The Beer Thread

Vayu-hatch wrote:
cellarman (what is that)

there are generally 2 flavors of cellarman:

A) "clean cellarman" - the brewers create the wort, but as soon as the liquid leaves the kettle, gets cooled and is transferred to fermentation tanks, it becomes the cellarman's responsibility.  sanitation is a big part of their job.

B) "barrel cellarman" - as the name implies, it involves babysitting barrels - long-aged stuff like BBA'ed beer, sours, etc.  often involves barrel maintenance, AKA cooperage.  regularly tastes the barrels to track their development, get rid of barrels that have gone bad, provide notes for the blenders, etc.

given their product portfolio, i would expect Aslin's cellarman to be more A than B.

sweetcell wrote:

Vayu-hatch wrote:
cellarman (what is that)

there are generally 2 flavors of cellarman:

A) "clean cellarman" - the brewers create the wort, but as soon as the liquid leaves the kettle, gets cooled and is transferred to fermentation tanks, it becomes the cellarman's responsibility.  sanitation is a big part of their job.

B) "barrel cellarman" - as the name implies, it involves babysitting barrels - long-aged stuff like BBA'ed beer, sours, etc.  often involves barrel maintenance, AKA cooperage.  regularly tastes the barrels to track their development, get rid of barrels that have gone bad, provide notes for the blenders, etc.

given their product portfolio, i would expect Aslin's cellarman to be more A than B.

Based on all the $30 pint bottles of barrel aged stouts they sell, I'm going to go with both A and B. I bet they have plans for a sour program (beyond the kettles) too.

Just think of the employee discount and all the free tastings

Vayu-hatch wrote:
Just think of the employee discount and all the free tastings

Somebody made this comment on their FB page. Sounds like James Ford figured out how to sign up for a FB account.

As much as you charge for a beer; is the salary range $100k+?

i'm back in Canuckistan (GO RAPS!!!), and this thoroughly enjoyable father's day was brought to me by an 18-bottle mix pack of Unibroue.  there are newer and sexier breweries out there, but it's awesome to return to an old love who won't let you down.

Thanks for the tip!

Space wrote:
Sorry. I haven't been to Milwaukee. Do they even make beer there?

When I want to figure out a couple of breweries to visit in an unfamiliar city, I google "Beer Advocate+ city name." that gives you a list of all the beer spots in the city.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/place/city/34/

The breweries are listed in order based upon how well their beers have been rated. So I'd work my way from the top down, seeing which ones are geographically feasible.

LoCo beer week
More than 30 breweries along the LoCo Ale Trail will be featuring events, beer releases and specials in their tasting room to celebrate LoCo Beer Week. 

If Jules was a beer writer: MI MI MI.

https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/2019/06/23/craft-beer-michigan-detroit-free-press/1502890001/

I hope his call for more breweries to clearly show the born on/bottled on date is headed. No, "best before" does NOT cut it.

get yer votes in
https://www.northernvirginiamag.com/beer-2019
Battle of the Brews

Sweet image for a sk8 related brew

Crashing at a certain SF-based long-time boardee's pad. Fridge stocked with:
- Lost Abbey: Red Poppy
- RR: Pliney
- RR: Blind Pig

Filed a formal compliant because the Pliney was 4 - count'em, FOUR - days old. Sheesh.

umm…just saw something on Aslin's Instagram….Soft Opening in Alexandria!


unrelated…but a brewery named after a label know for straight edge
Founders of New York’s Foreign Objects Beer launch Discord Beer Co., focused on sour IPAs




later they released this
statement from the Discord Beer team on the subject.

“The Discord image in question was created for Instagram as an homage to Dischord Records. It was never intended for widespread use such as a part of a press release. To cease all confusion we have removed the image.” — Discord Beer Team

this is their logo

sweetcell wrote:
Crashing at a certain SF-based long-time boardee's pad. Fridge stocked with:

Jez, showed up at my boat with Narragansett or Coors Light…

Schmolls-Hatch wrote:

sweetcell wrote:
Crashing at a certain SF-based long-time boardee's pad. Fridge stocked with:

Jez, showed up at my boat with Narragansett or Coors Light…

buying for someone else vs. buying for himself…

Schmolls-Hatch wrote:

sweetcell wrote:
Crashing at a certain SF-based long-time boardee's pad. Fridge stocked with:

Jez, showed up at my boat with Narragansett or Coors Light…

Is that handle of Belvidere still there?

could have gone under "Belly up, fired, and retired" too:

TO: Friends of Mad Fox Brewing Company
SUBJECT:: Mad Fox Brewing Company Closure
SENT: July 9, 2019

Friends, Patrons and Supporters,

It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I inform you of the closure of Mad Fox Brewing Company. Our last day of business will be Sunday, July 21st.

The decision to close has been an extremely difficult one to make. We have witnessed restaurant competition in the 2.2 square mile Falls Church City become fierce since our opening in 2010 with multiple businesses opening in the last year alone. As much as we tried to compete, there are an overwhelming number of choices for the local population. Sales have been on a slow decline over the last several years and, unfortunately, staying open is no longer sustainable.

On the brewing side of our business we continue to see more breweries opening in Virginia with two new Taprooms setting up shop within a mile of Mad Fox in the last year. When we opened in 2010, there were 40 breweries in Virginia. Now there are close to 250. The Brewpub business model is a tough one to maintain compared to a Brewery Taproom with little overhead, lower rents and outsourced food trucks. Our draw from the surrounding areas has dwindled in what has become an extremely competitive craft beer market, which has resulted in this final decision.

We attempted to work with our Bank and our Landlord for more favorable terms and while both were willing, we ultimately could not come to agreement that would allow Mad Fox to be break even or better.

We plan a closure date of Sunday, July 21st; however, we plan to continue with our 9 year Anniversary Party on Saturday, 13 July to honor you, our investors, our staff and the Falls Church Community. Words cannot express how proud I am of the Mad Fox legacy and the opportunity to be a member of such a wonderful community, if even for a short while. We opened the first brewpub in the City of Falls Church and have won numerous medals at the Great American Beer Festival as well as the Virginia Beer Cup. We have celebrated christenings, birthdays, weddings, retirements and many holiday gatherings. You, our guests, along with our spectacular Mad Fox team have enabled us to build tremendous notoriety over 9 years in business. I thank you for allowing Mad Fox to be a part of your lives. Thank you for your years of support and I hope to see you at the Pub in the coming weeks.

Sincerely,

Bill Madden
CEO and Executive Brewer, Mad Fox Brewing Company

Aslin taproom, soft opening…7/15(?)

That sucks…we have gone there about 20 times…

Julian, wrote:

Schmolls-Hatch wrote:

sweetcell wrote:
Crashing at a certain SF-based long-time boardee's pad. Fridge stocked with:

Jez, showed up at my boat with Narragansett or Coors Light…

Is that handle of Belvidere still there?

nope…took a while, but many olives later it was gone

hutch wrote:
That sucks…we have gone there about 20 times…

closure of Mad Fox Brewing Company. Our last day of business will be Sunday, July 21st.

a bummer…have been there a few times, never made their fests

beers were just OK though….as they said it's a tough craft beer market in VA and being a restaurant owner has just got to suck….possibly the hardest most volatile jobs out there

but IMO this says it all

When we opened in 2010, there were 40 breweries in Virginia. Now there are close to 250.
especially with all the craft beer sluts who will sleep with any new brewery, even if the beer and service suck, to the detriment of good operations (full disclosure …I'm a craft beer slut)

I've always thought this was the way to go
Brewery Taproom with little overhead, lower rents and outsourced food trucks.

I like their beer and the samplers were great