Pintwell

From Firkins to Ponies: the many ways to measure the volume of beer

2012-02-04T14:53:06-06:00

There is a surprisingly vast array of ways to measure how much beer you got. Vast! And each of these measurements can get a bit confusing. For example the US and the UK use fluid ounces, and pints but while they have the same name they're not the same thing. Why? Because it's more exciting that way. Here's my attempt to sort some of these measurements out.

Let's start with things that fit in your hand, and given the name of ...

The Session #60: WTF is a Growler

2012-02-03T22:29:47-06:00

The Session is a monthly beer blogging topic. This month's topic comes from Kendall Jones at Washington Beer Blog.

The first time I homebrewed the friend who walked me through the process told me he would pick up a couple growlers beforehand. WTF s a growler, I asked. He replied simply, it's just a glass jug for beer. Oh. Well that's simple enough. And, if homebrew isn't available, there's nothing quite like a fresh beer from a local brewery to ...

Calculating Finishing Gravity with a Refractometer is Nuts

2012-01-21T16:17:25-06:00

Santa kindly gave me a Refractometer for Christmas this year, which rocked because it was on my list of gifts for your favorite homebrewer. And just a couple of weeks ago I brewed up a doppelbock and got to try my new toy out. It was everything I dreamed it would be. Geeky. Easy to read. Rather badass looking. I was happy. Then I went to take a reading after fermentation had slowed down and got a sky-high reading. Wait? Did I under-pitch? Was the ...

This Google image search blows me away

2012-01-17T10:17:56-06:00

If you follow the same blogs I do, you've probably already run into this video, but it's so freaking cool I am going to share it anyway.

This dude, Sebastian Schmieg, ran a Google Image Search recursively over 2,900 times. And this video is what you get. If you haven't tried searching with an image on Google Image Search before you should give it a try. Just goto images.google.com and click the little camera icon in the search box ...

The Session #59: I Almost Always Drink Beer, But When I Don’t…

2012-01-06T10:15:35-06:00

The Session is a monthly beer blogging topic. This is my first time participating and oddly enough the topic isn’t about beer.

I almost always drink beer, but when I don’t I drink… I drink. Well, I mean, I guess… this is a harder question than it seems. Water. Water is nice. But that seems a bit boring. What about coffee? I do drink a lot of coffee when I am not drinking beer. And coffee is brewed. Brewed, hey, that’s kind ...

Great Beer at Tallgrass Brewing in Manhattan... Kansas

2012-01-05T17:24:17-06:00

My wife comes from Manhattan. No, not the cool one, the one in Kansas. Yep, the Little Apple. And yes, this home to Kansas State University, does refer to itself as the Little Apple. In fact her childhood home is just south of Houston Street, so you could technically say she’s from SoHo, Manhattan. We end up visiting the Little Apple a few times a year and with any place I visit I consider it a kind of duty to locate the local breweries ...

Beer tap fills from the bottom

2011-12-29T10:36:51-06:00

These bottom filling tap machines have been around for a little while now, but last night was the first time I've seen one in action. If you've been to any arena and watched in horror as the concession staff struggle to fill a 20 oz. cup, this bottom filling tap will cure your beer pouring woes. I mean look how awesome that thing is and how little work it takes to operate! A perfect pour in under 15 seconds. I didn't actually ...

Cleaning out used beer bottles for your homebrew

2011-12-28T15:42:22-06:00

I’ll start out by saying this is probably one of the least exciting aspects of homebrews. Bottling will never rank as exciting and so the process of getting ready to bottle? Yeah, not a lot of fun here. None the less this is a key part in sharing and enjoying homebrew and I guess it does have a kind of meditative quality. Meditative? Is that the word?

Anyway, let’s start with what bottles do you want: brown ones! Don’t even bother with ...

Gifts for Your Favorite Homebrewer

2011-12-14T00:24:24-06:00

If your not a homebrewer and you want to get a gift for a homebrew you might have no idea where to start. So start here! Here is a list of a few things that most hombrewers would enjoy getting under the Christmas tree. Well, at least, these are gifts I would like to see under the Christmas tree. All of these gifts are fairly universal and would be great for everyone from the beginner to the advanced homebrewer. Unless of course they already have ...

Drunk Driver Crashing into a DUI Checkpoint is a Good Reminder Not to Drink and Drive

2011-12-10T16:57:19-06:00

It always good to remember that drinking and driving is a bad idea, but sometimes a story of stupidity helps illustrate that point even better. Take for example the story of the North Carolina man who ran his car into a mobile DUI checkpoint lab. The checkpoint had closed for the evening, but the driver of the ’89 Chevrolet Camaro still thought to stop. Well I guess you can call that a type of stop. Luckily no one in the lab was injured during the ...