. So far, I’ve photographed and put over 50 branded tap handles onto the site and I have at least 40 more to get through over the next few days.

If you’re not privy to what makes beer brand tap handles so desirable, it’s this: they’re not sold to bars or restaurants, rather, they’re given as promotional items with kegs so that customers know what’s on tap and the breweries in question have an extra opportunity to promote their brands. That being said, any branded tap handles we get our hot little hands on are considered "used" because we never get them straight from the breweries.

This is where you come in. If you own a home draft beer system or even if you simply have an affinity for a certain brand of beer, you might just be in the market for one of these bad boys. We’ve got new beer brands coming in all the time, so check ‘em out today and come back often – you never know what you might find. Keep in mind that, most of the time, we only get one of each tap handle in at a time. If there’s one you find that you love, I highly recommend you grab it quickly.

TAGS [ TAP HANDLES | BEER BRAND TAP HANDLES ]

Freetail Brewing Co. in San Antonio, Texas received a not-so-friendly cease and desist letter from a lawyer representing a brewery in Eugene, Oregon. The letter demanded they stop using "Hopasaurus Rex" as one of their beer names.

Freetail’s reply is without a doubt the best piece of legal correspondence we’ve ever read. We’re pretty certain you’ll enjoy it just as much as we did, so without further ado – here it is (in all of its friendly, relaxed, beer-culture glory)

Next time we’re in San Antonio we’ll have to stop by and try a Rye Wit, a 4Shadow, or maybe a Bat Outta Helles.

If we’re feeling bitter we could potentially grab a Hopothesis A. or a Phantom of the Hopera Dub’l IPA but all of the lawyers in Oregon can rest easy knowing we won’t be drinking any beers called Hopasaurus Rex.

TAGS [ FREETAIL BREWING CO | LEGAL CORRESPONDENCE | FREETAIL LETTER ]

A few days ago we blogged about two gentlemen who built a kegerator worthy of a spot in the house and today we have a little bit of insight on garage-bound kegerators – specifically those living in cold weather climates.

Craig T. lives in the Buffalo, NY area (just like KegWorks) and he keeps his draft system in his garage year round. The space has insulated walls and an insulated door – yet when the outside air temperature would dip below 20°F (as it often does) the tower would freeze and cause all kinds of problems.

To combat the issue, Craig created an insulator box to fit over his tower and the 12" high tap handle. The box is made of cardboard boxes, cut to size. He spray-glued the inside of the box and placed cut pieces of fiberglass insulation inside, with the paper backing side exposed.

The box fits snugly over the entire setup so he doesn’t have to disassemble anything to put it on. It’s a relatively simple invention that’s kept his kegerator flowing perfectly for the past four Western New York winters.

Here’s to innovation and to Craig for sharing his good ideas. Cheers!

TAGS [ KEGERATORS | DRAFT TOWER INSULATOR | DFRAFT BEER TIPS ]

Erin had no problem with her fiancé Brett’s desire to build a kegerator, she just had one requirement; if it was going to live in her house, it had to look respectable.

Brett and his dad Kenny set out to build something that could keep his homebrew flowing without turning their valuable living space into a room that might be found in a fraternity house.

First, they constructed a frame from pine 1×4 boards. They cut them to suit their needs and nailed laminate flooring and molding to the frame to create the outer façade you see here.

Once the frame was complete they dropped in a new GE 7-cubic-foot chest freezer that Home Depot had on sale over the holidays. They could have added draft beer towers but that wasn’t the discreet look they were going for, so they opted to go through the wall of the freezer and put the taps on the front.

A conversion kit with a low profile coupler is the best option for chest freezers, considering the amount of clearance you’ll need on the top.

To add the second tap, you’d just need another low profile coupler, a 5" shank, beer line, air line, and a second faucet head. A two product CO2 regulator kit is also recommended.

Kudos to Brett and his dad on a job well done; their final product is not only a kegerator but also a respectable piece of furniture. The best part is, Brett can enjoy his homebrew on draft, in his very own home and everyone is happy. Rumor has it the first beer on tap is a homemade Dunkle. We’d venture to guess Brett and Erin’s friends are expecting a party soon. Wonder if we’ll get an invite?

TAGS [ KEGERATORS | DRAFT BEER SYSTEM | HOME KEGERATOR ]