Well here they are. the Dog Days of August already! Time to start planning
for the Fall Homebrewing Season. Time to start planning for the Homebrewer's
Jamboree too! I can hardly wait. My summer has been rather short on Beer
Events so far, but none-the-less, I have found some outstanding malt
beverages in my travels.

My work schedule allows me to spend every other weekend at the family camp
and unfortunately, Harpoon's BBQ Competition was on a camp weekend this
year, so I missed out on all of the fun. I did make it to their Windsor, Vt.
brewery the week before their event long enough to say hi to all of my pals
at Harpoon, have lunch and load up on brew to take to camp. I also stopped
at The Norwich Inn on the same trip and picked up some of Tim Wilson's
Whistling Pig Red Ale. I got to try some of his Slippery Skin IPA that was
still dry hopping in the tank. Wow!

Another one of my frequent stops these days is Case-n-Keg in Meredith. They
have a beer tasting most Friday afternoons and I have fortunate enough to
catch the Long Trail and Smutty Nose demos. Another reason that finds me at
this fine establishment often is the fact that they have been carrying the
Dog Fish Head brand of brew from Delaware. I have become very fond of their
90 Minute Boil Imperial IPA. It is a potent 9% alcohol and has incredible
hop flavor. Try it. you'll like it!

One of the outstanding social events that I was privileged to attend this
summer was the wedding of Franconia Notch brewer John Wolfenberger and his lovely bride Tammi, which was held at The Rocks Estate in Bethlehem. The
wedding vows were exchanged in advance of a brief downpour and later the
dinner guests were entertained by a lively lightning storm. In spite of the
precipitation, nobody's spirits were dampened. John broke out a barrel of
spectacular Mead for the wedding toast. He also had a barrel of his
cask-conditioned River Driver Ale and a few of the other offerings available
at Franconia Notch Brewery. Thanks John and Tammi for inviting me to share
your special day!

Last but not least, Smutty Noses Big A IPA in the big bottle series is now
available at finer beer and wine outlets near you. If you haven't tried the
Big A, run, don't walk to your nearest quality package store.
Till next time.
Happy Homebrewing!