Tyranena

[Kathleen]

All my whore clothes are in the wash. Nick, can I borrow a Wisconsin Tubas shirt?

clothes are optional

TIA

You saying you know things about being a whore?

[mr. furley]

All my whore clothes are in the wash. Nick, can I borrow a Wisconsin Tubas shirt?

clothes are optional

TIA

You saying you know things about being a whore?

ohhhhhhhhhhhh yeah

[Kathleen]

Dave is in Madison this weekend for the brewers' (breweries, not that crappy team in Milwaukee) conference and wants to drag me to Hoor Night.   

I'm thinking about attempting to pull off the Sarah Palin look to counteract the other side.

[Surly Duff]

Dave is in Madison this weekend for the brewers' (breweries, not that crappy team in Milwaukee) conference and wants to drag me to Hoor Night.   

I'm thinking about attempting to pull off the Sarah Palin look to counteract the other side.

Buzz kill. 

[Tip Top]

You should go.  Might want to steer clear of Rob though...

[Kathleen]

You should go.  Might want to steer clear of Rob though...

I'd like to go, if only to see friends I haven't in a while and to get out of town for a minute.

No, I will not provide 

[Surly Duff]

You should go.  Might want to steer clear of Rob though...

I'd like to go, if only to see friends I haven't in a while and to get out of town for a minute.

No, I will not provide 

Motion to change Kathy's username to Buzz Killington.

[Tip Top]

You should go.  Might want to steer clear of Rob though...

I'd like to go, if only to see friends I haven't in a while and to get out of town for a minute.

No, I will not provide 

I already know what you look like.

[Surly Duff]

You should go.  Might want to steer clear of Rob though...

I'd like to go, if only to see friends I haven't in a while and to get out of town for a minute.

No, I will not provide 

I already know what you look like.

This is true.  I want pictures of the whores.

[Kathleen]

You should go.  Might want to steer clear of Rob though...

I'd like to go, if only to see friends I haven't in a while and to get out of town for a minute.

No, I will not provide 

I already know what you look like.

This is true.  I want pictures of the whores.

That's what I was getting at.

[Surly Duff]

You should go.  Might want to steer clear of Rob though...

I'd like to go, if only to see friends I haven't in a while and to get out of town for a minute.

No, I will not provide 

I already know what you look like.

This is true.  I want pictures of the whores.

That's what I was getting at.

Motion once again to change Kathleen's username to Buzz Killington.

[Kathleen]

Motion denied on the basis of different strokes for different folks.

[mr. furley]

You should go.  Might want to steer clear of Rob though...

I'd like to go, if only to see friends I haven't in a while and to get out of town for a minute.

No, I will not provide 

I already know what you look like.

This is true.  I want pictures of the whores.

That's what I was getting at.

Motion once again to change Kathleen's username to Buzz Killington.

motion seconded

[Kathleen]

SHUT UP FRUELY

[mr. furley]

[d00d]

Dave is in Madison this weekend for the brewers' (breweries, not that crappy team in Milwaukee) conference and wants to drag me to Hoor Night.   

I'm thinking about attempting to pull off the Sarah Palin look to counteract the other side.

Do you have the square glasses and a suit?  You could pull it off.  She just pulls her hair back.  Me likey.

[Tip Top]

Imperial Hefeweizein On Tap Next Week. Okay, okay. I know I promised an Imperial Black (Dunkel) Weizen... but instead decided to brew a straight Imperial Hefeweizen (which is lighter in color than how a Weizenbock is typically described)... I really didn't want those wonderful clove and banana flavors muted by the dark malts. We did not use any darker malts... just the malt from our silo (30%) and wheat malt (70%)... but a lot more than our regular Hefeweizen and we hopped it up a little bit more as well to balance an anticipated higher final gravity. The beer has that wonderful aroma of our Fargo Brothers Hefeweizen... just bigger, thicker and higher in alcohol. I believe it has finished out around 7.5% alcohol by volume. Will be going on tap next week Wednesday.
Hop Wh0re Status. We are down to our last 6 cases of Hop Wh0re at the brewery. We still have a few kegs so it should remain on tap for a while longer.
               
Gemuetlichkeit Oktoberfest Status. We are down to our last three half barrels of Gemuetlichkeit Oktoberfest. I suspect it should get us through the next two weekends...

[Surly Duff]

I really wish they would have bottled the Oktoberfest this year.  I bought several cases of it last year in WI.

[Surly Duff]

Things are starting to slow down a bit... not sure if it just seems that way because we were running full out for the last 6 weeks... or if things are truly slow for the season. Anyway, have time to take a breath and think about what's going on around here... and what should go on around here in the weeks and months ahead. Decided that we are going to brew The Devil Made Me Do It! Coffee Imperial Oatmeal Porter again this fall. Just ordered some red tart cherries... which I thought we would brew into a batch of Imperial Oatmeal Porter (Fitgers in Duluth had a wonderful Cherry Stout at the Autumn Brew Review in the Twin Cities that got me interested in trying this out). We'll see if we can fit that into the brewing schedule some time soon. Also trying to find a source for some other fruits to try in some other beers (Town Hall, also in the Twin Cities, has their mango-infused IPA which I also thoroughly enjoyed)... We'll see if that makes it anyway, though. While up in the Twin Cities... I also enjoyed a Flanders Red... delightfully sour... but not ready to subject the brewery to those kind of bugs (yeast and bacteria).

Oops! Imperial Hefeweizein On Tap Friday - Not Wednesday. I know I said the Imperial Hefeweizen would be going on tap today... but we had to reschedule some things as we ran out of Rocky's Revenge in both kegs and cases. So now the plan is to keg the Imperial Hefeweizen on Friday for enjoyment on Friday evening. If you missed the story on the Imperial Hefeweizen from last week's newsletter... here it is:

Okay, okay.  I know I promised an Imperial Black (Dunkel) Weizen... but instead decided to brew a straight Imperial Hefeweizen (which is lighter in color than how a Weizenbock is typically described)... I really didn't want those wonderful clove and banana flavors muted by the dark malts. We did not use any darker malts... just the malt from our silo (30%) and wheat malt (70%)... just a lot more and we hopped it up a little bit more to balance an anticipated higher final gravity.  The beer has that wonderful aroma of our Fargo Brothers Hefeweizen... just bigger, thicker and higher in alcohol.  I believe it has finished out around 7.5% alcohol by volume.

Brewer Hiring Update. We are starting the interview process this Friday. Oh I so enjoy doing this... almost as much as going to the dentist!  It seems as if we have some interesting and quite varied people applying for the position.

[Kathleen]

I'm pouring at the Dells on Tap fest this weekend. 

[JJ]

Brewers Gone Wild! beer will be the re-release of the Devil Made Me Do It! Imperial Oatmeal Porter brewed with coffee beans.  This was released early 2007, and was in such demand, that Rob took the same recipe and bourbon barrel-aged it this year (for the Devil Over A Barrel).  Our Imperial Porters have done so well by the beer critics (such at Beer Advocate; (Devil over a barrel - A; Devil Made Me Do It - A-; Dirty Old Man - A-) ; and Rate Beer (Devil over a barrel 99%; Devil Made Me Do It 99%, Dirty Old Man 98%), that we've brought this one back.

Style:  An imperial oatmeal porter, brewed with coffee beans (about 15 pounds of Berres Brothers Coffee (Watertown, WI), 1/3 Sumatra and 2/3 Costa Rican beans.

Anticipated to be bottled first or second week in November

Also,
Available on tap for the brewery only... but extra barrels can be for sale to special accounts:

Imperial Weizen: - we have approximately 40 half barrels at the brewery.  Rob has described this in the newsletter as, "Okay, okay.  I know I promised an Imperial Black (Dunkel) Weizen... but instead decided to brew a straight Imperial Hefeweizen (which is lighter in color than how a Weizenbock is typically described)... I really didn't want those wonderful clove and banana flavors muted by the dark malts. We did not use any darker malts... just the malt from our silo (30%) and wheat malt (70%)... just a lot more and we hopped it up a little bit more to balance an anticipated higher final gravity.  The beer has that wonderful aroma of our Fargo Brothers Hefeweizen... just bigger, thicker and higher in alcohol.  I believe it has finished out around 7.5% alcohol by volume."

AVAILABLE NOW.

Imperial Oatmeal Cherry Porter:

Rob wrote about it in his newsletter this week:  "Just ordered some red tart cherries... which I thought we would brew into a batch of Imperial Oatmeal Porter (Fitgers in Duluth had a wonderful Cherry Stout at the Autumn Brew Review in the Twin Cities that got me interested in trying this out)."

Anticipated to be kegged mid-to-late November (Could end up in December too, depending on his brewing schedule).

[flyingbison]

Imperial Oatmeal Cherry Porter:

Rob wrote about it in his newsletter this week:  "Just ordered some red tart cherries... which I thought we would brew into a batch of Imperial Oatmeal Porter (Fitgers in Duluth had a wonderful Cherry Stout at the Autumn Brew Review in the Twin Cities that got me interested in trying this out)."

Anticipated to be kegged mid-to-late November (Could end up in December too, depending on his brewing schedule).

 

Growler me!!!

[Kathleen]

Imperial Oatmeal Cherry Porter:

Rob wrote about it in his newsletter this week:  "Just ordered some red tart cherries... which I thought we would brew into a batch of Imperial Oatmeal Porter (Fitgers in Duluth had a wonderful Cherry Stout at the Autumn Brew Review in the Twin Cities that got me interested in trying this out)."

Anticipated to be kegged mid-to-late November (Could end up in December too, depending on his brewing schedule).

 

Growler me!!!

I hate to say it, Bison, but the odds that this will be growlerable are very, very low.  You'll just have to come down here and drink it, perhaps with your Madison pals. 

[flyingbison]

Imperial Oatmeal Cherry Porter:

Rob wrote about it in his newsletter this week:  "Just ordered some red tart cherries... which I thought we would brew into a batch of Imperial Oatmeal Porter (Fitgers in Duluth had a wonderful Cherry Stout at the Autumn Brew Review in the Twin Cities that got me interested in trying this out)."

Anticipated to be kegged mid-to-late November (Could end up in December too, depending on his brewing schedule).

 

Growler me!!!

I hate to say it, Bison, but the odds that this will be growlerable are very, very low.  You'll just have to come down here and drink it, perhaps with your Madison pals. 

:ziplockbag:

[Kathleen]

Imperial Oatmeal Cherry Porter:

Rob wrote about it in his newsletter this week:  "Just ordered some red tart cherries... which I thought we would brew into a batch of Imperial Oatmeal Porter (Fitgers in Duluth had a wonderful Cherry Stout at the Autumn Brew Review in the Twin Cities that got me interested in trying this out)."

Anticipated to be kegged mid-to-late November (Could end up in December too, depending on his brewing schedule).

:ziplockbag:

 

Growler me!!!

I hate to say it, Bison, but the odds that this will be growlerable are very, very low.  You'll just have to come down here and drink it, perhaps with your Madison pals. 

Dimebag?

[Surly Duff]

It has been a bit of a trying week. Finally decided that this year's Shantytown Doppelbock was going to see its future at the Lake Mills Waste Water Treatment Plant (that first generation lager yeast has a hard time dealing with a beer as big as our doppelbock and fermented poorly). Always a painful excercise to watch thousands of dollars worth of raw materials and work pouring out of a tank into the drain. To add more pain, our bottle filler decided to act up on Monday during the early stages of a planned 600 case bottling run. One of the filler heads stopped allowing any beer into the bottle... and another was consistently giving short fills. After 50 cases (40 for an order that was going out that day... and another 10 cases of short fills) we called it quits and spent the afternoon disassembling and reassembling filler heads finding no obvious problems. But for some unknown reason... whatever we did worked and the filler ran just fine the following day... even without using my favorite tool... a hammer!

Vanilla Porter Almost Gone. The Vanilla Porter has been quite popular... and as a result it is almost gone. I think we have 1/2 of a 1/2 barrel left... so I expect it will likely disappear sometime on Saturday.

Last Kegs Of Dirty Old Man Imperial Rye Porter To Be Tapped Soon. As soon as you polish off the Vanilla Porter, we will be placing a couple 1/6 barrels of Dirty Old Man Imperial Rye Porter on tap. I think we also have one 1/6 barrel of the unblended (and probably uncarbonated) Dirty Old Man as well.

Hop Wh0re Imperial India Pale Ale Running Low. We have a little more than a case of bottles left at the brewery (and if they don't disappear this week I am taking them home as my bad, bad neighbor has depleted my stash) and we are down to our last 3 1/2 barrels as well (okay... I just checked... 2 1/2 barrels back in the cooler and the one in the Tasting Room I could move with my pinkie finger).

The Devil Made Me Do It! Coffee Imperial Oatmeal Porter Is Scheduled To Be Tapped Next Friday. Yes, it is schedule to be tapped next Friday... which means it may not. It depends entirely upon things continuing to work as planned... which is tough to know in advance.

Brewer Hiring Update. We have interviewed thirteen applicants (unfortunately we had no female applicants) for the job of brewer and have narrowed it down to three. One is a Substance Abuse Counselor (we enjoyed the irony of a substance abuse counselor working at a brewery) that has just completed some coursework at the Seibel Institute in Chicago (where I went to brewing school) and has a rather extensive knowledge of beer and things he might like to try as a brewer. Another has a Botany degree, is an avid homebrewer (and left a six-pack of homebrew as part of his interview), already works at a job where he has to work non-standard hours, and he would be in a position to possibly grow some hops for us. And the third has degrees in Biology and Chemistry; was not a homebrewer, didn't know how to pronounce Tyranena; but seemed like he would fit in here really well (and he had the disadvantage of being the very last one interviewed). Am at a bit of a loss at the moment on how to choose between the three.

[Surly Duff]

Whoa!  It appears that not everyone appeciates my sense of humour out there! We received numerous emails (some downright angry and hateful) regarding my comments on our "Barack Obama Price Increase" and "spreadhing the wealth." I certainly never anticipated this sort of visceral reaction from my fellow Tyranenaeans (of which there are apparently fewer these days). I thought we were a good-humored, tolerant lot with exceptional taste... in beer anyway. But I guess strong emotions were still in force even after a landslide victory... so to continue the controversy, I will give you a few more thoughts... 

Take It Easy... Don't Get Too Upset! Now how people thought they could divine my political philosophy (and why they even cared) from my comments last week is beyond me. This past election was the first one since I could vote (and that is getting to be quite a few elections now) that I didn't vote AGAINST anyone. Every election prior to this I voted for the candidate that I couldn't tolerate less (yes, I know... double negatives can be confusing). This year, I split my vote. I voted in only three races. I voted for Andy Jorgenssen (D) for my State Assembly Representative (and contributed to his campaign). He is a representative that truly cared about the issues we were facing and was readily accessible. I voted for Tammy Baldwin (D) for the U.S. House of Representatives. She has also shown that she cares about issues facing us. Lastly for President... I had every intention of voting for Bob Barr, the Libertarian. Neither McCain nor Obama really neatly fit my views and so I didn't want to vote for either one.

When I got into the voting booth I realized I had no idea who Bob Barr's running mate was (and was afraid he was going to be like Ross Perot's running mate)... and then I looked up the ballot and saw Sarah Palin's name. That clinched it... I filled in the arrow next to the Republican ticket... I really liked Sarah Palin. She was the one outsider, the one candidate that I really felt knew what it was like to be an average American (and despite the media portrayal, I thought she was quite bright and I loved her accent) and she was the only one that I wanted to get mavericky with (and be sequestered in a secret government bunker with!)...  And just think how boring Saturday Night Live is going to be without being able to push Sarah Palin around anymore...

So there you have it... my voting record for 2008. If you are that much of a partisan that you cannot respect alternate viewpoints and therefore refuse to drink our beer... oh well (of course, if you were that much of a partisan you have already unsubscribed from the newsletter and will not be reading this...). I guess I would have thought those would have taken the lead of Obama and tried to move on. And for those of you who thought I was using the newsletter to promote my political views and influence others... if that were the case... why would I have waited until AFTER the election?

All that said... we did send out a letter to our wholesalers letting them know we were instituting a price increase at the beginning of the year (they require 45 days notice -- which just happened to coincide with the election).  And we are likely going to be raising prices in the Tasting Room on Tuesday, January 20, 2009 -- and yes, that is Barack Obama's Inauguration Day! 

Yes, I now feel I have the need to add these emoticons to let people know when I am trying to be humorous. And yes, given the outrage that we received from our last newsletter... I chose that day intentionally! I just couldn't help it!    Now to see if we want to be open on a Tuesday... and maybe launch a beer on that day... hmmm... the possibilites are endless!  Maybe we could have pork rinds as our snack... 

The Devil Made Me Do It! Coffee Imperial Oatmeal Porter On Tap. The Devil Made Me Do It! went on tap last Friday... and we are almost out. Our friends up in the Twin Cities will be receiving an ample supply on draft and a little bit is going out to Milwaukee, Madison, and Kohler. So we are almost out at the brewery. Better get down here fast before we run out...

Imperial Hefeweizen Almost Gone. Jessie has sold almost all of our remaining kegs to the same areas... so we do not have much left at the brewery.

Our First Attempt At A Pumpkin Beer. Since we are running a little slow as of late... we have had time to experiment with some new styles. My good friends Mindy (bartender, mug clubber) and Brad (Mindy's husband, mug clubber) have both been enjoying a pumpkin beer from another brewery so I thought we should give it a try. It looked pumpkin-like in color and should finish around 7.5% in alcohol. We used 158 pounds of pumpkin in a 21 barrel batch and then added several pounds of "pumpkin pie" spice in the whirlpool. We'll see how the pumpkin comes through and how the spice level ultimately ends up... after all, we were just guessing on the amounts to use. Should be on tap the night before Thanksgiving.

[MikeWeiss]

Imperial Oatmeal Cherry Porter:

Rob wrote about it in his newsletter this week:  "Just ordered some red tart cherries... which I thought we would brew into a batch of Imperial Oatmeal Porter (Fitgers in Duluth had a wonderful Cherry Stout at the Autumn Brew Review in the Twin Cities that got me interested in trying this out)."

Anticipated to be kegged mid-to-late November (Could end up in December too, depending on his brewing schedule).

 

Growler me!!!

I hate to say it, Bison, but the odds that this will be growlerable are very, very low.  You'll just have to come down here and drink it, perhaps with your Madison pals. 

Anyone think this will last until late December? I'll be in Madison for about a week between Christmas and New Years, and that beer sounds delicious. 

[flyingbison]

Imperial Oatmeal Cherry Porter:

Rob wrote about it in his newsletter this week:  "Just ordered some red tart cherries... which I thought we would brew into a batch of Imperial Oatmeal Porter (Fitgers in Duluth had a wonderful Cherry Stout at the Autumn Brew Review in the Twin Cities that got me interested in trying this out)."

Anticipated to be kegged mid-to-late November (Could end up in December too, depending on his brewing schedule).

 

Growler me!!!

I hate to say it, Bison, but the odds that this will be growlerable are very, very low.  You'll just have to come down here and drink it, perhaps with your Madison pals. 

Anyone think this will last until late December? I'll be in Madison for about a week between Christmas and New Years, and that beer sounds delicious. 

Not if I get there first.            

[Surly Duff]

The Tyranena Brewing Company will be releasing their Brewers Gone Wild! Devil Made Me Do It! Imperial Oatmeal Porter brewed with coffee beans tonight at the Happy Gnome starting at 6 PM. The Happy Gnome will be offering a sample of five Tyranena flavors:
Imperial Hefeweizen - 7.5% ABV available at this time, only at the brewery
Devil Made Me Do It (similar to Devil Over a Barrel, but not bourbon-barrel aged) - Imperial Oatmeal Porter brewed with Coffee Beans
Scurvy - Extra IPA brewed with Orange Peel
Bitter Woman IPA
Rocky's Revenge - brown ale aged in bourbon barrels
These five are available in flights for only $7. Stop down tonight!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Looks like I'm heading over to The Happy Gnome before the Dark Horse tasting at Stub & Herbs tonight.  Only going to have the Imperial Hefe.

[Surly Duff]

The Devil Made Me Do It! Coffee Imperial Oatmeal Porter On Tap. The Devil Made Me Do It! went on tap last Friday... and we are almost out. Our friends up in the Twin Cities will be receiving an ample supply on draft and a little bit is going out to Milwaukee, Madison, and Kohler. So we are almost out at the brewery. Better get down here fast before we have none...

Imperial Hefeweizen Almost Gone. Jessie has sold almost all of our remaining kegs to the same areas... so we do not have much left at the brewery... I believe we are on our last 1/2 barrel.

Imperial Pumpkin To Be Tapped Next Wednesday (The Day Before Thanksgiving). At the beginning of aging... this beer appears to be medium to light in body (of course, someone else may find it medium to high in body)... a little lighter in color than pumpkin pie (but the same sort of hue)... about 7.5% alcohol by volume, and a little spice forward. Will be interesting to see what another week maturing in the tank, filtration and carbonation will do for the beer. Growler fills will be permitted.

Tasting Room Open Next Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. To accommodate those of you that are getting off of work early next Wednesday for your Thanksgiving festivities... the Tasting Room will be open at 3:00 p.m. instead of our normal 4:30 p.m. Come in a get your growlers filled for your Thanksgiving celebrations.

The Price Increases Still Keep Coming. Despite the slowing economy, we are still receiving notices of price increases. We just received notice that the price of bottles will be going up at the beginning of the year... but the extent is still unknown. We then received notice that the price of crowns (bottle caps) was going up... only to be rescinded a few days later... apparently they are going to wait until April to see how the cost of tin is being effected by lower steel prices (which implies lower priced tin) and tin production cuts (which implies higher priced tin). Last year the price of malt went up 75 percent or so... hopefully the slowing economy... lower oil costs... and supposed troubles in the ethanol market effect prices in the upcoming year. I am not optimistic as it sounded as if barley acreage went down as farmers switched to yellow corn #2 for ethanol production.

Brewer Hiring Update. On Monday we completed the last of our dinner interviews with the three remaining candidates. The dinners merely reinforced my thoughts after the first interviews... which is that I think all three would be good candidates, but each having different strengths. Now I have to figure out exactly what I am looking for in a brewer... and assess whether each candidate's strengths outweigh their weaknesses (as I percieve them). And how well will each be able to tolerate working here... and how likely are any of them to leave their job for a woman.  It was really much easier when Benji just walked in off the street looking for a job after I spent a long, long summer working alone and was desperate for some relief...

[Surly Duff]

Brewer Hiring Update. We finally hired a brewer this week... well, he accepted an offer for employment starting in January. It was a most difficult decision. Stacey, Patricia and Benji each had selected a different candidate that they thought would work out best. In retrospect, I am thinking it may have been a mistake to take each of them out to dinner... I actually grew to like all of them... which made it even more difficult to narrow the selection to just one.

Ultimately we "hired" a character named Nevin. Overall he seemed to have the right balance of characterisitics to be a replacement for Benji in many respects. He will be starting in January... so it will still be some time to see if we made a good decision or if it is one of the hiring decisions that I have to live with day after endlessly long day.

Tyranena Beer Run Raises Nearly $15,000 and 1,660 Pounds of Food. Stacey "thinks" she has the final numbers in for this year's Tyranena Beer Run. In addition to the 1,660 pounds of food brought by the runners and donated to the Lake Mills Food Pantry, it looks as though we will have raised just under $15,000. We will be splitting this sum between the Lake Mills Food Pantry and Christmas Neighbors (an organization in Jefferson that distributes toys and food to the needy families of Jefferson County).

Imperial Pumpkin-Spiced Ale Tapped Today (Wednesday). Our first attempt at brewing a pumpkin beer... this beer appears to be medium to light in body... a little lighter in color than pumpkin pie (but the same sort of hue)... in other words... it's kinda amberish... about 7.5% alcohol by volume, and a little spice forward. Think if we brew it again we will have to increase the amount of pumpkin used... but we'll let you be the judge. Growler fills will be permitted.

Tasting Room Open Today (Wednesday) at 3:00 p.m. To accommodate those of you that are getting off of work early Wednesday for your Thanksgiving festivities... the Tasting Room will be open at 3:00 p.m. instead of our normal 4:30 p.m. Come in a get your growlers filled for your Thanksgiving celebrations.

The Price Increases Still Keep Coming. Moments after sending out last week's newsletter we received pricing information from our malt supplier... and guess what?  Prices are continuing to go up.  Looks like specialty malt prices (the malts that will give the beer various malt flavors and colors) are going up... up to 23%. Our base malt is going up just marginally in price.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Growlers of imperial pumpkin available you say?  Oh Kathy........

[Surly Duff]

Hmmm, then again they fill from the tap so it may not be carbonated by the time it would get here.

[Surly Duff]

The Price Increases Still Keep Coming. And this week we have received notice that bottles are going to be increasing in price January 1, 2009... although they are not yet sure how much they are raising prices. The good news... energy prices are down significantly so they are temporarily dropping their energy surcharges... which were as high as 18% at times this past year. The bad news is that they are raising the base price approximately 14% or so... ultimately we were told to expect a net price increase in the range of 6 percent (unless energy prices go up later in the year... and then the surcharges will return).

I'm trying to figure out where all of this deflation I keep hearing about is actually occurring... certainly not in any of our costs! We've seen continued cost pressures in all of our major inputs... even with global recession. Should make things even more interesting if we have a global recovery.

Brewing: Brewing a batch of Headless Man Amber Alt this week..

Bottling: Bottled 466 cases of Bitter Woman IPA and 169 cases of Chief BlackHawk Porter.  Problematic labeling bottles this week... we have 5 cases of Bitter Woman IPA mislabels and 6 cases of Chief BlackHawk Porter mislabels for sale in the Tasting Room.

[Surly Duff]

Greetings from the Northwoods, Tyranenaeans!
 
Rob is speechless again... And if that were truly the case, wouldn't my job be easier?
 
So, I'm writing you from the far-away land of Tomahawk, Wisconsin.... Nate and I got an early start on the holiday celebrating and drove up last night from Lake Mills to my parents' place, Somo Beach Resort. (Hey, click on the link... I gotta get them a plug when I can... Tyranena's on tap!) They may not have the fastest internet but at least it isn't dial up... well, not quite.... This newsletter only took about 2-1/2 hours to load and just one computer restart...
 
Special Hours on Christmas Eve. Pat (aka Scarecrow... bartender and mug club wannabe) will be opening the Tasting Room tomorrow for a few hours for our patrons convenience and enjoyment. Join him for a pint of holiday cheer from 2:00 to 7:00 pm. Or get that last minute present... gift certificates are available for any denomination!!
 
And just in time for Christmas, we got in another batch of Tyranena stocking caps and NEW brown wooly earflap hats. Keep your special someone toasty and sport a Tyranena logo at the same time! The regular stocking caps are $14 and the earflap hats are $20. Well worth it for a warm head this winter!
 
The HopWh0re returns. Not sure how much of this beer there actually is left... maybe a few sixth barrels. But for the time being, there is HopWh0re on tap in the Tasting Room! Get it while you can! (Sorry, no pitchers or growler fills... and we don't have any in bottles... just on tap for a limited time.)
 
Balloon Drop Help... Please? The fate of the 5th (or 6th... I can't quite remember) annual NYE Tyranena Balloon Drop is dangling by a thread! Or a streamer... Anyway, former helpers... of whom I am choosing not to name at the moment.... have opted out on setup this year. ANYONE interested in filling in? Anyone? Let me know... stacey@tyranena.com.

Brewing: The boys will be brewing on Friday; either a double batch of Scotch Ale (if the malt arrives) or a single batch of Stone Tepee Pale Ale and another single batch of Chief BlackHawk Porter.

Bottling: On Monday the crew bottled 200 plus cases of Headless Man Amber Alt. There will be one case of mislabels for sale on Wednesday.

Wednesday is Christmas Eve. For those last minute shoppers, the Tasting Room will be open from 2:00 to 7:00 pm on Christmas Eve.... Get your growler fills, gift certificates, Tyranena-wear and a glass of good cheer while you wait! The Tasting Room is also a perfect stop for holiday travelers who need a moment of repreive from snow-covered roads and insane traffic! (And an easy off/on from the I-94 to boot!)

Thursday is Christmas. The brewery and Tasting Room will be closed on Christmas Day.

Saturday is Live Music: The Rowdy Prairie Dogs. This week we bring you a new band to play at the brewery. The Rowdy Prairie Dogs play Americana Music: Bluesy, Country-Rocking, Storytelling, Swampy, Southern-style Americana music. But these are northern boys with a southern heart. Their music takes you on a journey down the Dixie Highway from one end of the Mississippi River to the other. In the last year, Robert J. and The Rowdy Prairie Dogs have had quite a ride... Releasing 2 CDs, winning 6 MAMA Awards including Best Country CD, Best Rock CD and Vocalist of the Year, and having one of there albums climb to #19 on the Americana chart in Europe and to #14 on the Roots Rock Chart. And this Saturday they'll be playing for Tyranenaeans.... help give them the warm welcome performers are accustomed to when playing the Tasting Room!

The Rowdy Prairie Dogs - Americana - 7:00 to 10:00 p.m.

Future musical performances can be found at:  www.tyranena.com/events/musicschedule.htm.

Sunday is... the Last Day of the Weekend! Coming down to the brewery may be your only chance to avoid all of that housework, shoveling or other assigned special projects. We'll have the game on our high-definition screens... maybe even with the volume turned on.  Join us  between 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

[Tip Top]

Greetings fellow Tyranenaeans,

What a challenge things have been as of late. If anything could have gone wrong in the last couple of weeks... it has. I won't bore you with all of the details... and merely thinking about them has my stress levels and blood pressure rising. I'll just leave you with this image... me attempting to work on tiny, little electrical components that I can barely see is much like a bull stomping through a china shop... and just as destructive... and probably as expensive... Hopefully, we will be getting a new component in today, as the old one is no longer in one piece. Brewing is a bit more challenging without the automated temperature controls. In other news...

Come Celebrate ObamaNight On Tuesday, January 20. Okay... so I voted for the hot soccer mom, but we are going to celebrate Obama's Inauguration on Tuesday, January 20. I don't know that we have any details worked out yet... but I have been thinking of several things:  A Sarah Palin costume contest (participants get a free pint), a Wii bowling contest (beat Obama's score of 38 and get a free pint -- that's fewer than 2 pins per ball!)... and/or a "Who said this in the campaign?" contest  Think we had some other thoughts floating around but we'll see what we ultimately come up with. One thing is for sure... we will have Greg bartending (for those that don't know... Greg is our most conservative bartender... and enjoys his political debates with our most liberal of Tyranenaeans (mainly Steve, William, Richard and Don)). Patricia seems to think we should make it a black tie event... but I don't think I own one. Suggestions are welcome and details will follow. I do know that we will be tapping a new beer at the event...

Come Enjoy A MacObama Ale At ObamaNight. Yeah... I am pretty sure that Obama is not Scottish... but we brewed our 2009 version of our Scotch Ale and will be tapping on ObamaNight.  We have slightly altered the recipe from last year... marginally increasing the amount of peated malt (I could not taste it in last year's version)... and using the traditional ingredient of roasted barley (just a wee bit)... we removed a dark caramel malt and replaced with... well a special malt that should also contribute well to the overall character. As always, we use plenty of Scotland's finest Golden Promise as well as our Wisconsin base malt. This beer weighs in at about 7.7% ABV. We are looking for a name for this beer... in fact, we have been looking for a name for the last few years and have had no success. Won't you help us? The beer is going to be dedicated to an early resident of Lake Mills, a Scottish gentleman who served in the military and unsuccessfully tried to raise sheep on the north edge of Rock Lake. Please submit any suggestions to stacey@tyranena.com.

Post ObamaNight Hangover. I've spent the last two months complaining about the rising costs of all of our ingredients and such. As of January 1, we passed along a price increase to our wholesalers... and Wednesday, January 21 we will be increasing prices in the Tasting Room.

Tyranena In ObamaLand? Maybe. Jessie is looking into the possibility of distributing Tyranena beer down to our neighbor to the south. Have thought about this in the past... but the laws in Illinois are not exactly brewery friendly. Having seen the fun New Glarus and Bells have had in Illinois, we have been putting this off.  But now may just be the time.

Tyranena Brewing Company Closing? Perhaps. I'm trying to get appointed to the U.S. Senate. My bid to be Illinois' junior Senator appears to have failed (I know the Illinois' Governor's phone was tapped... hopefully not his email, though). I am still holding out hope that I might yet be selected to represent the State of New York as its junior Senator. Right now a career change sounds like fun. Speaking of fun...

Vacation Destination. I am in desperate need of a vacation... just ask anyone who works here! I would appreciate any suggestions for a good adventure.

Unblended Devil Over A Barrel On Tap. We recently put a keg of the 100 percent barrel-aged version of Devil Over A Barrel. Yum! It will not last long.

Brewer Nevin's First Week. Benji's replacement, Nevin, began working this week... we'll see how long he lasts! Thankfully Benji is here to do the training... at least for the month of January. We are giving him a pretty full first week with lots of brewing, filtering, bottling and kegging.

Brewing: Brewing a double batch of Rocky's Revenge and batches 2 and 3 of our next Brewers Gone Wild! series beer this week.

Bottling: Bottled 455 cases of Bitter Woman IPA on Monday and 372 cases of Rocky's Revenge today. 2 cases of mislabels for each flavor will be available at 4:30 pm this afternoon.

[JJ]

Next Brewers Gone Wild! Imperial Cherry Porter
Released Late January-Mid February.
Will be called Paradise by the Dashboard Light - Yes, it's after the Meatloaf song...
Anticipated ABV 7.5-8%

[Tip Top]

Greetings fellow Tyranenaeans,

Come Celebrate ObamaNight On Tuesday, January 20. Here's the scoop. We're celebrating the Obama Inauguration. We'll be open at 4:30 until 11:00 p.m. or so. A free pint for anyone that dresses up as Sarah Palin (the woman for whom I voted). To be fair to the men (and because I don't want to see any of them dressed up as Sarah Palin), a free pint to anyone that dresses up as the Illinois Governor, Rod Blagojevich. Okay, while we're giving out free pints... anyone dressed in Inaugural formal wear will get a free pint as well. And anyone wearing a Hillary pant suit... well, that will be double priced pints for you. We'll also be tapping this year's Scotch Ale (name still undertermined -- thanks for all of the input thus far) which, for this one night only, we'll be calling "InaugurAle" (yes Shaun, I still think it is a stupid name).

Post ObamaNight Hangover. I've spent the last two months complaining about the rising costs of all of our ingredients and such. As of January 1, we passed along a price increase to our wholesalers... and on Wednesday, January 21, we will be increasing prices in the Tasting Room as well.

Next Brewers Gone Wild! Beer:  Paradise By The Dash Board Lights - A Doubly Blessed Cherry Porter. Yes, another variation of an Imperial Porter (I am currently enamored with the style and have another 4 or 5 versions I yet wish to brew). This one was inspired by a Cherry Stout brewed by Fitger's that we tasted at the Autumn Brew Review in St. Paul... although I now have no recollection of how it actually tasted. Paradise By The Dash Board Lights was brewed with our "base" Imperial Porter recipe with the addition of 840 pounds of tart cherry puree (thankfully Benji and Nevin added all of that to the brew kettle). I think it has a nice tartness... and a nice level of cherry flavor. Stacey says she cannot taste the cherry at all (though I wonder if she really even knows what an imperial porter should taste like).  Everything changes after the yeast drops out, we filter the beer, and also once carbonated. We do not yet know when Paradise By The Dash Board Lights will be available... we are hopeful for the end of the month... but we are awaiting labels from our supplier. Strangely... no... make that surprisingly, the federal government approved the label in only 2 days! It may have even been a day and a half!

Benji's Last Brew. Well, not quite his last brew. But Benji has wanted to brew a smoked porter here for quite some time... and we are going to let him do it. This will be a variation of our Imperial Porter recipe... substituting in some German-smoked malt and adding chipotle peppers. This will be the brewery's first experience with smoked malt and chipotle peppers. We hope to debut the beer at Benji's going away party on January 30.

Unblended Devil Over A Barrel On Tap. We are down to our last 1/2 barrel of 100 percent barrel-aged version of Devil Over A Barrel. Yum! It will not last long... in fact, if it is not gone by ObamaNight... we are taking it off tap to put the Scotch Ale on.

Brewer Nevin's Second Week. Benji's replacement, Nevin, continues to show up... he may just make it the entire month.

Brewing: Brewing a double batch of Bitter Woman IPA and a batch of Chipotle Smoked Imperial Porter. Rocky's Revenge and batches 2 and 3 of our next Brewers Gone Wild! series beer this week.

Bottling: Bottled 287 cases of Stone Tepee Pale Ale on Tuesday... truly a miserable experience with a very ill-behaving labeler. I think we have 5 cases of mislabels available in the Tasting Room. Will be bottling approximately 320 cases of Bitter Woman IPA on Thursday.

[Tip Top]

Greetings Tyranenaeans!

       

Devourer here. Just wanted to remind everyone that we are holding SPECIAL HOURS this evening in the Tasting Room from 4:30 to 11:00 pm in honor of the newly inaugurated 44th President of the United States, Barrack Obama.

         

We'll be tapping our 2009 Scotch Ale - proudly dubbed "InaugurAle" for tonight only. The beer will stick around for awhile, but the the special name will be eliminated after this evening's festivities. (Sorry Shaun!)

           

Also, the stingy Founder is offering a few breaks on pints tonight for anyone willing to costume-up. Here are his parameters:

    *
      A free pint for anyone that dresses up as Sarah Palin.
    *
      To be fair to the men (and because Rob doesn't want to see any of them dressed up as Sarah Palin), a free pint to anyone that dresses up as Illinois Governor, Rod Blagojevich.
    *
      While we're giving out free pints... anyone dressed in Inaugural formal wear gets a free pint too.
    *
      And anyone wearing a Hillary pant suit... well, that will be double priced pints for you!

And just because it's always more fun to have snacks at a party, someone suggested that we have a potluck during what Rob has deemed "ObamaNight" at the brewery. So... let's do it! No theme, no demands.... just feel free to bring something to contribute... Steve O. and Mike... I assume you two guys are in charge of bringing cheese! Potluck will start at 6:00 pm.

         

Tonight will also be the final night before we raise prices in the Tasting Room. Cheap(er) beer and political banter... what more could you ask for on a Tuesday evening?

       

Hope to see you there!

       

Stacey (aka the Devourer of Men's Souls & Emasculator of Men's Egos)

[Tip Top]

Greetings fellow Tyranenaeans,

Our first week without Benji... Stacey cried... and I've had a whole lot of work... more than I anticipated.

Benji's Chipotle Smoked Imperial Porter. Mmmmm... it is darn tasty. Not too smoky... in fact, I think the bulk of the smoky flavor and aroma comes from the chipotle peppers. And the spice level is about perfect for me... just enough to tingle my tongue but no heat. Others think there is a gentle warming... while others still feel no effects at all. In other words... it is not one of those novelty pepper beers where you only want a sip or two... I drank this all weekend.

Sheep Shagger Scotch Ale Now On Tap! Our 2009 variation of our Scotch Ale is now on tap in the Tasting Room... and should be on tap at the Old Fashioned in Madison (as their beer of the month).  Seems to be going quite well in the Tasting Room. Just a tad more peated than last year's variation. I normally do not enjoy big malty beers... but this one has been an exception.

Next Brewers Gone Wild! Beer:  Paradise By The Dash Board Lights - A Doubly Blessed Imperial Cherry Porter. We kegged today and will be bottling on Thursday... but it will not be going on tap until next Wednesday (Stacey is afraid no one would show up when she bartends next Wednesday so we are holding off on the release until then). This beer is a bit of a balancing act... we wanted the cherry to come through... but not to overwhelm the dark malts of the porter. We didn't want this to be a fruit beer... but a Porter with a fruit accent. I think we hit it... you'll have to let me know... next week.

Sheep Shagger Beer Of The Month At Old Fashioned In Madison. Our Scotch Ale is featured as Beer Of The Month at Old Fashioned for February. Tomorrow, Thursday, February 5 a number of Tyranenaeans are heading into the Old Fashioned to listen to the North Country Drifters. Perhaps you should join us for a little Sheep Shagging... er, enjoying a few pints of Sheep Shagger Scotch Ale.

Bitter Woman IPA To Be On Tap At The Memorial Union In Madison. We have been advised that Bitter Woman IPA will be the rotating tap at the Memorial Union this spring... which is February, March and April. Hoping that it will be on tap by tomorrow (Thursday, February 5) so we can also enjoy listening to the Cork 'n Bottle String Band in the Rathskeller while enjoying a pint or two of my favorite beer. If the beer sells well enough, we hope they consider it for a mainstay.

Brewing: Brewing a double batch of Bitter Woman IPA and a single batch of Chief BlackHawk Porter this week.

Bottling: Bottling 540 or so cases of our next Brewers Gone Wild! Series beer... Paradise By The Dashboard Lights Doubly Blessed Imperial Cherry Porter. We will have no mislabels... which is to say... I get all of the mislabels.

[Surly Duff]

I had a couple pints of Benji's Chipotle Smoked Imperial Porter and it's damn tasty stuff.  I got a little warmth after several sips.  Like Rob said, no real sign of the smoked part but the chipotles have a nice aroma to it.  Also had a number of pints of the Sheep Shagger Scotch Ale and really liked it.  Love Scotch ales.

[Surly Duff]

A little disappointed to be writing this newsletter this week... you see I am supposed to be on vacation.  February is always a slow month... so I scheduled our brewing and bottling to avoid this week... have fresh yeast arriving for brewing next week... scheduled our new brewer Nevin to be out of the brewery for the week (since he is likely six to twelve months from being able to be left alone in the brewery)... but then things just kinda fell apart. Guess I'll just have to wait until next year for a vacation. Pity my coworkers for the next year! On the other hand... getting a chance to take care of some maintenance around the brewery... and knowing me, I am sure that I am going to break something important in the process.
     
In the meantime...
         
Next Brewers Gone Wild! Beer:  Paradise By The Dash Board Lights - A Doubly Blessed Imperial Cherry Porter Tapped Tonight. Yes, it will finally be tapped and sold in 4-packs here in the Tasting Room. We saved the tapping for "Survive The Night With Stacey" night... as an inducement to suffer poor service and come see Stacey working behind the bar. Paradise By The Dash Board Lights is our "base" Imperial Porter with the addition of tart red cherry puree. It is a bit of a balancing act... getting just enough cherry into the beer that the flavor comes through... but no so much that you do not taste the imperial porter. I think we balanced it just right... the tartness and cherry flavor come through early... and then the roastiness of the dark malts finish off the taste. Come on down and judge for yourself!
 
Our local distributor, as well as our distributors in Madison and Milwaukee, have already picked up this beer; you should be seeing it on shelves very soon! Most of our remaining distributors are scheduled to pick up their allottments either later this week or next, so it won't be long before it is readily available in all of our markets.

Brewing: No brewing this week... was supposed to be on vacation.

Bottling: No bottling this week... was supposed to be on vacation.


-----------
 
And he was gonna come to Blue Nile for the Surly Three release party with that vacation time. 

[Surly Duff]

Nevin Ruins First Batch Of Beer (aka Nevin Creates Three Beaches Filled With Hundreds Of Angry, Hate-Filled Bitter Women That Want To Rip Your Tongue Out Honey Blonde). Yup, attempted to brew a batch of Three Beaches Honey Blonde on Monday... the lightest, least-hopped beer that we craft. The recipe calls for a mere 2 pounds 6 ounces of hops... Nevin used 22 pounds 6 ounces. That is way more bittering hops than we use even in Bitter Woman IPA. I haven't gone through the calculations... but this is probably a 100+ IBU beer with absolutely no malt backbone for balance. It will be visiting the Lake Mills wastewater treatment facility but we will likely save a couple of buckets for some "bucket beer" in the Tasting Room some night. Luckily malt and hop prices are pretty low now... so this is under a $2,000 error... just barely under. So what to do... Stacey thinks I shouldn't ask this... but I am going to ask you anyway... if you think I should cut my losses send an email to Cut Your Losses, Fire The Fool. But, if you think it is an honest mistake that can occur working for a difficult boss then send an email to Pity The Poor Fool. (Don't worry Nevin, your job security doesn't really rest on the results of this informal poll... but you should probably send multiple votes...)

Dirty Old Man Imperial Rye Porter Aged In Rye Whiskey Barrels Voted Best Imperial Porter Of The Midwest. We received notice this week from the United States Beer Tasting Championships that our Dirty Old Man won these honors. The exerpt from the email below, is from one of the organizers:

Congratulations! Dirty Old Man won Best of the Midwest in our Imperial Porter category, and beat some GREAT competition in doing so. What a wonderfully flavorful and nuanced beer! The complexity and depth of flavor was cited most often in our panel's tasting notes.


Brewing: Brewing a double batch of Rocky's Revenge, a single batch of Three Beaches Honey Blonde and hopefully a batch of Dirty Old Man Imperial Rye Porter (if the ingredients get here in time).

Bottling: No bottling this week.

[flyingbison]

Nevin Ruins First Batch Of Beer (aka Nevin Creates Three Beaches Filled With Hundreds Of Angry, Hate-Filled Bitter Women That Want To Rip Your Tongue Out Honey Blonde). Yup, attempted to brew a batch of Three Beaches Honey Blonde on Monday... the lightest, least-hopped beer that we craft. The recipe calls for a mere 2 pounds 6 ounces of hops... Nevin used 22 pounds 6 ounces. That is way more bittering hops than we use even in Bitter Woman IPA. I haven't gone through the calculations... but this is probably a 100+ IBU beer with absolutely no malt backbone for balance. It will be visiting the Lake Mills wastewater treatment facility but we will likely save a couple of buckets for some "bucket beer" in the Tasting Room some night. Luckily malt and hop prices are pretty low now... so this is under a $2,000 error... just barely under. So what to do... Stacey thinks I shouldn't ask this... but I am going to ask you anyway... if you think I should cut my losses send an email to Cut Your Losses, Fire The Fool. But, if you think it is an honest mistake that can occur working for a difficult boss then send an email to Pity The Poor Fool. (Don't worry Nevin, your job security doesn't really rest on the results of this informal poll... but you should probably send multiple votes...)

Travis > sounds like a job opportunity might be opening up for you

[Kathleen]

Wow.  Could Rob get any more bitter?

I understand his anger over the error, but wow.

[JJ]

Wow.  Could Rob get any more bitter?

I understand his anger over the error, but wow.

No doubt!

I say fire him and hire me. Rob>

[mr. furley]

Wow.  Could Rob get any more bitter?

I understand his anger over the error, but wow.

thankfully he doesn't post here or read here

[mr. furley]

this make it here yet?


from naseblog>
[Update from Rob Larson: "next winter"...drats!]
(Lake Mills, WI) - Tyranena Brewing just released its ode to Meatloaf, Paradise by the Dashboard Lights, and now it looks like there will be another new brew coming in bottles soon called Sheep Shagger. (What a name!) Wait, or will it be released soon? Despite label approval coming through in February, Robin Shepard of The Daily Page writes that it won’t be bottled until next winter according to brewery owner and brewmaster, Rob Larson. The article was printed three weeks ago so maybe there is still hope that there was a change in heart and some will be bottled for this winter.


Nevertheless, you may find it on tap if you are in Wisconsin. More info on the beer courtesy of The Daily Page: “The 2009 rendition of this brew was temporarily dubbed InaugurAle for the Inauguration Day release. The beer’s real name, though, is Sheep Shagger Scotch Ale. This is a tribute to a Scottish immigrant to the Lake Mills region known as Colonel Carmichael, who settled near the head of Rock Lake in 1844 with his sheep farm. This was not a very successful business venture by most accounts, but just historically memorable enough to inspire the name of this beer, and goes with Larson’s practice of using local historical figures for the names of his beers. Tyranena, the name of the brewery, is the American Indian name for Rock Lake.

Sheep Shagger Scotch Ale is currently available in the Tryanena tasting room for $4/pint and $8.50/growler-refill. It will not be bottled until next winter, but it should start turning up in local bars on tap within the next few weeks. It is also featured as the Beer of the Month for February at The Old Fashioned in downtown Madison.”

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One Response to “Tyranena Sheep Shagger Scotch Ale on tap (and in bottles?)”

   1.
      GregR Says:
      February 26th, 2009 at 2:56 pm

      I wonder if they’re licensing that name, “Sheep shagger”, because its not original. (Or probably no licensing needed, being different countries.)

      The Cairngorm Brewery (formerly Aviemore Brewery) in Scotland has been making Sheep Shagger, a pale Golden ale, for years. It’s quite good too. Guess it was around 2002 when I was there and tried it in a small pub in Newtonmore.

      http://www.cairngormbrewery.com

      Unfortunately Cairngorm mellowed the logo for Sheep Shagger when they bought out Aviemore. The Aviemore brewery used to have a cartoon of a man in a kilt running after a scared sheep. Made for a great tap handle!

[Surly Duff]

Stacey here, typing for Rob because he is currently bottling. And it doesn't help that he has a cold, which is making him a bit slower than ususal. Nonetheless, the commentary is from Rob... probably just a little nicer!

Bucket Beer TONIGHT. Nevin's bad batch from last week is being sent to the Lake Mills Wastewater Treatment Facility today... which means we will have buckets of this uber-hopped Honey Blonde in the Tasting Room tonight for your sampling enjoyment. Yes, it's just what it sounds like... there will be a couple of 5-gallon buckets (sanitary, of course) full of this non-carbonated, unfiltered brew... dip your glass and taste at your own risk! Rob says that it looks and even tastes like our regular Honey Blonde but with a coarse, harsh finish.


Brewing: Brewing (or brewed) another single batch of Three Beaches Honey Blonde and a single batch of Headless Man Amber Alt.

Bottling: Bottled approximately 123 cases of Headless Man Amber Alt on Monday (2 cases of mislabels) and currently bottling about 440 cases of Bitter Woman IPA today (at least 1 case of mislabels at this point). Mislabels will be available for sale at 4:30 pm in the Tasting Room this afternoon!

[Surly Duff]

Seem to have gotten over my stress-induced illness in time to enjoy the weather in the Beer Garden this past weekend. It was absolutely delightful enjoying a few mugs of Bitter Woman while basking in the warm sun. There is still just a hint of snow and ice present... and our gardener Hope needs to clean things up a bit... but it is looking promising!

Fair Warning:  Sheep Shagger Scotch Ale Almost Gone! We tapped our second to last 1/2 barrel of Sheep Shagger this past weekend. Other than our Imperial Porters... this will be the last of the big malty beers until fall. Kevin, you may want to fill a growler or two.

Next Brewers Gone Wild! Beer... Well, not going to tell you just yet. We submitted a label to our designer this week... and then it will head off to the TTB. Hopefully everything will be created and approved within two weeks and we can let you know what we are planning. Probably due out in early May... probably.


Brewing: Brewing a double batch of Bitter Woman IPA, a batch of Stone Tepee Pale Ale, and a batch of Root Beer this week. Filling the rye whiskey barrels with Rye Imperial Porter for a batch of Dirty Old Man that will be released this fall.

Bottling: No bottling this week.