SudsPundit

Saturday, October 21, 2006

Sudspundit--now with more tarheel!

Greetings from the Bull City, the City of Medicine, the rough edge of the Research Triangle, home of the perennial top-10 (in basketball) and top-118 (in football) Duke Blue Devils, Ft. Worth to Raleigh's Dallas, the other guy in Wham! to their George Michael...and now, home to yours truly...Durham, NC.

Communal self-deprecation aside, I am really starting to like it here. Rather than enumerate the ways all at once, I will stretch that out into several posts.

But I will start with a few east coast/Carolina-specific quickies, which have made the transition easier.

Magic Hat Jinx--toasted malt, light smoke, ripe fruit, and a hint of wine. Deceptively smooth, and perfect for sipping on a crisp autumn evening. A real beauty.

Yuengling Lager--or as I like to call it, "the PBR of the mid-Atlantic". Nothing special, but quite decent for a very reasonable price (often as low as $8 for 12 bottles). Tastes like college football, and will likely fill the role previously held by FS Session Lager in my rotation.

Carolina Pale Ale--again, nothing remarkable, but a solid offering from a local brewery. Crisp hops; like Sierra Nevada but not as malty or overpriced.

More to come. I found my beer store today.

Also, I hit up the local homebrewing shops. (I use the term "local" loosely--one is only 5 minutes away, but the other is more like 45. Guess which one is better.) Anyway, I now have a box full of various grains and extracts, three yeast packets, and a most of a fridge shelf is now devoted to hops. I suppose I got a little excited.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Pacific NW fire destoys hops

A warehouse fire in Yakima, Washington destroyed 4% of the US hops supply. Read full article here.