Bull & Bones ~ a review

A quick bit of background info: we got married on St. Patrick's Day. One year, for our anniversary, we decided to venture into the world on homebrewing which has now put us on the path of opening our own microbrewery. Now, we've begun a new tradition of sorts: either taking a "brew-tour" (road trip to breweries) or just visiting a brewery nearby. This year we chose the latter.
Southwestern Virginia has gone from having absolutely NADA in the form of brewpubs and breweries to having a rapid string of them pop up. A blessing indeed. So, yesterday we traveled up to Hokie Country (Blacksburg, Va for you non-Hokies ... and if you aren't a Hokie, why are you reading this?) to check out Bull & Bones.
Location: It is located on S. Main in a new development, just off of 460. Good for driving up from Salem. It is in one of those new "outdoor centers" - a wonderful, revamped, and MUCH better version of the old strip mall. Being the luddite and conservationsist that I am, new developement immediately makes me approach with caution, this I liked. There was parking in the rear, easy to get back through to the front, very nice.
Atmosphere: We got up there about 5:30 on Saturday evening, before dinner rush had begun. Interior was very nicely done. Ok - here is where luddite opinion will vary from "the way things are": It was too noisy!! Though the bar is to the left and dining to the right, the ceilings are cavernous and the sound echos .. something not helped by my migraine, I'll admit. However, Bull & Bones is in a COLLEGE town!! It's Blacksburg baby & PROUD OF IT!! So, take it for what it is .. if you want quiet & romantic, this might not be the best spot, but over-all the place is nice.
Food: Now this is where they get a BIG A+! We got their Shrimp & Crab dip appetizer & were REALLY impressed. Normally this dish is pretty greasy and gooey when served at other restaraunts, but this one was awesome!! Justin had the wings for dinner and thought they were good as well. I (Carrie) had the Smokehaus Chicken sandwich - very tasty, though I didn't eat much because of my migraine; their homemade potato chips were also pretty good.
BEER: (Why you're really reading this after-all, right?) We got the sampler to try, just one for both of us, which honestly we thought was enough to know what we liked or didn't ... these are good size samplers (we've gotten WAY less beers at almost every tasting we've gone to .. aside from Starr Hill, so a nice plus here for Bull & Bones). So, here is our take on their beers to date:
*Sun Lit Wit ~ We liked this one. Justin thought Awful Arthur's was a little bit better, Carrie doesn't remember AA's that well, so this was her #2 beer from B&B. Lots of orange present. VOTE: Justin - yes, Carrie - yes
*All Night Light ~ This one was dyed green for St. Patrick's Day. According to Justin "just call it a Miller Lite." Carrie is NOT a fan of American Lagers, and this was no exception!!! VOTE: Justin - meh, Carrie - NO!!!!!!
*Lunch Pale Ale ~ We both liked this one. According to the resident hophead, it could use more aroma, but the non-hophead thought it was ok. I mean, it is Bud Foster approved, and our Lunch Pail Defense is strong, so I'll trust it. VOTE: Justin - yes, Carrie - yes
*IPA (their Seasonal, doesn't have a special name) ~ This one we thought could use some more aroma since it was an IPA. It does have more hops than the Lunch Pale Ale, but it ought to since it is an IPA! VOTE: Justin - yes (and this is what he ordered a pint of), Carrie - yes
*Stricks Dark Lager ~ This one started off nice, and had a nice flavor, but as it rolled around in your mouth it suddenly took on what can only be described as "armpit flavor." A weird combo. VOTE: Justin - meh, Carrie - meh
*Maroon Effect Ale ~ At first we thought it needed some more aroma, but the longer we let it sit out the more the aroma came out, so not too bad. We found it to be a fairly typical brown ale, nothing terribly special, but not bad either. VOTE: Justin - ok, Carrie - ok
*St. Maeve's Stout ~ Great flavor, nice aroma, definitely an Irish stout. We did think it was a little thin, but still a good beer. VOTE: Justin - too thin but ok, Carrie - yes (and this the one that Carrie got a pint of).

Over-all, would definitely go there again. Would be a great place to go and watch the Hokies play while shooting some pool. Their prices can't compare with Awful Arthur's $2.50 - $3 for a pint, but where can? Definitely a good place to go for a night out.

~ A quick side note we found amusing: Another table was being seated nearby and as they walked past our table the girl said "there's a sampler" (referring to the sampler we had on our table) .... one of the guys in the group immediately replied "a sampler of what?" -- Yea. Then, you have us, beer snobs & wanna-be alcoholics (haha). The waiter came up to our table which was full of the beer samples, our pints, and our food. He asked me "have you had a chance to try everything?," to which I replied "... you mean the beer?" -- He was referring to the food. Oops. Justin admitted he thought he was inquiring about the beer as well. -- Yea.

Get your booty movin'

We love Bebop Hoedown. It is really about as simple as that. So, we felt it imperative to share this with everyone. Both Justin and Carrie have known Sonny for many years now, and think it is impossible to know a nicer guy. We can tell you one thing, when we actually get to open our brewery .. plan on hearing some good music ~ they don't know it yet, but they will be playing there!
Just click on this link, turn the sound WAY UP and get ready to boogy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJpCA7ffJJY

First Brews of 2009

Saturday turned out to be a very gorgeous day, so like many homebrewers across the valley, we headed outside to brew. We got started at 8:45 am, while it was about 45 degrees out. It quickly warmed up to 62 degrees though, which was quite nice.
We were especially fortunate today because of the amount that we were able to brew. We brewed two 10 gallon batches of all-grain beer: our stout, "Ruby's Deep Winter," and our brown ale "Back Porch Brown." In the top photo you can see the Back Porch Brown still finishing sparging, with the wort being collected in the bottom kettle. In the right side of the photo is our stout in it's final boil. We had decided to brew the stout, as St. Patrick's Day will be upon us soon and it just seems quite wrong to celebrate without a stout. St. Patrick's Day is not only special to us because of our love for beer but also because we were married that day ~ 2009 will be our 4th anniversary!

Here is another shot of the brown ale, March's competition beer for Star City Brewer's Guild, finishing sparging with the wort being collected in the bottom kettle.

One of the really great things about this particular brewing day was the reaction of our boys. They were both not only very interested in it all, but very excited about getting to help. In the above photo you can see Shannon helping add hops to the brown ale, in the bottom photo you can see Tristan getting his turn adding hops. Shannon has been very proud of the fact that he gets to help brew beer. And while we certainly don't condone underage drinking, teaching them about brewing beer is another matter.

We believe in being self-sufficeint and sustainable, and we practice urban-homesteading. Brewing our own beer is part of that. Since we're also homeschooling the boys, we like that in learning how to brew beer they are also learning stuff like volume measurements, some basic math skills, along with the processes of how things come to be. Shannon helps measure, weigh, and grind out the grain. In the summer we grow hops, so they learn about horticulture and caring for the land, as well as the plant. In the fall they get to see how the hops are harvested and stored. They also learn about safety, something that is every parents' concern, since there is boiling water and wort and flames on burners. So far they've managed to learn this lesson very well .. much better than the dogs who keep getting their fur singed!
All in all yesterday's brewing went pretty smoothly and much quicker than we had anticipated. Wind was a little bit of an issue, as it kept blowing out the burner. We were much luckier than some others who had not only burners being blown out, but lids being blown off, and even glasses being blown over! Both beers are now in the fermenters, chugging away like they ought to be. Our only dilemma of the day was using the "new" keg and having to pour some beer over the edge of it, into a fermenter. Hopefully this won't pose a major contamination threat. We will plan to drink that stout first though, just in case. Not like any beer, much less Ruby's Deep Winter Stout, sits around waiting to be drunk for very long here anyway!!

Frustration, Envy, & Luddites

Labels are a bitch! Our friend Kevin (http://revolutionisbrewing.blogspot.com/ ) always has rockin' labels on his beers, I'm quite envious. His girlfriend recently called me a Luddite: one who opposes and dislikes technological advancements. She has a point.
We've been working on designing our logo, which we've got down in one format but can't seem to get it transfered from that format so that we can use it wherever we want. Hence why you don't see it on here yet. Believe me, it is something we're working on!
For our labels, we're in a dilemma of sorts. So far I've been drawing some of the characters, but again, trying to get them looking nice and onto labels is proving to be quite tricky for me. There are many programs you can use, and while we've had a good one, it is the one that won't allow things to be transfered out.

Today, at Kevin's suggestion, we downloaded paint.net. Justin has used it before as well and likes it. But, the Luddite in me is having troubles figuring out how to use it. I can't just tell it what I want and have it magically appear. One solution would be to just hire someone to do this all for us, but right now that would be quite silly, and besides we are DIY people, so that would feel like cheating or failing. It just wouldn't work out to well. It looks like we're going to have a couple long nights of trying to explain things to Carrie ahead of us.

Year Review

This was what Justin found looking back at him when he looked into his stocking Christmas morning. Quite a sight to be sure! ha ha ha. Quick review is that it was a very well liked beer around here. We also got Delirium Noel (yummy!), Sam Adam's Chocolate Bock (also yummy, but not worth the cost we thought), Bell's Special Double Cream Stout (good, but we expected more from it), as well as some other beers that I am currently blanking on. You can see some photos that we took of the beers here though: http://flickr.com/photos/funkymamataney/3154861718/in/set-72157605649531380/ ~ This is Carrie's online photography portfolio, and that link will take you directly to beers. Always a good place to start in our opinion.
New Year's Eve finds us here at Soul One looking both back at the past year and forward at the years ahead (as we're sure it finds many people). Early in the year we began all-grain brewing and have had both success and flops with that. Lessons have been learned, and notes made for next time. We've entered our first competitions, both in our local homebrewer's guild (http://www.starcitybrewers.org) and in a national organic one through Seven Bridges Cooperative.
We've seen one site we had hoped to place a brewery get "crossed-off" because the new Intermodal is supposed to go on the lot that it literally next to it. An small, eco-friendly, artisan craft brewery and a pollution spewing Intermodal facility hardly go hand in hand. We found another tentative site, wondered if it would ever become vacant, and then watched it ironically burn to the ground (we both have alibis! ha ha). We'll see what happens next year.
We finally designed a logo (that I've yet to figure out how to upload to here .. a goal for next year?), and Justin now has our first "official" Soul One Brewery t-shirt, a gift for Christmas.
We've learned a lot this year, taken a lot of notes and talked to a lot of people, readily listening to all advice. We've got a lot planned still for the future. We plan to begin finally kegging early next year. This should be quite a triumph as well as an ongoing source of interest. Our almost 5 year old is already figuring out how to open bottles, and I myself new how to pour beer from a keg at his age ... so LOTS to consider when switching to kegging!! :)
As we mentioned in our last post, we also joined the Beer of the Month Club at Wine Gourmet. Our first month was quite a shock. We had been expecting Bell's beers and, due to an sudden spike of new Beer of the Month members, they had to switch to Ballast Point. We got their IPA and their Pale Ale. Their Pale Ale was a very easy drinking beer, I liked that. The folks at Wine Gourmet told us they hope to have Bell's ready for next month, so we're still looking forward to that as we've had very good experiences with their beers.
We wish you all a very Happy New Year. Much luck in both brewing and drinking. We hope your cup never runneth dry and that the Ales are always plenty! Cheers!!

Christmas, Santa, & a Lump of Coal review

Tis the season and we've realized something. There is just no way that Santa would not leave beer in a brewer's stocking! However, unless he's bringing a time-tested favorite as a treat, he surely would leave a brew that has a nice Holiday theme to it. Ah, the joys of a new tradition being started.
So, yesterday found us at Wine Gourmet here in Roanoke. It is one of the best places to buy beer in the Valley, and their staff couldn't be friendlier or more eager to help! While we were there, as a gift to Justin, we joined their Beer of the Month club, so be looking for reviews and more to come about that.
One of the beers we got was Lump of Coal. It sounded deliciously tempting, slightly naughty, and so we drank it last night.
Here is the review of the beer from Shelton Brothers, http://www.sheltonbrothers.com/beers/beerProfile.asp: Looking forward to a depressing holiday? Here is liquid consolation. This 8% bittersweet chocolate stout is the best you could hope for in these dark times. Actually, come to think of it, considering how bad you’ve been, this little coal-black gem is more than you deserve for Christmas this year.
The handiwork of vastly talented (but altogether too cheery) master brewer Peter Scholey, Lump of Coal is the perfect stocking stuffer for the beer lover or manic depressive in your family.
Though we had high hopes for Lump of Coal we were disappointed. Though somehow it seems like an oxymoron to have high hopes for a lump of coal. Our thoughts? First, it was seriously lacking needed aroma. The only scent we picked up from it was alcohol, which if it was classified as an American Stout (under BJCP style guidelines), wouldn't be too terribly bad. There definitely wasn't any roasted malt aroma or any chocolate aroma either. As far as the look of it though, it looked just fine & had a fine head on it, so that part was good. Flavor: it was definitely a sweet stout (intentional or not), with a slight taste of chocolate, but completely lacked any roasted flavor. Mouthfeel: It was an easy drinking stout, with an appropriate body. -- Ok, this is where we disagree: Justin found it medium to heavy bodied, and I (Carrie) like my stouts full-bodied enough to chew on, so I found it just medium. But still it was fine by definition.
Our over-all impression? It could've used some more time aging, and it definitely needed some more roasted characteristics. Grade - somewhere between a B- and a C+.
Santa's Butt will be in a stocking, so ... well, I don't think anything more needs to be said there. And this month's Beer of the Month are Bell's Two Hearted Ale & Bell's Porter - we've always liked their beers so we're eager to try them.. Tis the Season to have Santa's Butt in your stocking and Bell's beer in the fridge!!

Porter Competition

For December's Star City Brewer's Guild meeting we had a 'Porter Competition.' This was the first one we have entered with the Guild, so we were excited. However, our Porter wasn't just a standard Porter, nor was it even a standard Robust Porter. Ours was an Imperial Bourbon Vanilla Porter! So, even though we were eager to enter it, we held no hopes of winning, since it wasn't "to standard."
While I disagree with some of the ratings our beer got, we have to keep in mind that there were 3 different tables of judges, each table with three judges at it. So, you have nine different judges who are coming to conclusions based on whatever personal nuances and opinions they have. Nor did each table get to try every beer, so if you had a table scoring harsher or kinder than the others, then .. well, there you go. This isn't meant as holding any sort of ill-will or anything like that, it is just a statement of facts that can not be taken personally but ought to be noted. Our beer did ok with scoring, though we think it ought to have done better.
One thing though that struck us was the personal reactions we DID get from the judges after the competition was over. Those who had tasted and judged our beer came up to us raving about how wonderful the beer was! This was better, to us anyway, than actually winning the competition.
While we look forward to entering more competitions in the future (and hopefully doing better in them) these past two competitions have given us a lot to ponder. What do WE want out of our beers? What are WE trying to achieve? What is important to US?
We want to use fresh ingredients, brew them well, brew in as great of an eco-friendly manner as possible, and brew beers that people WANT to drink and remember!! Having people coming up to us after the competition expressing regrets that they couldn't/didn't give it higher scores because it wasn't to standard, but saying what a GOOD beer it was, is what we want. We want people to say "wow, now THAT is good!"
So, along those lines, we thought it only appropriate to share a Porter that leaves us with that reaction. From Kona Brewing Company, "Pipeline Porter" http://www.konabrewingco.com/beers/pipeline-porter --- the description from their website: Pipeline Porter is smooth and dark with a distinctive roasty aroma and earthy complexity from its diverse blends of premium malted barley. This celebration of malt unites with freshly roasted 100% Kona coffee grown at Cornwell Estate on Hawaii’s Big Island, lending a unique roasted aroma and flavor. A delicate blend of hops rounds out this palate-pleasing brew.
We couldn't say it better & highly recommend going out, getting a six-pack, and trying it for yourself. Our grade for this beer: Outstanding ... we'd say it'd score easily 45 or higher. Congrats to Kona for such a fantastic Porter!!