1970's Free Love New Years Eve Party

I want to start by apologizing for the the last minute changes of this event. The first theme for our New Years Eve Party was deemed to be classless and in bad taste, so we decided to take a vote on what the theme of this years party should be and a 1970's themed party ended up winning out by grabbing almost 60% of the popular vote.That being said this is a dress up party. Everyone should think of a look that best represents the 1970's for them (ie. hippie, disco, Vietnam, Rock N Roll). Once again dressing up is not required to attend, but it does make the party a lot more fun and visually appealing. There will be a very glamorous door prize for the person that wears the best costume.

We would like to ask that anyone that is able to bring a dish to pass please do so and post on the event wall what you plan to bring so we can avoid people bringing the same thing.The night will get underway around 7:30 pm and will go well into the morning until the beer runs out. There will be a pool and dart tournament. We will also have cards, drinking games, karaoke, twister, music and dancing....and maybe a laser show (if we're lucky).

From a brewing point of view I have been looking forward to this night for about 6 months. I decided to go with a theme of all strong ales for the event. All of the beers on tap this night will be above 7.5% ABV. Here is a brief run down of what will be on tap and a short description of the beer.

• Kremlin Joe's RIS batch #2 - this is a monster stout, thick, chewy and sweet, a favorite of mine. - 10% ABV (limited)


• Palate Pulverizer IPA - this is a hoppy IPA that I make using my own homegrown hops, very herbal and sweet - 8% ABV


• Emma Rose Abbey Ale - this is a beer that I made in honor of the birth of my daughter. Its a belgian style red ale brewed with roses. Sweet, floral and citrusy - 7.5% ABV


• Fugly One - a chocolate, pumpkin Porter that I made for Oktoberfest. It wasn't quit ready in September, but its drinking much better now - 8.5% ABV


• WarChild Quadruple - a Belgian Dark Strong Ale that is very rich and robust. This ale has tons of complexity and is very limited. - 9% ABV (limited)


• Bashore BrewHaus Anniversary Ale - this one is a secret that I'm very excited about! - 8.5% ABV

I truly hope that as many of you as possible can make this event....should be a great night with great beer, food and friends.

Cheers

ON TAP this weekend: WarChild Quadruple

This upcoming week and weekend are pretty busy for Irene and I so I wanted to take the time to announce that starting this weekend we'll have our first Belgian Dark Strong Ale on tap. WarChild Quadruple was brewed with the holidays in mind and is extremely rich and heavy. It is also very very limited. Only 2 gallons of this brew exist....I wish I would have made more after sampling it a week or so ago. I'm really hoping this brew makes it to New Years Eve so that it can get as much exposure as possible, but I have a feeling it'll go pretty fast. On the plus side, I am conditioning a barrel aged version of it that should be on tap in late February.

WarChild pours a deep brown color and smells of dried fruits and alcohol. The tasted is much of the same. It has a ton of fruit flavor up front that gives way to a rich brown sugar/alcohol burn. I am very excited that this beer turned out as well as it did and I personally am very excited to drink a few tulips full between this weekend and New Years Eve. Only a few weeks until our New Years Eve Party and I really hope to see as many of you there as possible.....should be a good night.

I want to send a special thank you to Randy for designing all of the labels for these beers. Every label is very cool! Drink UP!!!

NOW ON TAP: Palate Pulverizer IPA

Each year early in the Spring my hops peek there heads out of the brick around our house and go crazy and grow super high. I take the hops that I get from these vine every year in August and craft a home grown IPA called Palate Pulverizer. Palate Pulverizer has a sweet malty backbone that eventually gives way to a strong herbal hop bitterness as the beer ages. This years version of Palate Pulverizer is 8% ABV and is over 100 IBU's although you wouldn't guess that it was that hoppy because my goal is to balance the bitterness and sweetness as much as possible with this beer. We usually make a couple of hoppy beers every year at Bashore Brewing, but this is the only one that uses Bashore Brewing hops. So far Irene and Dave Kennedy have each had pints of it and both of them seemed to enjoy it. This beer should be on tap for the New Years Eve Party this year, but feel free to stop in and have a pint anytime.

CHEERS!

Only 5 Days Left!!

Only 5 Days left to vote on your favorite theme for this years New Years Eve Party....that only gives you until the beginning of next week. Right now it looks like a 70's themed party is in the lead, so if that isn't your choice get your vote in.

Also, be on the look out for a new beer release next week as we put out Palate Pulverizer IPA. This is the only beer in which we use our home grown hops. MMM MMM GOOD!!

New Years Eve Party Theme in Question

Every year we like to throw a themed New Years Eve party, just to have some fun and to see how creative people can be with there outfits...kind of a Halloween 2. This years proposed theme was a "Reverse Pimps N' Hoes Party" with the girls dressing like pimps and the guys dressing like hoes. This idea has met with a lot of resistance on the side of the fellas. That being said Irene and I would rather throw a themed party that everyone can get behind and support than something that makes people feel uncomfortable. Lets put the theme to a vote and see what everyone is thinking. I'm gonna start a new poll question on the left hand side of the blog page with 4 ideas for themes. There will only be 10 days that this poll will be open so make sure to get your votes in quickly for whatever party seems like it would be the most fun. Here's the 4 ideas.....

• Reverse Pimps N' Hoes Party - I didn't want to take the original them off the table, in the outside chance that this was something everyone still wanted to do. Pretty straight forward....guys dress like hoes and girls dress like pimps.
• Fancy Dress Party - Think church or a wedding....everyone dresses up in fancy clothes for New Years. Guys can wear collared shirts and ties or suits or sweater vests and girls can wear dresses or skirts or a powersuit....or just dressy. We could turn this into a fancy dress masquerade ball if that sounds like fun as well.
• Graffiti Party - This is a pretty easy party to throw. Everyone buys a white or light colored plain shirt and we'll get a bunch of different colored markers and your shirt is a canvas for everyone to write/draw on.....kinda crazy to look back on afterwards and see how the shirt turns out.
• 1970's Dress Up Party - In the tradition of the 80's party we threw a few years ago this would just involve everyone dressing up for the era of the 1970's. Pretty all encompassing....you could go hippie, disco, vietnam, or rock n' roll.....just as long your outfit is filled with all of that 70's love.

I'll posted the results of the poll on the blog in 10 days and change the facebook invitation accordingly.

Cheers and Happy Voting!

Matt & Irene

NOW ON TAP: Emma Rose Abbey Ale

November 24th, 2009 is a day that will always be special for Irene and I. On November 24th at 12:48 am we welcomed our first child into this world as Emma Rose Bashore was born with her eyes wide open. Since I found out that Irene would spend 9 months "heavy with child" I decided to create a beer for my little girl.

Hopefully, this winter will offer similar special feelings for anyone that tries this beer. I really had no idea how the beer would turn out, but I knew I wanted to use an interesting ingredients in it. Obviously, that ingredient would be roses. Now because most rose petals are heavily sprayed with pesticides I was not able to use actual rose petals. Instead, I used rose hips, which are the fruits produced by rose bushes, and I used rose water. I melded these ingredients into a Belgian Abbey Ale.

The result of this is a beer that will taste and smell like no beer you've ever had before. Emma Rose is very fragrant ale that literally smells like liquid flowers and is somewhat perfumey. The flavor also offers a bit of a floral as well. However, up front it has a sweet, sharp citric acidity that's complemented by a nice malty backbone. Having had a few pints already I will say that as my ales go this one changes a lot as it warms up.

Feel free to stop anytime this December to try a fresh pint of Emma Rose Abbey Ale. This ale will most likely be on tap for our Hoes n' Pimps New Years Eve party as well.

Cheers!

Beer Olympics Wins

Polls are closed on which event over the past year was your favorite at Bashore BrewHaus and Beer Olympics won out. This is definetely an event that we're going to try and throw again next year with a few tweeks to try and ensure that down time is eliminated. Aside from that we'll be throwing a reverse pimps n hoes party for New Years Eve this year. St. Patricks falls on a Wednesday this year so we'll prolly throw a party around that time to celebrate the Spring with several dark ales. Also, we'll be throwing a Halloween party as our fall event this year on the last Saturday in October. Just a few things to look forward to at Bashore BrewHaus this year.

I also wanted to annouce an addition to the BrewHaus and she'll be a full time addition. Emma Rose Bashore was born on November 24th 2009 and weighed 7 lbs 4oz. Come check out her name sake beer on tap starting December 8th Emma Rose Abbey Ale.....brewed with Roses!!! It certainly will not taste or smell like any beer you've ever had before.

Cheers and Happy Holidays!
Matt, Irene & Emma Rose

Kremlin Joe Batch #2 on Tap Dec. 1st

After a month or so of really nothing on tap, I'm proud to say that new beers will be going on tap starting December 1st. with our Russian Imperial Stout Kremlin Joe's. This is the second time I have brewed this beer which turned out to be a favorite of mine when it was originally on tap last March. Kremlin Joe's was brewed a bit differently this time which had adverse effects on the ABV of the beer, but intial tastings have proved to me that ther same flavor profiles from Batch #1 are present in Batch #2. This Batch of Kremlin Joe's weighs in at 10% ABV which is less than the stout bomb that was dropped last Spring when Batch #1 weighed in at ~13% ABV. Hopefully the lower alcohol will make it a more drinkable brew. Kremlin Joe is an extremely thick and heavy ale with tons of chocolate, coffee, molasses, roasted malt and whiskey flavors shouting at your taste buds with every sip. My intial plan was to release 5 beers for our New Years Eve Party, but I really cannot wait that long for some good stout. In addition to Kremlin Joe look for his cousin Cletus Joe to be release sometime late in Febuary. Cletus will be a Kentucky Bourban Barrel version of Kremlin Joe. Cletus Joe will be aged on American Oak using Makers's Mark & Jim Beam for bourban flavor.

Starting December 1st a new beer will be released every week until New Years Eve. Here's a rough schedule of the releases:

• Dec 1st - Kremlin Joe's Russian Imperial Stout
• Dec. 8th - Emma Rose Abbey Ale
• Dec. 15th - Palate Pulverizor
• Dec. 22nd - WarChild Quadruple
• New Years Eve @ Midnight - Bashore BrewHaus' 1st Anniversary Ale
  

Poll Results

Looks like a Halloween Party wins out! Thats kinda what I thought. It seems that night parties generally get a better turnout then parties that last all day. Good thing too because our next one is a night party on New Years Eve...

Patron Inspiration Series

At Bashore BrewHaus the only thing more important than the beer is the people that drink it. For this reason starting in 2010 I'll be launching a series of beers known as the "Patron Inspiration Series" or PIS (that's funny). This will be a series of beers made over the course of the year that will reflect some of our friends and the beers that they enjoy drinking. Over the course of this series, which will include 8 beers, I'll be putting out labels with a description of the beer and the person that inspired me to make it. This is my way of saying thank you to the people that inspire me to make the beers that I do. Without someone to share suds with drinking beer just isn't the same in fact its pretty damn boring. Look for the first of these beers to be released sometime shortly after the first of the year.

CHEERS!!

New Poll Question

We just posted a new poll question on the blog. Feedback would be greatly appreciated.

New Years Eve Brew Line Up

Whew! I've been busy. Last weekend I finished the 5th and final beer beer for our New Years Eve/Anniversary Party (1st beer ever was pour on New Years). As we get closer to the date we'll pass out more information on the party (ie. theme, time, what to bring...etc.) In the meantime make sure to try and keep the date open to at least stop in and celebrate with a pint or two. This year I wanted to brew big bold beers for the party and thats what I tried very hard to do. Here's a list of what to expect on tap that evening.

Kremlin Joe's Russian Imperial Stout batch #2 - A favorite of mine from our St. Patty's Party last year. Big, Bold and Thick just like I like my men - ~10%ABV

WarChild Quadruple - This is a Belgian Dark Strong Ale. Sweet and Complex with a lot of dried fruit charector up front - ~9.5% ABV

Palate Pulverizer DIPA batch #2- The return of a champ, this beer was on tap last year at New Years Eve, but there we only 1 or 2 gallons of it. This year we'll have 5 and enough to go around. Huge citrusy hop flavor well over 100 IBU, but enough malty sweetness mixed with boooooooze to balance it all out - ~8.5% ABV

Emma Rose Abbey Ale - Emma's beer!!! As many of you know Irene and I are expecting our first child in November. To celebrate here birth I decided long ago to brew a beer with her name in it. Emma Rose is sweet and spicey with a floral aroma created from....roses. Have you ever had a beer brewed with roses? Your answer will change soon. - ~7.5% ABV

Bashore BrewHaus 1st Anniversary Ale - This beer doesn't fit specifically into any style. It should be a spicey Belgian Christmas wheat beer...we'll have to wait and see! - ~8% ABV

As a side note I do have plans to barrel age a few of the beer for the evening, so there may be as many as 7 beers to go on tap along with a couple of hard ciders (providing there done) for a little change of pace that evening!

Brew Day 10/18/09 1st Anniversary Ale

This past weekend I brewed The Bashore BrewHaus 1st Anniversary Ale, my last beer in preparation for New Years Eve this year. I set out to brew an Imperial Wit (Belgian Wheat) Bier. I soon realize while I was collecting ingredients and brewing the beer that this was not a beer that would adhere well to any style guidelines. This beer is somewhere between a Belgian Triple/ Imperial Wit and Christmas beer given what has gone into it. One thing is for sure it will be a beer that is between 7.5 and 8 % ABV and it will have a heavy spice profile between a Belgian Strong Ale and a Wheat Ale. Here is the photo journal of the day.



Here are a few of the ingredients that I included in the beer...honey, coriander, grains of paradise, orange zest, beet sugar for dryness and head retention and brown cane sugar for a rum like sweetness.

This is a look at a yeast starter that I made for the beer....this is a very important step especially when brewing higher alcohol beers to first ensure that your yeast is working and secondly to create enough yeast cells to hopefully convert all the fermentable sugars in the beer to alcohol.

The Anniversary Ale will not be a hoppy beer as I only used a few ounces of hops to balance out the sugary sweetness.

Here's a look a the spent grains after all the sugars have been soaked out of them.....the grain bill is one of the main reasons that this is not a wit beer. It ended up being to dark for that classification.


Here's a look after the 1st and only hop addition to the beer. I used a nice mellow British hop so that it would balance the beer out without enforcing its will too much to drown out all the subtle flavors of the beer.

Here's a look at some of the spices and the brown cane sugar going into the beer. Along with the honey the cane sugar should give the beer a sweetness similar to a Christmas Triple, Sweet and Rummy....MMMMMM!

Here's a last look into the brew pot as the wort was being cool before it goes into the fermentor and has yeast pitched into it. If you look close at the picture you can see the orange zest along with the grains of paradise. One note here, this is the first time I have ever used fresh orange zest in a beer. Normally, I buy dried orange peel to use, lets hope it make a good difference.

Cheers!

Palate Pulverizor Brew Day 10/11

This past weekend I brewed my annual Double IPA, Palate Pulverizor. This is the one and only beer that I make that I use my home grown hops in. Aside from my hops I keep the hop bill pretty loose and use what ever is readily available, but overall I like to use a good amount of citrusy hops to get that West Coast vibe from the IPA. Here is a photo journal of the day!

This is the hop bill for this version of PP. From beginning to end 11 oz. of hops are added to make this beer extremely hoppy!


This is a look at the spent grains used in PP. I used 19 pounds of grains to bring the ABV of this beer to between 8.5 and 9%.

Here are some pictures during the boil of hop additions. As you can see it gets pretty crowded in there!

And there you have it a final version of Palate Pulverizor. Looks gross now but in about 2 months it'll be drinking good at over 100 IBU

WHO'S READY FOR NEW YEARS EVE!!!

Back Right Corner - Kremlin Joe's Russian Imperial Stout Batch #2 - 10%

Back Left Corner - WarChild Quadruple - 9.5%

Front Right Corner - Emma Rose Abbey Ale - 7.5%

Front Left Corner - Palate Pulverizor DIPA - too early to tell ~8.5%

Still got a few other goodies up my sleeve for the New Year, but I guess you'll have to be present at the party to find out about those.

CHEERS!!!

Your Friendly Neighborhood HomeBrewer

@ Bashore BrewHaus

Michigan Brewers Guild Inaugural Harvest Festival in Detroit

Here's a little bit of information on the first ever Michigan Brewer's Guild Harvest Festival in Detroit. Unfortunately, Irene and I will not be attending this festival as we already have a prior engagement that day.

Inaugural Harvest Festival - October 24th, 2009 - Eastern Market, Detroit

Inaugural Harvest FestivalPresented by the Michigan Brewers Guild and MetrotimesOctober 24th, 2009Eastern Market, Detroit
The Inaugural Harvest Festival will take place Saturday, October 24th, 2009 at the Eastern Market in Detroit. The Harvest Festival is a cooperative effort between the Michigan Brewers Guild and Metrotimes and we expect our combined efforts to result in one of the best local beer events in the region. The Eastern Market is one of the nation’s oldest farm markets and the area is rife with


brewing history. In its heyday, there were more than 40 breweries in the Market area and malt silos still stand as a testament to the rich brewing history. The Market will be open on Saturday so you may want to come early and check it out. We are expecting more than 40 Michigan microbreweries and brewpubs to participate and there will be nearly 200 different beers available to sample. The event will be open from 1:00pm to 6:00pm; Rain or Shine. Enthusiast Members of the Michigan Brewers Guild will be allowed to enter the Festival an hour early at Noon. The Festival will take place in the parking area near shed #5 and there is ample parking in the surrounding area.
The cost to enter the Festival is $35 in advance and $40 at the gate if tickets are still available. The total quantity of tickets is limited so advance ticket purchase is suggested. Tickets can be purchased here on our website, at participating member breweries and at select retail outlets. Please see the related post on the MASH (our blog) for an updated list of ticket outlets. 15 drink tokens are included with a ticket and each token is good for one 3 ounce beer sample. Additional tokens are available for purchase inside the Festival for 50 cents each. Live entertainment will be provided by local bands and food prepared by local restaurants will be available for purchase.
Festival attendees must be 21 years of age or older and have ID to enter. Designated Drivers are encouraged and DD tickets will be available on line at the gate for $5 each.
Please look for information to be posted on the MASH regarding participating breweries, ticket outlets and other information. The MASH will be updated as new information becomes available. Please feel free to make a post of your own if you are organizing a bus or have something else to share.
Cheers, and see you October 24th at the Eastern Market!

Email Subscription

This is a test....only a test. We added a new feature to the blog in the upper left hand corner that allows everyone to subscribe to blog posts by simply entering your email and verifing in your email. Typing blog enteries and then emailing everyone gets old and annoying so hopefully this will eliminate the middle man. I will send out one final email and let everyone know that its working properly. You can still check for updates on Facebook about parties, but the blog is the best way to get all information. So subscribe via email!

Cheers!

Pipe Dream 8 Tap Bar Idea

As many that know me are aware one of my dreams is to one day own a Brew Pub or a Beer Bar or a combination of both. Now I realize that this is only a dream and a lot of things would have to fall perfectly into place over the course of my life for something like this to happend...but a guy can dream.

I have always been a fan of a small, cozy, very personable place to drink and share stories. I began thinking the other day that if I were to own a bar with somewhere are 8 taps in a small town how I would utalize my taps. I think it becomes a necessity to survive that some domestic beer must be available in a small town atomsphere (at least at first). No matter how much I would like to serve only amazing beer and not fizzle, yellow swill I am aware that I would quickly loose my ass if I were to do this. I believe that this can be accomplished strictly through bottles so that I would never have to corrupt my beer lines with domestic beer, but patrons could still order a Budweiser or a Miller Lite (its triple hops brewed!!).

So what would I have on Tap? I would run 4 taps with year round selections and then rotate 4 taps based on season and/or availabilty.

4 Year Round Taps

The Goal here is to come up with four diverse, interesting selections that are still sessionable.

Founders Centennial IPA
*** You've got to start off with a solid IPA and Founders makes a good one....if there's one thing that I've found from drinking beer is that HOP HEADS are very nitchy and if you serve something hoppy....they will come***

Short's Bellaire Brown Ale

***Short's is one of my favorite breweries in the world and this is one of the most popular session beers at the pub....who doesn't love a rich and creamy brown ale***

Chimay Première (Red)

*** Straight from one of the only Trappist breweries in the world Chimay is to Belgian beer what Guinness is to stout. This beer was an eye opener for me when I was beginning to love good beer***

Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier
*** Call me crazy, but I am a sucker for a good German Wheat Bier and noone does it better than Weihestephaner***

Rotating Taps

I'm gonna list 4 beers for each season just to keep it interesting. I think that to make it work that the rotating list would have to change as often as possible.

Summer

Bell's 2 Hearted

Arcadia Witsun

The Livery Maillot Jaune
St. Bernardus Tripel

Fall

Chimay Grand Reserve (blue)

Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest-Märzen

Bell's Best Brown
Founder's Breakfast Stout

Winter

Short's Cuppa Joe Stout

Bell's HopSlam Ale
Gouden Carolus Noël

New Holland Dragon's Milk

Spring

Founders Red's Rye

Short's Huma-Lupa-Licious IPA

Allagash White
The Hideout Smuggler's Hazelnut Stout

These are just a few ideas for what I would do with a tap list....I'm interested to see what beers all of you would want to see on tap in a bar and at what time of year you would want to drink them.

Cheers!

Monk's Lederhosen voted favorite beer @ Oktoberfest

Well the polls have closed and I didn't get the great voting turnout that I had hoped for, but according to the 5 of you that voted 60% of you said Monk's Lederhosen was your favorite beer at Bashore BrewHaus Oktoberfest. This was one of our first attempts at a Belgian cross over beer and we were glad to see that the response to it was a good one.

Bashore BrewHaus Oktoberfest Recap

I just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone for coming out for Oktoberfest yesterday. A lot of beer was consumed and I hope everyone had a good time. Thanks to everyone that brought and/or made food for the party. Special thanks to Tom and Krista for the use of the tent and for saving our ass with some extra CO2.....you guys are amazing! Also, special thanks to Matt and Kate for use of the tables and chairs and for bring the picnic tap and the extra empty CO2 tank. It just goes to show you that with a little help from your friends great times can be shared by all, so to everyone the contributed we express our appreciation. Cheers!

On a sad note or at least some what disappointing. Today, when Irene and I were cleaning up the bar we noticed that someone from last night STOLE the money from the Beer Karma jar. Let me be clear when I say this....I haven't and will never ask for money from anyone for coming over and giving us the honor of your company and enjoying the beer I produce. I have always considered the things we do here at Bashore BrewHaus to be a collaboration of a community of friends sharing good times and good feelings. Irene and I are very hurt that some would steal from us as we believed that we were surrounded by nothing but friends yesterday. There is never a need to put money in the Beer Karma jar, it is merely a way of chipping in any way you can to take some of the financial burden off the beers we make. Beer Karma is exactly what it seems and to this person that decided that deserved the contents of the jar, I will say Karma will always bite you in the ass. The most concerning thing is that regardless of how things are spoken about this being a bar its still our home first and foremost and if someone can take a few dollars out of a jar...whats to stop them from taking anything of value to us. I would just ask anyone that comes over to be respectful of the people and the property of THE BASHORE HOUSE. This is all I will say on this topic for now, but if it becomes a constant issue with parties......they will stop!

I will be posting pics in the next day or two either here or on the facebook site or both. There are certainly some very funny and also adorable pics of everyone. We are looking forward to adding the final picture mural to the wall of party. Obviously, it will depend on circumstances and cash flow, but we are going to try and throw a get together for every season every year.

Plans are already in the works for Bashore BrewHaus' 2nd annual New Years Eve Party/ 2nd Anniversary. If anyone recalls, last year on New Years Eve was the first occasion in beer flowed from the taps of Bashore BrewHaus. Speaking on a personal note, this is my favorite event to brew for because I have complete freedom to brew whatever I want without any style restrictions. This years theme will be a Pimps N Hoes party...with a twist. It's reverse, all the boys are the hoes and the ladies are the PIMPS. More information will follow on this party but we hope people will join us in ringing in the New Year in Style.

Cheers!
Matt and Irene

Bashore BrewHaus Oktoberfest

Bashore BrewHaus Oktoberfest

WHEN: Saturday, September 19th /noon - when the beer runs out (never)

WHERE: Bashore BrewHaus (inside and outside under a tent)

WHAT TO WEAR: All celebrations at Bashore BrewHaus are celebrations of beer and friends. In addition, this event coincides with the MSU vs. Notre Dame football game. Proper attire for this event would be warmish clothes that either celebrate beer, college teams (tailgating attire) or German attire (lederhosen ONLY!!).

WHAT TO EXPECT: We'll kick things off at noon outside under the tent with our first tapping of the day and we will subsequently be tapping a new beer every hour until 3:15pm when MSU kicks off against Notre Dame (see schedule below) . The day will be filled with music (polka and sing along music), drinking, dancing, games and football. We are hoping for nice weather so that the majority of this event can take place outside under the tent. However, the BrewHaus will be open for anyone wishing to be inside out of the elements. We are hoping to have food cooking all day long. Food will consist of traditional German fare along with tailgating type foods and snacks. As always everyone is encouraged to bring food to share with everyone whether they be snacks or hot dishes....every little bit helps. The tent will be lighted and candle will be on tables so that the party can spill into the night. Please email and/or call us with dish ideas for the day.

12 NOON Release

This is a decotion style Marzen/Oktoberfest beer. A highly drinkable German lager with more malt character and sweetness then its yellow, fizzy American cousin. At noon we will be filling a 3 liter glass and passing it around as a community drink. Careful with this one friends and you may never want to put your glass down. Delicious!!

1:15 pm Release

Have you ever wondered what would happen if a Trappist Monk were to brew a German wheat beer. Well here's your answer! This ale is a beautiful orange, copper color with all the crispness and drinkability of a German Hefeweizen, but it also has the sweetness and complexity of a Belgian Trappist ale. This is what monk's would drink if they were to hang out in a Bier Garten all day.....this beer is just a lot of fun!


2:15 Release

This beer is crispy and edgy with a bit of hoppy bitterness. Straight forward and easy drinking with tiny notes of fruit and earth. Essentially, when I was making this beer my thought was to make something that would stand apart from all of the malty complex beers in the line up today. Should be an easy drinker for anyone who isn't ready to jump into the deep end of the beer spectrum. You don't need arm floaties for this one!

3:15 Release

Well, I saved the craziest beer for the last release of the day. This beer is a monster that has taken on a life of its own since it was brewed. This ale started out as porter that was brewed as a small batch. It was brewed with pumpkin, cocoa, vanilla beans and spices. After its primary fermentation the color was too light and it seemed to taste a lot more like a brown ale then a porter. Drastic measures had to be taken! Fugly was blended with a left over gallon of Kremlin Joe's Russian Imperial Stout. This marriage led to a beer that is pitch black and boozy with flavors of carmel, chocolate, vanilla with an up front flavor of spice that lingers on your palate as you finish this beer. Think spiced Porter meets dessert meets you lying face down....that's Fugly One!

Favorite Activity to do While drinking Beer

Hanging out with friends was voted your favorite thing to do while drinking a beer. Hopefully we'll see you all soon so that you can do some of that at the BrewHaus.

FOMB Rampaging Giant CANCELLED

The FOMB Rampaging Giant gathering on Sept. 5th has been cancelled due to lack of attendees. This event will not be rescheduled. However, future FOMB gatherings/beer tastings may take place this fall depending on the beer situation at the brewhaus. As always we have beer on tap and friends of the BrewHaus do not need a designated gathering or party to stop in and enjoy a few pints especially now that football season is upon us.

Hopefully, we will see all of you at our next party on Sept 19th for Oktoberfest starting at noon that day. We will have 4 new beers on tap for this event. Stay tuned for future posts with more details about Oktoberfest. Cheers and GO STATE!!

Short's Voted Favorite Brewery by Bashore BrewHaus Patrons

Polling just closed on Bashore BrewHaus Patron's favorite Michigan Brewery. Short's Brewery in Bellaire, Michigan recieved half of the votes making it your favorite brewery. Founders Brewing Company in Grand Rapids and Jolly Pumpkin in Dexter each recieved votes as well. Be on the look out for future poll questions.

Fun Beer Quotes

We wanted to start a running list of some of our favorite beer quotes because they always make us smile. Please feel free to add any crazy and fun quotes about beer that you run across.


Sometimes when I reflect on all the beer I drink, I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn't drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. I think, "It is better to drink this beer and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver."
Babe Ruth
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day."
Lyndon B. Johnson
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"When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading."Paul Horning
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"24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not."H. L. Mencken
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b-double-e-double-r-u-n
-Homer Simpson
***submitted by Matt Junak

FOMB Rampaging Giant + IPA/Pale Ale tasting

This is sort of a single audience post for those of you that are attending the Finish Off My Beer gathering on September 5th. I just wanted to get a running tally of the 2 beers that people were planning on bring for sampling. Feel free to email me or just comment on this post when you have an idea of what your bring. Here's what I'll supply.

Cheers

Matt Bashore
The Livery - Carvana
Founders '07 Devil Dancer
Russian River Pliny the Elder
Keg of Rampaging Giant Pale Ale - more for consumption rather than sampling

Matt Junak
Founders '09 Devil Dancer - should be a nice vertical with the '07
Dark Horse Crooked Tree IPA

Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Beer Festival 7/24/09 & 7/25/09

The Michigan Summer Beer Festival is this upcoming weekend in Ypsilanti, MI. Irene and I will be attending on Saturday. For anyone interested in buying tickets, there are links below.
Cheers!

The Michigan Brewers Guild’s Summer Beer Festival is a showcase event featuring well over 200 beers from more than 30 Michigan breweries.
Friday, July 24th, 2009. 5:00pm to 9:00pm
Saturday, July 25th, 2009. 1:00pm to 6:00pm
Tickets go on sale May 1st. We are hosting a ticket kick off party which is open to the public. Party details at http://www.mbgmash.org/
Friday admission is $25 in advance and $30 at the gate if available
Saturday admission is $30 in advance and $35 at the gate if available
Due to limited ticket availability advance purchase is encouraged. Tickets will be available at participating member breweries, select retail outlets, on line and by phone beginning May 2nd. For updated locations visit the MASH at www.mbgmash.org . Phone orders will be accepted at 877 772 5425.
For assistance with online ticketing, please call 888 695 0888.
Admission allows access to all beer and entertainment and includes 12 drink tokens. Additional tokens will be available for purchase inside the Festival for 50 cents each.
The Festival also features live entertainment and food will be available for purchase.
Rain or shine, the Festival goes on.
Enthusiast members will be allowed to enter one hour early with a valid membership card. Enthusiast membership is available through our website.
Designated Driver tickets are available on line or at the gate for $5 and are not subject to sell out. DDs must be 21 or older.
No one under the age of 21 will be allowed into the festival.
Hotel information and additional updates will be posted on the MASH at http://www.mbgmash.org/
Ypsilanti's Special Event Ordinance section 10-288(c) prohibits the following within the special event area: dogs (except service dogs), horses, farm animals, uncaged domestic animals, snakes, exotic animals, bicycles, skateboards, roller-skates, rollerblades, and glass containers.
For additional information contact Scott Graham at director@michiganbrewersguild.org or 517 327 5004.
Thank you for your interest. We look forward to seeing you at the Summer Beer Festival!

UpComing Brew and Events at The Bashore BrewHaus

With our third of four annual events in the books this last weekend I thought it was an appropriate time to start posting information on our next event.......OKTOBERFEST!!! Oktoberfest starts every year in Munich, Germany on the third Saturday in September as a celebration of the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig (later King Ludwig I) and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. At Bashore BrewHaus we use Oktoberfest to celebrate the end of summer and the beginning of the holiday season. Bashore BrewHaus Oktoberfest will take place on Saturday September 19th starting at noon when we tap our Marzen BashoreFest. Unlike previous events Oktoberfest will involve new beers going on tap every hour until 3:30 when Michigan State kicks off against Notre Dame. The schedule for beer releases is as follows.


12 noon - BashoreFest (decotion style German Marzen)

1:15 pm - Monk's Lederhosen Abbey Weizen (A Belgian style hefeweizen ale)

2:15 pm - May the Kolsch be With You (A German Style Kolsch ale popularized in the city of Koln, Germany)

3:15 pm - Fugly One Chocolate Pumpkin Porter (An American style Brown Porter that is brewed with pumpkin, chocolate, vanilla and spices)----LIMITED BATCH RELEASE

***First pours of each of these brews will take place in the tent and then the brew will be moved to the pub for future servings***



Our Oktoberfest will take place mainly outside under a tent so dress appropriately for it as it may be a bit chilly. Like the German Oktoberfest...ours will be a celebration of food, music and friends....dancing and singing is encouraged. We will be tuning into the Michigan State football game at 3:30 pm as they beat the shit of the Floppy Irish from Notre Dame. We're going to do our best to serve traditional German fare all day and as always, anyone that would like to bring food would be extremely welcome. More details will follow as they become available, but mark your calenders and raise a glass....PROSIT!!!!

Bashore BrewHaus Beer Olympics Closing Ceremony

What a time was had this past weekend at the Bashore BrewHaus 1st Annual Beer Olympics. Here's a quick recap of the events.

• The first match of the day pitted the Banana Hammocks vs. Blue Steel. The first event of the match was Name That Beer and it was Matt Junak defeating Blue Steel captain Kevin Courneya 1-0 in a tightly contested first match. Blue Steel was able to even up the round with the next event Beer Billiards in which last minute sub Amanda Courneya defeated Michelle Flick. The third and decisive event in the round was Beer Darts and Blue Steel member David Ketchmark was able to defeat the Banana Hammocks Jason Hill thanks in large part to a bulls eye hit by David early in the round - Blue Steel advances (Round MVP Amanda Courneya)

• The second match of the first round featured Stoned Black Magik against Here Comes the Lipstick. The first event of this round was a wild card event chosen by Lipstick's Captain Karen Thomas and the event ended up being Beer Trivia. Here Comes the Lipstick was able to comfortably secure a victory in the game winning 40-27. In the second event Black Magik was able to even the score and Dave Kennedy was able to defeat Kurt Blasius in Beer Darts. This led to a very excited final game of the round which ended up being the very demanding Boat Race. Here Comes the Lipstick was able to prevail by a very slight margin and there was some contention after the game due to our first VOMIT of the day....the ref ruled that the expulsion had come long enough after the game was over and that Lipstick would move on. - Here Comes the Lipstick advances (Round MVP Aren Rabe)

• The third match of the day was the first elimination match with the Banana Hammocks taking on Stoned Black Magik. The first game in this round brought about our first look at 1 liter volume chug with The Banana Hammocks Randy Flick coming from behind to defeat Stoned Black Magik's Dan Hailey by a little less than an 1/8 of a liter.

Stoned Black Magik was able to even the score as the team of Josh Lemmer and Josh Cook were able to defeat long time house champs Michelle Flick and Jason Hill in a good game of Beer Pong. The final event of the round was again Boat Race with The Banana Hammocks crushing the Stoned Black Magik as two consecutive rounds of chugging really seemed to wear on the team in black. - Banana Hammocks Advance/Stoned Black Magik eliminated (Round MVP Randy Flick)

• The fourth match of the day was the first best of five round and involved Blue Steel taking on Here Comes the Lipstick. The first game of the match involved Lipstick's Matt Bashore taking on Blue Steel team captain Kevin Courneya in a game of Name That Beer. Matt was able to defeat Kevin with score of 2-1 in another tightly contested game of Name That Beer. Here Comes the Lipstick was able to keep it going as Aren Rabe defeated David Ketchmark in a very close game of Beer Darts. Wrapping it up Here Comes the Lipstick was able to close the round out and send Blue Steel to the Losers Bracket by defeating them in the first Relay Race of the day. - Here Comes the Lipstick advances (Round MVP Matt Bashore)
  
• The fifth match of the day was a best of five elimination match and was a rematch between Blue Steel and The Banana Hammocks. The first game of the match was a game of Beer Trivia between Blue Steel's Kevin Courneya and Bart Maas and the heavily favored team of Randy Flick and Matt Junak from the Banana Hammocks. The game was tight throughout with the Banana Hammocks leading 12-9 going into the third round. A rousing comeback by Blue Steel in the third round left the game tied 18-18 after three rounds and sending the game into overtime. Shockingly in overtime Blue Steel was able to secure a victory and win the game 30-26. The second game of the round had Blue Steel's Amanda Courneya and David Ketchmark defeating The Banana Hammocks Michelle Flick and Jason Hill in a game of Beer Pong....leaving some to wonder if the long reign of Jason and Michelle as Bashore BrewHaus' best beer pong team was over and if they should slowly slip into retirement. Down two games to none The Banana Hammock's began mounting a comeback with Jason Hill defeating Kevin Courneya in a very close, down to the wire game of Beer Darts. Heading into the fourth game neither team seemed to have the momentum, but due to a very tough break and a pesky table The Banana Hammocks fell short in a crazy relay race. Blue Steel posted the best time of the day in the event with a time of 1:31 and was able to advance to the finals to face Here Comes the Lipstick. - Blue Steel Advances/Banana Hammocks eliminated (Round MVP David Ketchmark)




• Blue Steel was able to secure a victory in the finals of Beer Olympics due to a forfeit by Here Comes the Lipstick as members of the team were not able to continue in the events. Congratulations go out to our Champs - Blue Steel. Blue Steel will be the only team that will be allowed to return next year as a whole to defend there title.
  

A big thanks to everyone that participated and came out to watch this event. A good time was had by all and we'll do it all again next year!

CHEERS!

Beer Olympics Highlight Reel

Hey Guys, I'll be posting a wrape up on Beer Olympics over the weekend, but for the time being Randolph C. Flick II has made an amazing video that does a good job giving a summary of the day.

New on Tap this Weekend

Well guys its mid summer and its time for another event over at the Bashore BrewHaus. This weekend is our 1st Annual Bashore BrewHaus Beer Olympics! For this special occasion we will be pouring from 5 taps. In addition to Kremlin Joe's Russian Imperial Stout, Rampaging Giant Pale Ale and FiddleStix Lemon Grass Wheat Beer we will be putting two new beers on tap this weekend. The first is a pub favorite from last summer Leggy Blonde Ale '09 and the second is an American Extra Pale Ale called Donkey Piss.

Leggy Blonde Ale '09 - 5.25% ABV

Leggy Blonde is a loose interpretation on an American blonde ale. I've tweaked the recipe a bit from the original version lowering both the spice and hop profile of the ale hence the '09 in the name. Leggy Blonde is sweet and refreshing, a fitting tribute to summer and New Zealand's 3rd most popular folk rock duo!

Donkey Piss American Ale - 3.5% ABV

For all the fans of fizzy, yellow, flavorless domestic swill out there this beers for you. Donkey Piss is a loose clone of a domestic lager except its actually and ale, so why not call it an extra pale ale. This beer was designed specifically for Beer Olympics and is meant to be drank it large quantity. Its actually got a little more flavor than your typical Budweiser or Miller, but is still extremely light bodied.....with that extra splash of "Drinkabilty". Unfortunately, this beer is only double hops brewed so it might end up leaving the Miller Lite fan a little underwhelmed.

Crunchy's Does Great Taste of Michigan all July long!

Hey Guys,

I just got several email notifications on this and wanted to make everyone aware.

27 taps of Michigan Beers at Crunchy's all July

This is the 2nd Annual "Taste of Michigan" at Crunchy's. We are changing all 27 taps over to Michigan beer at Midnight on June30th/July1st with help from the Michigan Brewer's Guild Board of Directors as well as other brewers/owners and YOU!! Brett Mitchell and the Giant Ghost will be playing live starting at 9pm and we all will sing the Michigan Beer Fight Song at Midnight as the taps change over and I tap a firkin (maybe some Livery)!! We've gotten word today that we will release the "Inspirations Series" from Bell's this night as well as some other special treats. So don't miss out this years "Taste of Michigan", every year just gets better!!

Paul Stewart

Definitely a great way to support the Michigan Beer Scene. We were lucky enough to wander into Crunchy's one afternoon last July and they happened to have Bell's 6000 Batch on tap (4 years old)! This is definitely an event not to be missed by any beer enthusiasts. We'll be there at midnight this year when all the taps switch over.

Cheers!

Tasting Notes for FiddleStix Lemon Grass Wheat Beer

4/5 Appearance - This beer pours a hazy, light yellow color with 2 to 3 fingers of head. Overall, head retention is pretty poor for a wheat beer as it diminishes within 2 minutes without even taking a drink. Carbonation was a little low for the style initially, but after another day of heavy force carbonation it seems to be right on the money.

4/5 Smell - As one would expect from a wheat beer the smell is not overly complex. It does have a nice sweet smell to it, but the overall smell is a very heavy lemon smell. Reminds me very much of a shandy in the way that it smells.

3/5 Taste and Mouthfeel - This beer feels very thin in the mouth, but does leave that lingering "wheat beer" after taste that pretty much hangs with you the entire evening. Initial taste is of citrus and wheat with this beer, which is quickly overshadowed by a strong lemony zest flavor. Because lemon grass was used in the beer and not lemon peel, the beer has a lot more of an earthy type flavor and less of a citursy lemon flavor. Drinkability is high with this beer due to the low content of alcohol and the light mouth feel, however the after taste makes me not want to drink more that one or two.

Overall Impression - While not the best summer beer I've ever produced the idea of a lemon wheat beer definitely comes across with this beer. The only real downside I have with it is the lingering after taste. It reminds me of having a lemon in you mouth all day and then trying to eat dinner later on. All and all a very refreshing beer that may mellow a bit over the next couple of weeks. 6/10

Now On Tap 6/12/09

FiddleStix Lemon Grass Wheat Beer

4.5% ABV

FiddleStix is an top fermented American Hefeweizen ale brewed with generous amounts of lemon grass and grains of paradise and lightly hopped using american versions of classic German hops. The idea behind this beer was to make a light refreshing american wheat style ale with a lemony twist. Hopefully it will be a refreshing treat for a hot summer day. Stop in an try one today!

From a Wandering Mind

I've been having a lot of thoughts lately on different high gravity ales to make in the upcoming months. Most of these beer will take a good amount of time to ferment, age and condition, but the prospects of whats running through my head get me very excited and god and money willing all of these beers will come to be. I thought I'd share some of the ideas with you and see if any of them got you excited about drinking beer.

Sometime this month or next I am going to do an experimental batch (~3 gals) of an imperial chocolate pumpkin porter that should weigh in around 8.5% ABV. I would like to have this ale ready for the Oktoberfest party and pass it around in my 3L glass from Germany so that everyone can get a taste. If its not ready by September, it should hopefully be ready by Halloween. Next, I had an idea to brew a Belgian Dark Strong Ale (Quadruple). I believe I'm going to do 5 gals of this beer and keg 3 gals of the original brew. With one gallon I'm going to add 1.5 lbs of cherries to referment and then I'm going to bottle condition it. The other gallon I'm going to bourbon age using oak cubes and Makers Mark. I will be bottling this gallon as well. I'm hoping this ale will be ready by Christmas (fingers crossed) so that I can have it on Tap on New Years Eve this year. Also this summer I'm going to make my first attempt at brewing an English Old Ale, which is similar to a Barley Wine. I'm only gonna brew 3 gallons of it because its my first attempt and to brew 5 gallons would require more equipment than I have. This brew should be very malty and boozey. I will need to age in the keg for quit a while, so hopefully by next spring it will be ready to sample and by next fall ready to drink. Additionally, I'll be brewing two of my favorite ales this summer. I'm gonna brew Batch #2 of Kremlin Joe's Russian Imperial Stout this August and Batch #2 of The Palate Pulverizer this September. Look for both to have a gallon or 2 aged in bourbon soaked oak cubes and both should be ready to drink for the winter months......mmmmm drunk times!

My mind is always wandering in different directions for things that I can do with beer. I will of course post when each of these brews is ready to consume, so be sure to tune in and pass out!

Cheers,
Matt

Beer Update (Bottles, On Draft, Coming Soon, etc...)

Hello All, I just wanted to drop a quick update on your liver about the beers currently on draft, in bottle and coming soon at The Bashore BrewHaus.

IN BOTTLES

• Kremlin Joe's Russian Imperial Stout - 12.5% ABV - we have a few bombers of this beer remaining although I am trying to save a few to see how well it ages.
• Vanilla Bean Kremlin Joe's - 12.5% ABV - we have about 10 bottles of the vanilla version of the RIS left.
• Hardtke Hop Juice - 6.5% ABV - just a couple bottles of this left!
• Valdez - 5% ABV - the unlabeled monster, I had a bottle of this the other night and the coffee bitterness is starting to diminish leaving a nice brown ale
• Pineapple Express - 8.5% ABV - cracked the first bottle of this last weekend, a great sour citrus beer, still have 6 left

ON DRAFT

• Kremlin Joe's Russian Imperial Stout - 12.5% ABV - this beer is holding up well on tap, the sweetness has died off quit a bit leave behind a great boozey warmth
• Rampaging Giant Pale Ale - 6.25% ABV - this beer has gotten progressively less sweet with age and has rounded into a nice session brew.

COMING SOON

• FiddleStix Lemon Grass Wheat Beer - an American Hefeweizen Ale brewed with grains of paradise and lemon grass. Its currently in primary fermentation. This ale should be on tap in the middle of June
• Donkey Piss American Ale - a basic ale brewed with the purpose of heavy consumption. This ale is in primary fermentation. Available July 11th - BEER OLYMPICS!
• BashoreFest - A German style Marzen, brewed using traditional German methods. This beer is currently in its secondary fermentation. After 3 months of lagering it will be available for the Oktoberfest Party at the end of September.
• Leggy Blonde - look for the return of this favorite in early July

Beer Game Poll and Beer Olympics Update

Well, the votes are in and you voted Beer Pong as your favorite beer game on the most recent blog poll question. Be on the lookout for future poll questions to be posted.
We've had a great response on the Beer Olympics event planned for July 11th and if everything stays on course we should have no problem putting teams together for the event. However, as I'm sure everyone is aware times are extremely tough in Michigan especially for those families with General Motors workers in them. Depending on what happens next month when GM goes to Congress, the Beer Olympics may be changed to simply a potluck BBQ. With Irene working for GM and me being employed through the state times are pretty tough and it may not be feasible to hold a mass drinking event this summer. Regardless we would still like to throw a BBQ and hang out. I will keep all of you posted on what the plans are. Sometime in June I will either send out an email with teams on it or I will let you all know if the event is canceled.

Cheers!

Available soon!

This beer is one of the more limited selections we have ever produced (~7/22oz. bottles available) and it will be available soon as in this weekend.

Pineapple Express is a French Bier de Garde weighing in at somewhere between 8.5 and 9% ABV.

The base of this beer is spicey with a nice wheat flavor, then two pounds of pineapple was added during secondary fermentation to give the beer a refreshing citrus tartness.

Pineapple Express is dangerously drinkable and refreshing with enough alcohol to knock you on your ass.

Stop in and split a bottle with a friend before they are all gone.

Cheers!