Fish Out of Water Sushi Truck

A good man and friend of mine, Mike Smith, has recently opened his own food truck in the Orlando area.  At a recent stop at Redlight, we ordered from his truck and the sushi was great.  I'm happy for him and it's good to see him doing something new and exciting.

Of course, what excites me most about Mike starting his food truck is the American inspiration that Mike embodies and the unwillingness to sit back and let life happen to him.  I've known Mike for nearly 5 years and he is not a dreamer.  He is a doer.  At this point in our nation's history, it seems we have a great percentage of citizens with this idea of entitlement who want the world to be hand-delivered to them.


I remember when Mike first bought the Shipyard bus and was thinking about taking a trip up the eastern coast and wanted to get some people onboard.  Of course, everyone in this country with a set of testicles has dreamed of a trip with some buddies drinking beer and experiencing the good ol' US of A.  Within a few months of the plan taking place, we were on the road.  This is just one example of the can-do attitude that we need more of in America, especially at these times.

Best of luck to Mike Smith in this new venture.  It's nice to see Americans getting out and making their own way.

Barrel Aged Boulder at Redlight

We lucked out and Mr. Jeff Brown of Boulder Brewing was open to sending some very limited release barrel aged beers to the state of Florida.  We had the honor of first presentation at Redlight Redlight in Orlando.  The two beers in question, which came in 1/6 bb were:



Mortimer - A blend of the Mojo Risin Double IPA and Planet Porter aged on Bourbon barrel.  A sort of Black IPA if you will.


Flowers of Belgium - A Belgian Pale Ale infused with flowers.


We also had the classic Mojo IPA on draft and passed out some bottles of Hazed ad Infused.  They have the canned Hazed and Infused in the Orlando market and I had quite a few people give me feedback that they were happy to see it around.  Cans are great and I'm hoping we will see more and more cans coming out in the coming years.

Tasting at Luna Bella

Vinnie explaining the virtues.

Just did a tasting at a restaurant I had never been to before, Luna Bella in New Smyrna.

This beautiful Italian Restaurant is tucked back in the Venetian Bay Golf Community along with a part of the community that I have never seen, including condominiums and a great shopping plaza.  How have I not seen this before???

We sampled out Lazy Magnolia's Southern Pecan, Boulder's Mojo IPA, and Orange Blossom Pilsner.  I was extremely pleased that we were looking at an older and slightly conservative crowd (usually a craft beer killer) and the beer went over very well.  We definitely created a few converts that night.  We scheduled another event here as well on Wednesday, October 19th.  Excited to get back here and have some dinner.......

Barrel Aged Boulder at Redlight

We lucked out and Mr. Jeff Brown of Boulder Brewing was open to sending some very limited release barrel aged beers to the state of Florida.  We had the honor of first presentation at Redlight Redlight in Orlando.  The two beers in question, which came in 1/6 bb were:



Mortimer - A blend of the Mojo Risin Double IPA and Planet Porter aged on Bourbon barrel.  A sort of Black IPA if you will.


Flowers of Belgium - A Belgian Pale Ale infused with flowers.


We also had the classic Mojo IPA on draft and passed out some bottles of Hazed ad Infused.  They have the canned Hazed and Infused in the Orlando market and I had quite a few people give me feedback that they were happy to see it around.  Cans are great and I'm hoping we will see more and more cans coming out in the coming years.

The night went great and I got a lot of great feedback.  Our next barrel aged event will be with Eola Wine in Winter Park where we will be pouring the Barrel Aged Planet Porter.  Stay posted for details.

Tasting at Whole Foods

We had a nice twist of fate today as we were asked to work the Anchor booth at the Whole Foods' Oktoberfest event on Aloma.  I have been a fan of Anchor Brewing for years and am in awe of the longtime story of how the brewery went from near bankruptcy to one of the most respected breweries in the country. The man who took Anchor from nothing to legend was Mr. Fritz Maytag, whose family name includes the washers and dryers, the famed blue cheese, and one of my favorite whiskeys, Old Potrero.  

I visited the brewery in 2008 and was equally in awe of the tasting room and the gorgeous fermentation tanks used to make the brewery's "steam" beer. 

The tasting room at Anchor

Rosie in the brewery

The brewery tour was an insight into what you do not normally get to see, as the brewery itself is so beautiful that you do not get to see the working side until you get downstairs to visit the tanks.  In this, you feel as much in a museum as you do in a brewery.  In addition, they positioned the offices around the tanks so that you can always look out of your office window and see the process taking place.  A beautiful and ingenious combination of function and passion.  This will forever remain one of my most memorable brewery visits. 

As for the beer - Anchor has stuck to what they know best and has not chased the latest fads.  Their portfolio consists of the ubiquitous "Steam" beer, Porter, Liberty, Summer Beer, Old Foghorn Barleywine, and the oft-collected Christmas Ale.  They also have released a variety of beers as homage to classic brewing traditions, including the new Humming Beer, Bock Beer, and Brekle's Brown.  I had the pleasure of serving the Humming and Steam beer at this Whole Foods Event.

I was happy to see my buddy Tom Moench from Orange Blossom in attendance as well as reps from Harpoon and Eel River.  We were set up to serve and sample beer while Whole Foods provided the food and music to complement the Oktoberfest spirit.  I served not only Anchor, but Boulder Brewing's Hazed and Infused and Mojo IPA, so I was set for drinks.  

Setting up

As i had stated, I had the honor of serving the Anchor Humming Beer for the first time and was very excited to get the chance to do so.  The brewery's definition of the beer is:

"HUMMING is an ancient term, used centuries ago to describe both ales and beers.  Although its origins are shrouded in mystery, it suits this bold hoppy ale, which we have created to celebrate the anniversary of our first brew at 1705 Mariposa Street.  Fro mthat very day we were humming!  In 1965, we deidcated ourselves to reviving the nearly bankrupt, almost medieval little San Francisco brewery on 8th Street.  By 1977, Anchor's small staff was making five beers in its state-of-the-art facility.  We purchased an old coffee-roasting plant on Mariposa, overseeing its gradual transformation into our "new" brewery.  Finally, on August 13, 1979 our move was complete, we fired up the brewkettle, and Anchor Steam had a new home - its sixth since 1896."

 In addition, for those of you who are not familiar with the Anchor Steam Beer, here is the description from the brewery:

"San Francisco's famous Anchor Steam, the classic of American brewing tradition since 1896, is virtually handmade, with an exceptional respect for the ancient art of brewing.  The deep amber color, thick creamy head, and rich flavor all testify to our traditional brewing methods.  Anchor Steam is unique, for our brewing process has evolved over many decades and is like no other in the world.


Anchor Steam derives its unusual name from the 19th century when "steam" seems to have been a nickname for beer brewed on the West Coast of America under primitive conditions and without ice.  The brewing methods of those days are a mystery and, although there are many theories, no one can say with certainty why the word "steam" came to be associated with beer.  For many decades Anchor alone has used this quaint name for its unique beer.  In modern times, "Steam" has become the trademark of Anchor Brewing."


As always, I find myself to be very lucky to be in the place that I am in and to be able to work with such great people.  Thanks to the people at Whole Foods, thanks to Anchor Brewing and Mina, and a special thanks to Jeff Brown for continuing to trust us with his legendary Boulder Beer here in the state of Florida.  Cheers!

Car Accident

At the tail end of our trip to Atlanta, not an hour from home, we came upon an accident that had just occurred in Ocala on HWY 40.  It was a two-car accident at high speeds which left one driver deceased.  Myself, Josher, and Bobert were asked by the firemen to help move some wood from the back of a firetruck to the back of the emergency vehicle.  We ended up far too close to the accident and saw some things that were dreadful.  It left us in shock and what was a festive two-day event turned into a moment of reflection.  For a brief while I appreciated these two guys more than I had.  We spoke without interrupting each other.  We left criticism behind us for a while and we allowed each other to be ourselves.

It is at these times that I fully appreciate the hours that we spend on the road and the dangers we put others in while driving.  Whether it be phoning, texting, driving under the influence, changing the radio station, arguing with the kids in the back seat, or any of the hundreds of other things that distract us while driving; please remember to be safe.

In any of these instances, the fatalities come to people who were going about their daily lives.  Maybe they were delivering a birthday present to their daughter, driving to a yoga class, or picking up groceries for a surprise dinner.  In any case, they have lives that they deserve to live and they were taken from this earth by someone who was not ill-intended, but also did not understand the danger in their distractions.

I myself am going to stop texting while I'm driving.  I beg all of you who read this to do the same.

NOTE:  In this case, the driver lost control of their car in the rain.  It was not their fault and I'm not using this accident as an example.  It simply got me thinking.

Atlanta Renegades

At Josher's House

Assignment:  Be in Atlanta for a trade show by noon tomorrow.  Drive custom made beer-mobile that is currently sitting in Orlando.  Take two of your drinking buddies to help out. Must leave by 3:30 in the morning to arrive at trade show on time.

The trade show in question was the Georgia Crown Distributing's Holiday Trade Show.  It was held in a Greek Orthodox Church just outside Atlanta and well on the way to Decatur, home of my favorite beer bar.  In fact Decatur is home of many great bars, restaurants, and houses of alcohol legend.  The problem is not getting to Atlanta on time.  It's not pouring out the wonderfully balanced Orange Blossom Pilsner, the rich and luscious OBP Squared, or the roasty Toasted Coconut Porter.  The problem is not staying sober enough to navigate a strange town.  The problem is not the fear of being let down by our night out in Decatur.  The problem for me is - talking myself into returning home from one of the coolest towns I've ever been to.  If you've never been to Decatur, GET THERE!!

First fuel stop in Ocala

As I said, we left at 3:30 am, which allowed me about 4 hours of sleep.  Not bad, and I know I can easily get by on that allotment.  I picked Josher and Bobert up at Joshers and we got on the road.  I drove the first half of the trip and we agreed that Bobert would get us into Atlanta.  Josher's job was to fall alseep in the car and become a vessel for us sticking giant okra in his mouth while he was sleeping.  It was great fun, indeed, and well worth losing a driver.

People rolling in......

Thanks to some well-timed traffic misses we arrived an hour early and were able to check into the hotel to freshen up before we headed on to the trade show.  Tom put us up in a badass Courtyard by Marriott which was recently renovated.  The room was awesome and we eventually drew straws to see who got the bed, the pullout, and the floor.  I drew the bed and that is all that matters....

Our Booth.  Looks good, no?

The trade show was great and they estimated about 450 people showed, all of which were in the bar/restaurant biz in some capacity.  Most of those in attendance had seen the OBP and were very curious about the Toasted Coconut.  It was a tremendous hit.  The key in this situation is to see how many people come back for more or how many bring their friends.  If you have a ton of people coming back to show your product to their buddies, you know you have a winner.

A Storeroom at the Brick Store.  Yes, that's pancetta!!

After the show, it was time to go out in Decatur.  As I said, my favorite beer bar, The Brickstore, is located here and I had been bragging on it to Josher and Bobert for quite some time.  We arrived and were set to meet some business prospects, so we asked for a table for six.  They have a Belgian Room upstairs and we were put in e of the best seats in the house in the back of the Belgian Room. We had a view of the entire room and I can't even begin to tell you how cozy this room is.

www.brickstorepub.com

Beer Advocate Magazine rated this place the #2 Beer Bar in the World (my own Abbey was #16 in 2008) and rates it an A+ with 178 reviews.  Their selection is so vast, you could get wasted here for an entire year and never drink the same thing twice!!  But it's the atmosphere that takes it to the nest level.  To the left is the link to their website and I would definitely recommend checking it out if you're in the area.

leonsfullservice.com

We had some drinks at the Brick Store with Charlie from C2 Imports and the four of us headed to another bar owned by the Brick Store folks, Leon's Full Service.  This bar was once a gas station that they renovated into an upscale yet accessible restaurant/bar.  We were full so we didn't eat although I've heard great things about their food.  I was budgeting my drinking (since I had to drive back to the hotel) so I couldn;t drink much.  If we were walking back, i would have gotten trashed on their list of classic cocktails, including the Sazerac and the Sidecar.  Would have LOVED to have been able to spend hours here. Check out their website to the right.

Josher at the saltwater tank

www.twains.net

After Leo's came Twain's.  Another great bar that I hadn't been to in years.  They make their own brew in house and as it turns out had live jazz that night.  The atmosphere at Twain's is wonderfully eclectic, working as a pool hall, restaurat, hockey bar, and brewpub.  It was nice to see that all walks of life feel at home here, a factor that is always encouraging to me on a human level.  I had their cask raspberry porter, which was delicious.  The guys ordered some Tripels and a Saison, all of which were fantastic.  This place never disappoints and at this point I was wondering if Josher was not just going to stay and Decatur and leave us to drive home alone.  

After some business talk we left for our last stop, Taco Mac.  A well-known chain that always has a great beer selection, Taco Mac has seen great success over the years and we had the pleasure of having a great bartender who kept carrying some delicious smelling fajitas past us which made me wish I was hungry.

Bobert using his head

Josher using his head

 Anyway, the beer menu at Taco Mac is exceptional, especially on the draft level, and they have the clout to have some breweries make limited releases strictly for their outlets.  This allows their customers to have something that they know they will ever see again, a beautiful trophy for dedicated beer drinkers.  I always enjoy the Taco Mac atmosphere (although a tad corporate compared to the rest) and I got into a great conversation with Charlie over the evolution of Stella Artois in the United States and the effects it has had on the Heineken brand.    

We scurried back to the hotel and the movie Unstoppable was on HBO.  We watched the movie and drifted to sleep.  On the road in the morning and have to get the car back to Tom before 5:00.

Exit 164(?) on I-75 in Georgia is the site of the well-advertised "Strippers:  Need We Say More" lounge.  They spend as much money on advertising as South of the Border does and the actual building suggests that it spends more on advertising than capital improvements.  We stopped by to take pictures simply for the "Americana" of it all.  No time to stop in, however, as we have more important matters at hand...............

Dunedin Beer Festival

Setting Up

The Renegades had the pleasure of working the Dunedin Beer Festival, brought to you by the Dunedin House of Beer.  We had an awesome time for several reasons:

1.  It was to benefit the Dunedin Doggie Rescue, so they had me at hello.

2.  The band, the Black Honkeys, were awesome.  A blend of funk, jazz, and some rock (or so I perceived), they kept the crowd enthralled the whole time.

What would become our booth!!

The view from our booth

Nighttime approaches

3.  We were serving some crowd favorites.  We had the classic Hazed and Infused and it was roundly loved.  We also had the Boulder Brewing Sweaty Betty Blonde, which is always a crowd favorite in the Florida sun.  Lastly, we had the Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan, which is quickly becoming a favorite and raising some eyebrows at every festival the Renegades show up at.

The Dunedin Homebrewers also showed out in force and I had a delicious Belgian Blonde from one of their brewers as well as a Goze, which I can't say I've ever seen a homebrewer attempt.  Delicious with just a touch of salt present.  The only other Goze I had ever had was from Leipzeiger, and this one definitely gives it a run for the money.

The homebrewers table

All the Bettys were sweaty

The local Rotary also helped out and we were given three volunteers throughout the night who all ROCKED. I am constantly having to remind myself of how lucky I am to be a part of this culture.  Here's to BEER!!!!

Pint Night at Stogies

The awesome Tayler serving some delicious brews

Had a great time at Stogies in St. Augustine tonight.  Spent the day with Pete from Champion Brands working the Jacksonville and then hit America's oldest city about 2pm and set up camp to do a Lazy Magnolia / Boulder Brewing Pint Night with some great live music.  Our gracious hostess Tayler, who set this up, took great care of us and we heard some outstanding live music from the band "Surrogate" who took the stage for Eric Brigmone who was welcoming his newborn son into the world.

We set up with Boulder Brewing's limited release Hoopla Pale Ale which is a collaboration between Boulder and Kyle Hollingsworth (keyboard player for String Cheese Incident), and Lazy Magnolia's Southern Pecan.  One of my best buddies, Daneaux Narrow of Mermaid Juice Brewing met me up there and we had a great time.  The band rocked and I was able to try some new brews I had not previously had including Tequesta's Gnarly Barley and Intuition's King Street Milk Stout.  Additionally, I believe I had a total of 6 (count em 6) shots of espresso.

If you have not checked out Stogies yet, you must.  A perfect combo of relaxed atmosphere, amazing selection, and friendly staff.  I've always enjoyed this place and today is no different.  CHEERS!!!

My 9/11 Thoughts and Hopes for Something Better

I am writing this not as an argument, a judgment, or to pontificate my political prejudices.  I am writing this because it is how I feel about where we stand nearing the anniversary of a day that could have taught us so many lessons that we refused to learn.

**  The video below is the most affecting 9/11 song I know.  The instrumental at 4 minutes takes me back to how I felt that day watching innocent people killed in the name of hatred.  **

I decided to spend most of my Labor Day alone reflecting on my last 10 years since the impending anniversary of 9/11.  Everyone remembers where they were that day, who they were with, and who they called on the phone.  If you dig deep enough, you can also find what they were going to do and had to forego because they couldn’t be torn away from the television screen.  And with enough discussion you can almost always see glassy eyes begin to move from you into the distance and the discussion moves from a two-way conversation into a recounting of a specific experience and a retelling of the dread and shock that we invariably all felt together but each of us felt was specifically targeting at us alone.  I’ve rarely been surrounded by so many and felt as alone as I did that day.     

In the 10 years since 9/11, our country has experienced more civil strife than it has since the Civil War.  We have since lost touch with who we are, what inspires us to come together against a common foe, and what enabled a small group of people to inhabit a strange land and turn it into the most influential society since ancient Rome. 

I was born in 1973 and was able to experience at least the tail end of the Cold War.  What I remembered very distinctly was the feeling that we can quarrel among ourselves all day; but when someone from the outside would pose a threat, we could quickly mobilize as one unit, wave our Stars and Stripes, and know that when we are at our best, there is no enemy that cannot be beaten.  We were a family – 240 million strong and the whole world knew it.

Unfortunately, we have become a nation more and more divided both socially and politically.  It has become more important to be right than to be effective and we have lost the cohesiveness that the rest of the world admired.  The desire to come to a common ground has been replaced with the need to push agendas down throats so hard that it chokes the passageways that allow for two-way debate.  Our two-party system has become so hard-lined that it is no longer about small differences in ideals, but is now thought of as good versus evil.  Our ability to think for ourselves has been hampered by a need to belong specifically to one party or another and follow its agenda to the bitter end.  There aren’t a ton of pro-choice Republicans out there and I haven’t found many pro-life Democrats.  You also won’t find a Republican screaming from the rooftops about the need for gun control and no Democrat is going to proudly wave his NRA card on the Capital steps.      

The harm in this hard-lining is that we are swearing allegiance to things simply to belong.  We want to belong out of fear of losing the camaraderie of “A” side, “ANY” side.  Belonging as Americans has been replaced with belonging as a member of a political party.  If you were in the military and consider yourself a devout Christian, you HAVE to be a Republican and you HAVE to believe in the ideology across the board.  If you want to see better fuel efficiency in cars, to legalize marijuana, and eat organic foods, you HAVE to be a Democrat and you HAVE to follow the entire platform.    

This has and will continue to make us make decisions for the wrong reason.  Here is a perfect example:  In a recent online article in War Room, a political news and commentary blog , written by Matt Stoller cites that President “Obama has ruined the Democratic Party.” His article states in part:

“Of course, there are many rationalizations for Obama to remain the nominee.  He’s faced difficult opposition.  He’s passed major legislation.  His presidency is historic.  The economy is hard to resuscitate.  But all such rationalizations evade the party’s responsibilities to actually choose the nominee best suited to win votes.  If Obama looks unlikely to get enough votes to win, he should not get the nomination.

It would be one thing if Obama were failing because he was too close to party orthodoxy.  Yet his failures have come precisely because Obama has not listened to Democratic party voters.”

The question then would have to be asked:  Should our President begin making decisions solely for the purpose of gaining votes for the upcoming election?  If so, and he should just become a hand-puppet for the ideal, then we haven’t hired a man.  We may as well have built a computer that spits out answers along party lines.  Do we really want that?  I myself do not.  What if Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Jackson, or even Harry Truman had not listened to their own hearts?

I feel we elected a very intelligent man and put him in a very difficult situation.  And based on the swiftness in which Bill Clinton pulled us out of a bad economy, we expected Obama to be able to do the same.  And perhaps if Obama were better politician, he could have done a little better.  Instead he is roundly criticized for not being a hard-liner, for considering all sides, and for allowing others to present an argument instead of just shutting them down in some sith-like manner.  And no matter what decision he makes, he will be wrong.  Republicans will not respect him because he is not hard enough and Democrats will criticize him for not sticking to their agenda.   

    

Maybe self-reflection has been lost and has given way to the ease of black and white.  And maybe we've forgotten that you can learn more from someone who does not share the same views as you do than someone who has exactly the same views as you do.  

A great lesson that I learned many years ago is that the best way to learn from an experience is not to consider the what, where, when, or how, but the “why.”  Sometimes we get so caught up on the facts of what happened without relying enough on the motives behind the actions.  Maybe if we looked closer at the motives of an action and considered without judgment the paradigm of the person who committed those actions, we can better understand our strife, from wherever it may come.  Maybe even if we looked at not only our motives, but the motives of our antagonists, we can grow from the experience.  If we tried to ask the question "why" more often and attempted to understand others, we could not only see more in them but more in ourselves.  

The events of 9/11 were the result of a group of people taking a hard-line approach.  Why did they do it?  Because they felt they were the good guys and we were the bad guys.  We responded with a war that held the same ideals.  That war split the country as sides, those who wanted and those who didn’t want the war, stuck to a hard-line, villainizing the other side.  If you didn’t want the war, you were not patriotic and you didn’t “support the troops.”  If you wanted the war, you were a violent oil profiteer sympathizer.  There was no middle ground and that line is growing stronger every day as our current administration is attacked without remorse as defense to the previous administration’s failures.        

Maybe we can’t negotiate with terrorists.  But we can negotiate with each other and we can see the bigger picture of keeping the sanctity of this great Nation preserved.  We can see that in the timeline of our country’s being, we have seen better times, but we have seen worse times.  What brought us out of those worse times was the notion that no one person is bigger than the needs of the citizens of the United States.  We struggled to become independent; we struggled again to preserve it; we followed that with civil war; we followed that by a great depression; we struggled with the possible end of the world against the soviets; then we came to a boil for civil rights.  These were all struggles that could have brought a lesser nation down.  But these eras did not bring us down – they helped us to evolve.    

We have beaten every challenge that has faced us.  It would be a great shame to bring this country down with internal greed, arbitrary hatred, and arrogance.