Baltimore Beer Week 2010 is dropping anchor in the Land of Pleasant Living from October 7th to 17th.
My favorite event of the week is the Chesapeake Real Ale Festival held at the Pratt Street Ale House on October 16th – more than a dozen breweries presenting their cask conditioned ales.
Leave a Comment » | 
beer festivals | 
Permalink
Posted by beeractivist
This biking and boozing travelogue begins as author John Greenfield cracks open a PBR and his sometimes travelmate Elizabeth downs a Sierra Nevada at Don’s Beachcomber Tavern in Astoria, Oregon after the two cyclists had dipped their rides in the surf near the coastal town of Florence.
Forty seven bars, ten weeks, and more than 3,500 miles later, John dips his wheel in the Atlantic at Revere Beach in Massachusetts, and ends his alcoholic odyssey in the Shipwreck Lounge, a dive bar filled with friendly drunks who assert that they just do “the usual crap that gos on in any small town bar in the U.S.”
John’s trip is testament to the truth of that humble boast.
John’s taste in beer is decidedly equal opportunity, swaying with unpretentious ease from bottles of Bud Light purchased at a convenience store and consumed in a parking lot all the way to imperial pints of house-brewed E.S.B. sipped while seated at the bar of the Livery brewpub in Benton Harbor, Michigan.
John’s street cred is impeccable, both for his long devotion to bicycles as well as his cheerful championing of draught beer. Check out his VoteWithYourFeetChicago blog for more of the former and hook up with the Garfield Park Draught Beer Preservation Society for more of the latter.
Greenfield’s writing style is easy and entertaining, to be enjoyed over a draught at your local dive bar. Order a copy from your local bookstore or get it from any online retailer such as the independent lulu.com.
2 Comments | Books, beer publications | Permalink
Posted by beeractivist
The fourth annual National Organic Brewing Challenge is upon us. And this time it is hitting home. I mean really hitting home. For the first time ever the competition will be held somewhere other than the Seven Bridge’s hometown of Santa Cruz, California — instead it will be in Washington D.C.
Er, well, technically it will be Shirlington, Virginia at the Capitol City Brewing brewpub. But I volunteered to receive the beer entries at mi casa in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of D.C.
If you haven’t started brewing yet, now is the time. No time left for delay. Get in the kitchen today or this weekend at the latest and brew a batch of organic homebrew. Follow the instructions below for brewing and entering the contest. We’ll be looking for judges and stewards so stay tuned for details.
WHAT: National Organic Brewing Challenge - this is Seven Bridges’ annual organic brewing competition for homebrewers as well as commercial brewers.
WHEN: October 16, hours tbd but likely late morning to early afternoon.
DEADLINE: Entries will be accepted from September 1 – October 9.
WHERE: Judging takes place at Capitol City Brewing in Shirlington.
COST: Fees to enter the competition but no fee to serve as a judge.
MORE INFO: Check out the Seven Bridges website for details on entering beers in the competition or serving as a judge or steward.
2 Comments | Organic Beer | Permalink
Posted by beeractivist
As if solar panels weren’t enough. The day after the solar PV system was completed we picked our first harvest of homegrown figs.
Well, I call them ‘homegrown’ but that term implies that the people in my home did something to grow them. But that’s just not true. All we did is wait and watch to see when the fig tree in our front yard would produce some fruit. Then, once we saw the birds and squirrels chowing down we figured it was time to pick.
So happens we were having a family reunion right when the figs ripened so I had plenty of help from my nieces, nephews and cousins’ children (are they second cousins or cousins once removed?). And fortunately our friend and neighbor Richard was home who came right over with his ladder.
Richard arrives with ladder and handy fruit picking basket.
My youngest nephew Peter don't need no stinkin' ladder. He climbed right up the tree.
Over at Richard and Andrea's, Andrea and Seung cut of the stems in preparation for fig jamming.
Andrea introduces us to the acronym FIGJAM – Fuck I’m Good, Just Ask Me.
The figs stew for about an hour with a bit of honey. Then they go in jars and get called fig jam.
Next year around this time I’ll have honey from my own hive to add to the fig harvest. Can’t wait.
2 Comments | Sustainability, beer and food pairing | Permalink
Posted by beeractivist
Seung and I moved into a new house in April. Ever since then I have been busy at work turning it into my green dream home. Last weekend we reached a major milestone: solar power.
This 5.4 kW solar photovoltaic system should produce most of the electricity we need to run the house. I’m stoked.
Standard Solar unloads solar pv panels from the truck.
Installation gets started and I'm surprised at how quickly the crew gets a couple rows of panels in place.
Minutes later, a bad omen? A serious thunderstorm stops installation efforts in their tracks.
But it ain't no thang, the storm passes ...
... the crew gets back to work...
... and the panels are all installed in about two hours.
The electrical work inside the house took much longer than expected, but at the end of day two I flipped the switch on the inverter and celebrated with a wind-powered Brooklyner Weiss.
This whole system will pay itself off in about five years. After that I’ll have a minimum of 20 more years of free energy guaranteed by a warranty. Right now, the incentives for solar in the District of Columbia are better than they’ve ever been. Interested in doing the same? Check out the District’s website on their incentive program right here. And if you don’t live in DC, check out this national database of renewable energy incentives.
7 Comments | Sustainability | Permalink
Posted by beeractivist
Fermenting Revolution: How to Drink Beer and Save the World
by Chris O'Brien
(New Society Publishers, 2006)
