Post 4th update

It's been pretty slow on the new beer front so far. However, I have ordered all of the parts to get my car back to running well (and quietish) so I can start trying out the area.

I did have a couple tri-city brews at the Loons baseball game (they are the official microbrewery of Loons baseball). The primary beer sold there is the Loons ale, which is brewed specifically for the ball park. This is a nice, light bodied (yet still with a fair amount of color) wheat beer. A wonderful simple summer ale, all the flavors balance out nicely. Last year this beer had something weird on the back end of the flavor profile, which fortunately is gone this year. It was either water or yeast based, and apparently they fixed it. One of the best baseball beers I've had.

Since the ballpark is essentially the only place to find tri-city beers (I've been told they don't have a tasting room), I also had one of their specialty beers...their russian imperial stout. Yep, had a Russian Imperial on a 86 degree day in a ballpark, I'm a little crazy. This was actually a very good beer. The flavor profile was very heavy on the chocolate and toffee flavors with a crisp, dry finish indicative of a healthy amount of hops. Aroma and body weren't too overpowering or heavy, which is really the challenge for this type of beer.

Also, yesterday was the big consumption day for my homebrew IPA. It was a total hit with the family and others who got a sample. The flavor finally developed in the bottle to a nice, mellow beer. The flavor profile did end up being closer to an American Pale than a true IPA, but that's not a bad thing. I'm definitely going to brew this beer again, since now I know how long it has to condition. Also, it was well over the 4.8% my hydrometer pegged it at, so it may be time to pull out my other hydrometer and check their calibration. All that's left is the one bottle still conditioning at home, and the bottle we put aside for my brother.

-James