Author Topic: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me  (Read 54248 times)

Re: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
« Reply #135 on: January 12, 2023, 10:15:19 am »
Hutch has not been inside my house (nor I in his) in over 3 years (while my home brewing has been having a renaissance)
Good move. Whenever I consider a real estate transaction, I ask for confirmation of whether or not Hutch has been in the property recently.

"Lead paint? Asbestos? Has Hutch been here?"
Definitely has an impact on the resale value, but not required to disclose in the State of VA
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Yada

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Re: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
« Reply #136 on: January 12, 2023, 10:28:25 am »
I don’t believe it…sidehatch has been talking about his home brew as long as I have known him and never have I sampled any….it’s always “oh the kegerator just broke….” Or some such

REEEEEEALLY?!?

<looks accusingly at sidehatch> HOW DO YOU PLEAD?!?

It’s el dorado
Guilty
Hutch has not been inside my house (nor I in his) in over 3 years (while my home brewing has been having a renaissance)
So while we’ve met up many times for shows, not a good opportunity to drink my homebrew
The one time there was an option (my 50th redo at colonial beach) the kegerator there was in fact not working (broken regulator)

But I’ll be filling up a growler this week and will hand deliver to the hutch-hold make up for this great disservice

Thanks for doing your part in stopping the spread.

shemptiness

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Re: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
« Reply #137 on: February 18, 2023, 11:58:12 am »
A native Maryland hop hints at new possibilities for local brewers

The University of Maryland Extension, with help from farm brewers in the state, is testing whether a native Maryland hop plant discovered on a Frederick County farm can be grown at commercial scale. If successful, the project could be a game changer for Maryland craft brewers and other breweries up and down the East Coast, industry experts say.

Re: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
« Reply #138 on: February 18, 2023, 01:45:06 pm »
Very cool
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sweetcell

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Re: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
« Reply #139 on: February 19, 2023, 01:07:49 am »
If successful, the project could be a game changer for Maryland craft brewers and other breweries up and down the East Coast, industry experts say.

i'm struggling with how this hop would be a "game changer."  do these industry experts think that the "MD native" labelling will somehow change the game?  that residents of the mid-atlantic will flock to their breweries because they've started making beer with a local hop?  i'd be shocked if it resulted in anything more than a temporary blip in demand, vast majority of beer drinkers don't care where their hops come from.  michigan has been trying to push their in-state hop production as a differentiator for years now, impact has been minimal).  it's described as a noble-like hop... well, we already have noble hops.  also, if you want a hop to go supernova it needs to be an IPA hop, not something spicy and floral.

so yeah, cool, local hops yeay.  TBD if it has any legs.
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Re: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
« Reply #140 on: February 19, 2023, 06:57:10 am »
Agreed, little hyperbolic

But might help locals with some supply chain issues regarding getting hops

But, no one is going to get excited about a locally grown hops (well, I might)
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sweetcell

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Re: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
« Reply #141 on: February 22, 2023, 01:21:36 am »
But might help locals with some supply chain issues regarding getting hops

when it comes to hop supply, there are two issues:

1. there used to be cyclical and systemic hop shortages due to the fact that hops take at least 3 years to reach maturity, which resulted in supply corrections being delayed.  when there is a glut in the market, prices drop, and farmers rip up the plants to move on to something more profitable.  then supply drops, prices rise, so growers plant new hops - but it'll be 3 years before new fields come online to meet the demand = hop shortage. 

2. for certain highly desirable hops (AKA "ipa hops" like citra, mosaic, galaxy, simcoe, sabro, etc.) demand outstrips supply.  citra and mosaic are the most planted hops in terms of acreage but it's still not enough to satisfy craft breweries.  these hops are available, but at prices that a multiples of lesser-desired hops (which are slowly being phased out).  when brewers say "i can't get citra", they dont' mean it's not available, they mean they can't get it at a reasonable/viable price.

issue #1 has become less of an issue as the hop industry has matured and has moved to long-term contracts.  breweries project their needs 3 to 5 years out, sign contract for these amounts, and growers have some demand stability... hence the use of the past tense when i described the issue.  there hasn't been a significant hop shortage in over a decade.

issues #2 is irrelevant to a MD-sourced noble-like hop that isn't useful for IPAs.  locally-produced, small-scale farmed hops like those from a nascent MD industry are bound to be more expensive than equivalents grown on large, highly-productive farms in WA, OR and ID.

so MD hops will undoubtedly find a niche for themselves among locavorians, and they'll keep the MD farmers employed, but again... i question the game-changingness of this development.  i'd be most happy to be proven wrong ;D
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Starsky

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Re: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
« Reply #142 on: February 22, 2023, 01:28:08 am »
I want to run the table but got nothing other than CVS is charging $12.99 for a six pack of that premium Mexican beer Corona in all their NOVA stores. I spent eight hours on Monday driving around in my Prius whose check engine light your warranty is way over went on.

sweetcell

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Re: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
« Reply #143 on: February 22, 2023, 01:34:01 am »
CVS is charging $12.99 for a six pack of that premium Mexican beer Corona in all their NOVA stores.

da fuq?  you could buy yourself a craft mexican lager for that price... unless beer prices in MD have gone redonk since i left.
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Starsky

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Re: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
« Reply #144 on: February 22, 2023, 01:41:03 am »
What ha talkies about!? I thought Corina  was premium

Tecate is worse and so is midelozzz….not a fan of 2XX

sweetcell

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Re: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
« Reply #145 on: February 23, 2023, 01:05:20 am »
haven't received anything, other than email updates.  at this point i've written off the BrewVide, so if it does come through i'll be pleasantly surprised. 

We asked for patience at the time while we explored alternate manufacturing strategies and/or additional synergistic investors that would allow us better economies of scale, and you, our community, have been extremely gracious with us during this period.

Despite our best efforts and several promising discussions, this has not happened. It is therefore with extremely heavy hearts that we must announce now that we have to cease our efforts to commercialize BrewVide.


they'll be issuing refunds for 65% of whatever backers put in.  after so many years of work, i'm surprised they have that much money left.  to their credit, the BV folks didn't take a dime for themselves, hence the leftover cash. 

i have most of the parts to build a RIMS.  i had abandoned that project when the brewvide came along but might need to resurrect that.  dammit.   

yeah, guess it's time to dust off those parts... ugh, i was hoping to sub-contract this project.  since i can't buy, guess i'm going to have to build...
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Re: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
« Reply #146 on: February 23, 2023, 06:38:23 am »
That sucks, was really looking forward to a review as that would have been my next purchase
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Re: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
« Reply #147 on: April 27, 2023, 10:31:09 am »
ok, now it really looks like New District is going under as all their equipment is up for auction
https://rasmus.com/auctions/gVLrSlOONYL4c75qsApa/a/Complete-Brewery-Line-And-Tap-Room-Auction--Arlington--VA?
all the makings to start your brewery

Sweets, any chance you wanna move back and open a brewery?
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sweetcell

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Re: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
« Reply #148 on: April 27, 2023, 12:06:06 pm »
Sweets, any chance you wanna move back and open a brewery?

thanks! but i don't want to move back.  don't want to move, at all - dang happy here, doubtful i could be this happy anywhere else.

wanna open a brewery?  sure, under one of two conditions:
- i win the lottery, so the brewery is my play-thing and not a must-be-successful business concern.  making a profit would be nice, but no need to work 20 hours a day for years under threat of losing everything.  essentially, it would be my vanity project.
- a rich benefactor bankrolls the brewery and stays out of the day-to-day operations.  i'll get him/her to profitability... eventually.  essentially, it would be someone else's vanity project and i would be its caretaker/mad scientist.

both of these scenarios are equally likely, i.e. not at all.  might help if i actually played the lottery.
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Re: Is that a hydrometer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me
« Reply #149 on: April 27, 2023, 12:16:42 pm »
Sweets, any chance you wanna move back and open a brewery?

thanks! but i don't want to move back.  don't want to move, at all - dang happy here, doubtful i could be this happy anywhere else.

wanna open a brewery?  sure, under one of two conditions:
- i win the lottery, so the brewery is my play-thing and not a must-be-successful business concern.  making a profit would be nice, but no need to work 20 hours a day for years under threat of losing everything.  essentially, it would be my vanity project.
- a rich benefactor bankrolls the brewery and stays out of the day-to-day operations.  i'll get him/her to profitability... eventually.  essentially, it would be someone else's vanity project and i would be its caretaker/mad scientist.

both of these scenarios are equally likely, i.e. not at all.  might help if i actually played the lottery.
what ever happened to GGW
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