Café Amsterdam
The Passion of the Grist
8/14/08 – Been kinda steady,
business wise. Haven’t had much of an opportunity to do any fishing,
yet, then again, I haven’t gone fishing for about 10 years. I actually
contemplated fishing in
Got the
John Trapp, and being sponsored by ourselves. We’re expecting about 90
entries to this inaugural competition.
It ironically coincides with the State Fair Competition. So, if you
live in the valley I would suggest to go to the
fairgrounds and judge the great beers they have there. I know I’ve done
it on many occasions and was always fun.
AND….. you get a free pass into the fair.
In case you haven’t noticed on our menu, we now have some very
interesting platters. One is a meat and cheese plate
that consists of 3 different kinds of meats, (capocollo, proscuitto,
and hard salami) and some cheeses and crackers.
We have a cheese plate that is always a winner, especially with the
beers we have to offer. I have to tell you,
that the capocollo pork is one good tasting tidbit with a pilsner or
IPA. We’re also pouring some of the more expensive
beers from the 750 bottles by the glass. I’m pulling a lot of beers
from storage and starting to invite people to enjoy them
as they should be. Now, I’m not saying I’m pulling everything from
storage, only the ones that are ready to be savored.
I received an e-mail from the Glen Falconer Foundation about a golf
tournament they were having at the
Mcmenamin’s Edgefield. They asked if anyone was interested in playing a
round of golf for the “Foundation”. If you don’t
know what the foundation is about, you can go to HERE and they can
tell you all about it. I knew Glen when I was brewing
In
“The Duck” and we had an “exchange program” going. I would send beer
down for Glen to try, and he would send
beer up for me to try. Shauna and I went there to visit once, and when
Glen found out we were there from Alaska,
he made some phone calls and invited all the brewers in the area to
come party with us. Now, let me tell you. Glen was a
very big man. I think he may have been every bit of 6 ft 5 in.
I’d have to ask Mike Hartman, he apprenticed under Glen
at the Wild Duck before he went to work as the first brewer for
Sleeping Lady Brewery. But anyway, when he said it was
time to party, you didn’t dare say no. Anyway, he passed away in 2002
and they established a Foundation for him and
proceeds go to sponsor a scholarship to the Siebel Institute of Brewing
for a promising brewer. This year they had a golf tourney
at Edgefield and we sponsored a hole. I was in contact with Glen’s dad,
and he expressed to me about the number of people who
wanted to know about our place and how we got to know Glen. There were
a lot of people I recognized from the pictures
he sent. Lots of familiar faces I haven’t seen in a long time. Next
year I think we are going to play in the tournament.
Shauna and I played the little 3 par course they were playing on, and
it really is a trip to play. Lots of climbing, and LOTS
of blackberry brambles. I guarantee when you loose a ball, it’s gone
for good. Those brambles have 3 inch spikes on them.
If you ever get the chance to get to
it’s increbible…and they make their own beer, wine and gin……..Gotta go
for now.
Later,
Ken
7/29/08 – These summer days are
just flying by…Of course they’re flying by, we only had 3 days of summer this
year.
It has been most humid lately. Feels like
We have a fairly good line-up of beers on tap, with more on the way. I
got the word from some of the purveyors, that the shipping
prices are really starting to take a toll. We can only absorb so much,
and then the pricing structure will have to change. The only thing
we can do, as beer experts, is to role with it. I have to tell you, and
I mean this about all that is happening with the rising prices
of gas, produce, milk, beer, etc, is that we all have to roll with it.
I’m doing the best I can with the complaint department. But the
only person I get to see is Helen Waite. Every time I have something to say about the
prices, they give me a card to go to
Helen Waite……….. Oh, well, on the lighter side, things are doing very
well here at the café. We are having an exceptionally
busy summer. I wasn’t expecting the business we are getting. Am I
complaining? I certainly am not…..People say it’s the
the new Embassy Suites that opened up down the road. I don’t think so.
I want to attribute it to our charming personalities….
Yeah, whatever…..gotta go for now, but keep checking the beer list, I’m
trying my best to keep it up to date.
By the way, we DID donate all of the take from our beer dinner to Dave Yanoshek’s
Memorial Fund. I also passed a hat for all
the free beer people were drinking at the memorial, and raised another
$347…..And, and, and…. we also donated the sales from
the donated beer from Midnight Sun, which was another $300. The Grand
Total from the community at this end was
$1487. Of course, this money is for the kids college fund.
I would like to thank everyone who showed up for the memorial here at
the restaurant, and even the
ones who couldn’t make it. We know your
thoughts were here…. So long, my friend….
Later, Ken
7/18/08 - Holy crap!! Has it really been that
long since I’ve written anything in this thing??… Oh, well..
I’m over it now. … Been quite busy, as you can imagine. Went to Haines
for their Beer Festival. Fun can be found in that town
anywhere you walk. Saw
Paul and Jeanne from Haines Brewing. They are so hospitable. They are still
making top quality beers.
I only wish we were
closer to be able to sell it here. I did manage to get a keg of Spruce Tip Pale
Ale and their
famous Black Fang
Imperial Stout. They never last long when they are on tap. I stopped in
and stoppd by Alaskan
Brewing and talked briefly with Geoff and Marcy Larson. They are some kind of
busy. They just installed
a new “mash extractor”.
From what I saw and had explained to me, they pump the left over mash into
chambers along this massive
piece of machinery,
which looks like a monster filter. It squeezes the mash and utilizes more
liquid for the wort. I was
impressed. Tracey gave
me a VIP tour of the brewery, which I have never seen before. As a matter of
fact, that was the first
time I had spent any
time in
stories are right
about the cruise ships. There were 5 ships docked and all of them were taller
than any building in town.
The ships actually
dwarfed the town. Incredible..
Went to Haines, judged
beer, drank beer, went to the Fogcutter Bar, almost got into a fight. Yea,
opened mouth again
without processing
through brain first. It was all harmless fun. I was sitting at the bar drinking
one of “Paul’s beers”
and talking to some of
the locals there. After about 4 beers I noticed they were drinking PBR. They
were drinking about
1 ½ beers to my 1. I
asked them why drink that stuff, but evidently this is the beer of popularity
there. It’s cheap, and
it gives you a buzz.
They’ve been drinking that stuff for so long, they didn’t know anything else.
Their parents drank it,
their uncles drank it,
there brothers drank it, and so on. And then this stupid thought crossed my
mind, (notice I didn’t
say funny??), I pipe
up and say, “Man, your parents really scarred you bad.”. Well, when the last
letter left my lips, I knew
it was time to collect
my stuff and leave. Well, it wasn’t as bad as I led to believe, but I did get
some evil stares for a minute.
I bought them some
beer, (PBR), and they bought me beer for the remainder of the evening. It was
all fun.
Had a beer dinner her
last week. It was “The Lighter Side of
for a tasting. We
served Ploughman’s Platters for the courses. It went quite well. I understand
now, why we don’t so
beer dinners in the
summer. There ain’t no one around on the weekends in the summer. This weekend
on the 20th
we are going to donate
ALL the take from the dinner to the scholarship fund for Dave Yanoshek’s kids.
Dave presumably
died when his canoe
threw him into the
him all my life. He
just had one of those personalities. We will all miss him.
Well, nothing much
more to ramble about but stop on by and say “hello”, it gives me something I
can write lies about.
Catch me in the right
mood and you can buy me a beer…..
Later,
Ken
4/8/08 – The spring time is
almost on us. You would never know with the big drop of snow we had last
Saturday.
It wasn’t really expected, but I knew. It wasn’t going to surprise me
this year. I came this close, (ll) of taking my snow tires
off for the season. Ah ha, gotcha. The Ring of Fire mead tasting went
over great this past Saturday. Laurence and Rachel
were very busy talking about their products. They certainly do, do a
great job on the mead making. After all, they did
win a few medals at the International Mead Festival this year.
Judging for the
Cider and Perry style. I don’t think I’ve ever judges a cider or a perry.
I’ve drank many, but never had to put
it on paper. Time to get going on the tasting and analyzing. We have a
great cider on tap, Magners Irish Cider.
I’m not sure where it falls,……Oh yeah, here it is… “Other”. Great. Oh,
well, it’s a start.
For what it’s worth, and don’t tell anyone you heard it from me, but, I
am planning some beer
dinners in the future. When?? You ask. Don’t know exactly, but it will
be in this century.
Stay posted to this site, and I’ll let you know when.
3/12/08 – Wow, has it really been
that long since the last scripture?? Well, like I said previously
I just haven’t had enough time to work on this. Even Gable has been
busier than a one legged cat in a
sandbox. Although we did have some fun over the last couple of months.
In December we got a new
computer for the house, but still don’t know how to operate it. It is a
Mac, so there is a little learning curve.
In January we had the Barley wine festival “Brewers Dinner”. A
tradition we have been doing for 4 years
running. Alaskan Brewing hires us to cater the food and supply the
building for the event. Brewers and
associates are invited, but as it usually turns out we have more people
than anticipated. We usually have about
150 to 225. This year a quick count had the numbers up to about 350.
Next year we are going to be giving tickets
to the event. We also met some really great folks, Chris Nelson and
Meridith Canham-Nelson. These people have the
right idea when it comes to beer traveling. They are the Beer-Geeks. You should check their
website to follow their travel
around the world. They are doing a Year in Beer tour. They were here in
January. We caught them in San Francisco
in February for the Toronado and Beeapalooza. It was like when I was in
“Hey, Ken” (see 3/12/07 message). I looked around and there
were Chris and Meridith. It was awesome, everywhere
we went, they were there. Even when they were driving in town. I would
hear them calling to us. Incredible!!
They are truly great people to hang out with.
In February I had the honor to judge at the Toronado Barley wine
Festival. What a trip!!!
Dr. Fermento, Dennis and Lisa Urban and myself had a great time in
on how fast an office chair can go on a
had the privilege to witness the Beerapalooza 2008…the 20th
anniversary of the Celebrator magazine. The beer was
flowing like water, (well, little wonder..). We met some old friends, like Paul and Jackie
Henderson from Alaskan
Brewing Co. Paul was the Alaska Region sales rep. They moved to
to the
was staying at, (Cathedral Hill Hotel). Bruce Paton the Beer Chef, for the hotel is absolutely
fabulous when it comes
to pairing beers with his foods
While I was in
by the Beer Advocate magazine. The first night, there was 50 wood-aged
beers for her to enjoy. The other 2 days,
I think may have been blurs, because I know she tried beers, I saw the
pictures. This year I was hoping we could
make it our year to do more traveling, than what we have been doing.
Hopefully we’ll be able to go to the
Gotta go, somethings burning…
Remember this..When the janitor wakes you and says it’s time for work,
you know it’s going to be a looong day
Later,
Ken
12/25/07 –
Ho, Ho,
Ho to everyone
out there. We hope
you had a joyous Christmas.
It was great having 3 days off
for
Christmas. And we’re going to do
the same thing on the 30th, 31st , and
So don’t make any plans on coming to our place
for pre-New Years Eve
festivities. Even though, we would
love to participate, we are just
going to stay home and watch
a good movie, anddrink a good beer. Beer of choice this year
will probably be Prestige. I
really love that beer.
We managed to go
through most of the holiday
beers on tap.
For those of you who missed out on the Levec des bon Voeuex,
Scaldis Noel, and the Unibroue Indulgence,well
we have more on
the way for, hopefully, Wednesday. Going into the New Year, we should
be receiving
more new beers. Our stock is still a-plenty and we are goingto bring
some new stuff out
to make room of incoming stock. Keep your ear to the ground and we will
have more
info soon.
This website
is getting a
little too much
for me, now,
so, shortly I’ll
be turning it over to our son, Gable.
He has lots of experience with graphics,or at least has the know-how on getting
the information. He has worked for a local TV station, and had a lot of
training from some of the best graphic people in the state. This coming year we
dedicating ourselves on doing some traveling. In January, we have
plans on going to
Magazine Beerapalooza. Shauna will be going to
Later, Ken
it is to all of us here at Café Amsterdam to respect the season and
drink responsibly. It can get a little
hectic out there to want to indulge in the best drinks available, and
getting caught up in the activities.
But, remember, if you get caught up, you will get caught. I’m going to
take it nice and easy and work
at the café tonight. I’ll be bartending, like I normally do on
Wednesdays. We do have some Halloween
beers ready. We will have Nightmare, and Belzebuth, and don’t forget Duvel.
As far as the Michael Jackson Toast went, it was a huge success. With
all the breweries and meaderies
in the state contributing, we raised $3653.00. We all had a great time
talking about the different experiences
we have had knowing the great “Bard of Beer”. Thank you all for
attending, if not physically, then, in thought.
Gotta get to work now, see you there.
Mention you read this and I’ll buy you an appetizer……(today only)
Later, Ken
I’m sure most of you know that we are participating in the National
Toast for the Parkinson Foundation
In Memory of Michael Jackson who
passed away September 30. The toast will be at 5 PM Alaska Time, but
The doors will be open from
All proceeds will be going to the National Parkinson Foundation. Shauna
and I will be donating the restaurant
And our time for the cause. I’ll be setting out food to munch on along
with some specialty beers to select from.
I conned Jim Roberts into doing the toast. Hope to see you here…
Later, Ken
Up and running. The most comprehensive and concise report on beer in
Later, Ken
last month on the 14th of July we had the unfortunate
happening that father-in-law died in a head-on collision
on the
have fallen asleep and crossed the center line. He was buried at the
cemetery on
ceremony. He will be missed dearly. He always told me I should make a
beer and call it “Damn Cold Beer from
Jim Roberts called me today and informed me of the bad news that Michael
Jackson passed away last night.
Shauna and myself are one of the fortunate people who have met him,
talked with him, and on
one occasion had the honor of doing a blind tasting with him in
Michael Jackson, Charlie Papazian, Greg Noonan, and It was a hoot to
listen to his
opinionated evaluation of the different beers sampled.
Gotta go for now,
Later, Ken
Oh, yea I almost forgot, we have Kassik’s beer coming next week
Just a little cheap groveling here. We have got a bundle of good beers
to offer the connesr, coneseu, conesseau, okay the lover
of good beers. Right now I’m drinking my favorite summer beer Kassik’s
Heffe. Yikes, this is good
On the 28th of this month we’ll be having our “Firkin
Saturday”. Never before have we done a “Firkin Saturday”
in the middle of summer. The brewery has usually been busy trying to
keep up with their inventory and we are usually
too busy to have a firkin on a
Saturday. However, this year we have both got it together and are willing to
take the
chance and go with it. The beer of choice this time will be a Double Wheat.
8.5% with a kick of hops. It sounds very interesting.
With any luck, we should be able to continue with the “Firkin Saturday”
through the year. I’ll talk to Gabe
And see if he would like the rest of the tourists in on our own little
secret.
I almost forgot about the tasting at Ginley’s on the 9th.
What an excellent display of food and beers from Midnight Sun.
The pairing was exceptional.
Although I do eat there on a regular basis, I found everything
for the tasting to be
above and beyond the expected food fair. Everything was cooked to
perfection. The presentation was delightful
and informative. What a great place to have a beer tasting.
Anyway, more to come later for the firkins and have a great beer
drinking Friday the 13th.
Later, Ken
6/27/07 – Wow, I can’t believe
it’s been over a month since I last entered anything in here. Things have been
quite
Busy here lately. My lead cook was on vacation for over 2 weeks and I
had to open the restaurant. So trying to
manage
the early morning cooking and ordering and bar ordering, (place your
WAAA, WAAA’s here), the website has taken
back seat to everything. We did
have a great beer dinner on the 25th of this month. Duvel Moortgat
had
A beer tasting ands we supplied some food products. It was a $50 a
person event. That was way cheap.
$50 for 5 course meal and 7 beers, give me a break. Show me one place
in town where you can get that kind of
Deal, better yet in the
A Midnight Sun Brewing beer dinner on the 7th of July.
Already got my reservations. $60 per person.
Don’t know where these people get these crazy prices.
Hey Tim, I got to know your schedule so you can come and enjoy all
these good beers you’ve been missing out on. Better yet,
I’ll be posting the dinners on this site so you can let me know,
okay??? Hope things are going okay for you up north.
We’ve been enjoying the palm trees this summer at the café. Might as
well be palm trees as warm as it’s been.
The weather has been very good lately, sometimes too good.
That fire in Caribou Hills out by Ninilchik is not a good thing this
time of year. I hope our friend Ted is doing okay. Ted
Retired last year and has a place there that he’s building. Got an e-mail
from him a couple of days ago
And said he had a lot of smoke, but the wind came up and blew it away.
Hope everything is fine there, buddy..
NOW FOR THE BEERS…we have a bunch new beers coming out soon. I’ll be
changing the beer list soon, so hang on.
The tap list is always changing, daily. New tap beers are…De Rulles
Triple, Midnight Sun Wit and Old Whiskers, Hennepin Saison.
See you here…
Later, Ken
tapping some of Kassik’s
beer in honor of their 1 year anniversary at the brewery. I have finally broke
down and
started purchasing ½ barrel kegs instead of the 5 gallon. On tap, next
week, we’ll have Kassik’s Pale Ale,
Hefeweizen, and Porter. We have a lot of fun with these beers, but not
as not as much fun as Frank and Debbie.
This is the Memorial Day Weekend. We will be closed, as usual, on
Sunday and Monday. We have a trip planned
To
You get to see a lot of things you wouldn’t ordinarily see if you were
driving.
Well, like I said, not too much to write about. See you in Am’dam..
Later, Ken
people found out they have money again. The “firkin Saturday”on the 14th
of April was a huge success.
We not only had the Double IPA in the firkin, but on tap we also had
“Gluttony”, “Envy”, and
“Conspiracy”. I have never had
so many high octane beers on tap before. Lots of people showed up which is
no surprise, because they all told me they had their taxes completed ;)
The appetizers I set out went very fast. If you have never been to one
of these “Firkin Saturday’s”, it
really is a “hoot”. Midnight Sun Brewing showcases their abilities on
making some “cask-conditioned” beers
for us. It’s usually the 2nd or 3rd Saturday of
the month in the Fall and Winter and sometimes unannounced
the rest of the year. Keep your ear posted to this site and I’ll be
sure to give plenty of warning. On a rare
occasion it may be one week out, providing MSBC has enough beer to do
the firkins. In the summer they are
scrambling like a one legged cat in a sandbox, so they have enough to
do trying to keep their tanks full.
A couple of weeks ago, on the 1st of May, I was
communicating with Dr. Fermento on the new beers we will
be releasing in the next couple of months, (he likes to keep his finger
on the pulse of the beer stuff). As I was e-mailing
him and doing the “first of the month bill paying ritual”, the date
kept hitting me between the eyes all
the way to the back of my head. It finally dawned on me that May 1st
was our restaurant anniversary. Eight
glorious, fun-filled years of pure unadulterated enjoyment. I told the
Dr. and unbeknownst to me he e-mailed
everyone on his list to show for an impromptu party. At around
People kept arriving all evening. We had almost a full house in the
bar. Leave to Dr. Fermento to have any
reason
to go for a beer with his friends. Thank You, “Doc”, that was fun.
We have a lot of beers to work with this year, with more on the way.
I’m setting up a prospectus for the next
several months as to what new draught beers will be released. Most are
Belgian beers we have had before and are
returning by popular demand.
Frank and Debbie Kassik have released their “Gold Nugget Hefeweizen”.
It is great. Very refreshing and thirst quenching. Some sweet, citrusy
notes with a very pleasing, but not
Overpowering bubble gum flavor. This is my idea of a great Hefeweizen.
Good job Frank and Debbie.
That’s it for now. I’ll try to post the beers that are going to be
released in the next several months. Just my
way of tracking who’s reading this.. Oh yeah,… Hey there Tim, I see
it’s still around 0 degrees up there. Better you
than us…Just kidding…see you soon, buddy.
Later, Ken
4/7/07 – Well, another week has
passed. Everyone is in hot pursuit of the almighty IRS weekend. We have
another Firkin Saturday coming up on the 14th,
coincidence??, maybe not…
We have the Midnight Sun Brewing Double IPA that will be flowing. Not a
bad way to spend a night
before, (well, actually 2 nights before), taxes are due. This one can
definitely get your head together for the occasion.
We have the Ertvelds on tap, along with….TA DA…Hoegaardenn Wit. Side by
side they are only similar.
The contrast is different. The Hoegaarden is much more citrusy with a
milder overall taste. I can’t wait to start
mowing my lawn with this beer by my side. The Ertvelds has a lesser
citrus flavor with a more bitter overall taste.
These beers are both the brain child of none other than Pierre Celis.
Check out this story of the wit beers he has created.
Pierre Celis beers. It’s pretty cool….
Saw Frank Kassik From Kassik’s Brew Stop. And it looks like we may be
getting some of his Hefe. It was pretty good last
year when I tried it. This year should be pretty good as well. Even
though he and Debbie have only had their brewery open
for less than a year, one would think they have been brewing for much
longer. It only gets better.
If there are any people on the
Kassik’s Brew Stop, Kenai River Brewing, even Homer Brewing, and Ring
of Fire Meadery. They need to support
locally, otherwise it may never be around again. This comes from
someone who knows. We brewed at the first brew/pub in the state
and know what to do now. This café is enough for us at the present. If
I were to do it again, I would surely
go to the Kenai area and invest in a brew/pub. It doesn’t take a
Glacier Brewhouse or a Sleeping Lady Brewery to make it happen.
If you want input on the perfect brew/pub, come see me. I have got an
idea that would be an instant success.
The
Got some new bottled beers coming in next week. I’ll try to put those
on the website next week.
Okay, gotta go make someone cry…. Have a Happy Easter..
Later, Ken
Gulden Drak on tap. Ertvelds on tap. Several others will be on tap, but
I don’t think they will all be on
tap together. I also got some Monk’s Café Flemish sour ale. Bavik and
Petrus also highlight the spectrum. Anyway that
was about it for this week. Went to Homer last week for my B-day and
had a blast. Drank some good beers
and meads we brought with us. Stopped by Homer Brewing and got more
Broken Birch Bitter, (that we can
never keep on hand). Saw a butt load of eagles on the “Spit”. There
were as many photographers there as
were eagles. Just making sure we don’t forget what an eagle looks like…
(Thanks, Bill, for letting me know about the error for Cliff House. I
fixed it right away. Don’t
know why I linked it, I paid my bill there??) Hey, Tim, we got more new
beers for you to try. Hope
you like Lambics, because April is going to be Cantillion month.
Later, Ken
3/12/07 – Well, it has been a while since I put anything in this
little update. I didn’t realize people actually read this
stuff. I had a delightful couple come into the restaurant the other day
and informed me
that I haven’t done anything in the website lately. Not the number one
priority at the time, but I
should at least update the beer menu. The draft beers keep on changing
as fast as we put them on
tap, so bear with me and I’ll try to, at least, give a heads-up as to
what’s “on deck”. Kassik’s
Pale Moon Ale
is probably the best selling beer right now, but Bitburger, Chimay, and
Wittekerke are also playing for
second and third. I put about 12 new beers on the bottle list, so you
may want to check those.
Anyway, a lot has happened
since last November. First of all, I semi-surprised Shauna in a
semi-surprise birthday party.
I had all of her family fly in from around the country to meet in
20 of them showed. We spent a week there and had a great time. Dinner
was fantastic at
the Cliff House. Of course, we
saw the sights and had a great time with the in-laws.
one of our favorite
back together, even though the staff did a great job on holding
everything together. There were a few
little problems we had to deal with. But, the following week, Shauna,
Gable, and myself were on our
way to
kerstbier
festival in
attended. The beers were incredible, the organizing was great, the
people were friendly, the food was
so-so. It was staged in a sports hall that was the size of two
basketball courts, which is exactly what it
was. Admission was free, the commerative glasses were €3.00, the tokens
were €1.25, and the beer guide
was €1.75. There were 20 tap beers, (all Belgian, or
thing to happen there was when we walked into the building, I heard
from way across the hall,
“Hey, Ken!”. I was thinking, “Who in the hell knows me here, in
around and there were Steve and Karen from Homer Brewing. I remembered
telling them about the
beer festival 3 weeks earlier. They were planning a trip to
they were attending with about 6 other couples. What a surprise that
was. It was a fun time hanging
out with them, because we never get a chance to drink beer together, as
we are usually both busy.
After we spent 2 days there, we headed back to
up with our son and did what all good Americans do in
The BJCP exam was February 25, and what an exam it was. It’s a 3 hour
written test, and you had better
know beers, and practice handwriting. Although, it did seem a little
easier this year than in the past. This
is the 4th time I’ve taken it, just to see if I can increase
my ranking in the program. Hopefully I’ve jumped
to the next level. We won’t find out our grades until 12 weeks.
Well, gotta go for now. Check out the web site again for an update on
the beers, and by the way, let me know
if you are reading this stuff. I just want to see how many people I’m
totally boring out there.
Later, Ken
11/14/2006 – Week two of the BJCP class and, funny thing, we
didn’t lose people
We gained 2. That’s pretty good for such an intense class. Dennis Urban
is doing
A great job explaining the outline of each class. It doesn’t feel like
these classes last
3 hours. Tasting the off flavors is probably the most interesting. Even
though I’ve gone
Through the class 3 other times, I always find the weird flavor profile
interesting. I can
Remember some of those flavors in some of the beers I used to brew.
Some good, some bad.
join us next week. Most of the people I recruited seem a little over
whelmed by the studying
needing to be done. I know it seems intimidating, but it all becomes
clear after you get your
study hats on. All they have to remember is that it’s only beer, and
you got to have fun with it.
Anyway, I guess we have to go to
Shauna booked us a trip there for her birthday. What she doesn’t know
is that I already have
something planned for her birthday. Can’t tell you now, but will inform
you when the time is right.
Things have been kinda slow around here for the last week. Might have
something to do with the
elections. I going to start getting the Christmas beers in. I have
several that I have had for 5 – 6 years
just waiting for the appropriate time, and I think this year is the
time. I have 6 year Scaldis Noel,
5 year Delirium Noel, and assorted others I can’t seem to remember.
I’ll be getting the Bitburger on tap next week. The Delirium Tremens is
going great guns, but don’t know
how long that will last. New beers are on the way……
Oh well, I’ll do it twice next year.
This Sunday we start the BJCP classes. Should be interesting
to find out who the real beer people are in this town. I’m guessing
we’ll have about 30 people.
The classes are always informative and it’s always a challenge to
remember all the information.
Dennis Urban is conducting the classes this year. He always has some
good pieces of information
to share. After all, he and Lisa have been brewing for about 1000
years.
The written exam at the end of the 14 weeks of classes, is really
brutal, but worth the anticipation.
Even if we don’t pass the test, the least we can get is Apprentice. How
cool is that. If you still want to
Get with the BJCP classes, come
on in on Sundays
And the beers aren’t so bad, either.
By the way, I need to say hello to my friend Tim, who’s working
on “the slope”. Hope that job is working out for you. I’m getting some
more different beers for you to
try when you get back in town. Mostly Christmas beers and the higher
octane ones. We’ll tip one together
when you get back in town. I’ll try to keep this news report updated
for you so you can keep up with the
bar gossip..See you soon,buddy…….Ken
And every Sunday for 14 weeks. The tentative date for the exam is
February 25th
There won’t be classes for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s,
Barleywine Festival, or Super Bowl Sunday.
Stop by and pick a syllabus
Midnight Sun’s Coho-ho Imperial IPA was a
huge hit. The pin only lasted 45 minutes and the Spicy Chicken Pie only was
around for 30 minutes. Next up on October
21st, will be the Double chocolate pumpkin stout, with who knows
the food pairing. But it will be something
good. I promise!!!
Also, we will be holding the BJCP
classes here starting Nov. 1st
If anyone is interested, stay tuned to this
site and I’ll be updating with more info. PLEASE do not call me here
as most of the people working here do not
have the information. I’ll give the phone numbers as soon as I receive
more information.
Or you can stop here and try some
We presently have Kassik’s Kenai Brew Stop represented on tap.
The IPA is a more traditional English
style.
And the Porter is a very well orchestrated beer.
Hopefully we’ll get Kenai River Brewing
beer on tap shortly.
I was there a few weeks ago and the beers are excellent.
I’m not afraid to have any of the beers on tap, it’s just a matter
of being able to get it here.
Laurence Livingston is taking on the
challenge of making fine honey wines.
We had the raspberry cyser on tap but ran
out. Now we have the regular
cyser, (apple and honey). I keep trying to
get more of it here, but, again
it’s a transportation thing. I’ll be giving
Laurence a call this week….
In the
meantime, we have my totally favorite beers on tap.
Grotten Brown, Rodenbach, and Delirium
Tremens
So, in case you think we don’t have enough to
do, just come down
and help us in evaluating these great
barley-pops.
Tell them I sent you, and be prepared to run really fast…..
Later, Ken