Saturday, March 17, 2012

St. Patrick's Day and a Bottling Run

Well,... I can't really call it a bottling run since I don't own $100,000 worth of stuff that automatically fills, labels and caps the used bottles I drink from, but I do have a really good helper.
We were learning to ride a bike this morning while I was getting ready to bottle an American Brown Ale and she asked to help fill bottles.
I let her fill them and cap them too.

She did a great job and I'm proud of her.  She doesn't see what fascinates me so much about beer, but she knows it's important to me and wants to be part of it.  Of course, it will be at least 10 or 12 years before I'll let her try beer for herself.  And helping me like this is rare for her, but she had fun.
Our normal activity is watching Disney Channel together.
We had a family day yesterday at the Nashville Zoo with Lunch at Bosco's.
I make note of it because Jenny and I each had a wonderful glass of Irish Red. 

Thanks, Karen Lassiter and Adam Hargrove for making such a delicious beer to commemorate our favorite March holiday.  If you happen to be near Hillsboro Village, stop in and have a pint.  It's very flavorful.
The photo is by Hallie. 
Good Beer To You.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Brown Ale

Today I decided to make an American Brown Ale.  I usually hop it with Amarillo but this time I used some Citra I've had laying around for a while.  The Amarillo will be saved for later Pales and this beer is a house beer for every day drinking so I'm not too worried about it.  Still, I'll be interested to compare the Citra flavor with the Amarillo.  Who knows,  maybe this beer will be better than usual.
Cheers

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

New Name New Place... Possibly

I've been thinking about Bluff City Brewing's identity.  When our family moved to Nashville it seemed as if BCB should be rebranded to reflect our new location.  After all "Bluff City" is usually associated with Memphis and I want my brand to be known as an honest, trusted brand... whatever that means.
Back in June I simply changed the sub-title in the header to reflect our placement in the state as opposed to just Memphis.  But our logo (well done by my friend Andris Linder) reflects the "M" bridge.
I suppose the thing I'm really worried about is the marketing challenge.
When I started BCB my general plan was to eventually morph my little beer blog into a working brewery.  My dream is to eventually make beer for a living while finding pathways for my enterprise to become a powerful asset to my community.  I have yet to earnestly start satisfying the considerable governmental regulations, trademark concerns and of course, funding for the enterprise but I still intend (maybe now more than ever) to run my own small brewery.  I've at least begun with this identity.
But is this brand worth saving under the circumstances?
Can Bluff City Brewing be identified as a Nashville entity with roots in Memphis?
I don't know.
But as I was thinking this morning about what a new brand might be I bought a couple of domains that might turn out to be what BCB evolves into.
All thoughts and ideas are welcome.
Cheers.

Monday, March 5, 2012

A Win For Pale Ale

It's a couple of weeks late but I need to mention the gold medal my American Pale won in Memphis last month.
The results of this competition are a mixed bag for me.
While I'm proud (and a bit shocked) that my American Pale got 3rd Best of Show at Homebrew Extravaganza, I'm also aware that it was one of 7 beers I sent down there.
The other 6, I thought, were competition worthy but none of them placed.
This tells me that I have much more to learn and, more importantly, that more brewers in Memphis are making great beer.  The competition is getting tougher, and that's a good thing.
Cheers to all who entered the Memphis competition.  If you placed with your beer enjoy the recognition.  If your beer didn't place then you can enjoy the learning experience the scoresheets can give.  I've said more than once that winning is great but the information on the scoresheets is the real treasure.
I'm excited to see what treasure my scoresheets will bring.
Good Beer To You