Today was a good day

Alright- so I went a judgin' today. Good times. I did English Bitters and Strong Ales. I got to judge with a master judge (I'm but an apprentice) for the Bitters, and it was a good lesson in how to judge. The Bitters were ok, but they tended to being overly astringent. The strong beers were all over the place and we didn't agree much in the judging. This was in part due to the lack of hierarchy, I think, as we had no master or otherwise highly ranked judge to defer to. Overall, I was surprised the range of quality in the homebrew at the event. Most either had technical flaws or were clearly out of style. In most of our sessions, it was hard to find many more than three beers that were ok on both ends. Still, my beer didn't place in the IPA category- so I'm curious to see what the feedback is.

I got into the raffle, after not winning last time (though I got a t-shirt from a dude I met there). This time, I made out. I got to go up three time, landing some pint glasses, some shirts and a copy of Beer Smith, which I tried to pay for unsuccesfully on Friday. I also got to win a beer sign, which the lovely young woman across from me wanted. I had been judging with her fiance and was extolling the virtues of marriage, so I was more than glad to pass it along to her. Next round up, she won and I got some dark Belgian candy sugar. Later, I gave my ride some Isodaphor, and got light candy sugar. The gift economy of brewing is fascinating.

So, fun to judge, fun to enter and fun to be in the raffle. Good times. 

Rube Goldbeer

Yeah, if you thought you had way too much free time on your hands, you haven't met these guys.



Think of this as setting the bar for St. Patty's weekend. It'll give you something to shoot for.

Spring Training

So I just got back from a mini vacation to escape the winter blues. The wife and I went down to Bradenton, FL for Pirates Spring Training. It was a nice extended weekend. I managed to get sunburned on the very first day. Anyways, in my previous post Sui Generis, I talked about how I like to pick up spirits unavailable in PA whenever I go out of town. Well, we ended up checking a bag on our return flight specifically for the booze we picked up, and I thought I might share with you what we got.

Fighting Cock Straight Kentucky Bourbon: This 103 proof whiskey is aged a minimum of 6 years. I am thoroughly expecting it to be anything but high class, but when you have a name like that and a crazed rooster on the bottle, it's hard not to say "oh, I gotta get me some of that."

Pusser's British Navy Rum is the original Navy Rum. The recipe was purchased from the Royal Navy by an American Entrepreneur after the Navy officially ended a long tradition of issuing daily rum rations to sailors. The back of the bottle touts a fanciful story of how the rum has been traditionally made in wooden pot stills over the past two hundred years, and how this process somehow imbues the rum with it's unique characteristics. A pleasant tail, but not exactly 100% accurate. The truth is that Pusser's doesn't distill their own rum at all. The original recipe, dating back over 350 years, is actually a blend of five other rums from various West Indian Islands; a process that today's modern Navy rum still follows. I plan to write a more in depth article about the Royal Navy's rum at a later date. I've been reading a very good book about rum's influence on the New World. It's because of this fascination that I told myself I had to buy a bottle of Pusser's if I ever came across it.

Wiser's Very Old 18 Year Blended Canadian Whisky: I am Actually quite surprised that the PLCB does not carry any of the Wiser's line. It happens to be a fairly well known and established brand. Even Thorogood refers to his good buddy Wiser in his song "I drink Alone" (and you thought he was just singing about beer). As the name implies, this is a very old Canadian whisky. It's been aged 18 years and I am looking forward to cracking this one open.

Ron Diaz Spiced Rum is a 3 year old rum out of Barbados. I didn't know a thing about this rum when I bought it. After some research, I found out that it's actually is a pretty cheap rum popular with the college crowd. I found this picture of what the bottle used to look like.I was definitely drawn in by a very well done makeover. But it may not be just cosmetic. I also noticed that they upped the alcohol content from what used to be 60 proof to 70. But I never knock anything till I try it. I truly hope it turns out good. After all, back in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Barbados was where all the best rum came from. Of course back then you're basically comparing one distillery to another by who threw more dead rats into the mix to kick-start the fermentation, or how many chamber pots were emptied in to keep the slaves from steeling it. Hmm tasty.

So that's what I brought back from Florida. I will be sure to give a follow up on how things turn out once I get around to trying them all. Until then, keep on drink'n.

King of the Zombies

Last weekend, I had a drink called an Electric Long Island. The bartender had suggested it as a drink he makes well, and it was indeed very delicious and inebriating. He had described it as "a Long Island Ice Tea with Bols instead of Coke." Unlike the Blue Hurricane , it had just the right amount of Bols. It was a very well balanced drink that delivered quite a punch, but his description hadn't sat quite right with me. "A Long Island Ice Tea with Bols instead of Coke." He seemed like a fairly knowledgeable bartender, and I didn't want to be a dick, so I bit my tongue. But what I wanted to do was launch into a lecture about a seldom mentioned classification of drink that everyone's had but no one knows the name of. I wanted to correct him and say "Oh, you mean a Zombie with Bols?"

The Zombie. One of the most appropriate names for a drink I know of, since it does quite handily suppress your higher brain functions; leading to flat-footed shuffling, unintelligible groaning, and often a bit of drooling. The best way to tell you what a Zombie is, is to say that a Long Island Ice Tea is a Zombie with Coke. Get it now? Or do you not know how to make a Long Island? Lots of folks don't, and often I've gotten strange looks from people when I make one for them. I often get "Oh, you don't put ice tea in it?" or "Ew... why do you put Coke in it?" (The answers to those, respectively, are "No, you don't" and "Yes, otherwise it wouldn't look like ice tea.") So let's start there.

Long Island Ice Tea
1/2 oz vodka
1/2 oz gin
1/2 oz triple sec
1/2 oz light or gold rum
1/2 oz tequila
2 oz sour mix
Shake, pour over ice, top with Coca Cola, then stir.

That, in spite of what anyone else may tell you, is how you make a Long Island Ice Tea. I often skew the ingredients a bit, putting less gin and tequila in it, and more vodka and rum; but that is non-standard.

Now, if you take away the Coke you have the base for a Zombie. It's kind of just mixing all your booze together with some sours over ice. It's a fantastic base for making other drinks; all you have to do is mix in whatever liqueur you have on hand, possibly some Sprite to make it fizzy, and you've got a great cocktail!

Gila Monster

1/2 oz Vodka
1/2 oz Gin
1/2 oz Rum
2 oz Sweet and Sour Mix
Splash of Orange Juice (optional, I feel)
Splash of Triple Sec or Cointreau
Shake, pour over ice.
1/2 oz Melon Liqueur
Stir, serve.

Midori works well, but DeKyuper gives you a great, glowing, neon green color. Sweet, pretty, and balls-out strong. A really fun drink.




Greatful Dead
1/2 oz Tequila
1/2 oz vodka
1/2 oz Light Rum
1/2 oz Gin
1/2 oz Chambord raspberry liqueur
Shake, pour over ice, top off with Sprite.

Good one for someone who says they're not big on the flavor of alcohol. The Chambord is a bit burny and covers up the liquor very well.




Electric Long Island
1/2 oz vodka
1/2 oz gin
1/2 oz white (or light) rum
1/2 oz tequila
1/2 oz Bols
Shake, pour over ice. Top off with Sprite.
Garnish with 1 lemon wedge (or give it a squirt of lemon juice)

This was quite yummy, and I highly recommend giving one a try. Sweet, but not too sweet. Citrusy and and blue. Who doesn't like blue stuff?



Acapulco Zombie
1.5 oz Vodka
1.5 oz Tequila
1.5 oz Rum
Orange juice
Shake, pour over ice (into a large glass)
1 dash White Creme de Menthe
Splash of grapefruit juice
Stir, enjoy.

This is a bad night in a glass. Three shots of liquor, then mint and two kinds of citrus for flavoring. Just take a moment to really think about how that will taste... in both directions.

But don't stop there! There's no need to stick to those recipes, this is a very forgiving base to start with. Stick some strawberry liqueur in it and call it Pink Underwear, or some cherry liqueur and call it a Transfusion. Let your creativity run wild! Just remember, depending on how you're mixing them, you might be serving everyone triples. Might be a good way to end up with carpet dyed various colors.

So next time you're having a party... one of those kind of parties... bust out some Zombie drinks! They're colorful, everyone likes the taste, and they'll get you completely demolished in a hurry. What's not to like about that?