Rocketman's Rocketplan -- moving in May?!?!

[Rocketman]

Alan,

That sounds great, and producing some of Shorty's "GBA" for the occasion would my pleasure!  I'd also be very happy to support the LSF.

I'm glad all you folks are excited, and I can't wait to be your new neighbor.

[KBCraig]

From nh.forsale:

For Sale in Nashua, NH:

After several years of enjoying the hobby of homebrewing beer, a change in
my priorities has motivated me to sell my beer homebrewing equipment. A
detailed list of everything I have for sale as well as contact information
can be found at:

http://www.blanchettefamily.org/brewery.html

Cheers!
-=RaOuL=-

[Rocketman]

Awesome, thanks Kev!  I just emailed the guy... lots of nice, useful stuff in that lot! 

[Russell Kanning]

you can pick up everyones stuff if your beer kills all competition.

[Michael Fisher]

Thanks Mike, I got over my hissy fit.? I've been spending time on Shorty. Wrote 2 new songs for the "Show".

Sweet!   


Matt,

Don't forget the Smuttynose beers (soon to be in Newmarket) and Squamscott beverages (in Newfields).   

[Rocketman]

Mike,

I'm a big fan of the Smuttynose brewery, and Redhook (Portsmouth) is pretty darn good as well.? I don't think I'm familiar with Squamscott.? Fortunately, these folks aren't directly competing so much with the brewpubs.? The cool thing about a brewpub is that it does handcrafted, specialty beers in small batches, and people can consume them (along with a good meal) in the same building where they were made, often in full view of the equipment.? It's a tried and true concept, and every decent-sized town in NH except Concord already has a successful brewpub.? This would fill a void, even if it's just a typical brewpub (which it wouldn't be? ).

The increasing popularity of smallish breweries like Smuttynose is a phenomenon for which I am very grateful.? There has never been a better time to be a beer drinker.? Innovation and competition have resulted in an American Beer Renaissance that has been growing in strength since the 70's, when the first brewpubs started popping up out west.? Now that an incredible variety of good beer can be found just about everywhere, people's tastes are gradually improving, and once you've got a taste for good ale, there's no going back to the standard goat piss!? It's like going from instant coffee to fresh-roasted Sumatran, or from Swisher Sweets to La Gloria Cubanas!

In Brewpubland, no two beers are alike.? We, the pubcrawlers, have learned to crave variety as much as anything.? Smuttynose IPA is an example -- it might be the hoppiest Pale Ale I've ever tasted, and at least 90% of the population probably couldn't choke one down.? It is the dictionary definition of bitter beer face, but those of us who like it crave it.? Smuttynose drinkers don't drink Smuttynose all the time, and they're the sort of people who support their local brewpub if it's worth a damn.? They go drink the local IPA and talk about how it does or doesn't resemble Smuttynose or a dozen other micro-style IPA's.? If they enjoy it, they leave with a half-gallon for the fridge.

Let me put it to you this way: after six years of teaching, I would really enjoy working in a field where quality is recognized and valued. ? 

[Rocketman]

Orwell envisioned Victory Gin; we have Bud Light.   

[KBCraig]

Rocketman, I believe you've nailed the target: variety, but excellence always.

I choke down horse piss because I have darn few alternatives. I love beer, and so I drink Busch Light just like I'd wolf down a Big Mac after being deprived of prime steak for years.

I'm not a big fan of hoppy beers, so IPA is not my choice. My all-time number one favorite is Maisel's Hefeweizen, from Gebr. Maisel, Bayreuth. And speaking of Bayreuth, the occasional Rauchbier isn't bad... but you can't live on it; one or two is the limit. It's not unlike Guiness in that regard, and I've had real Guiness, not the swill found in the U.S.

Just like wine, beer must be selected by the meal and occasion. And drinking "same ol'" beer on a camping trip is just fine, so long as you only want something golden and bubbly and alcoholic, to wash down chips and burgers.

Darnit... you're going to make me crack open another one!

Kevin

[AlanM]

Squamscott makes soda, not beer.

[Rocketman]

Right on, Kevin.

Sorry to rub salt in the wound, but you should have been at PorcFest -- My buddy and I brought four cases of "Porcupine Gold," and I bet you would have liked a bit better than your Busch Light.? All beer snobs have a cheap beer they like; I'm a Miller High Life man myself, and I catch a lot of flak for it.? ?

Brewing for myself and my own taste buds, I have mostly focused on stouts and American or English ales.  I have a lot to learn about other styles, but I'm willing to do the work and get them right.  The equipment I just agreed to purchase from that guy in Nashua will help!  The guy was really cool and said he'd hold onto the stuff until December when I can make it up there.

We bottled ten gallons of Pumpkin Brown Ale yesterday, and I can already tell it will be my best batch ever.  If I have a brewpub, that will absolutely be my fall seasonal beer.  No fun hacking up a bunch of pumpkins, but it's always worth the effort!

[Ron Helwig]

Rocketman, you gotta try making some hefeweissen and doppelbock. IMHO, they're the only ones worth drinking, besides something as grand as Sam Adams' Utopias (which is basically beer as whiskey).

[Pat McCotter]

Energy prices for the brewpub would probably be lower in Concord. It has a district heating company using wood and waste oil as fuel. Steam to the buildings. You would use a heat exchanger/converter for heating the tuns instead of an oil or gas fired boiler.

(Yes , I work for the company. )

[Rocketman]

Wow Pat, that's good to know.? ?

I've never been a hefeweizen fanatic, rhelwig, but I can sure taste the difference between a good one and a bad one.? I'll try to brew a good one up for the hefeweizen enthusiasts.? Dopplebock is a very interesting style, one I haven't yet tried to brew.? If I can do them well, both would likely be popular as specialty beers.? For year-round regulars I would have to have an IPA, a stout of some kind, a "crossover" beer for goat piss drinkers to cut their teeth on (something like my Porcupine Gold), and Shorty Dawkins' Good Brown Ale.? That's minimum.? Nobody gets away with doing less than four regulars.? I'd consider a fifth, which would be added by promoting a popular seasonal or specialty beer.? I envision one seasonal beer for each of the four seasons and 1-3 specialty beers at any given time according to my whims and the market.

rh, you can't pass over those classic ale styles!? Classic ales are delicious, fortifying, revolutionary, and coming back in a big way.? ?? My love will always be for ales, although I'll learn to brew that Eastern European stuff and make it taste right.

BTW Alan, I've been considering the possibility that Shorty's GBA recipe might have included a bit of rye.? It imparts a distinct flavor that goes well with brown ale, but fundamentally changes it.? Any insights?? I could go either way...

[Rocketman]

Damn, I'm getting fired up, kind of.     Fermenters are empty now, so this time I should try a style I've never done before.  Hmmmm....................

[KBCraig]

Ward's chili... Rocketman's brew...

NH just keeps getting better!