Hop Harvest Season!!!!

is right about now. for a fine selection of north american hops, freshly picked from farms in the northers pacific region of the continental United States, check out this:

http://www.freshops.com/

peace

hot spice ale

So Wu and i have made the best smelling beer yet. Modeled after the Border Jumper Mexican Lager of DaveDave fame, this ale contains cactus, jalapeno peppers, sweet banana peppers, agave nector and rye malt, just to name a few. Dubbed the "Phenomagavely of Spirit", it should blossom and develop over time as the dialectic of fermentation and taste strain and mold each other into one hell of a good drink. peace for now

Holy Fucking Hop Stick

Hop Production is up 27% in 2008. 9% in Oregon, 27% in Washington and a killer 57% in Idaho, amongst all the other hop growing states. This is FANTASTIC news for everyone, homebrewers to professionals, and will help level out prices of craft beers as well as lower the prices per ounce of hop for us homebrewers. Let's demand the supply and keep buying, and buying in bulk. The economy is hitting the dumps but the craft beer industry has never been stronger.

Here's a link to the PDF (the last paragraph pertains to hops): Hop Production Up For 2008

It's like they say, "beer will get you through times of no money much better than money will get you through times with no beer."

Chicago Branch

The Chicago Operations are now in full swing. We have six batches under our belts and more in the works. On the downside, our apartment is on the third floor and during the summer the temp stayed around 80 all the time. As a consequence our brews, all ales, suffered. They have that buttery cider yeast byproduct that has plagued me since i started making beer. Winter is coming up (its already fucking cold here in the city), so maybe ill stash a carboy in the stone walled basement and make some chicago lager?

And something elese: Unbelievably, in the entire city limits there is only one homebrew supply store, and their hop selection is real bad. Listermans is much much better. I thought this was Chicago, where everything is available? I guess the alcohol police have some sort of legacy here...

Any thoughts on websites that ship hops so i can get what i want instead of substituting my first choice for a second or sometimes third?

Wu and i are (quite cutely) naming all of our batches after famous thinkers and their works. So be prepared for some shamelessly bad beer puns. love you all. drink up slackers