KegWorks Blog

This past Saturday, I joined some of my colleagues and bosses at the annual Buffalo Brewfest, held this year at HSBC Arena, where our beloved Sabres take the ice during winter months. This year was my first in attending the Brewfest, which was over 3000 strong. I could barely believe my eyes, gazing down on all of the attendees from the 2nd level.

And the brews? There were more than I could possibly count. One thing I truly love about Buffalo is that we really love good beer. My personal favorite experience at the fest was that I finally got the chance to taste cask ale, brought to the table by Harpoon Brewery. I’ve been wanting to try it since I conversed about it with our resident draft beer guru, Pete. The ale poured a golden red color, with a rich, tan head. The complexity of flavors was brought out by keeping the ale at a higher temperature than your regular, run-of-the-mill brews. Truly an experience I’ll not soon forget.

Buffalo certainly does love its beer, but the love goes both ways; here’s a list of all of the breweries that graced us with their presence:

With all the Brewfest proceeds going to benefit the Buffalo Hearing and Speech Center, there’s not much you can’t love. Do yourself a favor, if you haven’t visited already, and swing by the Buffalo Brewfest next year. I’ll see you there!

TAGS [ BUFFALO BREWFEST | BREWFEST | BREW FEST | BEER FEST | BEER FESTIVAL | BEER TASTING ]

Awwww, yaaaahhhhh. Dim the lights, turn up the mood music, and fill your space with the intoxicating aroma of… beer. You could probably do this a number of ways, including lining up near-empty bottles of the good stuff on every shelf and table top. This, of course, would leave you with little room to actually enjoy what space you have. Or, you could take a cue from KegWorks and just light a candle.

Did I say candle? You read it right - beer scented candles are here and ready for the taking. And yes, they truly capture the fragrance of our favorite hoppy beverage. Step away from potpourri, patchouli and the like and treat yourself to an atmosphere that only your favorite hole-in-the-wall could envelop you in before.

TAGS [ BEER CANDLE | BEER CANDLES | BEER SCENTED CANDLE ]

I am one of those people that like to think outside of the box. One of my new habits lately is finding alternative uses for KegWorks products. My newest and most challenging idea is using foot rails as a bed frame. I took these cedar posts from my dad. They were scraps from his work and not only do they look great, they have a very sharp cedar smell. I used stainless bar brackets to support the main rail on the headboard.

I also had to come up with a way to mount a rail between two posts. It didn’t take long to figure this out. I drilled a hole in the end caps and screwed them to the posts. It worked great and looks real nice.

Perhaps in a future post I will show you the finished product.

I also had to find a new home for Cody 2.

I was at a tattoo shop in Syracuse recently that had a beta in a blender. Don’t stress, there was no plug. Cody 2 is a little classier and I have no reason to blend him, so he gets a giant glass for a home.

One issue I had in my new apartment was lack of shelves or storage near the bathtub. I have one of those old tubs with dragon type feet holding it up. Coincidentally, the landlord used handrails to build a frame for the shower curtain. I plan on updating this later. So I had to find something to put my shower supplies on. Enter the wall mount drip tray. Works so perfectly, it seems like it was made for this purpose.

Finally, because I lose my keys all the time, I needed a place to keep keys by the door (which happens to be metal). So I utilized this magnetic knife holder, which again, seems as though it was made for this. Everyone who has come over has commented on it and asked where they can get one. The answer is there is no such "key" holder. It’s a knife holder. I just had the idea to use it in a different way. So I challenge you to get outside that old box and see what innovative things you can come up with, using our products of course. Let me know how they turn out!

Cheers!

TAGS [ BAR RAILS | MAGNETIC KNIFE HOLDER | MARTINI GLASS | DRIP TRAYS ]

I stumbled across this article about uncommon beers to try with Labor Day cooking, written by Rachel Wharton of NYC. Hope you will enjoy!

After the Super Bowl, Labor Day is one of the top-ranked occasions for beer sales nationwide. Such a special day deserves a special beer, so here are 10 great craft beers - all small-batch, extremely flavorful and made with care - picked especially for the weekend by Jay Steinhauer of Brooklyn’s American Beer (256 Court St., 718-875-0226). Just be sure to go before Sunday: Beer sellers need breaks, too.

If you’re grilling burgers - who isn’t? - you need a beer that can stand up to multiple flavors yet not overpower. This Butte Creek Organic Porter from Chico, Calif., is a nice blend of an ale and a stout, says Steinhauer. For hot dogs, on the other hand, try a Pilsner. $7.99/six-pack

In Avery Brewing Co.’s Ellie’s Brown Ale, says Steinhauer, "there are distinct chocolate and coffee notes," so it’s a perfect partner for a plate of brownies. Made in Colorado, "it’s one of the best brown ales in the world," he says. $7.99/six-pack

For grilled salmon with teriyaki or another Asian-style marinade, Steinhauer likes the complexity and "mineral quality" of Bam Biere - from "exceptionally good" Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales in Dexter, Mich. It’s a funky, fizzy farmhouse ale. $9.99/six-pack

Piraat Ale from Belgium "is supposed to be one of the top five beers in the world," says Steinhauer, "and I think they might be right." It balances the flavors of a sharp Cheddar cheese-spiked potato chip, though it’s nice with just the cheese, too. $3.99/bottle

Slow-smoked, spice-rubbed ribs, says Steinhauer, were made for the intense Spezial Rauchbier lager, made with smoked malt. (Kind of like smoked meats, lagers are slowly fermented at lower temperatures, too.) "This beer," says Steinhauer, "is especially good." $4/bottle

If you’re grilling a steak, you need a richly flavored beer "that can stand up to the meat," says Steinhauer. And Captain Lawrence Brewing Co., a small producer in Pleasantville, N.Y., delivers. This lovely 750 milliliter bottle of St. Vincent Dubbel Belgian-style ale is delicious, and it comes emblazoned with a hot rod, too. $15.99/bottle

Most Mexican beers are light "thirst-quenchers" from German recipes, says Steinhauer, and so is Penn Gold American Ale from Pennsylvania Brewing Co. "If somebody likes Budweiser," says Steinhauer, "they’re going to like this stuff; it’s better." Great with guacamole, salsas and Mexican food. $7.99/six-pack

Hot wings on the menu? Steinhauer recommends an amber ale that’s "not going to get lost" in the midst of all the spice. Crop Circle Beer’s Extraterrestri-Ale can take the heat. It’s brewed by Blue Point Brewing Co. out on Long Island. $5.99/four-pack

Potato salads, slaws and other sides can be all over the map, but you can quaff the lower-alcohol,hoppy, flavorful yet food-friendly Ruth All American Ale while you try all of them. "It’s excellent," says Steinhauer, and it’s made by Hair of the Dog in Portland, Ore. $16.99/six-pack

Forget a Bud for that beer-can chicken: Belgian Bavik lager is one of Steinhauer’s easy-drinking faves that goes well with poultry: "I love that beer." Good with seafood, too. $6.99/six-pack.

Cheers!

TAGS [ BEER REVIEWS | LABOR DAY BEER | BEER WITH FOOD | FOOD AND BEER PAIRINGS | SUMMER BEERS ]

After a beer festival in London, all the brewery presidents decided to go out for a beer.

Corona’s president sits down and says, "Señor, I would like the world’s best beer, a Corona." The bartender takes a bottle from the shelf and gives it to him.

Then Budweiser’s president says, "I’d like the best beer in the world, give me ‘The King Of Beers’, a Budweiser." The bartender gives him one.

Coors’ president says, "I’d like the best beer in the world, the only one made with Rocky Mountain spring water, give me a Coors." He gets it.

Then the guy from Guinness sits down and says, "Give me a Coke." The other brewery presidents look over at him and ask, "Why aren’t you drinking a Guinness?" and the Guinness president replies, "Well, if you guys aren’t drinking beer, neither will I."

TAGS [ BEER | BEER JOKE | GUINNESS | COORS | BUDWEISER | CORONA ]

Back in March, our very own draft beer guru, Pete, blogged about the hops shortage. As expected, supply is not quite meeting demand, resulting in a nearly 1000% increase in the price of hops ($4/lb to $40/lb). Yikes!

The root of this issue, as Pete and many others have observed, is the decreasing availability of hops – the key ingredient of beer. It is, after all, what gives us that nice buzzed feeling we get when we drink and sometimes turns others into 10 foot tall, bulletproof monsters – among other things. Hops also provide an excellent counterbalance to an otherwise extremely sweet beverage, so there’s a big flavor benefit to using it also.

The trouble with growing hops is that it doesn’t produce buds right away. It can often take 2 seasons before hops farmers see yield. Many farmers have removed hops from their crop rotation in favor of other profitable, multipurpose crops like corn (used for food and bio fuel), so what hops supply is currently available, is in high demand and can be sold for a hefty price to brewers. This means higher beer prices, as Pete pointed out in his original post. This is especially true of really "hoppy" beers, like Smuttynose’s Big A IPA, which utilize twice as much hops as the unleaded stuff. (Still worth it at any price, in my opinion.)

A distant relation to cannabis, hops flourishes in temperate conditions usually found at varying altitudes between the 30th and 50th Parallels. Hops are dioecious (males and females are separate plants) and they spread via rhizomes. Vines grow up to 25 feet high in a single growing season. It is the female hops plant that produces the flowers and buds used in brewing beer. The males are used only to pollinate females when producing a new variety of hops.

Thanks to science and some very innovative people, an answer to this hops crisis may be on the horizon. I’m talking about hydroponically-grown hops. The benefit of hydro-grown hops is that they are grown in water and a nutrient solution – which means heartier, healthier crops. Because crops are grown indoors, that means fewer pests and a significantly longer growing season. An added benefit to growing crops in this way is that it doesn’t take two seasons to get results. Flowering buds appear the first time around.

I’ll drink to that!

TAGS [ HOPS | HOPS SHORTAGE | HYDROPONIC HOPS | BEER | CRAFT BEER ]

…does it take to feel the effects from an Absinthe Lollipop? One lick? Two licks? Three? (Crunch!) Well, the world may never know, but you can start your very own study on the subject at home. That’s right - Absinthe Lollipops are here, and they’re not your regular, run-of-the-mill tootsie roll pops, either. Nope, these suckers are the real deal, made with legendary (and now completely legal) absinthe, sure to give you a good dose of the Green Fairy.

Not quite ready to jump on the absinthe wagon? Prefer a breakfast lollipop to a liquor one? Ok, ok, you probably never really ever thought about eating a lollipop for breakfast, at least not since you were a kid… but on the off chance that you have, or if the idea intrigues you at all, Maple Bacon Lollipops are for you. Yep. I said it. Maple Bacon Lollipops. These suckers offer salty chunks of organic cured bacon, suspended in a subtle, sweet, Vermont maple syrup base. Mmmmmm.

Move over corn dogs - this is the new way to enjoy meat on a stick.

Heard of any other bizarre but wonderful sucker creations? I’m always ready to try something new (hint, hint).

TAGS [ ABSINTHE | ABSINTHE LOLLIPOPS | MAPLE BACON LOLLIPOPS | GOURMET SUCKERS ]