Baby Shower Favors - Jungle Safari Theme

Our Wrapped Up! favours service has kept us really busy this winter and we hope would be even more busy in the spring/summer/fall! We have done weddings, bridal showers, baby showers and even holiday party favours this season.

This past weekend, we made these adorable baby shower favours for a very special mom-to-be. Baby's sex is unknown so the hostess choose the ever popular and fun Jungle Safari theme. Apart from the fun aspect of the theme, the warm colours were perfect to cheer the mom-to-be and guests in these cold winter months.

Simple animal print sachet-style bags were filled with sweet jelly beans and chocolates - yum! Tied with ribbons and including personalized tags, these favours made the perfect gifts for the baby shower guests.

The shower decorations included our must-have Jungle-Safari themed diaper cake, yellow/white Baby Blooms bouquet and other jungle themed goodies.

To learn more about our Wrapped Up! service, please visit our Wedding & Party Favours section on our website.

Eagles and Buzzards

Do you soar with the eagles or hover with the buzzards?

Eagles spend their time soaring and when they’re not, they’re solitary, off some where in a high place waiting. This reminds me of Psalm 91: "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty!"

Buzzards spend more time on the ground than they do in the heavens. In fact, buzzards like to live in places like garbage dumps. They hang around the side of the road waiting for an accident. A buzzard’s discernment is not that accurate but it is trained to smell death. And that is the only thing a buzzard is interested in. It is interested in death. It is interested in rotten flesh and it likes to feed on it. It thinks it’s found a prize when it finds something that’s dead. Buzzards rejoice when they find death and gossip and slander.

An eagle on the other hand will not eat anything dead. They focus on life. They see past the problem and see the potential that the Lord has hidden in people. We have to make a commitment to look for the good, to soar high with the eagles, and to stay away from the garbage dump where the buzzard lives.

The only thing it takes to see what’s wrong with someone is a critical mind and one working eye. Let's strive to look at each other through the loving eyes of God. Each person is more valuable to him than a whole flock of sparrows. Let's soar with the eagles!

Batch No. 50 -- Grand Funk Aleroad

I just heard from the Best of Show winner, Al Buck, who brewed the marvelous Grand Funk Aleroad, a Gueuze. I eMailed him last night to let him know and his wife Nina read it this morning. He was brewing up a batch at the time and was reportedly jumping around his kitchen when we received word. Congrats Al, you deserve it!

This beer reminds me a lot of Drie Fonteinen Oude Gueuze. It's sour for sure, but there's so much finesse in the layered flavors of leather, barnyard funk, citrus / lemon, and indescribable qualities that make this so wonderful. Al told me this is a blend of a 1 year old lambic and a 2 year old lambic. We'll brew this in mid-February of this year, and the 2nd batch in February of 2010. At the proper aging rate, this beer will be released in the Spring of 2011. Based on my growth projections, we'll be somewhere around Batch 300 when this beer is released (or at l hope!).

I wonder where Al got the name from. We'll most certainly be calling it this-- it's a damn funny name. Al is looking into traveling to our brewery to brew this with us. I hope he does.

Batch No. 50 Competition Results

The judges all had a fantastic time judging the 62 entries that came in for our second homebrew competition, the Batch No. 50 Competition. Thanks to all who entered. There is clearly some amazing talent in homebrewing community when it comes to Belgian-style and experimental beers, and we're honored to have sampled these beers.

The results:

Category 16 - Belgian & French Style Ales

First: Oaked Strong Saison Hybrid, Kyle Manns, La Habra, CA

Second: Saison 566, Sean White, Brooklyn, NY

Third: De Dolle Clone, Rick Adams, Lakewood, CA

Category 17 - Sour Ale

First: Grand Funk Aleroad, Al Buck, Hillsborough, NJ

Second: Flanders Red, Bryan Smith, Torrance, CA

Third: Ich bin ein Berliner Weiss, Blair Howard, Rumsey, CA

Category 18 - Belgian Strong Ale

First: Mr. T's 30 lb. Necklace, Sean White, Brooklyn, NY

Second: LT, Patrick Duke, Orange, CA

Third: Pleasuretrip, Todd Peterson, San Dimas, CA

Honorable Mention: Harvest Tripel, Patrick Miller, Portland, OR

Category 23 - Specialty Beer

First: Sourfest, Todd Peterson, San Dimas, CA

Second: Liquid Whole Wheat, Bryan Smith, Torrence, CA

Third: Wheat Chocolate, Jim Schmalzried, Garden Grove, CA

Honorable Mention: Citrus Blossom, Brent Brubaker, Riverside, CA

Best of Show (our 50th Batch of Beer): Grand Funk Aleroad, Al Buck, Hillsborough, NJ

Congratulations to all of the winners! We're looking forward to brewing Batch No. 50 - Grand Funk Aleroad, it's an amazing sour beer.

Thanks to the judges and the stewards (not in any particular order):

Mark Harris

Tyler King, The Bruery

Jonas Nemura, The Bruery

Cristian Sierra

Dave Moody, Backstreet Brewery

Andy Marshall, Black Market Brewery

Evan Price, Hangar 24 Brewery

Lyn Davidson

Brent Rahn

Jim Wilson

Brent Brubaker

Brad Nixon

Mitch Steele, Stone Brewing Co.

Jake Ratzke, Stone Brewing Co.

Hal Ward

Pete Bakulic

Brian Cockle

Bryan Tetzlaff

Jay Goodwin

Matt Staley

Ben Weiss

Thanks to Joan and Dennis Paul (my parents in law), who brought the food for the judges.

And a big thank you to Rachel Rue, who pretty much did everything. Cheers!

Batch 50 Competition Update

The Batch 50 judging is well underway...

This Weekend at the Tasting Room (1/23-1/24)

Here's how the menu board is shaping up for this weekend-

Tomorrow morning (Saturday) the Batch 50 competition will take place.  17 different judges from commercial breweries and the BJCP will be casting their votes, so good luck to all!  The results will be announced at the tasting room immediately following the judging, so come on by during normal tasting room hours.  

To celebrate, we decided to put the cask of Black Orchard Mole Poblano (aka holy mole) on tap for this weekend.  For this cask, we have taken Black Orchard and added roasted cocoa bean, roasted and dried poblano chiles, and cinnamon, similar to the traditional mole sauce.   If you come by tomorrow, there will be some special Mexican appetizers specifically chosen to pair with the cask.

Hottenroth Berliner Weisse is finally back, and we love this one even more than the first.  It is  tart and delicious!  Finally, not to forget you hopheads, Humulus Ambre is now on tap.   It's a continuation of our hoppy Belgian-influenced beers, this time a moderate 6% and loaded with American hops.  Both the Hottenroth Berliner Weisse and Humulus Ambre are draft only, so be sure to get a growler fill if you want to take any home.

Cheers!

Rachel

Chief Style Officer/ Owner

Warfare Worship

Spiritual Weapons
(2 Corinthians 10:4) Let's remember some of the weapons that pertain to warfare worship:

Playing an instrument like David did (1 Samuel 16:23).

Psalms 144:1 says, "God has trained our hands for war and our fingers for battle." Singing praises silences the enemy (Psalms 8:2).

Shouting scatters the enemy (Joshua 6:20) and brings down the walls of strongholds like Jericho.

Clapping strikes the enemy (Psalms 47:1).

Dancing places the enemy under our feet (Malachi 4:3) and rhythm creates the tempo for God to beat the enemy through our praise (Isaiah 30:32).

Prophecy is the voice of the Lord that shatters the enemy (Isaiah 30:31).

The ultimate weapon is the presence of God which causes the enemy to melt like wax (Psalm 68:2).

Today's prayer: "God, I will sing praises to you and my enemies shall be silenced; I will shout loud praises to you, yes, and they shall scatter; I will clap my hands and dance before my God, placing the enemy under my feet; and I shall seek your presence, which will cause them to melt like wax. For you alone are God and you are the one I praise."