Obi V Anni Part ONE!

Obi and the Tractor Beam Bag 2

A new fest for the masses

I have been to many Beerfest’s here in Orlando and to be honest, they sometimes seem to blend together (still solid beer showings) other than the few new beers that pop up every few months. I had the good fortune to hear of a “World Beer Fest” www.worldbeerfestival.com  being done over in St Petersburg and 

I must say I was most impressed. It was put on by a magazine that I had not heard of until a few weeks ago called "All About Beer" www.allaboutbeer.com Not as widely distributed or known as "Beer Advocate" but It seems to be gaining in popularity.

The thing that most impressed me about this particular fest (besides the fact that it was held inside) was that it was populated with many new and local breweries.

7venth Sun

Barley Mow

Big Storm

Cocoa Beach Brewing

Cold Storage

Dunedin Brewery

Tampa bay Brewing

Tequesta

Saint Somewhere (wonderful Saison’s!)

Just to name a few…

The two local breweries that stand out the most in my mind are The Barley Mow http://barleymowbrewingco.com A Brew Tavern in Largo that featured a Pumpkin Porter (the 1^st of it’s kind I have had I think) that was excellent. It’s good to see local places like this popping up on the east coast.

The 2^nd is Saint Somewhere www.saintsomewherebrewing.com out of Tarpon Springs with Belgian style brews. They only have 3 at this point but they are unlike others I’ve tasted especially the Saison Athene A very flavorful Farmhouse ale one of the best of this type I’ve tasted recently.

Overall a good experience that I will try to visit in the future!

The Hurricane of WHO

As a departure from my normal beer type topics, I will pontificate (briefly) about the 2^nd year Doctor Who convention Hurricane WHO I attended the 1^st weekend in November. I could only go one day out of the 3 day convention schedule (a Saturday) and I was happy with what I came across. There were quite a bit of old school Doctor Who fans that were dressed up as earlier DR W characters as referenced in some of these pictures. 

I attempted to dress up as the 5^th doctor (Peter Davison) but this one kid did it so much better I just looked like I enjoyed cricket.

Many more new DR W fans dressing up as well, loved some of the creativity but couldn’t help getting a laugh from all the “clones” walking around.

I got to meet and get the autograph of Terry Malloy who played a major DR W villain “Davros “ in three separate episodes… At least he recognized Who I tried to dress up as!

Many people were there to see Arthur Darvill the current male companion on the Dr W television series on the BBC. He’s a little younger than Jenn and I and dresses’ very hip. In fact I ran into him at least twice outside between his panel and autograph signings (sneaking cigs no less). His panel was however packed with almost everyone who had come to the convention that day and questions varied from his stage work to his favorite monster this season on the show.

Some good stuff located in the Dealer room, many old series Doctor Who stuff as well as new. Some other sci-fi stuff to be had as well if you weren’t necessarily looking for DR W stuff

All in all I was happy with the set up and I’m sorry I couldn’t attend all the days it was going on. The only chief complaint I have is that there was very little to do from the main track. There were big chunks where there was not much to do or see beyond the dealer room which was fine by the way but it just wasn’t to a larger level that I’ve seen at other conventions. I’ve probably been spoiled by Megacon and DragonCon. My one suggestion to the organizers of the convention would be to include fan run (volunteer basis) panel tracks that would run parallel to the main track at the convention, with breaks for the big draws and guests of course. This is however only the 2^nd year it has happened but there always way to improve and grow and hopefully Hurricane Who will do that. I look forward to attending the 3^rd installment of the convention next year to see what they come up with next.

P.S. Look what Jenn made for me!!! (The 4^th Doctor Tom Baker)

Oktober is here!

Since October is officially upon us and the weather is slowly changing (for the better) I thought I’d throw together a blog regarding one of the best times of year OKTOBERFEST! (and all the beers that go with it)

The main beer style for the fest to end all fests is a amber/copper confection called Märzen. It has its origins in Bavaria, before the 16th century. A Bavarian brewing ordinance decreed in 1539 that beer may be brewed only between September 29th April 23. The reason for this requirement was the increased danger of fire during the dry summer months.

The original Märzen was described as "dark brown/full-bodied". The beer was often kept in the cellar until late in the summer and the remaining bottles were served at Oktoberfest. The current style is characterized by a medium to full body with a malty flavor and a dry finish. In Germany, the term covers beers which vary in colour from pale (Helles Märzen), through amber to dark brown (Dunkles Märzen). The North American style normally exhibits a stronger hop aroma (not as much as a craft IPA) and bitterness balance. American styles of this beer inlcude Dundee, Leinenkugel and Sam Adams.

Common names for Märzen include Märzenbier, Wiener Märzen, Festbier, and Oktoberfestbier. It is an extremely popular style in many lager-producing countries, and is produced as a seasonal special (usually for the autumn here in the US) by a great many breweries around the world. (and I know for a fact that it is always on tap at the Germany pavilion at Epcot!)

If Märzen is too “festy” for you, there are other great Autumn beers to try out. Many pumpkin flavored lagers are out and about for the next few months. My favorites include Shipyard’s Pumpkinhead, DogFishHead’s “Punk”, Bluemoon's "Harvest Moon" and Shocktop’s Pumkin Wheat beer. Plus, there are huge amount of German imports you can enjoy during this festive time of the year (am I using the word “fest” too much?) Becks, Bitburger, Warstiener just to name a few… Trinksprüch!

Sorry to take a break from the beer features but it kind of goes with the alcohol theme I’ve made my blog into lately. I can assume everyone reading this blog likes alcohol to one extent or another whether we consume it out or at home, we do however, need to get it from one source or another. Do we think much about the particular source we get it from? Whether it was the bartender who poured us a shot/beer or the guy/girl who sold us the package at the store, do we treat them differently? From my small experience in the “business” I’d say yes. The bartender/server most likely got tipped and what they do is called “hospitality” or they are in the “service industry”. What do we think about the “liquor store guy”, just a face or body behind the counter giving us our libations? A clerk bagging alcohol products instead of electronics or groceries, not to be given a second thought?

Alcohol is a double edged sword in the real world; if you drink too much and during the wrong hours you’re labeled an Alcoholic or a bum. If you don’t drink at all you can be considered inflexible/judgmental or that you may have had a drinking problem sometime in the past. Then the place you go to get the alcohol can be served up for scrutiny as well.  If it’s considered a “dive” bar people can assume you’re a scumbag or a punk. Then we come back to the liquor store and back to the wrong hours and frequency of a person’s visits…so many unwritten rules that can be broken and lead to lowered opinions of others. Alcoholism is a big problem in this country and there needs to be more of a movement to deal with it in the mainstream and make people healthy. However, Alcoholism is tolerated by a larger portion of people because many believe that a person has gotten into it by their own faults and devices. Many times because the person in question has been seen breaking the unwritten rules.  Never mind that the companies who sell the products push them night and day and don’t inform us of these unwritten rules that we could break and be seen as guilty, Also… the words “enjoy responsibly” doesn’t exactly cut it either.

Sometimes the people in the industry aren’t treated much better than the ones who are seen as breaking “the rules”, used for another 9-5r’s relaxation and then quickly forgotten about. What can be worse is the day to day alcohol user taking out the frustrations of their work a day world on the person that is just trying to their job and make a living. Some people decide to stay in the industry providing wine, spirits and beer their life’s work. It can be a thankless job environment and the pay can suck but they decide to do it anyway because they get something out of it. There are some that have lessened opinions of people who work in that life, maybe its guilt by association, I don’t know. The hypocritical part is that a large portion of those that judge still enjoy the alcohol and the good times that can come with it then  say “tisk tisk” at the man or woman to works day in and day out to give them what they asked for in the first place.

       Some people feel embarrassed when they walk in to the liquor store, I can see it on their faces. Some people are there as a precursor to the good time they will have that night and seem happy to be there. It all goes back to the duality to the nature of Alcohol. There is a stigma still attached to being in a liquor store no matter how nice large companies try to make them. Is it wrong to think less of someone in the retail alcohol industry whether it be owner, distributor or clerk? Again, I don’t know. All I do know is that getting the taste I’ve had I’ll be less likely to judge those who choose certain career avenues. 

Pennsylvania Beer Excusion

Recently I had the opportunity to visit my Father’s hometown of Selinsgrove, PA and I got to experience a little more of its ambiance. That ambiance luckily includes craft beer. Yuengling is not the only beer that comes out of Pennsylvania (although you can get varieties up there than you can here) Philadelphia, Pittsburg and the capital of Harrisburg all have some interesting brews. Selinsgrove itself has a brewery that has some incredible beers but you’d miss the place if you didn’t know what you were looking for.

Selin’s Grove Brewing Co. opened in 1996 and was able to set up shop in a Federal style stone governor’s mansion .This historic building was built in 1816 by Pennsylvania’s third and only three term governor, Simon Snyder, for whom the county was named. The building remains remarkably intact and is on the National Historic Register. The Selin’s Grove Brewing Co. is housed on the ground floor in the governor’s kitchen, complete with two walk-in fireplaces. The dog logo for the brewery comes from an historical account of a distillery & brewery in Selinsgrove in the 1830s that used stray dogs to run in a wheel thus powering the pumps.

The year round Beers include; Captain Selin’s Cream, Scottish, I.P.A., Stealth Belgian style Triple, White Horse Porter & Shade Mountain Oatmeal Stout. Our seasonal offerings include; Market Street Fest Lager, Wilder’s Hefe Weizen, Snake Drive Stout, Grizzley Stout, Kriek, Razzmerry, Pilsner, Mai-Bock, Dopple Bock, Saint Fillin’s Barleywine style ale, Soltice Dubbel, Hoppy Monk, Organic Baltic Porter, Hop Nouveau and many more. Luckily I had the chance to sample most of these beers and each one was wonderful.

Since many people travel this time of year always remember to search the area you are going to visit to find if they have any craft beer sights to see while you are there. Plus if you have to take a “staycation” then visit local bars and craft brew places in your local area that you usually don’t make it to. Luckily new craft locations are springing up every day so be vigilant!