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alien said:
I was knocking about Rittenhouse Sq so I popped in Home Sweet Homebrew for a few bits and bobs. Had a really nice chat. They are good people.
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Read a bunch of reviews saying that place is really bad. Never been, so might have to stop in and see for myself.
 
Gitmoe said:
The beer scene here in this phoenix is better than I originally thought after my last trip here in December. Still nothing like Philly, but solid... tried a LOT of local brews.
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If you can get up north to Flagstaff there are a few nice micos to tour and sample!
 
whitehause said:
Read a bunch of reviews saying that place is really bad. Never been, so might have to stop in and see for myself.
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Been shopping there for all of my supplies for several years. George and Nancy are legends. Friendly, helpful and enough brewing knowledge and know how to fill volumes of reference books. They are pretty well known, and their reputation is solid in the Philly beer scene! Just picked up supplies to do an Imperial Red IPA.
 
It's kills me how much cheaper beer is here in Phoenix. We stopped at BevMo today (a local chain beer/wine/liquor outlet) and got 8 22oz bottles of great craft beer for under $50. The Johnstown and local PA alcohol taxes are ridiculous. The same bottles in PA of some stuff were $3-4 cheaper here. They had Stone Vertical Epic for $5/bottle. Ugh..... I hate PA so much.
 
They are really friendly and knowledgeable. A little on the pricey side but I would definitely go back. The restaurant next door is really good by the way (Melograno). I am going to try to take the Mrs on a Wednesday when HSHB is open late :)
 
wow, it sucks to be back in PA! So much nicer out in HI. Did manage to brew a beer with the BIL while we were out there though. Nice hoppy pale ale, much to his liking.. Too bad I won't be there when it's time to try it!

So anyone here headed up to WOTW this weekend? Think the wife is headed to the Pocono's for a friends birthday party, so I have the weekend to myself.
 
I'm not going to make it to WOTW this weekend, I did submit 2 beers though. Instead I am just going to take a little old trip to Brussels and Brugge for a few days, ho-hum. I leave tomorrow night, cant wait.
 
I'll be at WOTW. Because it's my job.... see you guys there. Gonna be a crazy long day. I'm judging the morning session.
 
Coff said:
I'm not going to make it to WOTW this weekend, I did submit 2 beers though. Instead I am just going to take a little old trip to Brussels and Brugge for a few days, ho-hum. I leave tomorrow night, cant wait.
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well, that's a good excuse! Enjoy!!

AnOldUR said:
Over the river and through the woods.

Plan on being there. Always a good time. :mug:
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Nice! Should figure out a way to meet up. I'm liking the brew pub pour session before the award announcements.
ScotBrew said:
I'm just back from a long weekend in Vegas with work. Was sooooo nice to be wearing shorts & t-shirt during the day!:cool:
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I hear that!! It sucked having to put on pants, shoes (damn flip flops/barefeet is sooo much nicer), and a second layer this morning!
 
I hear ya! Although being out in shorts/tshirt and then the sun going down wasn't much fun! Could literally feel the temp gauge dropping every minute!
 
So how did you all do at the WotW last night? My foreign extra stout didn't place but I scored a 38, so I was pretty happy with that. Anxious to get my scoresheet back.
 
38 is a great score. My wife and I took 2nd in the Strong Ales with an American Barleywine. Not bad out of 39 entries at the table! Some of those categories were brutal. We got a 38.5 on a bretted IPA, and didn't get a wif of anything in the Specialty category. Apparantly that was loaded with Black IPA's, and enough that there are pretty much two different Black IPA styles (at least as evident from the submissions). Either it's an IPA with a little bit of Carafa put in it to darken it, or it's a West Coast Stout that's been hopped all to hell. Either way, I'd be happy if they made that another category, or sub categories to IPA. And alot of people are playing around with bretted styles that aren't normally soured. Would like to see a category/sub category for that. Though that could be tough, if you screwed up a beer you could just put it in a "soured" collect all. i guess I can see that.
 
dfess1 said:
38 is a great score. My wife and I took 2nd in the Strong Ales with an American Barleywine. Not bad out of 39 entries at the table!
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Congrats. This my first ever comp, so I was unsure what to expect. If you don't mind me asking, what score did you get? Or...what kind of score usually places?
 
wobrien said:
Congrats. This my first ever comp, so I was unsure what to expect. If you don't mind me asking, what score did you get? Or...what kind of score usually places?
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In a lot of smaller competitions a 38 would place if not win. I judged the specialty category yesterday and it was really intense. We had a ton of Rye IPAs as well as Black IPAs. I don't think it's remotely fair those two styles of IPA are in specialty category. That section should be reserved for beers with specialty ingredients as it was intended. I had a great day at WOTW even though I was working. I stood outside for 2 hours directing traffic. It was nice and quiet out there.

I finally had some free time to myself today so I worked on my kegorator. Went from a single tap tower to this....

d1877b427ed111e2b53822000a1f96e6_7.jpg


Need to paint the tubing but whatever. I can finally pour all four beers the kegorator holds. I also sold one of my kettles and picked up one of the new Bayou Classic 64qt Deluxe kettles we started carrying at Keystone. They come with a pretty nice falso bottom system. I'll be using it as my direct fire mash tun. No pics of the kettle. It's still in the box...
 
wobrien said:
Congrats. This my first ever comp, so I was unsure what to expect. If you don't mind me asking, what score did you get? Or...what kind of score usually places?
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The actual score doesn't seem to matter much when it comes to placing. I've placed as low as 30 and missed out as high as 42. It doesn't seem to matter how big or small the comp is, either. At an 850 entry competition recently, I had a German pils score a 40 and not place. My American IPA scored a 35 and took second place. Go figure.
 
dfess1 said:
We got a 38.5 on a bretted IPA, and didn't get a wif of anything in the Specialty category. Apparantly that was loaded with Black IPA's, and enough that there are pretty much two different Black IPA styles (at least as evident from the submissions). Either it's an IPA with a little bit of Carafa put in it to darken it, or it's a West Coast Stout that's been hopped all to hell. Either way, I'd be happy if they made that another category, or sub categories to IPA.
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No kidding. At the last comp I judged, I did cat 23, and fully a third of the entries were black IPAs. I hope they get their own subcategory under IPA soon.
 
Has anyone ever been to McKenzie Brew House in Berwyn? I pass it going to/from work and checked it out online. Pics of it look good but was wondering if anyone had been before?
 
Kegerator is looking good Joe! Are you running a fan up the tower to keep the lines cool?

ScotBrew said:
Has anyone ever been to McKenzie Brew House in Berwyn? I pass it going to/from work and checked it out online. Pics of it look good but was wondering if anyone had been before?
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Been there a couple times, as I work in the building right at the Chesterbrook Blvd exit (heading north on 202). It's ok, but nothing to write home about.
 
ScotBrew said:
Has anyone ever been to McKenzie Brew House in Berwyn? I pass it going to/from work and checked it out online. Pics of it look good but was wondering if anyone had been before?
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Been there a few times. Place is nice. Never to busy. Food is good.

Here is my new bar. Just hooking the lines up. 25 ft run to a kreezer in the basement.

ForumRunner_20130225_084049.png
 
ScotBrew said:
Has anyone ever been to McKenzie Brew House in Berwyn? I pass it going to/from work and checked it out online. Pics of it look good but was wondering if anyone had been before?
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They have won at GABF for their Saison many times, with different recipes even, so its worth checking out.
 
Coff said:
They have won at GABF for their Saison many times, with different recipes even, so its worth checking out.
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not that i frequent the new one all that often, but I haven't seen a saison at this one yet. That may be reserved for the original location. ??
 
Ah sorry, I missed that he specified the Berwyn location. I've never been to that one so you might be right, I've only been to the original.
 
I think i'm going to be brewing on friday, and most likely sometime over the weekend if anyone is interested in stopping by. have alot of beers to get brewed in short order, and a must for the weekend is a saison. Outside of that, I need to brew:

Esibock, dopplebock, schwarzbier, Hose pale, Hopslam Clone, Barleywine.
 
Hurray! I brewed a beer today. First time since October and the first time on my single tier. Went relatively well considering I was using an untested and poorly planned out rig. There's definitely a learning curve with those pumps and priming....
 
Working on a rig myself, I think I'll do a couple run throughs with water first.


.......Who am I kidding, I'll be grinding grain the day it's done:cross:
 
Congrats guys! I ended up not brewing at all this weekend. Too damn windy for my liking. Hoping it gets warmer out this coming weekend... I have a saison to brew for a friends wedding!
 
dfess1 said:
Congrats guys! I ended up not brewing at all this weekend. Too damn windy for my liking. Hoping it gets warmer out this coming weekend... I have a saison to brew for a friends wedding!
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The beauty of having a garage...
 
Hey all! I'm a relatively new brewer. I've been at it about a year and a half, and doing AG since batch 3. I live in Jenkintown but spend most of my time at Westminster in Glenside studying. Because of that I usually only brew in summer and winter breaks, but I got a good 20 gallons in between semesters, so I should be alright until the summer. I'm stove-top and mostly small batches (average 3 gallon), but edging my way up.
 
I did last year, but not this year. Unfortunately, I have no further info to be able to help with. Good luck if you did though!
 

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