We’ve been hacked or attacked or whatever the correct term is. Anyhow, trying to visit our site may cause you to see a ‘Reported Attack Site’ warning. Apparently, our site was distributing malware, but it never actually infected anyone because no-one visits. I’ve removed all suspicious files from the website and upgraded wordpress to address the problem. I was using an outdated version and suspect that is what led to bad things happening and the logs seem to agree. Now I just need to wait for Google to review the status of site and determine that the problem has been fixed.

The other half of the title is less interesting. We’ve experienced our first bottle explosion. I was in the basement over the weekend and heard an odd sound. When I went to investigate, I found a broken bottle of Farmhouse Ale. I’m glad I was down there because these things get very stick if they dry. Over the last several months, I’ve been calling it the Foamhouse Ale, because every time I opened one I would pour a glass of foam and then a glass of beer. I guess the pressure has finally reached the critical point. Anyhow, I have 10 bottles of Farmhouse Ale left and I think I should drink them very quickly. I’m happy to give them away as well. On that note, I’m also looking to offload a case of disappointing Trappist/Abbey Ale and the few remaining bottles of Swill.

On to better news. We finally bottled the Scotch Ale and our initial impression is that it is going to be a wonderful beer. The smoke is better balanced than the last batch, it’s very malty, and it has a thick, creamy texture. We’ve also brewed an IPA and a batch of Beerios (Nut Brown). Those will be ready to bottle in a couple of weeks. Sometime in May we will probably have the first of several ‘Drink up our Beer’ parties before we relocate.

- Chris

UPDATE: Google reviewed the site and we are no longer listed as an attack site.

So it has been a long time since we have updated. Things have been changing here at the brewery. We knew we would have to relocate and that that would not necessarily be within the states. As such, we are slowing down our brewing as to not have a lot of stock to move when the time comes. We have recently found out that our new location will be in sunny Pasadena, Ca. And we couldnt be more excited.

So, in the spirit, we are brewing again (though not at our usual rate). We just made a batch of our scotch ale.  We followed the recipe from last time except that we reduced the peat smoked moss and did not add a finishing hop. We havent tasted it yet, so, more about that later.

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Cindy

300 – 60 = a lot of beer in my basement. This year we went through almost as many bottles of drink as last year, but we went through less beer. The numbers are: 60 Bottles of Beer, 14 bottles of Blue, and 5 bottles of Mead. I’m glad that the Blue was popular; I was a little worried about it. I made more beer before this party than I have in previous years, so I have more beer leftover than usual. In fact, I have 240 bottles left over, which is more Beer than I had before the party last year, or an other year.

I have plans to make a Scotch Ale and a Christmas Ale over the next few weeks, and then I will be taking a long break from brewing. There are still one or two other beers I might make over the winter, but I am going to cut back on production until our supply has dwindled. As always, I’m going to need plenty of volunteers to help me drink it all up.

- Chris

I tried the Pumpkin Porter and Chocolate Stout. The pumpkin ale has a good blend of spices and malts, with a roasty and all-spice finish. The all-spice finish might be a little strong, and the beer is still young. It will need a little more time to fully carbonate, but overall it is a very good pumpkin ale.

The Chocolate Stout is thick and rich and creamy with a powerful aroma of chocolate. It has a beautiful head with plenty of carbonation, and the balance of malts is good. There are some hints of bittersweet from the chocolate, so I may reduce the amount used in the next batch. This is still a very drinkable beer.

Overall, I think we’ll have an excellent selection of beers for the party. Head over the to The Beer List to see what’s available.

- Chris

First, let me say that I finally have the website updated and working. I upgraded wordpress on the site, and for the last couple of weeks I have been unable to log in to post anything. So, no onto the beer.

We bottled the beerios, pumpkin ale, and chocolate stout over the last week. So all of those will be ready in time for Halloween. The Beerios is as good as always, and will be better carbonated. The pumpkin ale is wonderful, but it’s rather dark. It’s almost dark enough to be called a pumpkin porter. The beer has the aroma of cinnamon and ginger and tastes like pumpkin pie. I’m expecting the carbonation to enhance the flavor. The Chocolate Stout is rich and dark and creamy. We used a whole pound of chocolate this year, so it is impossible to miss it. I also put some lactose in it to increase the sweetness and make the beer creamy. It’s quite a bit different from most of the Chocolate Stouts on the market and I certainly encourage everyone to try one.

All of that bottling has brought our total bottle count to just a little over 300. I think the official count was 312, but Cindy will probably correct me. That number doesn’t include our supply of Mead either. We have 5 nearly full batches of beer for the party, and a few bottles left from several older batches. Check out the updated Beer List page for details. Be warned, all but the top 5 are in very limited supply.

That’s all for now, I’m just happy to have admin portions of the page working again.

- Chris