As mentioned previously, I have declared November to be “Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Month” on “A Night With The Hops” and after purging myself of some random thoughts yesterday I am ready to kick things off. I will be posting as much information as possible about the brewery throughout the month. Some of it will be more current, some slightly old (like today), and some that goes back years. The one constant will be that each Tuesday and Friday the beer review will be one from Dogfish. Sure the information will be good, but the beer reviews will be an even more fun part for me (and hopefully you as well).
This first article, from earlier in the year, gives a brief idea of what the brewery is about and some of the reasoning behind what they do. If you are interested in a much longer read, I posted a link to a great article from late last year that goes much more into the method behind the madness.
Sam Calagione via www.boston.com
A conversation with The Wife this morning gave me an idea of how I can celebrate the month in my own way. I would like to try brewing with some ingredients that are not very common or typical. Blueprint Brewing certainly does not have the resources to import rare plant species from the jungles of Indonesia, but I believe we can get some good ideas that are much more readily available here in Florida.
I am looking for some good ideas and I certainly could use some suggestions. What would you like me to use for some slightly off the wall brewing ingredients? Leave me a comment!
Also, for those of you interested in checking out the Orlando Sentinel, The Wife and I have been nominated for the best blogs in Central Florida in a few different categories. You can vote for us (once a day for the next few weeks) HERE!
They let me vote for EACH of you!!!!
Excellent . . . I would hate to have to split the votes with The Wife
How about Maple Syrup considering your roots?
I will have to see if any of my relatives will help me get my hands on some . . . wink, wink!
I like the syrup idea. I can send some syrup from Vermont, in addition to the little amount we gave at the wedding. Would syrup be an even trade for beer? I think syrup may travel better. Can you tell I don’t have much to do in the office?
Syrup is good..but it’s been done before. Since you are a creative guy, I would expect something more experimental. Oranges have been done before as well.
I’m thinking something a little more out there…like Peanut Butter, or Macadamia nuts. What about a beer based from A1 steak sauce, or BBQ sauce?
Come on lucas….experiment.
The anise seed I think could work well in flavoring a beer – although it could be overpowering.
I think you should make a croghan bologna and cheese curd blend……….all my favorites in one glass!
There are a lot of interesting ideas here. It looks like I need to get experimenting to keep up with the suggestions. I may have to make some phone calls to get some of the special ingredients that I will need!