There is a new place on Central and 2nd Street called Green. It’s ran by the fine people at Central Organics and boasts a nice collection of craft beers in bottles. But the exciting thing is on Friday’s at 8:30 Green hosts a single keg of craft beer for $10 a person. Drink till it’s dry! Last week they had Drifter Pale Ale and word is this week will be Bell’s Oberon. Last weeks keg was still there on Saturday so odds of getting your moneys worth are good for now. The special event is hosted every Friday except on First Friday’s, so 3 out of 4 isn’t bad at all.

Check out their site for directions at http://centralcafeandorganics.com/

According to Beer News, Great Divide is releasing a two new bottles of goodness to their already amazing lineup. The Smoked Baltic Porter and the Rumble Oak-Aged IPA. Great Divide is having a release party for both of these new beers on August 6th, hopefully followed by release to the Tampa market. Information from beernews.org are below.

Great Divide Smoked Baltic Porter will appear sometime in August in 22 oz. bottles and on draft.

Label description: “Smoked Baltic Porter is the sultry sister of a storied style. Brewed with traditional German malts and hops, this dark lager gets its special twist from a hefty addition of Bamberg smoked malt. This smoldering, medium-bodied lager is sure to please.

Suggested Food Pairings: Grilled veal bratwurst, barbecue shrimp, Morbier French cow’s milk cheese, pasta with crispy browned leeks, pear tart.” 6.2% ABV.

Great Divide Rumble Oak-Aged IPA.
Though the descriptions are similar, Tap Room Manager, Patrick Langlois, confirmed that this is not the same beer as the Wood-Aged 15th and 16th Anniversary beers recently released. This one comes in at 7.1% ABV whereas the anniversary beers are around 10% ABV. Instead of 22 oz. bombers, this beer will be available in 6-packs (and on draft) beginning in August.

Commercial description: “Rumble IPA is an American IPA with subtle nuance. Brewed with heavy-handed additions of Pacific Northwest hops, this beer is gently aged on French and American oak resulting in a wonderful balance of bitterness, caramel sweetness, vanilla, and undertones of pine and citrus.”

Another example of too much Government regulation rears it’s ugly head in the land of hops. The Oregon Liquor Commission ruled today to uphold a crap law that makes it illegal for home brewers and wine makers to transport their creations to a friends house. It also makes it illegal to have home brewing contests of any kind. Someone needs to wake up in Oregon and smack the right person into getting rid of this stupid law. Evidently the question came about when D Brewery requested permission to hold a home brewing contest, which just proves it is better to ask for forgiveness then ask for permission. If the law stands as is it could halt a microbrew competition scheduled Sept. 25-26 at the annual Harvest Fair at the Jackson County Fairgrounds and Exposition Park in Central Point. Here is the old statue and some links to other news sources you can read up on.

Oregon Revised Statute 471.403:

“No person shall brew, ferment, distill, blend or rectify any alcoholic liquor unless licensed so to do by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. However, the Liquor Control Act does not apply to the making or keeping of naturally fermented wines and fruit juices or beer in the home, for home consumption and not for sale.”

Mail Tribune

Portland Monthly Magazine

In The Beginning…

My trip began on July 5th. A friend who I hadn’t seen in many years was visiting relatives in Pensacola. Since I live in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area, several hundred miles away, we agreed to meet  halfway.

The midway point we decided to meet was where I-75 North and 10-E meet. A “quaint” little town called Live Oak, which happens to be a part of Suwannee County.

Not having brushed up on my Floridian Law (or at least my Suwannee County Law) we hadn’t realized that Suwannee County is one of only 5 Dry Counties in Florida.

We started by grabbing a bite to eat at “Big Daddy’s” BBQ. I ate some of the best sliced pork I had ever had, the ribs were a little dry, and you guessed it, no beer! So we set off looking for some hole in the wall bar to grab a cold one and reminisce about old times.

On our way out the door we noticed a little 70-75 year old woman getting out of her pick-up whose front license plate read, “Lee Surrendered, I Didn’t!” Yea, my thoughts exactly, an awesome start to what would soon become a very memorable day.

After pulling into a local auto parts store, we asked a man behind the counter who can only be described as Larry the Cable Guy (sans-humor) if there was a bar in this town? ”Down Yonder ’bout 2 miles on the left past the pet store.” So off we went, hesitantly. Apparently “dry” is a relative term, and those relatives are inbred.

As we’re pulling away I couldn’t help but notice, every vehicle in the lot was a Chevy truck, not that this is a big deal… I mean, I’m a Ford guy, but Chevy’s are great trucks. The issue I had was over half of them, 4 to be exact, had some sort of rebel flag, either painted on the truck, or sticker somewhere announcing some form of southern pride. OK, OK.. yes this is America. God bless it!  We have the freedom to do things that outwardly promote our beliefs without fear, but I have a very hard time believing this was some sort of political statement.

Oh, and for the record, “Yonder”, I come to find out, is a general direction, not necessarily the direction someone is pointing. And “’bout 2 miles”, means 3-4 miles, for those keeping track.

The Bar: Hammerheads

There it is.. just around the corner… Finally. A place for us to sit and talk over a beer, smoking a Marlboro and catching up on who’s been doin’ what for the past 10 years. (cue the sound of a needle scratching vinyl)…

A gravel parking lot graced the entrance to, what could only be described as a double-wide trailer with a covered porch. I don’t recall seeing any neon beer signs or drink specials. Though I may have been too terrorized (swearing I could hear Dueling Banjos off in the distance) to pay attention. But dammit we were gonna get a beer even if I had to take one for the team!

We walked in to a room so dark I couldn’t tell if I was walking on a dirt floor of if it was just my mind playing tricks on me. For the sake of the story, they were dirt.

Lit only by old multi-colored Christmas lights, the smell of cigarettes filled the room. Off in the corner there were a few, what looked like teenagers, playing darts, but using blow-guns instead of throwing them. That’s right, blow guns.

We bellied up to the bar and my friend asked for a Jack and Coke, and I asked what was on tap. “We don’t sell liquor and only have bottles of beer. Bud, Bud Light, and Miller Lite” she answered. They did however have the most impressive selection of Segram’s wine coolers I had ever seen. But I digress.

So my friend had a Mike’s Hard Lemonade and I had a Bud Light. I hadn’t had a Bud Light in years. All I can say is, “Water”… After drinking so many different home brew, craft beers and micro brews over the past couple years, Bud Light tastes like water.. Ok… Beer-flavored water. But that’s all you’re getting out of me.

Needless to say we only stayed for one drink, but we not only got to catch up, we had a pretty intelligent conversation with the bar tender and a few other people at the bar as well.

Summary

Looks can be deceiving. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover. Beauty is only skin deep. Whatever cliche you want to use…we had stereotyped this small town based on only a few simple observations. We poked fun at them, rolled our eyes, and at times even got nervous about what we were getting into. But once we took the time to get to know a few of them, even if it was only a couple hours, we had it all wrong. They are people just like you and me. People doing what people do with what they got. So no matter where you are, the combination of good food, good people, and good bee.. well 2 out of three ain’t bad?

The next time you’re driving through Florida on I-10, make sure you swing by Live Oak, and stop by Hammerheads. It’s just “down Yonder ’bout 2 miles on the left past the pet store”.  Tell Stephanie, I said “Hi” and ask her about her Harleys.

You can die for your country and vote at the age of 18, but no beer for you! Don’t get me wrong, 10 years old might be a little young but, according to an article by St. Pete Times writer, Tom Jones, somebody snapped a cellphone pic of a minor (the kid looks like he is around 10) drinking a beer during a Ray’s game this past week. The real crime should be the Father allowing his son to drink crappy beer, not to mention the cost of the crappy beer inside the park. There are a lot of other countries who allow what the United States considers “Underage Drinkers” to consume alcoholic beverages. What makes us stray so far away from that idea? I mean it’s not as complex as a switch over to the metric system, right?

I know what your thinking…”It’s those damn Pilgrims and their buckle hats, if it wasn’t for them and their pure ways. The Religious Right has a strangle hold on this country!” NOPE. The Pilgrims actually stopped at Plymouth Rock because they ran out of beer and didn’t want to risk a long winter without some good old Ale on hand. So when the hell did WE decide that the legal drinking age should be 21?

Perhaps we should care a little more about things that really matter and less about pointless crap. There is a recession going on, a crazy oil spill in the Gulf, the possibility of no tigers in 50 years, and to top it all off the looming fear of another hops storage. Together we can make this world a better place. It doesn’t have to be a big change, we can take baby steps. Let’s start with that crappy beer selection and $9 a cup prices at the game. Let’s do some good!

READ THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Portion Of Profits Go To Oil Spill Relief
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News today that Stone Brewing Company, in yet another example of corporate irresponsibility, was led astray by a mustard manufacturer in San Diego California. Turns out that two of the Stone Brewing Label Mustards (Stone Cali-Belgique IPA Cali-Dijon Mustard and Stone Pale Ale Stone Ground Mustard with Chipotle Peppers) were produced by the contract mustard company without containing any of the two kegs of beer that was sent over to them. Check out the link below for the video explanation from CEO Greg Koch and Merchandise Manager Chris (Something, he mumbles is name). Sincere and funny stuff. Evidently, the kegs they sent out to the mustard guys came back empty, yet no beer in the mustard. Hmm, wonder what they did with it?

Stone Brewing Video Message