...what a strange week.

This week we made the final moves on two pub exclusives released today. At noon, we put Shark Beer out there. This is our wet hop beer for 2010. At the core, it's kind of a Kolsch. Where we lose that is how irrisponsibly we put hops in. Our friends out in Moxee, WA sent us 50 pounds of Galena fresh off the bine. You see, I only asked for 40. My mother always said, "Waste not, want not", so me and my helpers Josh and Pete decided to put them all in. Well, the result is pretty ridiculous in all the right ways. The Kolsch yeast kept this barley and wheat based beer zippy and clean. Just the right condition to REALLY experience hops. Beautiful!

So about 30 minutes ago, we put Odd Ummm... on tap. This autumn beer started it's life as an Ethiopian Tej with chunky, unfiltered honey and Gesho leaves and sticks. This wort was fermented with champagne yeast yielding a much different experience than you might expect from a beer. During fermentation, we added 45 pounds of fresh peaches from up the road at Fifer Orchards and let 'er rip. We ended up with a really neat drink that we're excited to share with you.

In addition to these two, we're still pouring the 120 we made so come and get it while it lasts.

We had some brewing space clear up as a result of the above so I asked Matt of Zeno collaboration fame to work with me again on another beer. We formulated a recipe on Thursday of last week and got our ingredients together, asked the lab to get us some yeast and set out to make a not-so-icky amber ale (I usually find amber ales icky) with some Nelson Sauvin hops we've been itching to use. That was brewed on Wednesday with a whole bunch of awesome pub co-workers stopping in to help as time permitted. Notably, JB stirred the mash for us and Silverman helped move stuff and clean up and introduce me to the Indulgence Wrap. Good Christ what a sandwich! It's the indulgence burger all crumbled up and sauteed and wrapped upin a tortilla and grilled off. I think my heart stopped a few times while I was eating it but it was so worth it! Thanks, Ashley. I will never say I hate wraps again. Back to the beer... This beer started at 15 Plato and was hopped with the aformentioned Nelson Sauvin hops and, in keeping with the New Zealand flow, some Southern Cross for bittering. It's fermenting nice and cool with Chico ale yeast. I cannot wait until this comes out.

Upcoming release dates:

The Oktoberfest beer will be on tap on the 15th of October. The amber beer will be on tap two days prior. We'll keep the names secret until then...

So the Pain Relievazhave returned. We made a new song and shot a new video as part of the Discovery channel show. That was yesterday. Much silliness occurred but the silliness is not over. Next Friday, we'll be finishing the shoot in Brooklyn. I'm pretty sure that this will be part of the first episode so stay tuned.

And there we have it... See you next time.

(can you count how may times i typed dot dot dot?)