Many of you hop heads of this side of the Atlantic are probably familiar if not subscribing members of the Mid Atlantic Brewing Newsletter which comes out bi-monthly throughout the year. Many brewers turn to this magazine to network, gather recipes, get their muse, or just to learn more about the craft. Purple Healer is featured in this months edition on Page 24 with a lovely recognition of Rippinators claim to fame at "The Taming of the Brew" Festival in Bloomsburg, PA.
Don't have the magazine? Do not fret you can read the digital copy right here.
Also a big shout-out and congratulations to Damien of Old Forge Brewery who also has a small write-up about his production adventures.
Way to go Rippinator, Larry, and everyone else at Purple Healer Brewing Co.
Happy Memorial day to all who are spending the day remembering a special service man or woman in your lives. At Purple Healer we cracked open our newest Imperial Stout which Larry claims he "would stand up next to any other stout out there." If you remember in the description of a Russian Imperial Stout we previously posted, this stout has more character and flavor than, say, Guiness and it possessess drinkable qualities that are rich, dark, and luxurious. The Stout is surprisingly drinkable and smooth and has wowed even those in our family who don't drink Stouts.
Of course with this fantastic 90 degree weather and beautiful sunshine its hard not to daydream about our favorite wheats, IPAs, and goldens that are perfect for sipping poolside among our favorite family and friends. Larry is well ahead of all of you and has a Golden ale and the Helles brewed with fresh lemon ready top drink. He is also has next up in the kettles a summer IPA...our favorite English IPA hoppy and lighter and now newly named LDB Ale. Why would Larry give it the name with some strange initials?
Ask Billie, Desi, and Lucy the family "hoppers." What can we say at Purple Healer we are in fact big animal lovers.
Of course I know many of you are still anxiously awaiting the big reveal of where you can sip on our fine brewskies....and trust me news will break soon....just be patient and drink on!
In less than a week, specifically May 16th through May 22nd craft breweries begin a celebration that started officially by congress last year known as American Craft Beer Week.
Craft Brewing is not only about the beer we make and the thoughtfulness and ideas established by the brewers who design their unique beverages. It is also one of our nation's efforts to pull away from mass productions of big companies who cheapen food and drinks by pumping it full of corn and rice (both the cheapest and easiest grains to come by but not ingredients belonging in beer) and outsourcing integrity in the name of cost efficiency. We are a nation becoming more aware of the dangerous effects of "filling" animals full of these ingredients and hormones to make bigger, plumper, and assembly line-like meats. We also recognize in these tough times that local farming not only offers a better product but keeps in mind the TRUE American way to help thy neighbor succeed and use our own fertile lands being a nation that lacks a need to rely on importing products. Although imported beers are also made with integrity and offer us the base for our creative, innovative, and boundary-breaking beers made here in America, this week is set aside to celebrate the over 17,000 of us out there growing our own hops, grinding our own grains, and discovering new flavors from other local growers to offer a palate pleasing treat to the American Beer Drinker.
The Brewers Association is offering a wide array of events across the country to attend and enjoy. You can check the calender of events that are the largest here and start making plans to schedule out a chunk of time to celebrate with any local brewers you may know at those festivals. If you are like us nestled in the heart of Pennsylvania and may not be within an acceptable driving radius to one of these events, I am offering up an idea to celebrate the values and "informed consumption" involved with craft beers. Print out the Declaration of Beer Independence, have all of your friends and family turn this in to all the distributors, restaurants, and shops that limit their selection to the rice pumped, mass-produced, sell out beers because they believe the average American isn't willing to fork out the cash to try our artful creations. If you have been afraid to try a craft beer or have tried a few, may I suggest finding a place that sells local craft brews and find a friend who can recommend their favorite that you have never tried close your eyes and sip...and....enjoy. Try and taste it before you know what its made from. Enjoy the complexity of the hops as they add bitterness and flavor. Let the taste of the malt roll to the back of your tongue and enjoy how it pairs up with the seasonal flavors it was paired with. Don't form assumptions based on what others opinions are and find a new beer worth falling in love with.
Purple Healer may not yet be able to offer its beers for sale this week but we are certainly celebrating our American right to enjoy complex, thoughtful, organic, and all out amazing beers made by people with integrity. We have much to be thankful for from our established local breweries who got our carbonation going. Our friends at Marleys Pub and Old Forge Brewery are guaranteed fantastic places to sit back and sip fine beers while enjoying amazing food and great company. As a homage to the week, perhaps you have considered beginning the craft yourself. This is the week to begin and to get all of your supplies and the support and education needed to begin the craft, check out our friends at Keystone Homebrew and if you visit their Bethlehem location stop by and see Judy who got Larry started the right way.
As for us we are still taking the time to dot our I's and cross our T's and are planning to roll forward and be ready to rock this business in the near future. Purple Healer is all about family, innovation. character, and independence and community. We will celebrate this week with our own as well as other beers in hand. We vow to continue to operate our Nanobrewery with the same principles as our fellow craft brewers. We will stand behind the curiosity of others and we will share our successes with the successes of others who paved the way for us.
So Cheers and feel free wo post any events you may be having so we can all celebrate and enjoy with you.
Its nice to see the sun shining again this afternoon after an extremely long run of clouds, cold, and showers. Even though the dreary weather kept us all in to enjoy our brews and we resorted to enjoying laughs with friends and family indoors, Larry at Purple Healer has been busy on a few projects of his own.
We are happy to announce the newest addition to his household, the converted freezer unit into a Keg-o-rator.
Larry converted his new shiny tapping system from a black chest freezer, a stained wooden panel, and of course a kit from one of our suppliers Keystone Homebrew. If you like what you see here you can also purchase one of these kits here and take on the satisfying and rewarding project yourself. Other kits and conversion items can be purchased through the Keystone Online Catalog or at either of their locations in Montgomeryville, PA and Bethlehem, PA.
Larry has been spending extra hours in the brew room for a few new projects. Currently boiled and in the fermenter is a fresh batch of our Auntie M's amber. I caught Larry mid brew playing a few classics by Jethro Tull and glowing.
Lets face it folks the man was born to make excellent beers for all of us.
Rumor around the tap is the Larry is also working on a NEW beer: a Russian Imperial Stout. For those that may not know what makes this particular Stout special let me give you some stats. This stout was designed by brewers in the 1800's to impress the Russian Czar and has been coined a beer that is fit for a king. It has a distinguishable malt flavor and a higher alcohol content. In fact all of the flavors in this delicious glass of drinking pleasure are dark and rich and with moderate carbonation it is a smoother version of other stouts. Larry is working very hard to get the right balance of flavor so that this dark, rich, impressive beer can impress all of our loyal fans all the while being a beer to satisfy all sorts of cravings and calm the soul like chocolate does.
Thank you to everyone who has participated in our NAME contest (ahem Jay) and please keep on sending some great ideas.
That's all the news on the brew front. You are going to have to sit there and anxiously await another issue of our brewing bittles. And don't forget your furry friend this Easter, there is still some time to pick up a pack of Puppy Hops all natural freshly baked cookies to put in your best friends basket.
I was meaning to post this contest earlier but I got so caught up in WINNING that best in show award that I simply didn't want to overshadow the event but now it is time to get back into business....and we are asking all of you to help out!
As several of you know we have named all of our beers from pets, family members, lucky numbers, and other "inside" tidbits. Naming our beers has been easy until recently. For our two newest brews we seem to have hit a brick wall in our creative juices and have decided to extend the invitation to all of you in this terribly daunting task of giving our great beer a great name.
The beers needing named as you can tell from our website are our Munich Helles and our English IPA.
So to make your job a little easier here is a brief description about each of the nameless beers.
Munich Helles: This is a bavarian-style lager that is perfect for sweet summertime drinking. It compliments lighter foods and has notes of lemon inside a medium bodied and mild grain style batch. It accompanies seafood, pasta, and chicken dishes well especially if they are grilled.
English IPA: This moderately bitter ale really captures the flavor of our English-style hops and is notably our "hoppiest" in the batch. This beer is also delicious in the springtime and summertime and pairs well with a nice hearty meal as it is a higher concentration of alcohol per glass. Who says the English didn't like a good buzz when drinking. We are looking for a name of this beer that would include bunnies being that it is so "hoppy" and that its about this time of year you see more of them hopping about.
So I suppose we should include a few guidelines for this contest. All entries can be submitted to brewmaster@purplehealerbrewery.com or as a comment to this post. We would like to come up with a name soon so all entries should come our way by May7th. With your entry please include the NEW beer name, reasoning why you made up that name, your name (it would be nice to give you credit) and a valid (why wold you fake it anyway) email address in which we can send you a big HOORAH if your beer name is chosen.
Winners will receive.....mad props for their creative ingeniousness and some sort of cool compensation probably in a drinkable form. Winners also receive the golden opportunity to boast and brag to all of their friends that our fabulous beer earned its identity from your awesome, incredible brain.
So drink a few think of some ideas and send them our way.
