Archive for the 'alcohol' Category
Tuesday Fun
We’ve been keeping a lid on this for some time now, but you might be interested to know that a bunch of us Pickles play old time music every Tuesday night at the Institute, located at 12th and Green in Philadelphia. that’s about a block north of Spring Garden, in what some out of town [...]
Read More..>>Quick Beer post
the roasty toasty porter came out delicious, and we’ve been drinking on it for the past week or so. And on Wednesday, I kegged the pale ale that spawned it (pale ales typically go through a week or two of secondary fermentation, while porter does not: thus, beer number three was ready long before [...]
Read More..>>Porter
We tapped the porter last night. It was a little early: not in terms of fermentation (it’s right where it needs to be, 4.5% ABV), but in terms of settling. When you force carbonate, you have to shake the keg vigorously a few times. This moves the molecules around and makes the CO2 absorb [...]
Read More..>>Sunday Homebrewing
I am about to start beer number 3 from the Wyeast 1056 American Ale series, and figured I’d get y’all up to speed.
About 3 weeks ago, I made what I’m calling “The Simcoe Bomb”: this delicious ale was made from 10 pounds of 2-row pilsen malt, 1 pound pf German CaraFoam (gives a nice head), [...]
Open Letter to the PLCB
Dear Mr. Stapleton, Mr. goldsmith, and Mr. Marcus:
As a taxpaying citizen of Pennsylvania, I demand that you rein in the PLCB and stop the destructive and embarrassing raids you are conducting in Philadelphia. As has become clear, the beverages confiscated for not being properly registered actually ARE registered, but the PLCB recorded the names [...]
ABOLISH THE PA LIQUOR CONTROL BOARD.
So much for my blogcation: yesterday, the Pennsylvania Liquor control Board raided three Philadelphia bars, all owned by Brendan Harntranft, for thorughly spurious reasons:
More than a dozen armed State Police officers conducted simultaneous raids last week on three popular Philadelphia bars known for their wide beer selections. The cops confiscated hundreds of bottles of expensive [...]
Beer Update
Thanks to the yeast I used, the ESB (now fully carbonated) went through a bit of a stuck fermentation, or so I thought. I had used Wyeast 1968, London ESB Ale, because, hey, that was the style I brewed up.
What i didn’t know was that the 1968 ferments EXTREMELY quickly. As in, “1.5 days [...]
Philly Weekly on the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board
When i wrote yesterday about the idiotic liquor laws in Pennsylvania, I had no idea Tom Cowell at the Weekly was writing such a thorough takedown. It’s a must read:
The wine vending machine serves as the perfect metaphor for the failures of Pennsylvania’s Capone-era alcohol policy: An absurd, patronizing and pointless rip-off that by rights [...]
Pennsie’s Stupid Liquor laws (for non-resident readers)
For those of you who’ve never visited Pennsylvania, our liquor laws are second only to Utah in terms of stupidity. Even Connecticut, where the stores close at 8:00 PM, has better policy than PA.
In almost every other state, the unit by which beer is sold is the 6-pack. But in PA, it’s by [...]
Is Max Baucus Drunk?
Via Susie, the charming basis for a negative ad:
Now, i have no proof Baucus is shitfaced on expensive bourbon. I wasn’t there, I didn’t smell his breath, and I doubt he took a breathalyzer.
But just watch that performance and tell me that Baucus doesn’t look and sound like he’s polished off a couple of pints [...]

