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First Day of Christmas, Helios Brewery, Sheequarsar White Ale
The first beer of Christmas starts here in Okinawa Japan. The Southern most province of Japan. In 1961 when Okinawa was still a Military Protectorate following the Second World War, Tadashi Matsuda started the the Helios Distillery. Originally he sought to “Produce a Product Made of the Finest Locally Grown Ingredients”. This product was initially…
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Raise a Glass: USMC Birthday and VMI Founders Day
On November 10 1775, the Continental Congress resolved to establish two battalions of naval infantry for service in the infant United States of America. On November 11, 1834 Cadet John B. Strange assumed the role of Sentinel at the Lexington Armory and thus began the first state supported military college of Virginia Military Institute. Since…
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Learn to Homebrew Day
Almost every-time I tell someone that I enjoy home-brewing they are at first fascinated with the idea of making your own alcohol then nearly everyone doubts themselves and tells me “but I could never do that”. The American Homebrew Association established November 5th as Learn to Homebrew Day. While the AHA provides a recipe that…
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London Beer Flood
In an early evening night in October Mrs. Banfield was having tea with her two young daughters. The Banfield family was one of several poor Irish immigrant families that crammed into poorly constructed buildings along New Street. Living on the edge of poverty in London, England. Without warning a fifteen foot wave of English Porter…
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Homebrew Legalization Day, United States, 14 October
I generally stay far away from politics, but today is an exception. Forty-four years ago today President James (Jimmy) Earl Carter Jr. signed the Federal Transportation Bill H.R. 1337. A transportation bill may seem like a strange thing for a beer enthusiast to be happy about, but there was an amendment in that bill that…
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Mid-term Break from Learning About Beer to Enjoy Some Beers
This is mid-term week for Auburn Brewing Science Masters Program. I am up to my eyeballs in yeast cell biology, contamination test, and calculations for mass and energy. After a few days of studying I needed a break. I decided to try a Comparison Tasting for the Certified Cicerone Exam that I am also studying…
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Japan Beer Travels: Craft Beer Market
Realestate is expensive in Tokyo. So when you have to go down some sketchy back alleys to find a beer bar you don’t worry about your safety. By not being on the main drag The Craft Beer Market can have a small tasting room (20 seats) and 30 beers on tap. I went to try…
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Japan Beer Travels: Cooper Ale’s
When traveling I always seek out breweries and bottle-shops to get a good local feeling of the area. On a recent trip to Tokyo I took a slight tweak to this plan. I found a beer bar that had several beers that are hard or impossible to find in Okinawa. Cooper Ale’s is in the…
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First Day of Oktoberfest
Today, 17 September, marks the beginning of Oktoberfest. This folk festival originated in Munich, Germany but has spread to across the world. Japan is no exception and years ago when we lived near Yokohama we enjoyed the festival at the Red Brick Warehouse. At the Munich Oktoberfest there are strict rules about what can be…
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Sake Post: Three Sakes from Niigata Prefecture Japan.
There are some great benefits to living in Japan. One of these is the being able to subscribe to a Sake Post a sake sample box. The website www.sakepost.jp is in Japanese, but with the help of Google Translate I was able to navigate and sign up. For just over $16.00 a month I received…
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Wet Hop Beer
Right now (September-October) on hop farms around the world, farmers are picking this years crop of hops. The hummulous lupus is a bine where hops grow on the female plants. Hops grow best between the 38º and 51º parallel. The shortening days combined with the cooler evenings cause the hop cones to develop and ripen.…
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Lessons Learned: Check your math.
The childhood question has been answered of “when will I ever use math?”. There is a surprising amount of math involved in brewing. From conversion of gallons to barrels, to changing units of measurement for heat, energy, and pressure. All of these involve mathematical equations and require a high level of attention to ensure the…
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Luke Pernotto 