Good People Brewing Co. Coffee Oatmeal Stout

I had the pleasure of a good oatmeal stout tonight.  The weather is turning cooler,   Ok October is almost over so I am about finished with the Oktoberfests and Marzens anyway and and a stout is just the thing to wash down some Oreo cookies while enjoying the turning of the season. GPBC is a favorite of mine and it does not hurt that I can ease on down to their taproom now that it is finally open.  This particular brew is only available on draft so this sample came from a plastic milk jug.  Thats just how we do it down south.  Black, coffee aroma, and a thick head with great lacing on my sniffer.  Highly drinkable!  I think I will have another.  Get your own jug.

SB192 Passes House

Alabama Brewery Modernization Act passed the Alabama State House today.  Next stop, Senate, then on to the Gubna'a desk.
SB192

Big Steel Keg 1st Cook

First cook on the Big Steel keg was a success!  First things first, light a fire and crack a brew.  In this case, it was Founder's Double Trouble.  A solid double IPA with a good amount of sediment in the bottom, so watch the heavy pour unless you like it cloudy.  The build in bottle openers in the BSK front handle are SO HANDY.  They are backwards of most bottle openers I am used to so you have to pry backwards, but the open bottles solidly with little effort.

 Once we got up to 450 for a little while (which took the BSK about no time to reach) I tossed some  80/20 chuck burgers on the iron grate.  Next time I think I will try to go a little hotter as I did not get as much sear as I would have expected.  Regardless of the sear, the burgers turned out great and the time it took to get the fire started and heated up to temp was about the same I would have had to spend on my gas grill.

Next up was the beer butt chicken.  I came up with a quick dry rub and slathered olive oil on the bird and rubbed it over/under the skin with my spice rub.  I used a ceramic "Tipsy Chicken Cooker" my wife got for a gift years ago.  It worked like a champ.  I had to find a suitable beer in the fridge for shoving up a chicken's rear end, but since I had no BUD, I decided to use a nice crisp blond ale that would give the bird a nice subtle beer signature.  I read somewhere that stouts and IPA's were not good choices, and that is what dominates my fridge these days.  The beer was Southern Star Bombshell Blonde.  Nice beer, I could easily drink it up on a hot summer day.  

The Temp was up at 375, so the bird went on the grill to get tipsy.  Judging by these pictures, it did just that.  An hour and a half later, she was hitting 165 so I left it on about 15 more min to get 170 in the thigh.  I let it rest while I heated the BSK back up to 450 to sear some shrimp skewers.  I was aiming for 600, but 450 was all i could get with the remaining lump charcoal I had used for the tipsy bird.  I could have added more fuel to the fire to heat it up to 600, but I decided to just save that lump for another cook.  The chixn was juicy as can be and great flavor was had in every bite.  My wife was a little skeptical when I mentioned cooking a whole chicken because I have never successfully pulled it off without being over or under done.  I explained to her that I had never tried it in a real cooker like the Big Steel Keg.  In the end, she agreed the 'Keg does not disappoint.

Eggs are for Breakfast

Its been a long time but I finally decided on a backyard BBQ cooker.  I have had experience with all kinds of grills and smokers.  There is Bessie, our big trailer rig we use for big cooks and competitions.  There are the Traeger Pellet smokers, Big Green Eggs, Chargrillers, Bayou Classic Kamado and the list goes on.  These are all great cookers, but I decided to try the Big Steel Keg due to its portability, durability, and lets face it, the blog is called BrewsnBBQs so a keg was a natural choice for me.  BSK is a stainless steel keg shaped casing that is insulated and designed for portability, unlike the ceramic Kamado style grills.  It has an available trailer hitch attachment to hook it up to your bumper for some serious road trip tailgating.  More on that later.

She came in a big box all packaged up so a little assembly was required.  I enlisted the help of one of my brew and BBQ brothers.  John helped git 'r done so we could get this bad boy fired up.  The main body, lid, latch, hinge assembly, lower bracket, dampers, and thermometer come pre assembled.  The wheels, front and side handles, side tables, and utility hooks had to be installed.
Everything went together as expected and step by step instructions were helpful.  All in all it took about 30 minutes to unbox and assemble.

John and I were both excited about the keg, he helped me find it at a local little hardware store.  The Cooker Formerly Known As The Bubba Keg, used to be available at Home Depot and Ace Hardware stores.  The manufacturer was recently bought by Onward Manufacturing Co.  Their retailers list is currently being tweaked.  So far, the quality and design seem up to par with the other top names in BBQ cookers.

Without side tables

Once we got everything
 assembled, we wheeled her out to her new home on the porch.  The grates and top damper are made of cast iron so they needed to be seasoned before the first cook.  I use Crisco spread on the iron as seasoning oil.  I wiped it on the grates and damper, then lit the fire up and cooked it at 400 for an hour per the directions.  This is to both season the grate and to cook off any residue from packaging.

top damper

Grate rotates to lock into place

Lower damper angled for precise control

Too bad It was storming today or else i would have put the hitch adapter on.

Insulated, the outside remains cool to the touch.

 The keg is designed for mobility so it has a locking latch to secure the lid for transit.  The grate also locks into position so it will be secure when you take it on the road.  The handle has built in bottle openers for cracking open a brew or two.  We went ahead an got the trailer hitch attachment because we plan to transport this grill up to Huntsville, AL for the Whistlestop BBQ cook-off in May.  We also plan for this grill to hitch a ride to the beach with us this summer, compete in more cookoffs, and tailgate on campus this fall.  I will put it through its paces and see if this Big Steel Keg lives up to its name.  I think it will.

From Free The Hops:


Brewery Modernization Act clears Senate Committee

By Dan Roberts | Published: March 24, 2011


SB192, the Senate flavor of our Brewery Modernization Act, passed out of the Senate Small Business Committee yesterday. The committee vote was reported as 6-0 favorable.

It should be sent back to the full Senate today. This does not mean we will be voted on today in the Senate. We now need to get on the special order calendar in order to come up for a full vote in that chamber. Once we are on the special order calendar, we will need to pass a Budget Isolation Resolution (requiring a 3/5 supermajority), and then a vote for final passage (requiring a simple majority).

If and when we pass the Senate, SB192 will be sent to the House where the same process starts again. It will need to pass whatever House committee it is assigned to, then pass a BIR and final passage in the Alabama House of Representatives. Assuming it passes the House in the same form it passed the Senate (no amendments), it will then be sent to Governor Bentley for his signature.

Good People Brewing Company Dominates BA list of the best in the south
#1. GPBC Coffee Oatmeal Stout
#3. GPBC Fatso Russian Imperial Stout
#4. GPBC Snake Handler DIPA
#7. GPBC Brown Ale
#10. GPBC IPA

This is from Beer Advocate’s list of the best in AL AR TN KY MS LA

Good People

I have been hung up in all the goings on in the world lately and have missed the opportunity to post anything here.  Since my last post, my hometown brewery, Good People Brewing Co. have made a huge step in their distribution.  This month, they delivered the first cans of Good People IPA and Brown Ale to local stores.  I made it a point to get a six pack of each on opening day.  I cracked a few open with the boys later that night - it was on time.  Tonight I opened my last IPA of that first six pack and as I drink down the last few swigs of that divine goodness, I am so happy to think that all I have to do is drive down to my local Piggly Wiggly and grab another sixer to enjoy. Cheers.

Grand opening of my blog.

Well this is not only my first blog post, but also my first blog.  Here it is 2011 and I am blogging.  Whats next? Anyway, just figured I could write down some observations from my pursuit of great beer and BBQ.  Today I learned that one of my favorite beers, Oskar Blues Gordon, has been renamed to G'Knight.  Why you ask?  Because some big corporation happens to have the same name Gordon in their name, along with another word (german for beer).  They decided to pressure financial distress on Oskar Blues if they did not change the name.  I guess all dudes named Gordon should watch out.
Lets have a beer, I am having a Gordon.
Peace Out.