SudsyMaggie

Moving!

2009-11-01T10:21:00.001-08:00

Well, just as I was getting regular about posting to this blog, I'm moving! Trying out Wordpress. I'm not moving any prior posts over, but check me out over here:

http://sudsymaggie.wordpress.com/

Peace,
Maggie

BridgePort Ebenezer (winter warmer)

2009-10-30T15:12:00.000-07:00

While shopping at the grocery store this morning, the last isle I hit is The Beer Isle. However, today was a Rare Day - beer was not on my list!

However, I couldn't pass up a six pack of BridgePort's Ebenezer winter warmer ale. This was my 2nd favorite winter beer last year (behind Jubelale), and it had to be mine.

I've got a few chilling in the fridge but I'll be back here to report on my findings at a later date. I'm really hoping they didn't tweak the recipe much this year, it was so good last year.

BridgePort Brewing Company says:

"Our special Holiday brew, Ebenezer Ale is a smooth ale with a complex palate derived from four different roasted malts and a blend of local and imported hops. Deep mahogany in color, its malty first taste and full body is balanced with a light hop aroma, leading to a caramel finish. It’s a festive elixir that can transform the mood of any scrooge! So forget the egg-nog and have a pint of Ebenezer."

Beer blogs websites that are mobile!

2009-10-25T08:06:00.000-07:00

These beer blogs have Wordpress plug-ins so they are super easy to read on your mobile:

Beermerchants.com

The Beer Genome Project

Beer/Brewing Shows To Check Out!

2009-10-24T07:31:00.000-07:00

Here are some beer/brewing shows I enjoy watching/listening to:

Abs Of Beer TV
Basic Brewing

The Beer Genome Project

Mac & Jack's Brewery (Redmond, WA)

2009-10-18T22:19:00.001-07:00

Met up with a bunch of Seattle folks I regularly tweet with today at the Mac & Jack's Brewery in Redmond, WA (3o minutes east of Seattle). First time I've been to this brewery (only the second time in my life I've been to Redmond) but I've had their beer a few times before (draft only in the Seattle region). No tasting room, but we were there for their only-on-Sunday-at-3pm tour (along with 30 of our closet beer friends). Samples of each of their 4 beers throughout the tour, and we got to keep the pint glass! Drank a growler of their flagship African Amber in the parking lot afterwards - probably the highlight of my experience getting to chat with my new friends!

Here is a picture of me (center) drinking with Bill and Evonne!

And here is a picture of me pouring a pint of Mac & Jack's African Amber at Joe & Tam's wedding back in June.

Cheers!

Roadtrip! Iron Horse Brewery, Ellensburg WA

2009-10-18T08:14:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago I tagged along with my Dad and Shawn (longtime family friend) on a roadtrip to Idaho. It was a long drive out there from Seattle (350 miles or so) but the fall colors were beautiful. Eastern Washington is pretty much a wasteland but seeing the irrigated fields and water towers was fun as it had been many years since I'd been east of the Cascade mountains.

We had a late lunch heading to ID on Saturday at Big Bend Bowl. Lunch was meager and so were the beer choices (I was a thirsty backseat passenger!). All the taps were macro but they had Redhook ESB in a bottle (not 100% craft but was the best choice I had besides water). It went down pretty fast.

That night we met up with with Roy in Spirit Lake, ID. My Dad, Shawn, and Roy all grew up together on Vashon Island. Roy took us about an hour north to a diner/steakhouse. Well, for vegetarians like me, a steakhouse for dinner is kinda a dead end. But I had some garlic bread and a salad, and a couple Alaskan Amber's to round out my "meal."

Next day as we were heading back to Seattle, Dad allotted me a brewery stop for being such a trooper. Upon him uttering those magic words I quickly got on my iPhone and plotted where I wanted to stop with our driving schedule (combine lunch and a brewery stop). Spokane was out since we had just had breakfast and were on the road heading west. Next stop - Iron Horse Brewery in Ellensburg it is!

We found the brewery outside of the main drag back in an industrial park area. Dad gave me some spending money, made sure it was suitable to leave me there alone (geez, I'm 27!), and then they left me to go have lunch.

A few local dudes were hanging in the small taproom, and they were brewing in the back (smelled so good!). I took a seat at the end of the bar and asked about any seasonals or special-specials.

I started with a pint of Biere de Garde - YUM! Had never heard of this beer or style, and it was tasty. That took a whole 5 minutes to drink.

Next up, was their Loco Imperial Red. I moved to schooner-sized samples so I could try a couple more. Very citrusy, crisp, and clean. Another winner!

I behaved and saved my tastebuds for their Iron Horse IPA for last. A very good, session IPA.

Before I knew it they were back to pick me up. Spending 24 hours in wasteland America was well worth being able to stop at this great little brewery. I'm lucky enough to be able to buy their 22oz bombers at my grocery store, hope to see more variety as the years go on.

(Pictures here on my Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/SudsyMaggie)

Support the Rock Art Brewery, Fight Monster!

2009-10-16T13:45:00.000-07:00

I just sent this note to Hansen's Natural Beverages about how I feel re: their cease and desist order against the Rock Art Brewery in VT. I'm not the most elegant writer in the world (that's why I became an accountant), but I think I did okay. Let Hansen's know how you feel by using their Contact Us form (http://www.hansens.com/contact/). Also, check out http://monsterboycott.wordpress.com/.

To whom it may concern:

I would like to say I am very disappointed in both Monster and Hansen's cease and desist order against the Rock Art Brewery in VT regarding their beer penned the "Vermonster."

While I understand the importance of trademark laws in business, this is a senseless nuisance lawsuit coming from a giant corporation with interests in marketing their energy drink against a small family owned and run business producing craft beer.

I am spreading the word via social media about this craziness. I would love to hear that Hansen's has done the right thing and withdrawn the cease and desist letter.

Sincerely,
Maggie Sudduth

Vashon Island, WA

Silent Disco

2009-09-30T09:51:00.001-07:00

So I missed out on Silent Disco at GABF last week, but I demonstrated the idea to my coworkers at happy hour last night:

DRAFT Magazine Cover Shot!

2009-09-28T14:28:00.000-07:00

http://draftmag.com/gallery/?level=picture&id=823

2009 Great American Beer Festival (Denver, CO)

2009-09-28T08:53:00.001-07:00

Day 1 (Wednesday, 9/23)

Not much sleep the night before, finish packing and off to the airport!
A rep (Keith?) with Fish Brewing (Olympia WA) and the brewer from Harmon Brewing (Tacoma WA) were on my flight from Seattle to Denver. Good omen.
Arrived in Denver at 2:30pm. Cold (42*F) and raining. It actually felt really, really good as Seattle has been warm).
Find a cheap hotel near the airport for the night. Drop my luggage off in my room then get a ride back to the airport.
Toke the SkyRide bus downtown. I only had a $20, the nice driver found a fellow passenger to make change for me since it only cost $10.
Got off at the Market Street Station, in awe of being in downtown Denver!
Walked over to Falling Rock. Crazy busy but I found a chair in the corner to sit and have a couple beers and people watch. Very very very overwhelming!
Head back to the hotel via SkyRide pretty early (7pm-ish?) since no one else I knew was in town yet, or they were over at Wynkoop at the brewer's welcome dinner thing.
Ordered Domino's pizza. Yum. First thing I'd eaten all day.
Ran out of cigarettes so I roamed the streets of Aurora to find smokes. Found a Circle K and then stopped at the liquor store to oogle over all the CO beers. Bought a sixer of Flying Dog IPA.
Back to the hotel to drink beer, stayed up until midnight or so Tweeting with folks who were getting ready to come into town the next day.

Day 2 (Thursday, 9/24)

Woke up, got some coffee and breakfast downstairs. Drank a couple Flying Dog IPA's and watched the news. Fun to have a TV all to myself as I don't have one at home.
Got a ride out to the airport, met up with Taylor and Chris, rode downtown with them.
Dropped our luggage off at Taylor's hotel and headed to Falling Rock for lunch and beers and to kick off the GABF.
Had a Russian River something special and grilled cheese sandwiches.
Ran into Jamie Martin (Brewmaster for Moosejaw Pizza & Dells Brewing Company, WI)! First female professional brewer I've ever met!
She introduced us to the Nebraska Brewing Company crew so we sat with them and had a blast! Also sitting with us were three guys who met up in Denver/GABF - they went to high school together and left their wives at home. Fun dudes, ran into them again at GABF later that night (I think).
Also got a glass of Mojo (Boulder Brewing Company?) that was tapped at 3pm, gone by 3:30! Mmm, hops.
Left and got ready to head to the first session of the GABF.
VIP line was crazy long when I got there at 5:20pm but it moved fast.
I almost started to cry when I heard the bagpipers.
#GABFtweetup at 6:30pm was awesome. Walked and walked and walked around the show floor and sampled away. Just hit the short lines, drank lots of Oktoberfests.
Left shortly before the session was over at 10pm, went over to Falling Rock.
Ran into @hookedonwinter (PJ) and hung out with him until closing time.
Walked back to the hotel in the rain, had the wrong room number, finally to bed around 3am...

Day 3 (Friday, 9/25)

Slept in, sadly missed CBR breakfast at Snooze.
Saw the Big Al Brewing crew off - they rented a van to head up north and tour breweries.
So did @ollllo so we hit up the Great Divide taproom for liquid lunch.
Charlie Papazian (sp?) was there touring the brewery! Too shy to say hi to him, will next year for sure.
Jeff, Chris, and Frankie showed up - hung out and had a great time chatting until it was time for me to head out to the Pints for Prostates rare beer tasting at Wynkoop Brewing Company.
Rare beer tasting. Chatted with Jeff of CBR for a bit. Finally ate for the first time that day (mmm, pretzels).
FBAG! More random #GABFtweetups, great beer & music, talked with a lot of random people.
Left to hit session 2 of the GABF but kinda hit a brick wall so I only did a 10 minute walk through. I was tired, the crowd was crazy. I coudn't handle it.
Went back to the hotel and minutes later Eddie showed up and they were driving out to Bull & Bush brewery so I went with.
Had dinner and beers at Bull & Bush, great time chatting and laughing with the Big Al crew.
Back around 10/11pm - time for bed.

Day 4 (Saturday, 9/26)

Breakfast with Eddie and Lee.
Walked down to Wynkoop for a beer.
Beers with Eddie, Lee, Micah, and Patrick at the Irish restaurant below the hotel.
GABF! Finally, real beer geeks unite.
Nervous brewers.
Another #GABFtweetup.
Awards! A lot of fun watching and nerve wracking for me, too.
Walked around sampling.
Stayed until past last call!
Left and walked around downtown (Hard Rock, then Paramount I think).
Back to the Irish bar at the hotel.
Heard my peeps were over at Falling Rock so I went over there.
Had a blast with Rick, Jeff, Shaun, Sarah, Lisa (Auburn Alehouse?), and a bunch of random people and brewers.
Left late but not closing, walked back to the hotel.
Stayed up a while later with the guys, then to bed swearing I would wake up early in the morning for my flight...

Day 5 (Sunday, 9/27)

Slept through my alarm until 6:30am and my flight out of DIA was at 8:15am - SHIT! Threw my stuff in my suitcase, ran across the hotel, got a cab and $61 dollars later I was at DIA. Long security line but I made my flight. Guess I lost my own bet (I bet like $50 and a six pack that I wouldn't make my flight.)
Cried about being sad to leave Denver & for being so happy to have just had such an amazing time.
Back to Seattle!
Home to Vashon Island...

Classic Maggie

2009-09-28T06:58:00.001-07:00

Classic Maggie

Originally uploaded by TheArtofBeer

Random post-GABF thoughts, continued

2009-09-28T06:34:00.000-07:00

Member's only session was by far the best. Thursday's GABF session was a good kick-off, too. Not gonna waste my money on Friday PM or Saturday PM sessions next year, since I only hit Friday's session for about 10 minutes, and never made it to Saturday PM's session.
Having an iPhone while traveling is very awesome for keeping in touch, looking things up, etc.
However, said iPhone needs to be fully charged before you leave the hotel in the morning, and a pick-me-up charge in the afternoon.
It's impossible to make every event, pick and choose wisely.
It's harder to find people (even in the same room) then I expected.
Keeping up with Twitter was tough. Walking, talking, and drinking got in the way.
There will always be long lines for special breweries/beers but there are many small breweries with short lines and great beer. Also, the brewers/reps tend to be present to chat and say hi.
Watching the awards ceremony on Saturday afternoon was really thrilling and pretty nerve wracking.
Denver needs a light-rail line between the airport and downtown. Taxi's are really, really expensive and it takes at least a half hour to get there. (I woke up in downtown an hour and a half before my flight on Sunday morning, oops.)
Shaun O'Sullivan is still tall.
Coloradians are nice folks.
A gin and tonic mid-GABF was really, really refreshing.
Healthy real food tastes really, really good after a 5 day bender in Denver.

2009 GABF - initial afterthoughts

2009-09-27T17:07:00.001-07:00

I attended the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, CO this past week(end). I had an amazing time, and quickly learned it was much more then just the festival; it was an experience. Just wanted to jot down some notes before the days start rolling by and I forget the little I remembered.

I was fortunate enough to be able to "roll" with the folks from Big Al Brewing here in White Center/Seattle WA. It was their first year attending as the brewery, and I had a great time. Seriously awesome folks, they are. And they make damn good beer.

I attended Thursday's GABF session, Pints for Prostates rare beer tasting at Wynkoop Brewing, FBAG at Flying Dog, and Saturday's AHA/BA member's only session (THE BEST). I went to: Falling Rock (I shut down the bar twice), Wynkoop, Great Divide, and Bull & Bush.

· 2009 GABF

o Hiking boots were great for walking all over Denver
o Carrying on all luggage is awesome.
o People recognizing me and coming up to say hi
o Other female beer geeks
o Getting a table outside is sweet, especially if there's enough room for your entire party
Cold and wet when I arrived on Wednesday, in the upper 70s by Friday/Saturday. Bring clothes for both cold/wet and warm, it changes and can change fast.
My #GABFtweetup badge was useful all over town since I didn't have an official brewers/media fancy pants pass.
Act like you know what you're doing, even if you don't.
When you hit the brick wall of exhaustion, you can keep going.
Life is short, sleep when you're dead.
Famous craft brewers (and related industry) are people, too. And pretty freakin' cool.

· 2010 GABF

o come earlier in the week, rent a car & tour breweries around CO
o stay downtown
o fanny pack
o beer journal
o take more pictures
o bring laptop and try to blog each day to help remember
o minifridge in hotel room for water/Gatorade/food
o cash
o chapstick
o liquid lunch sounds like a good idea but try to get up early and get breakfast first
o arrange to ship beer home before arriving
o pee before you leave anywhere as you will most likely be walking all the way across town
o The 16^th street free mall ride comes in handy

Here is an initial list of folks I follow on Twitter that I was able to meet up with while in Denver, places I visited, people I saw, along with a few I was unable to meet up with but were in town for the festivities.

@_jds_
@21stAmendment
@AngelaArp
@BeachBumChris
@beergenius
@beerinator
@beermolly
@BeerPrincess
@BeerTapTV
@Beertodd
@BetterBeerBlog
@big_al_brewing
@BigKahunaBrew
@Brewer_Girl
@brewforia
@ChipperDave
@Cicerone_org
@comat0se
@EliShayotovich
@ErikBoles
@fmajowich
@greatdividebrew
@HereForTheBeer
@homebrewchef
@hookedonwinter
@IronOrr
@jeffbearer
@Jeffporn
@joshmishell
@lostabbey
@MikeBrenner
@MisoHungry
@Mr_Kyle_Brewer
@nakedcitybeer
@nicofreccia
@olllllo
@pacificbrewnews
@pkavulak
@PourMeAPint
@PourMeAPint2
@RoMills
@SaintArnold
@sarahhuska
@shaunosullivan
@sloant
@snl1971
@squaretimber
@StephWeber
@TheArtofBeer
@TheBeerWench
@thebruery
@TheMADHouseAds
@TimWeber
@WetYourWhistles
@wtwerner

Fermentation!

2009-05-18T07:12:00.001-07:00

I brewed up my California common (Anchor Steam clone, extract) yesterday. Brewing went great! I learned that I can brew extract by myself no problem. I've done AG by myself but having an extra set of hands is just short of necessary. Didn't get a OG reading (I'm protesting until I get a refractometer) but I'm very happy with the results all around. Pitched yeast at 2PM yesterday, was bubbling away as of the evening!

The funny thing with a California common is that it's an ale fermented with a lager yeast. You see, ales (and ale yeasts) are fermented at room temperature and on the top; lagers (and lager yeasts) are fermented at colder temperatures and on the bottom. So fermenting a lager yeast at room temperature is pretty odd! ETA: @SlovakBrewer pointed out to me that it should ferment at the lower end of the ale scale, i.e. around 62F - thanks for the tip! Time to move her to a cooler corner of my house.

Here are some videos of yeast gone wild this morning:

Also uploaded on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xyY2eLj-yY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPJ8AfxiPWo

She's going to hang out and ferment away in the primary fermenter for a week, then I'll rack her for another week in secondary. Then bottle & age for 3 weeks. Can't wait!

Seattle Beer Week - winding down...

2009-05-16T19:31:00.000-07:00

Had a great time at my first homebrew club meeting last night. They're called the Impaling Alers and they meet at Larry's Brewing Supply down in Kent (south of Seattle).

Last night they did a little presentation on sanitation, we sampled malt teas (one a darker specialty, one a smoked malt), and also got to sample beers made with a new experimental hop called Citra. Got some tips, had some homebrew, it was fun!

Micah with Big Al Brewing in White Center (http://www.bigalbrewing.com/) was heading to Beveridge Place Pub so I headed there after hanging at the meeting. The whole Big Al crew was there! Nice I was able to finally meet Al himself (super nice guy!) BPP was having a Bodacious Beverages Brewfest (BPB^3) as part of Seattle Beer Week. Sampled some good ones! My favorite was Northern Lights Blueberry Cream. The bartender/pub owner/manager (?) said it was made with just 2R pale malt and blueberries - amazing! Also had some Allagash and a couple sours that were pretty good.

Fun night! Sad to see Seattle Beer Week go (tomorrow the 17th is the last day) but looking forward to getting back to regular schedule again. Seems like I've been out every other night for the past 2 weeks celebrating crafts beers in Seattle!

Uber Tavern!

2009-05-14T21:03:00.000-07:00

Finally was able to make it to Uber Tavern in Seattle tonight. (http://www.uberbier.com/) My, oh my - amazing beers for such a small little place (as advertised).

I was going specifically for a Lagunitas Hop Stoopid on tap. Plus a "keep your glass" promotion. I've have Hop Stoopid a few times in a 22, but to have such a hoppy wonder on draft? I had to see for myself.

Prompt friendly service, nice book listing their beers on tap and in bottles. Even had a cheese spread for folks to have at.

Had my pint of delicious Hop Stoopid, followed by a Deschutes Red Chair, their newest from their Bond Street series. Mmm, mmm, good. Here's a shot of the Hop Stoopid:

Landed in West Seattle afterwards craving some pizza. Tried Talarico's for the first time. Gotta say it was a disappointment. Lame beer on tap (New Belguim Mighty Arrow was as crafty as you could get, NO local/regional beers - and with Elliott Bay right next door?). HUGE slice of pizza that was pretty mediocre. Maybe if I was hanging in the Junction late at night, but not worth it otherwise unfortunately.

Then off to catch a ferry home. After a rainy morning, it sure turned into a georgous evening. Another day in paradise:

Tomorrow is Friday! Which means bagels at work. And my manager Stan is taking me out to lunch for my annual review. I've choosen Buckley's, but with such an awesome taplist it's gonna be hard to not order a beer. On that note, I'm also going to my first homebrewing club meeting tomorrow night! Met them on on Big Brew day a few weeks ago. They were all pretty awesome so I'm excited to join in a meeting.

Seattle Beer Week!

2009-05-10T20:46:00.001-07:00

I kicked Seattle Beer Week off last Thursday at the Beveridge Place Pub in West Seattle. The crew from the Pike Brewing Company came limo/redcarpet style, but in my world it was all for the cask of Pike Double IPA that came down the red carpet and up onto the bar.

I shared a sampler with my brother Kevin and his girlfriend Lyssa. I felt like a real beer nerd around them.

Friday was a busy day at work but I still managed a few pints at happy hour with coworkers.

I checked out the Great Elysian Brew Festival on Saturday, nice and early (12:30pm). 40 of their beers on tap, wow! The Trip I & II were awesome. I was sad they wouldn't open the patio (sunny warm days are far and few between in Seattle, c'mon!) so that was it for me. Tried getting a propane stove for homebrewing at Home Depot but the power was out due to a seagull flying into a transformer (oops).

Today (Sunday) I needed to hit up my LHBS for brewing ingredients. After those were procured, I got to stop in at Naken City Taphouse in Greenwood to sample the cask leftovers from yesterday. At $3 a pint it was worth it. But after one and realizing there were 9, yes 9! IPAs on tap/cask - I couldn't have a pint of each. So I sampled away.

But I wasn't done yet. I drove all the way down to Federal Way to 99 Bottles. WHOA. What a fantastic bottle shop! Filled up 2 sixers of tasty looking brews I'd never had (except one).

And that, my friends, is how I roll.

Big Brew Weekend!

2009-04-07T19:34:00.000-07:00

Brewed Saturday and Sunday. A pale ale on Saturday (all grain, all by myself!) and an IPA on Sunday with my friends Quinn and Brian.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/quinnmccarthy/3417520606

Just finished cleaning up the house from Sunday's brew. Enjoyed a nice Deschutes Hop Trip to get me through the job while listening to the M's game.

Taking Friday off to head down to the Spring Beer Fest in Portland, can't wait!

Brewtoids

2009-03-22T08:04:00.000-07:00

After reading that Alaskan Brewing had released it's Summer Ale, I went and checked out their website (http://www.alaskanbeer.com/). I was pleasantly surprised of the many "brewtoids" they had as I browsed their site:

Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim or handle of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get service, resulting in today's phrase, Wet your whistle.
It was the accepted practice in Babylonia 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer, and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which eventually came to be known as the honeymoon.
Before thermometers were invented, brewers would dip a thumb into the mix to find the right temperature for adding yeast. Too cold, and the yeast wouldn't grow. Too hot, and the yeast would die. This became known as rule of thumb.
In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them to mind their own pints and quarts and settle down. It's where we get the phrase mind your P's and Q's.