Keg, Puppy, Party

Just last week, Jeff Busby, my homebrewing hero, generously loaned me his kegging system. Every October, Jeff brews and kegs 25 gallons of beer and hosts his own Oktoberfest at his house. The rest of the year, he lets his equipment sit in his garage. This year, he said, "Brendan, you can use my kegging system whenever you like!" So I called him up! He gave me 5 5-gallon kegs, a CO2 tank, and taps!

What's more, I just kegged Pillbox's brand new ale: Snoring Puppy Pale Ale!! It's delicious. Super aromatic, slightly bitter, light in color, rich, very sweet, you can almost smell/taste cotton candy or something like it. I can't wait for you to try it...

SO, I will be hosting a tasting of Snoring Puppy in the near future (date, time, and place TBA)! I will invite all Pillbox members and their friends and family and you can have as much ale as you want! Of course I'll be keeping track so each beer comes out of your yearly total :).

Weizen-bottled!!!!

"Laura the Wise (n bock)" (Pillbox's newest weizenbock ale) is now available for your enjoyment!!!

I bottled it last night and was very pleased. You see, every time I move beer from one location to the next (i.e. siphoning from the carboy to the bottling bucket and from the bottling bucket to bottles) some beer manages to spill into a glass and I hate to put it to waste. I tasted the flat weizenbock and was very excited about its flavor. I offered my roommate some, and after joking "what, is it sweet tea?" he sipped it and said, "it tastes like sweet tea!!" It does, kinda. Very sweet, strong, and pleasantly pungent from the german barley and hops.

Pillbox members can pick this one up any time. It will be ready to drink in 2 weeks!

Please take your time to thank Laura for designing this delicious ale, modestly titled "Laura the Wise (n bock)"

Pillbox Brewery "My Cherry Valentine" Wins Competition

Great news, Pillbox fans!!

Pillbox Brewery's "My Cherry Valentine" just won Pizza Port's First Annual Homebrew Competition!!! I submitted 6 bottles of the February ale in the category "american pale" and won first place based on color, mouth feel, style, and originality. This means in May I will get to team up with the brewers at Port Brewing to enter the Pro-Am American Beer Festival, a national contest where microbreweries team up with homebrewers to compete for an award together. I entered the beer (the same beer many of you enjoyed) at the end of February and found out today, April first.

Foolishly Happy,
Brendan

Brewing tomorrow night!

Tomorrow I am utilizing:

6.5 pounds of wheat malt extract
3 pounds of malted barley from Germany
2 ounces of tettnang german hops
1 vial of hefeweizen ale yeast

in order to make a WEIZENBOCK, designed by Laura!

I'll be brewing at 7PM if you want to join me!

The weizenbock awaits a name and should be ready by mid-April. Continue enjoying the Chocolburn until then and let me know how you like it!

Guest Review: Chocolburn

Pours a thick dark liquid - almost seems slimy.  I can instantly smell the malts and hints of chocolate.  It has a bit of a smoky smell to it, almost as if it were oaked.  The chocolate scent comes at the end.  It's very smooth and creamy, and the taste is great!  I can't even taste the alcohol.   I taste malt, caramel, a bit of coffee and some chocolate.  Although the chocolate doesn't seem to stand out, this is a very enjoyable stout.  The flavors blend together nicely and it's very easy to drink.  A great stout from Pillbox Brewery.


Calvin
La Mirada, CA
Porter Member
Guest Blogger