One-Off's are a Hoot

I had the honor of being invited up to Portland to Belmont Station's 15th anniversary on the 15th of March. I thought to myself, as I often do, of how much fun it would be to knock off a special beer for the occasion made out of stuff lying around the brewery. As a result, "15-15-15" was born, also known as "The Ides of Belmont Station". It contains 15 grains and the remaining bits of my small cache of special hops. It's not bad, either, and am heading up to the bar to see if I can sample another pint. Hope to see you all in Portland in a couple of days. John Foyston posted a goofy picture of me on his blog, so I now know that I need to stay away from cameras.

Colonial Mayhem

As I've mentioned here on this blog, I spent a couple weeks back in England last November. I have friends in the Lake District who have a brewery and are patient with me and drive me around on "cultural tours". They also, after demonstrating my usefulness painting walls and floors and installing fermenters without denting them too much, permitted me to design and brew a beer. It is now apparently available to the unwary public and is being (or already has been) dispensed at a meet the brewer event. I hope some lingers in a bottle until I hopefully can return there in November. Ideally there would be a pin or maybe a firkin sitting around as well (hint, hint, hint).