Potomac Brewing Company - Patowmack Pale Ale

Here the brewery uses a combination of 2-row pale and Caramel malts. Patowmack is well hopped with Washington grown Chinook hops in two additions during the boil. Cascade hops are added later, towards the end of the boil. Immediately note a strong floral, spicy and hoppy nose. This medium-bodied beer is very flavorful all around. Look for a pale maltiness up front with a medium-to-high hop bitterness profile which seems to be predominately cascade. Overall, a well-balanced, extremely enjoyable beer.

Rappahannock Red Ale Steak Rub

Here’s a recipe that calls for just a touch of your Rappahannock Red Ale. You’ll obviously need to keep a few on ice while you’re actually cooking the meat as well! A steak rub is a combination of herbs, spices, and other flavorful ingredients that is rubbed into the surface of meat 30 to 60 minutes prior to grilling or broiling. Equally delicious on beef, pork, or poultry, this zesty amalgam of fruit, beer, herbs and spices is undoubtedly a worthy cause for donating one cup of this month’s shipment.

1 ½ cups canned plums, no pits
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup Red Ale
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon liquid smoke
2 teaspoons salt
6 large cloves garlic, mashed
2 teaspoons crushed hot red peppers
scant teaspoon crushed coriander seed
scant teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until very smooth. Drink some beer. Allow to stand 2 hours at room temperature while drinking some beer before preparing the meat. Rub the stuff on your meat. Not excessively, however, as prolonged rubbing may result in blindness. Refrigerate remainder of the rub. Have a beer. Get the grill fired and cook the muther up. Eat and have a beer.

Source: Great American Beer Cookbook, Candy Schermerhorn, Brewers Publications, Boulder, CO.

THE CELEBRATOR BEER NEWS - It wasn’t until 1982 that the Premier of Ontario announced that the sale of beer at Blue Jay baseball games at Toronto’s Exhibition Stadium would be permitted. However, Larry Grossman, the government’s consumer minister at the time,was against the idea, saying he didn’t want some drunk sitting behind him in the stands "puking" on his kids. Despite is objections, chugging suds at the ballpark became part of the game in Toronto. In 1987, Gretchen Drummie of the Toronto Sun wrote a story about ballpark beer. The article began, "It’s been five years and nobody’s puked on Larry Grossman’s kids during a Blue Jays game." Go Gretch-Baby Go!

THE REAL BEER PAGE - To avoid potential dehydration, runner Jim McDonough once reportedly drank 36 bottles of beer the night before the qualifying race in the Pan-American Games. He qualified while many others dropped out, thus creating a legend and a standard that may not be equaled. And Jaba the Hut chugged 51 cases of Guinness before watching the Pod Race in The Phantom Menace!

365 BEER TIME STORIES - In front of Crazy Art’s Beer Emporium in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, "Bullet" Bob Oldham used to give demonstrations of what he did best. Mr. Oldham was adept at opening beer bottles with his eyebrows. Although Bullet Bob often squirted himself in the eye while doing so.

THE ALE STREET NEWS - When Glenn Balmer and Murray McCreadie approached a burning car on Toronto’s Gardiner Expressway they quickly stopped their beer truck to help put out the fire- even though they didn’t have a fire extinguisher. Noticing flames leaping from the hood of the car, Murray jumped onto the back of his beer truck, grabbed a case of beer and both men ran back to the small car stopped by the side of the busy expressway. After assuring the owner, Gary Merkler, that the low-alcohol content of the beer would not spread flames or ignite a bigger fire, the two beer truck drivers poured 12 bottles of beer on the car’s motor to douse the flames. After their heroic deed, Glenn commented, "We don’t carry bottle openers with us. Murray had the presence of mind to pick a case of beer with twist-off caps." Move over McGuyver, Murry McCreadie’s in town and he’s got a case of brew with him!

BEER NEWS - Churchgoers were kept warm in the Lancashire village of Warrington, England, thanks to a brewery. During one particularly cold December the heating system in St. Anne’s church broke down and would have cost more than 1,000 pounds to repair. In a heart-warming (or soul-warming) gesture, the owners of the brewery next door offered to pipe waste steam from their plant through the church. However, the constant smell of sweet wort during the sermon drove many weak souls to the local brewpub immediately after the service.

Dear Murl,

I’m a new member of your beer club and wanted to commend you on the selections that I’ve received so far. All were superior brews, my compliments to your panel for their diligence in finding these gems. Got many fine compliments from friends who were wondering where I had stumbled across the rare selections. The first shipment comes with an amusing story as well.

My wife, who up until recently refused to get me beer while at the store, much the same as I refuse to buy feminine hygiene products, agreed to pick me up a sixer one Saturday as I was working hard in the yard. When she returned, I was freshly showered and extremely ready for a frosty one. She told that while at the grocery, on the way to the beer section, she ran across a big athletic gent, who put a finger to his mouth as he swiftly walked passed, trying not to draw attention. She figured this must have been an AZ Cardinal, but of course did not recognize him. Well, I thought, not a bad little story as a prelude to a cold one, until I learned that this incident had caused a memory lapse and my reward had not been secured. "You forgot the beer," I exclaimed. "Yes," was the stern reply.

As I mentally fumbled through possible alternatives to quench a post yard-work thirst, there came a knock at the door. I opened it. A UPS man was already climbing back into his brown box. I looked down, and retrieved the parcel left at the stoop. Noting its heft, I immediately thought of the grandparents and the latest toy(s) to spoil our two young daughters. To my surprise, the package was addressed to me, and from within sprang the essence of a warm spring afternoon, the smell of freshly mowed grass, and the joy that goes with a job well done. Twelve expertly packaged brews! The Weiss quickly caught my eye and was the first to be chilled and cracked. The toil of the day gently faded and made way for a calm and reserve to match a golden sunset. A beer in time...

Thanks Again,

Noah Lockwood

Chandler, AZ

Damn Noah!

If I didn’t know better, I’d guess that you were a personal friend of the owner or something! You suck up real well, my boy. You’re gonna go far. And I’ve got to tell ya that you are by far the most advanced wordsmith that’s ever written to me. Generally, I get a lot questions and comments like, "Yo Murl, What up with those #%@ Bud Frogs, man?! They suck!"

You’ve gotta get that situation with the wife correct there, Ace. Might be worth pickin’ up a hygiene product or two to ensure that your beer supply never drops that low again. A man with your obvious great appreciation for fine brew should never pine for the nectar. In any case, Great Story. Had to print it. Hope you don’t mind. Thanks for the kind words. I’ll be sure and relay your letter to our panel.

Woof!

Murl.