Visit Family in Denver

"I would rather have a mind opened by wonder than one closed by belief." ~Gerry Spence

October 15: If you thought I was stalling on finishing the blog because I didn't want my amazing summer road trip to end, you'd be right. I am already in the thick of whatever is constituting real life for me now, so on with the story...

I had planned to drive from Denver to Salt Lake City on October 15th, but the cold and rain in Denver foretold a winter storm in the Rocky Mountains, thus my departure was delayed by one day.

In the meantime, I am lucky to have my sister in Denver, so I stayed with her and her family. In the photo above, Dad (Jan) takes Jake (L) and Max (R) and Ginger (only nose is showing) to City Park to play soccer.

It's hard to capture a decent photo with two boys and a dog playing buckets with a soccer ball in the rain, but I did capture a moment of goofy boyhood bliss (right).

I stayed out of the cold and wet for the most part, and was able to chronicle my GABF adventures, of which there were many. Laundry and homework were also done.

Heidi made a stunning yet healthy homecooked dinner, as is her habit. The boys fished any remaining games they hadn't played out of my game bin and we played Quoridor. I slept in the trailer so we didn't have to blow up the big airbed and make it again.

Thank you to Heidi for gifting me $50 for gas!

Judging the Great American Beer Festival

"When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece." ~John Ruskin

October 9 -12: My judging responsibilities began on Tuesday at 5:00 pm with the Judges Orientation. Christopher Bird (Brewmaster at Altech's Lexington Brewery) and Dr. Gary Spedding (Owner/Analyst at Brewing & Distilling Analytical Services) both of Lexington, Kentucky lead the annual sensory review. This year's review focused on the aroma and flavor of alcohol in rising concentrations in the same control beer.

Wednesday morning at 8:45 am, the Judges assembled at their assigned tables. Back in the 1990's, for many years I was the only woman Judge in attendance. I am happy to report there are several women Judges now. The above panel of seven Judges was remarkable (and exciting) as the women Judges outnumbered the men. I am wearing black, and going around the table to my left the judges were: Carl Kins, Gwen Conley, Keith Villa, Sue Thompson, Finn Knudsen and Carol Stoudt.

How does one become a GABF Judge? It helps if you are a professional brewer and have previously won a GABF medal. Brewers outnumber all other Judges, but non-brewing judges may include beer writers, suppliers to the brewing industry, and former professional brewers.

If you are a professional brewer, have judged homebrew competitions, have passed the BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program), have taken formal sensory education courses, and you have a good palate and a friendly disposition, you may apply to become a Judge and get on the rotating judge roster. Contact GABF/World Beer Cup Judge & Competition Manager, Chris Swersey through the Brewers Association to find out what the current requirements are.

If you think it's hard to become a GABF/WBC judge, Chris tells us it's even harder to become a GABF/WBC Steward! I've been judging since 1991, and some of the Stewards have been at it longer than I have. In the photo at left, Steward Jim Fixari carefully carries a tray of neutral-plastic cups marked with random numbers and filled with beer samples to one of the judging rooms.

The Judges taste the beers blind and never see the bottles or cans that the beers were poured from. At the end of my judging on the last day, I was able to take the photo below of the Steward's Staging Area. Chris gave me permission to take the photo, but I wasn't allowed to enter the room. Judges are never allowed into the room.

There is a key word and philosophy that all the Stewards and Judges are almost rabid about, and that word is Integrity. The GABF is the highest-regarded beer festival in the world because its integrity is impecable. Everyone involved in this competition is passionate about and committed to absolute integrity in every way.

That's not to say that we don't enjoy ourselves, because we definitely have a good time. It's a lot of fun to meet and work with the other judges, who are some of the top movers and shakers in the industry. It's also fun to see the same Stewards year after year, although as judges we don't generally get to know the Stewards as well as we do our fellow judges.

Judging runs 8:45 am - 5:00-ish on Wednesday and Thursday prior to the GABF, and from 8:45 am - 12:30 pm on Friday. I say 5:00-ish, because if the judging day runs long and the discussions get lengthy, the Judges and Stewards are committed to staying and working "as long as it takes."

This year 107 Judges judged over 2800 beers. My judging sessions were mostly within normal hours, but I heard from other judges who judged till 1:00 pm in the morning session, and until 7:30 pm in the afternoon session. Makes it a bit hard when you are an exhibiting brewer and have to set up and pour at your booth during the Festival!

In the evenings or when there's free time away from the Judging and the Festival, many of the Judges congregate at the Falling Rock Taphouse at 1919 Blake Street. In the photo above right, Judges Dick Cantwell, Jon Graber, Christopher Bird, and George Reisch relax and enjoy a pint at the Falling Rock.

After my last judging session ended Friday at 12:30 pm, I took a taxi over to the Falling Rock where I slammed down lunch and got settled to judge the Alpha King Challenge. The AKC is sponsored by Hop Union and probably a few other companies. The challenge is to brew an extremely hoppy beer that is also balanced. There were over 90 entries this year, versus about 60 entries last year.

The Alpha King Challenge was first presented by Three Floyds Brewing Company in honor of their extremely hoppy beer which is called Alpha King. I was put on a panel of three Judges, and the all 12 or so Judges were sequestered in the basement "Cigar Room" at Falling Rock. We judged about 14 beers, and put two beers forward to the final round. I only judged the first round. We put an aromatic and well-balanced bitter Imperial IPA forward, as well as a dark beer with excellent balance and a chocolate malt character.

Falling Rock was packed, as is usual for Friday afternoon of the GABF. The winners were announced an hour or so later, but I only heard the first two winners. First was Pliny the Elder from Russian River Brewing Co., and second place was Two Hearted Ale from Bells Brewing Company.

Jon joined up with me there, and Christine Jump interviewed me for a live podcast for her website, http://www.craftbrewcast.com/. It was noisy and crowded outside on the patio at Falling Rock, but hopefully the sound turned out.

Then Jon and I walked to the festival at the Colorado Convention Center. I had a 5:30 pm appointment at the "You Be The Judge" booth. More about the festival in my next post...

Visit Family & Friends in Denver, CO

"That so few now dare to be eccentric marks the chief danger of the time." ~John Stuart Mill

October 6-9: Part of the fun of staying at my sister's house is the opportunity to do things that are not part of our usual life, such as sleeping on an inflatable bed, helping a six- and an eight-year old with their homework and in Jon's case, supervising the meticulous deconstruction of a stereo and cassette player that no longer worked. (Daddy Jan had started the deconstruction project, but retired to his study where he is working on his PhD in Global Information Systems.)

In the photo above, Jake keeps things tidy while Max channels his inner Luke Skywalker with a radio antenna light saber, and Jon pretends to be a robot with a tape-player mouth. In the photo at right, Jon channels his inner Dr. Strangelove with CD laser magnifiers.

My sister is a fabulous cook, so the diet will have to wait until I get home from the trip in eleven days (on October 20th). We babysat on Sunday night so Heidi and her husband Jan could go out to dinner, a rare treat. We taught the boys a new card game, Coloretto. (Cameleon would be a better name for it.)

On Monday we went to visit an old buddy from Eugene, Oregon. Scott Kelly and his girlfriend, Krystyna live in a brand new subdivision called Highlands Ranch. Part of the old working ranch is still working, and Scott showed us their Buffalo herd and some horses.

Krystyna is originally from Poland and is working toward her Registered Nurse degree. Scott is retired from the Navy and works in the pro shop at the local golf course. Krystyna is also a great cook and she had a feast prepared for lunch, including stuffed chicken breasts, mushroom gravy, boiled red potatoes and salad.

The photo at left was taken on their patio. Scott and Krystyna did a good job of getting their very active miniature greyhound, Nova, to behave and pose for the camera.

We didn't have enough time for a hike, so Scott took us on a scenic drive. We stopped on top of the hill that gives Highlands Ranch its name.

A large picnic area occupied the flat top of the hill, and Scott said very few people know it's there. Off the backside of the picnic area are some lovely rock outcroppings overlooking a huge private golf course. The photo below is of Jon & me and you can see the private golf course behind us. Scott hopes to meet the owner someday. He'd love to be invited to one of the private fund-raiser golf tournaments that are held there.
From the other side of the hilltop we had a great view of downtown Denver, about 20 miles away, and the new Denver Tech Center, which is about 12 miles away.

Then back to Heidi's house for dinner, homework, more games with the boys, and more blogging for me.

On Tuesday afternoon we left Heidi's house and moved to the Denver Mariott - City Center, the official hotel of the GABF (Great American Beer Festival), where Jon and I will be judging America's finest beers for the next three days.

Pink Boots at Flying Dog

"The world is but a canvas to our imaginations." ~Henry David Thoreau

Photo above, L to R up the steps, Back Row: Larry Pomeranz, Dustin Jamison, Kurt Randall, Nick Oscarsson and Matt Brophy. Front Row: Jaroed Sarmiento and Teri.

October 5: Jon dropped me off at Flying Dog at 9:00 am, as arranged with Flying Dog's Marketing Manager, Chris Rippe. I had to wait for Chris to arrive (he was in the middle of a new puppy crisis at home), and luckily he lived nearby.

Chris brought me to Lead Brewer Kurt Randall, who was busy wrestling with a homemade 750 ml bottling machine where he was bottling Flying Dog's open source Doppelbock. What is an open source beer, you might ask? It is a commercially made beer where the recipe has been published by the brewery in advance of release so that any interested homebrewers can brew it too. Here is the link to Flying Dog's open source blog and recipe. Kurt's bottles were on their way to the GABF, which is less than a week away.

I liked the name "Open Source" as it appeals to homebrewers who are also computer techs. There are other open source commercially-made beers out there, such as the two collaboration recipes that I made with Wisconsin Dells Brewery and New Holland Brewery earlier in my trip. Click on these links to see the recipes for Wisconsin Dells' Imperial Stout or New Holland's Road Brewer IPA.

Kurt brought me to brewer Nick Oscarsson, who was in the middle of his first brew of the day. What a great coincidence that today was the day that Flying Dog was brewing the whiskey wash for Stranahan's next door! The wash is a 100% malted barley beer, but it is brewed without hops. When you don't use hops, you don't have to boil for the normal full time, and we didn't. The whiskey wash is fermented with a proprietary "turbo" yeast, and with a little help it ferments the wash all the way down to nearly bone dry.

At the same time that Nick was brewing the new batch of whiskey wash, a previous batch of whiskey wash was being filtered by Larry Pomeranz. Nick let me taste the filtered wash. It tasted like you'd think it would: cold, slightly carbonated, and dry instead of sweet but the balance was due to a very thorough fermentation instead of hops. Very interesting!

Nick also showed me Flying Dog's new 20-gallon pilot brewery. I was impressed with the home made glycol jacketing on the two tiny cylindroconical unitanks. Nick said they tested the system with Road Dog, one of their more popular beers, to see if the test batch would turn out anything like their regular Road Dog. They were pleasantly surprised to find that the 20-gallon system's beer matched their 50-barrel system's beer very nicely.

Soon each of the brewers will have the opportunity to brew a Belgian Triple on the new pilot brewery. They'll do a comparative tasting of all the Triples, and will collectively decide upon the Belgian Triple recipe that they'll brew on the big system. Very democratic!

For those who don't know, Flying Dog started as a brewpub in Aspen, Colorado. I remember their first year at the GABF when then-brewer Dennis Miller brought 21 beers in cornelius cans to the festival. Eventually the brewery moved to Denver, and currently it occupies the equipment and space built for the former Mile High Brewery. A few years ago Flying Dog leased out its restaurant space to the Blake Street Tavern, and now Flying Dog concentrates on what it does best, brewing creative "gonzo" beers for broad distribution.

As is my habit, I wandered down to the laboratory where I picked the brain of former Coors lab & QC guy, Rob Allington who is Flying Dog's Director of Quality.

Then Matt Brophy gave me the backstage tour and told me about his job as Head Brewer of both Flying Dog's Denver brewery, and its Fredrick, Maryland brewery. He's a busy guy. The Fredrick brewery sounded very impressive. It's a lot bigger than the Denver brewery.

Then Matt brought me, Nick and Kurt to lunch next door at the Blake Street Tavern. I had the grilled ahi salad and it was good. I was quieter than my usual enthusiastic self because of my sinus infection. The brewers didn't mind and we enjoyed lunch with pints of Snake Dog IPA.

My husband Jon picked me up in the early afternoon, and we returned to my sister's house and took naps.

Pink Boots at Odell & Liquid Poets Meeting

"It is not enough to have a good mind. The main thing is to use it well." ~Rene Descartes

Photo above, L to R: Top Row: Brendan McGivney and Jake O'Mara. Bottom Row: Jeff Doyle, Phil Fraser and Teri.

October 4: I awoke with a sinus infection, but there's not much one can do when one has a full schedule planned. Jon drove us to Fort Collins and dropped me off at Odell Brewing Company while he visited the local homebrew shop. Jon works for BrewCraft USA now, and they are wholesalers of homebrewing supplies, distributing only to homebrew shops.

Production Manager Brendan McGivney gave me the brewery tour and the topic of Odell's future brewhouse expansion came up. I recommended he call Troegs as I was impressed with Troegs' hybrid BrauKon and JV Northwest brewhouse. Brendan turned me over to Lead Brewer Jake O'Mara who was finishing the first brew of the day and heading into the second brew.

I spent a few hours with Jake. The Odell brewers are very friendly and relaxed. I felt quite at home and had fun snapping lots of photos. Normally I don't take many photos because it seems intrusive, but it didn't feel that way here.

Marketing Manager John Bryant brought in sandwiches and my husband Jon joined me on the patio for lunch. The weather was beautiful: sunny, breezy and a perfect temperature.

After lunch I wandered down to the lab where I chatted with Microbiologist PJ Goudreault about all the nifty lab equipment he'd bought used from the University. He's also found a few pieces on Ebay. I really love it when a production craft brewery takes labwork seriously.

Then I wandered over to where Jeff Doyle was managing a fussy filter on a very tall 12-meter DE filter. I admired his in-line carbonation set up, and told him about the "umbilical cord" CO2 transfer hose we used at Steelhead to "close the loop" between a Fermenter and Bright (Serving) Tank. He liked the idea, but all equipment and procedures must be approved by Brewmaster/Owner Doug Odell.

Doug came by just then so we discussed the "umbilical cord" idea, and he told me about the 5-barrel batches I had just missed out on helping with. They'd brewed a 5-bbl batch of strong ale yesterday, and they were brewing an experimental batch of something new tomorrow.

Odell has some really neat things going on. Besides making good flagship ales, their 5-barrel series allows the brewers to get creative. They take turns brewing on the 5-barrel pilot brewery.

Today they'd be tapping their "Hand Picked Ale" at 4:00 pm. Most of the hops were grown locally. Of course some hop pellets went into the boil, but they put 11 different varieties of local Colorado leaf hops in the mash tun and used it for a hop back. The leaf hops came from the local University's hop yard, as well as Doug's yard at home and from the decorative hops growing in the beer garden.

Today was the second time Odell had organized a release party for one of their 5-barrel series beers. They had a good crowd gathered in the tasting room, and three local musicians entertained the folks with Grateful Dead tunes, blues, and bluegrass. They played mandolin, guitar and tuba, among other instruments. Doug gave a speech about the new release at 5:00 pm.

I visited the release party but was still busy in the brewhouse with second shift brewer, Phil Fraser. Phil's a quiet guy but he smiles a lot. The second and third brews of the day were the IPA, and Phil let me pour some of the three 32-gallon pails full of whole leaf hops into Odell's big custom hop back. Photo at left is of the hop back. Photo below right is me pouring in hops.

When I'm brewing at a brewery I try to dress in "neutral colors," which means I won't wear one brewery's t-shirt when I work at another brewery. However, because I worked for Steelhead for 17 years, I felt a Steelhead shirt was essentially neutral, so I have been wearing either my white jumpsuit or a Steelhead t-shirt for most of the blog "pink boots" group photos.

A man of few words, Phil smiled his broad smile, placed an Odell long-sleeve t-shirt in my hands and said, "Here. Put this on. You don't work for Steelhead anymore." So I popped the Odell shirt right over my Steelhead t-shirt.

Then it was time to try the Hand Picked Ale and relax a bit. Jon joined me in the bar and John Bryant got us a few beers. We enjoyed the ambiance for a bit, then drove to Coopersmith's Brewpub for dinner where we both had Buffalo burgers. No time to dawdle as I wanted to be back at Odell to set up for my evening gig by 6:45pm.

The members of Fort Collins' local "Liquid Poets" homebrew club were already gathering in Odell's community room. Jon helped me bring in my two giant tubs of busted and gnarly old brewery parts. My collection was dubbed by one of the members of the American Brewers Guild course who saw it the "Brewers House of Horrors."

Local homebrewer, Ted Manahan (who used to brew with the "Heart of the Valley" homebrew club in Corvallis, Oregon, near where I live) had invited me to speak to the Liquid Poets club. He asked me if I planned to give a PowerPoint presentation. Ha ha! I'm driving, brewing, blogging, and I definitely didn't have a PowerPoint presentation prepared!

However, I told Ted, I have a practical brewing Show & Tell class that I gave to the new brewers at the American Brewers Guild in August, if he thought the Liquid Poets would like that. Great, said Ted. So that's what I did. I gave "The Walter Swistowicz Memorial Class in Practical Brewing" show & tell in Fort Collins.

I cracked a bunch of jokes, and I talked about safety and showed everybody my beautiful 18-year old burn scars from my brewing accident in 1989. (Who needs a tattoo when you've earned a massive scar like that?) Everybody enjoyed the show. Then I spoke about my amazing trip, but how do you condense a life-changing experience like this into a sound bite? Today (October 4th) marks exactly four months on the road for me, as I departed Eugene on June 4th.

I gave away a Steelhead sweatshirt as a door prize if anybody could guess how many breweries I'd have visited by the time I got home. Nobody got the correct number of 71, even though I'd had it listed on the current blog post. 73 was the closest somebody guessed, and he was happy for the prize.

The Liquid Poets had a full agenda for the rest of the meeting, and we departed for the 1.5 hour drive back to Denver to my sister's house. In the photo above I am showing off a corroded pump seal.

Pink Boots at Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey Distillery

"Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest." ~Mark Twain

October 3: Today was Jon's birthday, and being a big fan of whiskeys, I arranged for him to join me for my distilling day at Stranahan's in Denver. We arrived at around 10:00 am and Head Distiller Jake Norris showed us around as we waited for Distillery Manager/Partner Jess Graber to arrive.

Jon gave Jess the Pretty Prairie Rodeo shot glass that we'd picked up in Kansas for him. A quick discussion of grandfathers and ancestors established that Jon and Jess are 4th or 5th cousins, both descended from the Peter Graber clan of Mennonites that emigrated to South Dakota in the 1800's from Russia. Then after "The Children's Blizzard" of 1888 the clan moved to Pretty Prairie, where some members left the Mennonites and joined the Swedenborgen church.

The whiskey wash was ready to go in the primary still (the copper still on the left in the photo above). Stranahan's wash is produced by Flying Dog Brewery next door. George Stranahan is an investor in both places and his name was perfect for the reinvented top-shelf American whiskey that Jess wanted to produce.

The wash is not regular beer. It is a special high-gravity recipe jointly developed by Stranahan's and Flying Dog. I saw the wash and it is darker in color than the final whiskey. Of course it contains no hops. By paying Flying Dog to produce the wash, it frees up Jess and his crew to concentrate on distillation and barrel aging.

Stranahan's currently produces one whiskey, called Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey. It uses a process unlike other American whiskeys like Bourban and Tennessee whiskey. Stranahan's uses a custom-designed still that incorporates both the pot of Scotch whisky distilling and the column of American whiskey distilling.

Stranahan's primary and secondary pot+column stills were custom made by Vendome Copper & Brass Works of Louisville, KY. Head Distiller Jake Norris drew up the diagram (photo left) of "How to Reinvent Whiskey 101."

In the photo at the top of this page, L to R: Clarke Boyer, Jake Norris, David Nice, Jess Graber, Teri and Jon.

The whole crew was on board today because the original plan was to have both a primary distillation going, and a bottling of one of Stranahan's new line of whiskeys, called Snowflake. The Snowflake line (named because no two are ever alike) consists of Stranahan's regular whiskey that has been finished in special barrels prior to bottling. The plan was to bottle the Port-finished Stranahan's today, but bottling was postponed in order to work out a haze issue.

Therefore only the primary distillation happened today, and the crew went to work ripping out the old barrel aging shelves in order to replace them with forkliftable steel wine barrel shelves.

The old-style shelves are the kind I saw when I toured Woodford Reserve in Kentucky (photo on left). The new shelves are the kind that most breweries with barrel aging programs use (photo below right).

Jess gave us a full tour and told us his 30-year background in home-distilling. Jake also had a home-distilling background, and each of them independently came up with ideas for a combined pot & column still for the kind of whiskey they wanted to make.

Stranahan's uses new oak barrels like Bourbon does, but because the wash is fermented long enough and filtered prior to distillation, the wash contains less impurities and no bacteria in comparison to other American whiskey washes. This purity along with a specially humidified aging room allows the distillate to age more quickly and efficiently in the barrel.

Jess took us to lunch next door at the Blake Street Tavern. After lunch we had a tasting of five Stranahan whiskeys. The control sample was Stranahan's standard 2-year old whiskey. I had been skeptical of a whiskey that was only two years old, but when I tasted Stranahan's last year during the GABF, I was amazed.

This tasting completely convinced me that two years is the perfect age for Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey. In my opinion, the 2-year old Stranahan's starts sweet like a Bourbon, but finishes dry like a single malt scotch. It's perfect.

In addition to the regular 2-year old, we also tasted a 3.5 year old (which is not currently available), but the finish was more like a Bourbon, so the unique "Colorado Whiskey" profile was missing.

Then we tasted three of the Snowflake series, the Port wood finish, a French Cabernet Franc finish, and a local Colorado red wine finish. Of the three, I personally preferred the Cabernet Franc finish, but I really liked the standard 2-year old Stranahan's best. Photo above left is Jess and Jon enjoying the tasting.

A few weeks ago, after I'd set up the day at Stranahan's with Jess, I'd asked Jon what he wanted for his birthday present. A bottle of Stranahan's, of course! But Jess beat me to it and gave Jon a bottle of Stranahan's for his present. So I asked Jon what he wanted for his present from me, and he asked for a Stranahan's barrel. Since Stranahan's only uses their new oak barrels once, Jess has a continuous supply to sell. At $80 F.O.B. Stranahan's, I thought it was a good deal.

Jake, Jess and Jon wrapped a barrel with several layers of cling-wrap, and they loaded it into my Chevy Astro van right behind the driver seat. I'll be driving Jon's barrel all the way back to Oregon. Boy, it sure makes the van smell good!

Pink Boots at New Belgium

"It’s rather nice to think of oneself as a sailor bending over the map of one’s mind and deciding where to go and how to go." ~Katherine Mansfield

June 27: Met Grady Hull at 9:00 am, and he introduced me to Alex Dwoinen. Grady and Alex tag-teamed on giving me tours of various parts of New Belgium's extensive brewery. Then I sat in the nice air conditioned brewery control room (with six computer monitors!) and Mike Cothran showed me New Belgium's brewing control program with it's impressive graphics of all the systems.

I had watched the brewers work the control programs at Deschutes, Sierra Nevada, and Stone, but now finally my brain was catching up and I seemed to follow what the brewers were doing on screen better. Grady, Alex, Mike and Matt Gilliland came and went from the control room as needed, but we all managed to gather on the brewhouse floor for the photo above. (Left to right: Teri, Alex, Matt, Grady and Mike.) Note the mosaic tile around the base of the kettle near my boots.

Now, lest anyone think that the kettle above is only 3-feet high at the hip, please be assured that a 200-barrel kettle is much taller than it looks because it continues on down to the next floor.

New Belgium has lots of capacity built into their system. They have a 100-barrel brewhouse as well as this 200-barrel brewhouse, but they only use the 200-barrel system these days. However, once the hot and thirsty days of summer are truly upon us, they will no doubt fire up the "little" 100-barrel guy. They do not currently have a pilot brewery, but the brewers think about it often.

New Belgium only uses their 200-barrel brewery because of efficency, which means using the least amount of energy, resources and labor required to produce the most beer. It takes a lot of energy to heat up a big tank full of liquid, and if it's hot to begin with, that makes the job more efficient. The theory is, why heat up two kettles for 12 hours a day, if you can heat up one kettle for 24 hours per day? So that's what they do.

After spending the morning in the brewhouse, I spent part of the afternoon in the cellar with Mikey "P." Mikey says he used to work all over Michigan - at Bells, Atwater and other breweries. He quit the brewing business and moved to Colorado to be a ski bum. Perhaps the lift tickets were too spendy, but Mikey ended up working at a winery instead of skiing. His buddy told him of an opening at New Belgium, and he's been back in the brewing business ever since.

Mikey showed me some really nifty things that New Belgium does to recapture energy, including a heat exchanger that runs beer in both directions. Yup, you read that right. They don't rely on their glycol systems to cool beer or wort; the glycol systems are just to keep liquids cold. They use heat exchangers to cool or heat all liquids. Thus, one cold beer can be used to cool down another beer. Ask Mikey. He'll explain it.

One other nifty thing New Belgium does, is that they have a four-unit doser that can dose hop pellets (or spices) into a kettle without opening the manway. This is a much safer system as it avoids the possibility of injury and keeps the heat in. Mike Cothran showed me how the four units worked. I told him New Belgium should name the four units after the Beatles. After all, they are the Fab Four.

At the end of the day Alex lead us to the very crowded tasting room (known as the Liquid Center) where we tasted all their Belgian and sour beers (yum) and I met John Rich's wife, Ailey for the first time (please email me the correct spellings). Alex was kind enough to send us home with a bunch of goodies including a hoodie for me, a baseball hat for Jon, two mixed cases of beer, and a 750 ml bottle of Le Folie, because everybody needs to have a folly. Mine is spending money on gasoline. What is yours?

Jon and I spent a quiet evening sitting in our camp loveseat on the gravel back lot behind New Belgium. We watched some of the staff practice their volleyball shots in anticipation of tomorrow's big employee game. Jon read while I wrote "Thank You" post cards to the people at the breweries that had welcomed and hosted me during this trip. We enjoyed some cold New Belgium beer and I saw a red fox lurking about New Belgium's equipment bone yard. The cottonwood trees lost most of their cotton in the breeze. The wastewater treatment plant 's methane burner burped flames now and then. And the sun set slowly, leaving just a hint of pink in the darkening sky.

A Visit to Odells in Fort Collins

"There is no place to go, and so we travel! You and I, and what for, just to imagine that we could go somewhere else." ~ Edward Dahlberg

June 26: Slept in a bit and enjoyed a nice Rocky Mountain morning, sipping hot tea (me) and coffee (Jon) outside while nibbling on some fruit. Hot showers, some blogging, then off to Fort Collins.

First stop was Odell Brewing Company where my contact was John Bryant, marketing and sales. John has a long history in the craft brewing industry, beginning in Oregon and including Deschutes Brewing Co., which was the first stop on my trip.

John lined us up with 12 samplers (one of everything on tap) and when I turned around, there stood Gene Gregg, former owner/brewer of Oregon Trader Brewery in Albany, Oregon. The brewing world is a small world. I lost track of Gene when he sold Oregon Trader and disappeared. Apparently he moved to Fort Collins and is looking to get a brewing job there. (Photo above: John, Gene, and husband Jon Graber.)

The photo at right is of Odells brewing crew. Left to right: Ryan King, Jim Weatherwax and Greg Wiggall. It's hard to tell, but they are standing in front of Odell's 5-barrel pilot brewery. This cute little brewery is parked right in the midst of Odell's 50-barrel brewhouse and assorted giant tanks.

As John Bryant explained Odell's system to me, it is the brewers and their imaginations that drive Odell's engine. Marketing doesn't ask the brewers to "brew something like our competitor" or "make me a light amber ale," rather, the brewers come up with any new recipe or idea that suits their fancy. Then they brew it on their 5-barrel system, and it is up to the marketing guys to sell it. This creative process was the genesis of Odell's popular (and yummy) 5 Barrel Pale Ale. This 5-barrel brewery also drives Odell's annual Small Batch Beer Festival.

John Bryant gifted us with an Odell's t-shirt (for me) and baseball cap (for Jon). Thanks, Odell's!

Then it was off to New Belgium Brewing Company before Brewmaster Peter Bouckaert went home for the day. We drove past Coopersmiths Brewpub. We had planned to drop in, but I hadn't heard from anybody there, so we waved as we drove by. The brewpub was packed, which was great considering it was a Tuesday.

Ran into Peter as he was running out the door for New Belgium's monthly Crown Pub educational series. Assistant Brewmaster Grady Hull gave us a ride over to the Crown after New Belgium's very serious security folks made Jon and I security tags for tomorrow.

Every month, New Belgium's brewers, cellarfolks, laboratory and production people are encouraged to discuss a new or educational topic in the informal setting of the Crown. This month's topic was bottle-conditioned beers, and the meeting was lead by former Eugene brewer (and newlywed) John Rich. I knew John from back in his High Street brewing days.

Jon and I arrived well into the meeting, so we ended up at the "kid's table" and thus too far away to hear or partake in the discussion. We tried all the New Belgium beers on tap, and I was happy to note that the Crown Pub treated both of Fort Collins' main craft breweries equally, as New Belgium and Odell's each had four beers available. Then it was back to New Belgium where we would be parked for the night

The New Belgium crowd at the Crown Pub was much larger than this photo shows, but I couldn't fit everybody in. John Rich is second from right above, in the blue t-shirt

A Visit to Avery, Left Hand, and Oskar Blues

"I am seduced by travel." ~Charles Kuralt

June 25: A long day of driving and brewery visits. Started out the morning at Avery Brewing Co. in Boulder. (Photo above: Steve Breezley and Adam Avery.) Steve gave Jon and me a custom tour of Avery's patchworked and ever-growing brewery. It's an inside joke that Avery will be moving to a purpose-built new building in two years. They've been saying that for many years now.

Steve's tour ended in the new tasting room. We got to try some of their experimental beers from wooden casks including a version of Salvation, Avery's Belgian Golden Ale, that had been aged in a Sauvignon Blanc keg. Hearty, tart, and tasty. I've been waiting for somebody to experiment with white wine kegs. If Avery hadn't done it, I'd have to do it. I still might do it if I get the chance. A big thanks to Steve and Adam for loading us up with a mixed case of Avery's finest. White Rascal Wit was great on such a hot day.

Next stop was Left Hand Brewing Company in Longmont. (Photo at right: Joe Schiraldi and Andy Brown) Joe and Andy tag-teamed on a tour because Joe was busy with his filter. We got to taste several beers including a nice Milk Stout.
Time for lunch, so a stop at the Pump House Brewery, also in Longmont. The brewer wasn't in, but we ran into Greg Nowatzki (photo left) of Las Vegas.

Greg and I were featured on the 2002 GABF (Great American Beer Festival) program that aired on the Food Channel. Even though we were both on the same film, we had never met, but I recognized him sitting at the bar. Of course Greg had his 3-ring binder listing every beer he'd ever tasted. In 2002 he was up to over 4,000 beers, now he is up to over 9,000 beers. It turns out that Greg is a fellow Wisconsinite - originally from Madison.

Left the Pump House Brewery and returned to our van and trailer to find that Longmont's Finest had left us a ticket. Notice the nice diagram in the lower left corner showing how we had parked and taken up three parking spots. (Gee officer, we could have taken five spaces, but we were trying to be courteous.)

Next it was off to Oskar Blues in Lyons. When I first sent out the notice that I was departing on this trip, marketing man Marty Jones called me to make sure I had received his email invite. Marty couldn't meet us today, but brewers Mike and Eric gave us a tour. (Photo at left: Eric Huber and Mike Hall.) I'd been wanting to see their canning operation for a long time. Note the pallets of cans stacked behind Eric and Mike in the photo.

Both Oskar Blues and Left Hand had a neat contraption outside their breweries that I'd never seen before: A big wheeled spent grain dumper. (Photo at right.) Seems like a good idea to me.

Last was the drive up hill to Estes Park to visit Jon's old pal, Baby Kay and her family. Baby Kay is all grown up now, and so are her two babies. Dave grilled burgers, and we sat outside on a balmy summer eve on the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park in their back yard and enjoyed a few of the beers we'd collected. What a nice end to a brewery-filled day!

(Photo at right: Maddy, Kay, Dave, Teri, Jon and Mica.)

Denver, Colorado

"I myself have been tempted for a long time by the cloud-moving wind – filled with a strong desire to wander." ~Matsuo Bashō

June 24: Jon and I spent a wonderful Sunday with my sister Heidi and her family. (Photo above: Top row: Jon and Jan; Bottom row: Teri, Jake, Max and Heidi.)

We did lots of mundane stuff like laundry, and making the trailer's table and benches into a queen-size bed (I've been sleeping up on the bunk), and checking the fluid levels on the van. Here's the total gas expense and mileage for my trip through Denver:

Miles Driven (so far): 2,812
Gas Purchased (so far): $790.18

The best part of the day was playing with my nephews, Jake (almost 8) and Max (6). We played Blink, Set, Loot, The Very Clever Pipe Game, Hang Man and Cathedral. We also drew pictures with watercolor pencils, and tried to grow yellow crystals with a science kit.

Heidi made a delicious salmon and tilapia dinner, and I read the boys a book on Black Holes before bed. And that was our day.

American Homebrewers Assn Conference Banquet

"Wherever your journey takes you, there are new gods waiting there, with divine patience and laughter." ~Susan M. Watkins

June 23: Happy day! I got to meet up with my husband, Jon Graber (photo at left), at the AHA Conference Banquet in Denver, Colorado.

Met up with fellow Eugeneans and Cascade Brewer Society homebrew club members Brandt Weaver and Denny Conn (photo at right).

Met up with lots of other beer industry luminaries like Charlie Papazian (photo below).

Jon made me wear my pink rubber boots to the dinner. He even washed the brewery grime from them for me. I attempted to be fashionable with a matching pink and black skirt. Denny Conn tried to improve my outfit by giving me some red Mardi Gras beads with three small rubber chickens hanging from it. The rubber chicken necklaces seemed to be the fashion du jour.

The dinner was excellent, the awards ceremony was fun and casual, the prizes for the winners were generous, and everybody had a dang good time.

Next year's conference will be in Cinncinnati. If you're a home brewer - don't miss it! You never know who you'll meet. In 1988 I was a homebrewer and attended the AHA conference. I met Charlie Papazian, Michael Jackson, and a few professional brewers. It was there that I decided to go Pro myself. The rest, as they say, is history.

Drive: Durango to Colorado Springs

"Character - the willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life - is the source from which self-respect springs." ~Joan Didion

June 22: Up at 6:45 am and on the road at 7:35 pm, after cousin Kevin cooked me up a road-sustaining scrambled egg and English muffin breakfast. Then a long drive across Hwy 160 and over the very steep Wolf Creek Pass. The road photo below is from Hwy 160. (What would a road trip blog be like without at least one nice road photo?)

Arrived at my cousin Laura's house at about 3:30pm. Her husband Jon was mowing the lawn in anticipation of daughter Nichole's sixth birthday party the next morning.

The rest of the Colorado Springs clan joined us for dinner. Well, most of them. Some of them already flew to Missouri for their grandfather's 90th birthday party this weekend. Jon grilled up a bunch of hamburgers and Wisconsin bratwurst.

After dinner Jon set up Nichole's new blow-up water slide and the kids had a blast doing flips off the top while the adults held their breaths until that kid moved and proved that kids are made of rubber and seemingly impervious to serious injury or paralization.

Above is the goofy family picture, and I think I like that one better. Below is the straight picture. Here's who's who in the photos: L to R: Teri, Ryan, Ashley, Bonnie, Justin, Lisa, Nichole, Jon and Laura.

Pink Boots at Ska

"The sole advantage of power is that you can do more good." ~Baltasar Gracian

June 21: Slept in till 9:00 am. All this driving is taking its toll. My cousin Kevin lent me his old Toyota Four-Runner so that I could leave my van hooked up while I went to Ska for the day.

Spent part of the morning with Jeffrey Wayne Ogden who was brewing up a batch of Pin Stripe Red. Jonathan Reed prepped a plate & frame filter.

Partner Matt Vincent showed me the blueprints for their new 4-story building. Construction should start in July, with move-in slated for one year later. Everybody at Ska seemed excited and relieved (and perhaps terrified) of the big move.

Hung out with Lab Technician Katie Frye. I can happily report that Katie is just on top of it. And she's interested in a pair of steel-toed pink boots, if I can find a manufacturer willing to manufacture a custom order for a whole bunch of us brew women. Katie is in the budget-and-planning stage for Ska's future lab, so if any of you lab specialists want to pass her your helpful hints on what you recommend for her lab in the new building, please email her at katie@skabrewing.com.

Then I helped myself to a popcorn lunch and talked to Partner Bill Graham about the differences between brewing and distilling. In addition to being a partner at Ska, Bill is also a partner at Peach Street Distillers. He gave me samples of his Apricot Eau de Vie and Peach Eau de Vie. Eau de good! Ska's beers seemed to lean toward the English style, and were equally good.

Meanwhile, the staff was getting ready for the weekly Ska-be-que, an unadvertised treat for Ska's regulars. Each Thursday at 4:30 pm, Ska invites a local restaurant to serve some food, and a local band to play some music. It's free to the regulars and anybody else who shows up. The restaurant and musicians get an opportunity to promote themselves plus some beer in trade. The regulars get a weekly party with some free grub, and Ska gets to sell some beer and build a lot of goodwill.

I enjoyed two soft tacos by Gaspacho Mexican Restaurant. The music de jour was punk and a little loud, but still fun. The crowd was friendly, and included some of the best-looking dogs and babies I've seen. This week's Ska-be-que was also the going-away party for Ska's distributing guy, who is moving to California, so there were a few visiting local brewers in attendance.

My contact for Ska, Partner Dave Thibodeau arrived during the Ska-be-que, so I finally got to meet him. A big thanks to Dave for gifting me two t-shirts and a bottle of Double Blonde.

One of the local brewers who showed up was an old friend of mine, Scott Bickert. What a surprise. Scott used to work at Rio Salado and Tommyknockers, and is now a Partner at Durango Brewing Company. Scott was accompanied by his Assistant Brewer, Ben McKibben. Here's a list of who's who in the above photos:

Top Photo: L to R: top row: Katie and Matt; bottom row: Bill, Teri, Jeffery and Jonathan.

Middle Photo: L to R: Beth Graham with baby Ila, Bill, Teri, Dave and Matt.

Bottom Photo: Ben and Scott from Durango Brewing, and Teri in her new Ska scooter girl t-shirt.

Drive: Sedona to Durango

"Maps encourage boldness. They're like cryptic love letters. They make anything seem possible." ~Mark Jenkins

June 20: More uphill driving. All day from 7:15 am until 4:30 pm. That's over 9 hours if you're counting. Arrived at my cousin Kevin's house in Durango just as Kevin was leaving to go set up for his "gig," playing electric guitar in a jazz duo at a restaurant downtown.

The photos above and at left were taken shortly after I entered Colorado from New Mexico. I immediately decided that Colorado was a prettier place than either Arizona or New Mexico.

Now, don't get mad if you think otherwise. You didn't just spend 9.25+ hours driving on hot Interstate highways here! The green of Colorado is immediately soothing to one's beige rock and red stone-parched eyeballs.

I played two rounds of "Loot" the pirate card game (and one of my favorite games) with Kevin's daughters, Maria (16) and Kayla (14). Then we went downtown to the restaurant where Kevin was playing jazz. I had a lovely grilled chicken and toasted walnut salad and two glasses of Cabernet Sauvignon. Sorry to disappoint the hard-core beer fans, but I like wine too. (Nice break actually.)

The girls and I sat outside and enjoyed the warm and breezy Durango evening, and Kev's music.

Once home, Kevin and I caught up on what all our relatives were up do. I hadn't realized the time zone change, so we were up talking until 1:00 am! I slept well and hard - until nearly 9:00 am.