Hello, How has the past two years been?

We've been busy at Whole Hog Brewery, Just not busy posting. Hopefully, We'll get a little bit better next year!

Aussie Beer Tour

The microbrew craze has hit down-under. Microbrews are common and vibrant as those in North America. White Rabbit is a good example of the microbrew whose home is in Western Austrialia but has also expanded to the Mountains north of Melbourne.
It is refreshing smelling the smells, and tasting the tastes that go with custom made, small batch beers. The people are so nice, the countryside is amazing ... words fail the blogger at the moment:

Hop in the City

Hop in the city was a blast! 40 different beers brewed by the folks at Schlafly. Hope to be there again next year!

Calling All WHB Members

This Sunday, Whole Hog Brewery will once again brew another fine homebrew. This will be the first brew utilizing our dual burner system. Also, Assistant Brewmaster Double Dave will bring home grown Cascade hops for the aroma addition.

Be sure to bring a jacket as it will be cold this weekend.

Barleywine Tyme

During Whole Hog Brewery's latest beer fest in August 2009, we demonstrated to our patrons how to homebrew. We made a 5 gallon batch of American styled Barleywine and a 5 gallon small beer with the second runnings of the grains. The O.G. for the Barleywine was our highest yet, weighing in at a hefty 1.100. Final AVB was a whopping 12.5%.

Both the Barleywine and the small beer are under carbonation. For the brave souls that wish to try the Barleywine, please leave your car keys on the kitchen counter. Half a pint glass = light headed. Full pint glass = buzzed. Two pint glasses and your not driving home for 6 hrs. Three pint glasses and your likely dead or in desperate need of help. My suggesting, use a shot glass or blend with another beer.

Score! DV9 in Hand

Head Brewmaster Jeffray was lucky enough to score two six packs of St. Aronld's Devine Reserve #9 - Imperial Pumpkin Stout from Spec's Liquor in Beaumont. Frequent readers of this blog will recall that St. Arnold's, a local Houston brewery, periodically brews a special single batch beer. These beers usually are high in alcohol content, represent rare beer styles, and usually sell out in the first day. Below is a description of DV9 from St. Arnold's website.

Reserve No. 9	Imperial Pumpkin Stout
Cases Made:	1,500
Kegs Made:	23 ½ bbls, 20 1/6 bbl
Date Brewed:	September 21, 2009
Date Bottled:	November 11, 2009
Original Gravity:	1.101
Final Gravity:	1.020
Alcohol:	11% ABV

Description:

Important: let this beer warm to at least 50° before enjoying. This beer is black with some ruby highlights. The nose is full of pumpkin pie spices and some alcohol. There are notes of nutmeg, caraway and vanilla. The taste starts with chocolate malt with a hint of spice and rolls into a warm spicy alcohol taste which has the effect of creating the balance that usually comes from the hop bitter. There is some hop bitter on the finish, but not much. Overall, this beer finishes relatively dry for such a big beer. As it warms, the spices move forward in the taste and the chocolate moves to the finish. The pumpkin provides a pleasant undertone and a nice mouthfeel. The spices will probably fade some over time; they mellowed considerably while still in the fermenter.

Whole Hog Updates

Quick Update,

Whole Hog Brewery participated in the 2009 Big Beer Bash Competition this past Month at St. Arnold's Brewery in Houston, TX. Both Wii Heavy and Dead Man's Heavy Scotch Ales were entered in the competition. Wii Heavy was rated "Good" and Dead Man's rate as "Fair." This was a disappointment for the Whole Hog Team as last years Wiezenbocks were rated "Very Good." In a classic case of taking two steps forward to every step back Whole Hog Brewery is committing itself to creating the finest homebrews and will continue to improve and refine its craft for the remainder of 2009 and anticipate further success in local competitions and showcases.