Smoke: It's in the wood.

After watching one BBQ show on food network after another I came to the realization that there isn't one magic bullet for smoking woods. There are as many opinions on the subject as there are pit masters. There is controversy over bark or not, wet or dry, potency, and quantity. These are a matter of variety, mix and amount. This is a compendium on the consensus of the internet about what flavors each wood offers. After the break I will post the internet's response and my own along with pictures of the woods as I use them. I'll use all the woods I can find but I am not in a hurry to get this done. I'll also refer to the sources I have about adding wood to beer to contrast the flavors you get from soaking vs. smoking.

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Jolly Pumpkin - Traverse City

Situated on the west coast of Old Mission Peninsula in the Grand Traverse Bay Jolly Pumpkin has a location few breweries can match. I was excited to go here on a recent day trip with my girlfriend. It wasn't the best part of my day but my complaints were few. JP describes the location as "historically situated among the generous cherry orchards and distinguished lakes of northern Michigan. Inspired by natural surroundings, our esteemed restaurant and brewery offers a rustic atmosphere marked by fireside warmth and earthy woods in a comfortable cottage like setting." This is an apt description of the structure but some good and bad things happened once I got inside. 

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Book Review: IPA by Mitch Steel

IPA by Mitch Steel - Brewers Publications

Let me start out my saying that this is a worthy book. I am glad that I own it now. There is a wealth of knowledge from historical brewing to modern techniques contained within the pages of this book. If you're new to the style and you want to be brewing IPAs DIPAs BIPAs or WIPAs this book can help. Mitch breaks down all of the techniques from mashing to whirlpool hoping. He covers ingredients from hops to grains. He explains what impact your water may have on the beer. The section that I found the most interesting was the breakdown of modern brewing techniques from a man with a wealth of real world experience. He relates techniques used by Stone and others to things you could do at home. This review will focus on telling you what is in this book without re-writing the book on my blog. If you are looking for a cutting and pasting of the best tidbits so that you can circumvent the book you should look elsewhere.

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Guest Blogger: Rock Bottom Brewery Indianapolis IN

Kyle again, I am in Indianapolis Indiana for a few days this week for the annual Printing Industries of America Continuous Improvement Conference.  I got into town early Sunday night and had some time to burn, sooooooo I decided to samples the local beer flavor Downtown Indianapolis has too offer.

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