It's Been a Month!

Basically, I only have two weeks left of the constant studying. This is an exciting prospect. Making it even more exciting is that fact that the most difficult week is behind us. Last week was almost all microbiology. Even the school's Vice President said that it was an extremely difficult section. The shear number of hours that I spent trying to memorize which bacteria are anaerobic/aerobic, lactic acid producing, CO2 producing, or Gram Stain Positive was mind boggling. I don't hold a lot of hope for another perfect score on the test, but I feel like I did well.

Fortunately, (or unfortunately, depending on your perception) we were given reprieve yesterday (Friday). We had a class on the purpose of tasting panels. That was obviously followed by tasting. Which, was followed by drinking. (There is a difference, ya know!) We had a blind test to see if we could tell the difference between Budweiser and Bud Light. There were two cups of Bud and one of Bud Light. You may think that this is an easy task, but the class was split in thirds. Only 13 of the 46 people in the class actually "guessed" correctly. I was not one of them. AB did a good job at making a light beer taste as bad as their regular beer.


Our second test was to blind taste two beers and say which one we liked more. I chose the first beer (along with about 60% of the class) because the second one had a harsh lingering bitterness. Well, it turned out that the second beer was Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. The first beer was Sierra as well, but it was spiked with diacetyl (a flavor compound released by yeast during fermentation that tastes like buttered popcorn at high doses). You can take away what you would like from that test, but I found that I liked the beer with the "off-flavor" more than the regular version.

After class, we got a tour of Half Acre Brewery (http://www.halfacrebeer.com/). The folks there were most accomodating, especially to a group of almost 50 already slightly toasted brewing students. They gave us each glasses and basically as much beer as we could consume in the hour that we were there. It was quite an interesting place. There is a tasting room up front with the brewery in back. Half Acre is about an 8 person operation with a 15-barrel system (which is quite small), about a dozen fermenters and bright tanks, a keg maching, a canning line, and a bottling line for specialty beers. It was quite the operation. They were extremely busy. Their hope is to do 15000 barrels of production in the very near future. On a system that size, that number will be quite a feat. In fact, they are going to have to do almost three batches of beer a day for the whole year! They were a good group of folks, so I wish them the best.

The night ended (for me anyway) at The Fountainhead (http://www.fountainheadchicago.com/) again. This is one of the only bars that I have cared to frequent. To get an idea why, take a peek at their beer list. Many of my classmates followed as well. One thing that I love about going to this school is that I can just chat with anyone. Most of us have similar stories and we all love beer. I spent a majority of the night talking to a guy from San Luis Obispo, CA who lives next door to Matt Brindelson Firestone's Brewmaster (also a Siebel grad). Obviously, he has a job when he gets back from Germany. I really do wish that I had more time to spend with all the people with whom I go to class.

As many left to go find other watering holes, I decided to stick around and have another drink. At this point, Ray Daniels (one of our instructors and author of Designing Great Beers) showed up with his girlfriend. I really enjoy talking to people away from their place of work. Ray and Keith (the school's VP) are both really nice guys, but when you get people away from being your teacher or supervisor, you really get to know them. It was really interesting to hear that everyone is as afraid of Rick Santorum as I am. I also got to pick the brains of people who are already deep in the industry. Ray's girlfriend works for Lagunitas. It was a very fun and educational experience. The hope that I can have a few nights of that kind is one reason why I decided to go to brewing school.

Update: Blogspot erased half of this post yesterday. I decided to give myself the rest of the day off from writing on Saturday and finish today. Perhaps that was good. I spent much of the second half of Saturday wandering the streets of Chicago with some classmates looking for bars. We found them. Maybe all of them...

The day started at 2:00pm at Piece Pizzeria & Brewery (http://www.piecechicago.com/). They have won numerous awards for their beers. If awards were given for pizza, theirs would win that too. "Connecticut" style pizza is what they make, whatever that is. Thin crusted pizza in Chicago would seem sinful, but it blows everything else here that I have had away. The beer there varied in style from a double IPA to a Belgian strong golden to a number of German-style beers. Everyone was very impressed with the food and drinks.

We wandered to a number of other spots, but the night started getting a bit blurry at a place called The Boiler Room. These guys have a brilliant plan. They are cash only, but, because they understand that no one wants to use an ATM and incur the charges, they offer you a free shot of Jameson with the ATM receipt. That was very unnecessary at that point in the evening, but I didn't want to turn down something free in a city that charges 11.5% sales tax. It's a rare thing. The coolest part of the bar was the men's restroom graffiti. The wall was virtually covered in permanent marker drawings of "Butt" themed art work (read: poorly drawn). We had the "Butt-ler", a drawing of a man in a tux holding a plate of drinks coming out of a butt. We had the "Pabst-Butt-Ribbon", a butt with a ribbon on it. And finally, the "Buttasaurus Rex", a T-Rex emerging from a...wait for it...butt!

Staggering on, a classmate named Dave from Portland and I went to his apartment. Things become rather hazy at this point. We had a beer. At some point there, his room mate's cat scratched the hell out of my hand. I don't remember it happening, but there was a cat there. I have a really creepy photo of it on my phone that I don't remember taking.

It was decided that we would head to Goose Island Wrigleyville. Dave really needed to meet Barry. Gina and I met Barry at Goose last weekend. He is an Irish golf pro at a country club north of Chicago. Apparently, his Saturday schedule includes drinking as much as possible at Goose before his friend picks him up and takes him downtown. The man is a talker. He bought us drinks and regaled us with stories of inbred country Irish folk from back home. Sadly, he left after only about an hour of Dave and I arriving. It was still a very interesting hour.

I vaguely remember walking the near two miles back home in the 25 degree night. Dave told me this morning that he doesn't remember how he got home. This morning I decided to check my phone for missed calls or texts. What I found were some very random pictures (like that of the cat) and some extremely random texts that I had sent (sorry Curt!). I actually sent this text to my wife: "I need to borrow your platypus. So I took your favorite tree." Not only do I not remember texting that, I don't have a clue why I would have sent it. But, it is really funny!

Today I took a very hungover stroll through an amazing cemetary. It may seem creepy, but it is one of the only places that multiple people told me that I can't miss. On a gray day like today, a cemetary seemed like a good trip. Indeed, it was amazing. Giant headstones, pillars tombs, and intricately adorned mausoleums were scattered all over the area. Never have I been to a cemetary that had a tomb that likely cost more than my house. The creepiest part is that they apparently have a resident coyote. I snapped a couple pictures of it before it ran off, but it was always in the back of my mind. As odd as this may seem to say, I think that I will go back before I leave. It was a very peaceful and tranquil spot in a very bustling city.

Beers of the Week:

What I really wanted was the GoodLife 29er India Brown Ale. It was just released and I have heard good things already.

Bell's Kalamazoo Stout: Good! Dry and roasty, it is one of the better stouts that I have had. Bravo Bell's.

Revolution Brewing's Eugene: This was supposed to be one of THE beers to get in Chicago. For me, it was only ok. It was really sweet and malty. It seemed a little out of character for a porter, but it was definitely drinkable.

Piece Brewery's Golden Arm: I have really gotten into Kolsch recently. I jumped at the opportunity to try this award winner. I was not let down. It was light and refreshing, but still had enough kick to let you know that you are drinking a beer.

Piece Brewery's Cap n kickass: I'll admit...I got it for the name. It was between that and the Moose Knuckle barleywine (they were out of the Camel Toe. No really, they were). They claimed it was somewhere between IPA and Imperial IPA. I'd say that it accurate. It would fit in well in Bend or Portland. Another impressive effort from the Piece folks.

New Glarus Cherry Belgian: Holy Cherry!!! It tasted like a cherry Jolly Rancher. I have no idea how much cherry they would have to add to that beer to get it to taste that much like cherry. That was impressive!

Life's Soundtrack:

Blind Pilot (thanks for keeping me company on the way home last night)
Junior Kimbrough
Pearl Jam (of course)
R.L. Burnside
Tyler Stenson (helped me through some grueling studying)
Bon Iver
The Devil Wears Prada (the metal band, not the soundtrack!)
Porcupine Tree

Take care everyone! See you Oregon folks in two months. GoodLife, save me some IBA. I will be home soon!