July 20th – Mark your calendars!
I was just got a very exciting e-mail from Ticketmaster (the criminals who charge a $12 surcharge on a $20 ticket but that’s separate issue). Yes folks, I was just informed Bryan Adams is coming to Atlanta (well Alpharetta…but some people consider that Atlanta).
July 20th is the date. Tickets go on sale tomorrow and based on how incredibly cool he is I’m thinking it’s gonna sell out fast.
It’s interesting to note that July 20th is a Sunday and his next performance is Tuesday night in Jacksonville. He just happens to have that Monday evening 7/21 free. Coincidence? Probably. But we’ll take it as a chance to lobby hard for a visit to MNB…maybe even a performance.
YAAAARGH!! (A treatise on taking a party seriously)
Most of the guests at our Brewhaha Saturday came in casual clothes. Which is fine. But let’s not forget that the invitation SPECIFICALLY said “full-on pirate garb.” Fortunately, not everyone chose to ignore our invitation.
Thanks to Dick, who not only came to the party, but documented himself in what appears to be “full-on pirate garb.” Of course, he obviously had to change upon arriving at the Brewhaha. There are few things worse than being the only pirate at a party. Being Travis is one of those things.
New friends and new tap handles…
Every Monday tends to hold some sort of new surprise. Be it a new recipe, a new twist on an old recipe, a new toy (read: kegerator, heat exchanger, autosiphon) or just some new friends to stop by. New toys and new friends are generally speaking my favorites. From this past Monday….
The first official MNB tap handle. Okay, I didn’t show you the bottom of it in the pic because the little screw doesn’t quite fit but I’m nonetheless proud of my work with the jigsaw and router to make it look like a semi-legitimate tap…and it’s just a first pass beta edition. Jonathan and I plan to hold carpentry day sometime in the near future and crank out one of these for each beer.
New Friends:
I think we must have had nearly 15 new friends at MNB this past week in addition to many of the regulars. While it took its toll on the supply chain (to the tune of about 9 gallons of beer) it was a stellar evening. Included among the newcomers were the homebrewers from Whittier Mill, the Bhutanese girl who works with Jonathan, and some guys who found our site because they were in London and were avid reader’s of Stonch’s blog. We are so international like that.
I think I’ll start doing a semi-regular new friends/new toys post. Maybe even feature a particular new friend and how they did (or didn’t) help with the brewing process.
Fosters: Australian for “Urine”
So I’ve been “Down Under” (in Australia) for the past week and am finally getting ready to head home. First off, I’ve gotta say that the Aussies are one friendly bunch. I actually mentioned my impression in passing to someone at dinner last night and was informed that they have recently been surpassed by the CANADIANS! Yes, that’s right, there IS actually a friendliest country award, Australia used to own it and as of last week they just lost out to the Canadians. I’ve been to Canada and I think the survey must be a bunch of crap.
Anyhow, I have taken some time to sample the local beers but I must first dispel a common myth – Fosters is NOT Australian for beer. In fact after a week here I have yet to find a place that serves Fosters and most people don’t even know what it is. That being said I did enjoy much of what the Aussies had to offer in the way of beer. Coopers Brewery has a great naturally carbonated pale Ale (sort of similar to a Sierra Nevada) and a Tasmanian brewer James Bogue has a good lager. My favorite by far though is the James Squire Amber Ale. They’ve been brewing it for over 125 years and use some native Australian hops. It has a nice copper colour and a fabulous finish. And yes, if you read the description page it says it goes well with Kangaroo – believe it or not that’s how I drank it last night – with a side of rare smoked kangaroo!
Joel uses MNB for personal gain
As many of you are already know, Joel is a rascal and a charlatan. True to form, he has gone behind our backs and created his own beer, commemorating who else but himself.
Joel is currently celebrating his UVA college reunion, complete with a MNB HooBrew in hand. The wahoo, for those who don’t know, is the historic fish said to haunt the UVA quad. Thomas Jefferson, who supplied the quote for this special edition beer, was the pirate who stalked the wahoo for years before slaying him and making fish sticks.
Captain Nosewater, the pirate hop
In honor of the pirate-themed Swashchuckler IPA (and Anchorman), I’ve named the next hop sprout, a Cascade, Captain Nosewater. He’s just a little guy right now, but come October I’m going to put an eye patch on him. He’ll be the terror of the garden.
Boozing Baby
This weekend I discovered that teething babies really like our Swashchuckler. Ok, so it wasn’t multiple babies, it was actually just one 
baby (my niece Noa Kate) and maybe she was actually more excited about the bottle than she was about the beer. Either way I was able to capture this sweet picture.
Her face says it all “Bitter yet Sweet”, “deviously pirate-like yet joyful as a clown”…yes, at the ripe young age of 6 months she understands what Monday Night Brewery is all about.
I think we should save this one for an ad campaign somewhere down the line.