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BOO!

Do we have your attention?

Good. Ahem…

Allow us to introduce “The Great Artisanal Autumnal Homebrew Competition!”
Iron Hill, West Chester in collaboration with Artisan Homebrew invite all area homebrewers to create an inspired interpretation of a seasonally strange fall beer to be judged by an esteemed panel of local brewing expertise, wherein the top TWO beers (chosen by virtue of not just their superiority, but their DISSIMILARITY from one another) will be poured at this year’s Gathering of the Gourds event alongside some of the nation’s most exceptionally spooky pumpkin-esque beers. The winners will be lauded with fame, prizes, praise, and oh I don’t know… FREE BEER AT THE “GATHERING” EVENT? We may even sneak your ugly mugs onto this year’s t-shirt.

 ”But Jean & Mike!…What does this all mean?!?”
Well… Relax, Don’t worry, have a Homebrew, and all will be explained!

We are looking for creative, unique, “out-of-style”, and generally weird fall beers. Beers entered into the competition must have roots to the Fall season, whether it be a seasonal vegetable, fruit, or spice (or all of the above!). That’s pretty much it.

To be a contender you must be ready to give up a sixtel of your creation for the “Gathering” event (don’t worry, you’ll be more than compensated for your generous donation!). We will judge all entries on 10/11/10 at Artisan. A minimum of 22 ounces (whether it be two 12 oz bottles, one 22oz bottle, a growler, or a hollowed out, pressure tested gourd) is required to enter.

So to recap:

1) Brew a weird fall themed beer.

2) Be sure to have at least 4 gallons of beer in a sixtel(corney keg) ready for the GOTG event if you win.

3) Drop off at least 22 ounces of your miscreant creation AT ARTISAN HOMEBREW no                                                            

     later than 10/10/10.

4) Watch Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2, and Evil Dead: Army of Darkness (in that order) over

    and over again until winners are announced.

Please contact jeanb@ironhillbrewery.com or mike@artisanhomebrew.com with any questions.

The Iron Brewer beers have been judged and a winner has been declared.  Before I go any further, allow me to bring you up to speed if you are not aware what the Iron Brewer competition is.  The Iron Brewer competition is organized by the B.U.Z.Z. homebrew  club and Iron Hill Brewery.  20 homebrewers receive wort from Iron Hill (Thanks Larry and Jean), and then transform that wort into yummy, fermented goodness.  This years wort was from a Triple recipe, and brewers added their own creativity to make some unique beers.  The styles created ranged from Dark IPAs (I know Jean loves this term:), “it’s a paradox,think about it”), Belgian Strong Ales and even a Gruit.

But wait, this competition gets even better.  The winner gets to come back to Iron Hill brewery and brew his or her recipe, with Larry and Jean.  But wait, there is even more.  As if brewing with Larry and Jean is not a good enough prize, the beer will also be tapped at a special event during Philly Beer Week.  So, lets get to the winners.

Taking third place, was Brian Parker with his Hopped Belgian Triple.

Second place was a Imperial Java Milk Stout (yummy )

And the winner of this year’s 2010 Iron Brewer competition is……………………………………………

DAVE HOUSEMAN with a Baltic Porter!

Congrats to Dave and everyone that took part in the competition!  The official tapping of Dave’s winning Baltic Porter will occur during a special event at Philly Beer Week. Friday June 11th 2010 Iron Hill will have a ceremonial tapping and release party.

Thats right, it’s finally time.  Station Taproom is planning on opening its doors on Wednesday, April 21st @ 3pm.  For those who don’t know, Station Taproom is the new craft beer bar opening in Downingtown, Pa.  Craft beer, fine wine, great scotch and amazing food are what you can expect from this place.  So, Artisan Homebrew will be closing @ 3 pm on Wed. April 21st in order to welcome Sean and Mark to the neighborhood.  Is it a wise business decision?, probably not.  Is it a great “beer lover” decision? ASOLUTELY!!  So I hope y’all can join me at the Station Taproom.

We will be closed on Easter Sunday.  Have a great holiday.

The varieties include Cascade, Centennial, Chinook, Fuggle, Golding, Mt Hood, Perle, Willamette and Zeus.  Limited supply.

I have been trying to get a homebrew club together for a while now, and I finally set a date for the first meeting.  Wednesday, March 24 @ 7:15pm.  However, we will not be meeting at the store, because of the limited space.  The meeting will be at The Bistro at Our Town in Exton, Pa.  The Bistro can be hard to find.  It is located in the same shopping center as The Giant, Sports Authority and next to Capriotti’s.

The first meeting is really going to be about getting to know each other.  We will need to think of a club name, so start thinking (B.U.Z.Z. is already taking ).  We will also need to decide what the best night of the week is for everyone.  I want everyone to have input on how the club should work, so this first meeting will be important.  Send me an email, mike@artisanhomebrew.com, or call, 610-873-4677,  to let me know if you want to attend.  I just want to get an idea of how many people to expect.  Thanks, and I look forward to sharing homebrew and ideas with everyone.

Keep in mind, there is already a great local club, called BUZZ, that meets @ Iron Hill W.C., every 3rd Monday of the month.  I also urge homebrewers to attend these meetings as well,  they are a great group of brewer with alot of good information.

Cheers, Mike

Starting today, January 29th, until the end of February, all 1oz bags of hops (in stock) will be 15 % off.