Mellody Brewing

Top 50 Beer Moments, #21-30

21. Brewing two cases of beer for my friend's wedding present.
22. Saving the last bottle of Russian Imperial Stout to find out that my ex-girlfriend drank it during a party. (At least she had good taste.)
23. 30 Pack of Miller Light Cans, two dice. Playing 7,11, doubles till the pack was empty and the pyramid was build all before 11am.
24. Miller Light and chocolate donuts at 6am as we depart for fishing. Breakfast of champions.
25. Victory Hop Devil, hijacked juke box, pool and Jason at Charlie's Bar in Olde City.
26. Sitting on the porch in the Summer in Manayunk, drinking and getting Michele to listen to Put it in your mouth.
27. 25 cent drafts and piling the cups to the ceiling at Cockeyed's.
28. Wide mouth bottle of Mickey's in Andy's room during the snow storm.
29. Fat tire and a game of "I Never" in Denver. I never learned so much about a bunch of new friends, and two old ones.
30. Finishing the giant $80 bottle of Chimay Grand Reserve at Monk's with Craig, Joe, Andrew and Matt. Then driving to AC.

Top 50 Beer Moments, #11-20

11. MONKEY!!!
12. Afternoon Guinness with the family at a pub in Dublin. "I'll have a glass of Guinness." "You'll have a pint Yank."
13. Ice cold cans of Wittekirke on beach of the Gulf of Mexico.
14. Knowing the password to get Guinness at a friend's wedding.
15. Trappist Westvleteren 12 at the Oldsmar Tap House.
16. Coffee conversations at Monk's as Tobie and I sober up to drive home.
17. Hearing, "I'll have another Smellody." at a party in Manayunk.
18. Brewing in the snow on the turkey fryer.
19. Dancing like the New Kids on the Block at the Sprow's wedding.
20. First taste of Yuengling Lager in the basement of a house party my sophomore year.

Top 50 Beer Moments, #1-10

I was inspired by something I read recently and I have decided to chronicle the top 50 moments (in no particular order) in my life that are tied to drinking good beer, with good friends.

1. Drinking every Trappist Beer in the Beer Bible at Monk's Cafe.
2. Proposing to the waitress at Monk's Cafe after she told me she was a home brewer.
3. Brewing in the Manayunk kitchen and the smell of malt and hops in the house the days following.
4. Touring the Yuengling Brewery during the last week of classes at Scranton.
5. The case of Franziskaner at New Years Eve.
6. The homebrew carboy explosion.
7. Drinking Snow Cap and other strong ass beer in Seattle, WA. Taking bottles home in my carry on luggage.
8. Teaching friends to brew.
9. Sticking my head above the kettle during a boil, smelling the hops in my hair when I woke up the next morning.
10. Stealing bottles from Monk's and getting caught by the waitress. "You know if you want them, just ask." I haven't stolen a bottle since.

Will Work for Beer

I have finally connected with a small local craft brewery.  I'm going to be helping with bottling and whatever else they need help with.  First day is next week.  I will let you know how it goes.  I expect hard work, and hopefully some lessons to from them. 

Sláinte

Pint of Guinness (Taken March 2007, Galway, Ireland)

This time last year I was at the St. Patty's Dat parade in Dublin, enjoying many pints of Guinness with my family there.  I apologize for not keeping you up to date on events lately, but I've been away from the computer tasting beers and hanging with my brother who is in town from Chicago.  We've enjoyed a few nights with friends and a few good beers as well.  We had some fun beers at Oldsmar Tap House, check the what I am drinking list for details.

Sláinte everyone and be sure to enjoy a pint today.  More updates on some recent revelations I had about this crazy idea of tyring to start my own business in the midst of a recession and how while I think Tampa is right for beer, I'm not 100% sure its a fit for me long-term.

Irish Cross (Taken March 2007, Westport Bay, Ireland)

Some Mellody in the 'burg?

Was driving around St. Petersburg last weekend and realized.  No brewery here...none looking to start either.  Hmmm...location scouting might be in order.

Who am I?

"A brand is a living entity - and it is enriched or undermined cumulatively over time, the product of a thousand small gestures"

- Michael Eisner, CEO Disney

"Customers must recognize that you stand for something."

- Howard Schultz, Starbucks

"You're just anybody without your identity."

- Grenville Main, DNA Design

"Any damn fool can put on a deal, but it takes genius, faith and perseverance to create a brand."

- David Ogilvy

I am too lazy too look back at old posts to see if I wrote about this already, so here it is anyway.  If it is a repeat, T.S.  I've been working out the time-line for the brewery.  The plan calls for schooling, fund raising (saving) and then finding space, recipe formulation, promotion, etc.  I have it pretty well fleshed out in my head and have started thinking would it make sense to start branding the Mellody Brewery name now.  In this blog, on the kegs, get an official website, etc. I have labels I've been using for years, but they are from myownlabels.com.  I have ideas, thoughts but need someone with graphics to help. 

I am no graphics designer but have been trying to think what do I want the logo to look like?  Do I go classic and mimic what I've been doing already? Do I take on a something related to the name, maybe musical? That sounds gay to me (not that there's anything wrong with that.)  Anyway, I'm thinking of trying to find someone who will do work for me on the side and then pay them in beer, or something.  For all the thousands of readers out there...what do you think?  When you hear Mellody Brewing (seriously) what do you envision?  The brand takes on its own life over time, given to it by the consumer - but I want to set the tone.  This blog is the beginning of that, the branding and brand identity is next.

Can I brew virtually?

After much research today (Sunday) I have decided that  it is time to shit or get off the pot (excuse my language) and learn commercial brewing. I'm registering for a distance learning course in brewing with the Siebel Institute.  The World Brewing Academy seems to be a very well respected school, I asked a few brewers on Probrewer.com.  Even though on-line this class will give me some credentials, and at the very least teach me how to brew on a large scale. The three-month program seems intense but promises to give the student "the knowledge and confidence you will need to work effectively in the world of commercial brewing." It also states that the course is "formally recognized by the Institute of Brewing and Distilling (IBD) as suitable for students writing the IBD General Certificate Exam."

The cost is steep I'm going to have to cash into my savings, and use my tax refund to pay for it.  I figure at the least, I can hopefully take the experience to a job somewhere and then eventually in time transfer those skills to my own place.  I still wish things happened overnight - but lets be realistic.  I need to do this if I'm going to be serious about it, and not just write about it.

I vowed after I got my MBA that I'd never go back to school, lesson learned.  Never say never my friends. 

Also, on a related note: I hopefully have scored a side-job this week helping a small craft brewer in the area bottle his beer.  I offered my assistance and labor for the payment of learning and the occasional beer.  He seems open to it.