Archive for April, 2009

Bottoms Up!

Thursday, April 30th, 2009

Not all novelty beer glasses are created equal. Most are the typical pint-shape with something comical written or the like. Not this guy, though. The Hopside Down Glass is in a class of its own.

This double walled beer glass provides insulation, keeping your brew crisp and cold, and features its own longneck bottle built in, creating quite the visual effect! Made of hand-blown glass, the Hopside Down Glass is durable for years of beer drinking and enjoyment. Fill it up with 12-ounces of your favorite brew and you’re good to go.

Treat yourself to something new and different. Try the Hopside Down Glass for just $21.95 today.

Cheers!

TAGS [ HOPSIDE DOWN GLASS | BEER GLASSES | NOVELTY BEER GLASSES | PINT GLASSES | NOVELTY PINT GLASSES ]

Posted in Product of the Week, Random Cool Stuff | No Comments »

Smuttynose Maibock Beer Review

Thursday, April 30th, 2009

My very first helles bock (a.k.a maibock) ever, and what a treat! Not sure what makes up this type of brew? Check out Deron’s Top 5 Maibocks / Helles Bocks post.

Smuttynose Maibock Smuttynose Brewing Company hails out of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. When I lived in Portland, Maine, I was merely 45 minutes from this picturesque town, but unfortunately at that time, was not into beer like I am now. Luckily for me now, I have the opportunity to pick up any of their brews just down the road from the office. If that wasn’t the case, I’d be kicking myself for not having enjoyed them while I could, locally.

Smuttynose Maibock

Smuttynose brews a big maibock, pouring a medium burnt orange color with a light haziness. Its creamy head stands about 1 inch tall with rather good retention. It offers a honey sweet, deep aroma with an essence of fruit.

Its big malt taste lends a sweetness that creates a smooth sip from beginning to end. Hops are evident in the finish, adding a kick to the brew, felt especially in the sides of the tongue. Smuttynose maibock is perfectly balanced with a huge taste and a medium, chewy mouthfeel. I love a beer with some weight to it. I could see myself enjoying this again and again.

A special "Thank You" to Deron for asking me to pick up a bottle for him. If he hadn’t I wouldn’t have treated myself either. I’ll definitely be trying other maibocks as well now, too.

Posted in Beer Reviews | 4 Comments »

Introducing Barfootrest.com

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

Allow me to introduce BarFootRest.com, KegWorks’ newly designed bar foot rail site, created just for you! Bar foot rails are not just attractive to the eye, but they are functional and add an extra bit of class to your bar. From my own experience, I’m very short, so when I sit at a bar my feet hang down. It’s much more comfortable for me to put my feet on a bar foot rest.

Bar foot rails add a rich element to the bar that will spice up an indoor space or an outdoor patio area. If you are looking for a bar foot rest, this website has great information on materials, parts and installation instructions. The foot rail system includes tubing, brackets, end caps and sometimes elbows, which connect together easily. The site is full of information on each specific material, including how to maintain each, such as polished brass, polished stainless steel, satin stainless steel and unstained wood.

Even if you are just pondering the idea of buying a bar foot rest for your home bar or commercial establishment, take a minute and check out the site. It will help you decide which materials best fit your bar area and inform you on the simple maintenance practices.

Here’s another quick tip; you can mix different finishes offered for tubing and components. Our polished brass end caps and brackets can create a classy look when paired with unstained wooden tubing. The website includes easy-to-install foot rest instructions, complete with how-to video, that will guide you through the simple process. If you have any questions, please call us.

Thanks,
Jennifer

Posted in Announcements | No Comments »

Draft Beer 101, Part 3

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

Today I treat you to part 3 of our Draft Beer 101 Series. If you missed the first and second parts, you can check them out at your leisure:

Draft Beer Definitions and Keg Volumes/Sizes
Draft Beer Pressure Pointers

Kegs of Beer Today’s post will focus on Keg Tips, Tricks and Rules to live by, brought to you by your draft beer experts.

Keep it Calm
Always give your keg time to settle down after transporting tit. Otherwise, you’ll experience excessive foaming when you tap it. Remember that the beer inside of a keg is carbonated, so moving or shaking it will cause it to foam (think of your keg as a giant can of beer – no shaking). We recommend letting your keg sit for an hour or so after you move it, before even attempting to tap it. Patience my dears… WAIT FOR IT.

Keep it Cold
Keg beer is not pasteurized, so it’s got to stay cold to stay good. A general rule is to think of the beer inside of your keg the same way that you think of milk: it needs to be refrigerated at all times. Keep your kegs between 34° and 40°F and your beer will stay fresh, crisp and delicious. Try using a Keg SmartStrip to be sure the temperature is always as it should be. Keg insulators do a great job of keeping the beer cold, too.

Keep it Fresh
Speaking of fresh, the keg beer will stay fresh for 30 to 45 days after it has been tapped. It’s difficult to pinpoint an exact amount of time, since a keg’s "shelf-life" depends on the brand/style of beer and its storage conditions. Generally, hoppy beers and beers with higher alcohol contents will last longer because the alcohol and hops act as preservatives and inhibit bacteria growth.

Keep it Clean
When beer does go bad too quickly, the culprits are almost always bacteria or oxygen. Unfortunately, bacteria will eventually spoil unpasteurized keg beer – even when the keg is kept in the most ideal storage conditions.

Modern scientists have discovered that the only way to beat the bacteria is to drink all of the beer in your keg, before the bacteria has a chance to ruin it. KegWorks research has found that good friends are usually willing to help out, should you require critical consumption assistance. Simply put, drink your beer!

Oxygen is also particularly harmful to kegs that have been tapped with a hand pump. The hand pump forces air (containing oxygen) into the keg which, in turn, forces the beer out. This is good, since the beer that comes out is now in your cup. However, as soon as the oxygen is introduced into the keg, it causes a chemical reaction called oxidation.

Oxidation will cause the beer inside of a keg to go flat and the beer may also develop a sour taste. This is why a keg tapped with a hand pump should be consumed within 24 hours (so get crackin’). Thankfully, neither of these processes renders beer harmful to humans, but your beer won’t taste fresh and may be flat. If you don’t think your keg can be consumed in 24 hours, you may want to try a CO2 dispenser instead of a hand pump for parties.

Posted in Draft Beer Tips | No Comments »

Uncork New York at Keuka Spring Vineyards

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009

Mondays are always rough but yesterday was particularly difficult for me, as I was lucky enough to have spent this past weekend on a wine tour in the beautiful Finger Lakes region of upstate NY. Five of my closest girlfriends came from all over the map to join my mom and me on a World Tour of Food and Wine at 8 wonderful wineries around Keuka Lake. Each winery chose a country and then prepared an ethnic dish and paired it with their wine.

Liz and Friends on her Birthday Wine Tour

We kicked off our tour at Keuka Spring (who chose Poland and made incredible perogies!) The family owned and operated vineyard and winery quickly made its way to the top of my "favorite places in the whole wide world" list. The weather was unseasonably warm for April (in the high 80′s!) and the hillside tasting room at Keuka Spring has a beautiful outdoor terrace that overlooks the lake. The view is incredible and the wines follow suit. With more than 20 varieties available for tasting, there’s truly something for every palate. Each wine is handcrafted from the vineyards right to the bottle and you can taste the passion.

Keuka Spring Vineyards One of my personal favorites was the dry, soft, full-bodied blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon called Miller’s Cove Red. It’s recommended for burgers on the grill, steak, rack of lamb or even beef stew but I think I’d drink it with just about anything. Millers Cove Red 2006 has captured gold medals at the Great Lakes International and the Taster’s Guild International. Wine Spectator just rated it an 86, so at $21.99 a bottle, it’s a steal. Even though my friends and I have very different, very distinct preferences we all agreed on Clara’s Red – a semi-sweet wine loaded with flavors of ripe cherry and refreshing fruit. We bought quite a bit and I had plans to use it to make sangria for a future get-together but we seem to have polished off everything we bought with dinner that very same night. Oops. Good thing they sell it in Buffalo!

If you have the chance to do a Finger Lakes wine tour, I highly recommend including Keuka Spring on your itinerary. The wine is delicious, the view is out of this world and the staff is friendly and knowledgeable. If you can’t make it to the actual winery, you can still get the good stuff. Buy it online or look for a local retailer (in NY) here.

Seeing as I purchased an obscene amount of vino over the course of the tour, I might just have to host a Wine Tasting Party and find out just how much my friends actually learned.

TAGS [ WINE TOUR | WINE TASTINGS | KEUKA SPRING VINEYARD | FINGER LAKES ]

Posted in Rants and Raves | 2 Comments »

Top 5 Maibocks / Helles Bocks

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009

It may not be May quite yet, but it’s time for me to post my Top 5 Maibock/Helles Bocks, the final in a series of Bock beers and all their bastard brothers and sisters.

While Doppelbock is a stronger version of a Bock, and Weizenbock is a stonger version of a German Dunkel or Hefe, Maibock fits into all of this by being a paler version of a traditional Bock. Confused yet?

Maibock is an interesting style of beer, with multiple breweries both foreign and domestic having a go at producing one these days. Like traditional Bock, Maibock is a beer style associated with springtime and the month of May. At the same time, the alcohol content is that of a Bock, so they can be sneaky. That can be in the low 6% to the high 7% and while being a bit paler than a traditional Bock, they also tend to have a more significant hop aroma and flavor, something that is absent in the rest of this family of beers. In this case, more hop bitterness mean less malt, along with some mild spicy notes. Maibocks should always show good clarity, with colors ranging from deep gold to light amber, and there should be a big, bold persistent white head dominating your glass as well.

Maibocks, to me, seem to be an under-appreciated and underrated style of beer. I can’t imagine why; it might have to do with the fact that for some breweries they’re a seasonal release only, so maybe they slip under everyone’s radar when they hit the shelves. Or maybe when people are at their local beer store this time of year they’re too busy scarfing up all the holiday beers that are being discounted, or focusing their attention on all the lawnmower beers that are showing up, that they just don’t notice ‘em.

Personally, I have a lot of favorite session beers, but any of these would definitely be at the top of my list. When you’re in the mood for something a bit out of the ordinary of your usual, and something you can have 4-5 of and still feel your face, I think Maibock is the way to go, folks. I’m such a big fan of Rogue Dead Guy, I even had it at my wedding reception! Although, I’m pretty sure I had more than 4-5, and by the end of the night, no, I couldn’t feel my face!

Cheers!

Rogue Dead Guy

Stoudts Blonde Double Maibock

Smuttynose Maibock

Sprecher Maibock

Erie Golden Fleece Maibock

Posted in Beer Reviews | 1 Comment »

Draft Beer 101, Part 2

Monday, April 27th, 2009

Draft Beer Pressure Pointers

Pressure is important when it comes to draft beer. It’s what keeps your beer carbonated and tasting fresh, and helps to push the beer out of the keg and into your pitcher or pint! Having too much or too little pressure will affect the way that your beer is dispensed and you won’t be able to enjoy it to its full potential, so make sure to pay attention!

The Basics of Draft Beer Pressure
Too Much Pressure
Too Little Pressure

The Basics of Draft Beer Pressure

About Head Space
As CO2 enters a keg it displaces your beer at a constant pressure. When you open the tap/faucet, beer flows out of the keg and into your glass, thanks to a push from the CO2. Not only does the gas encourage the beer to leave the keg, it replaces that beer by occupying the space that otherwise would be empty. This empty space in the keg is called "head space." The CO2 fills the head space and maintains the pressure inside of the keg at the PSI set on your regulator. This constant PSI keeps the beer well carbonated by preventing the CO2 that comes dissolved in the beer from the brewery from leaking out.

Keep it Straight
Your CO2 tank must be stored upright or it won’t work properly. Storing the tank improperly can also cause expensive damage to your regulator.

Find the Magic Number
In general, most US produced ales and lagers should be dispensed at 10 to 12 PSI. Stout and other nitrogen-reliant keg beers are usually dispensed at 25 to 30 PSI.

For the specific dispensing pressure for a particular keg, check with your local keg distributor.

Too Much Pressure

Too much pressure will initially result in you beer coming out of the tap very quickly and very foamy. Essentially, your faucet will turn into a beer fire hose. In addition, if your beer is over-carbonated, the foam will appear tight and have large bubbles.

If you recognize the problem, it is easy to fix: promptly adjust your regulator pressure to the proper lower level, and draw a few foamy pitchers or bleed some of the extra pressure off by using the relief valve on the coupler. These measures will allow the system to balance it out again.

If the pressure is left too high for longer than 24 hours, CO2 will be forced into the beer, resulting in permanently over-carbonated and excessively foamy beer.

Too Little Pressure

Too little pressure will also cause the beer to become foamy, as the CO2 breaks free from the beer as it enters your glass. If the pressure is not raised to the appropriate level, your beer will eventually become flat.

A telltale sign of low pressure is when foam or bubbles visibly rise into the beer hose. If your beer is indeed under-carbonated, the foam will appear loose (sometimes described as "soapy" looking) with small bubbles.

To correct this problem, you should first make sure that your CO2 tank isn’t empty and is turned on. Then, check to see to what level your regulator is set. If your tank is functioning properly, your regulator is set to the right number and there are no obstructions in the air line, it is possible that your regulator or gauge needs to be replaced. Regulators do wear down and should generally be replaced every 4-6 years.

TAGS [ DRAFT BEER | REGULATORS | DRAFT BEER PRESSURE TIPS | REGULATE DRAFT BEER | DRAFT BEER HELP ]