Sloshspot Blog

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  Making Fat Tire: The Brewmaster of New Belgium Brewing Company

  contributed by rtcrooks October 13, 2008 at 7:16pm

  

   

  We recently got the chance to talk to Grady Hull, the Assistant Brewmaster at New Belgium Brewing, famous for the production of Fat Tire Amber Ale. One of our staff members vividly recounts having a Fat Tire the day after high school graduation in 1999, back in Denver, Colorado, as his first beer ever. Upon arrival to southern California for college, he was incredibly dismayed that it was nowhere to be found. Today, thankfully, we can go into almost any bar in any city in the U.S. and enjoy Fat Tire, or even perhaps one of the more rare finds like a goblet of Trippel Belgian Style Ale. Friday night, we sat down with Obama and talked about the economy with a six-pack of Mothership Wit Organic Wheat, and now, we are drinking down some refreshing Monday afternoon Skinny Dips. Needless to say, we are huge fans of New Belgium, not just for taste and the simple fact that we love beer, but because we are in absolute awe of their graphic design genius and the thought that goes into their labels, environmental-friendly operations and presence on the web. We have included with Mr. Hull's wisdom, intermittent photographs of aforementioned beverages to encourage you to leave work at lunch today.

   

  

   

  1. What kind of education or job history is necessary to become a brewmaster?
  It depends on the brewery.  At New Belgium the job description states a Masters degree in Brewing Science, a Bachelor of Science and a minimum of 10 yrs brewing experience.  It was written a long time ago but I think it still applies today.  You find yourself falling back on both. 

  
  2. What does your daily workday look like?
  It’s always different.  The brewery is continuously expanding and changing so I spend a fair amount of time working on process improvement projects.  There are so many things happening around the brewery 24 hrs a day that there is often something going wrong.  I spend a lot of time coming up with solutions to random problems.  Peter and I are ultimately responsible for product quality so we work closely with production and the quality assurance department.  Then of course there’s taste panel everyday, which sort of feels like recess.  I try to keep the meetings to a minimum.

   

  

  
  
  3. What is your favorite part about being a brewmaster?
  New product development.  I absolutely love coming up with new beers.  If they asked me to I would do it for free.  I have always been a total beer geek so sometimes I can’t believe how freaking lucky I am.
  
  
  4. We are big fans of your Mothership Wit and Skinny Dip. From where do the ideas come for new beers? Do you get any say in the naming process? Are there any new brews in the works currently?
  Thanks!  It’s different every time.  Sometimes, like with Skinny Dip we went into it with a very specific goal – to make a flavorful light beer.  Other times, like with Springboard, the inspiration to use Chinese herbs came from one of our co-worker's acupuncturist's dream.  Seriously, she had a dream about using Chinese herbs in beer and a week later we were at her shop, smelling spices.
  
  Fortunately for New Belgium, I do not name the beers.  We have professionals for that.  Just like with recipe development, the inspiration for the name is different every time.  Fat Tire was named to commemorate a bike ride through Belgium that inspired Jeff and Kim to start a brewery.  Mothership is what we call the brewery.  Blue Paddle was the result of an external beer naming contest.  The guy who won the contest actually works at New Belgium now.
  
  We do have a couple beers currently in the works.  One is still in the dream / research phase and the other is ready to brew right now.

   

  

   

  
  5. What kinds of things does New Belgium do differently than other breweries to promote environmental sustainability? How do these efforts positively or negatively effect the company's financial bottom line?
  Aside from working to reduce our own water and energy consumption and waste with things like using wind power, energy recycling and making electricity from biogas, we try to spread the word a little.  Sustainability is a unique topic in business because it requires collaboration between companies.  We share information back and forth with other breweries, students and companies outside our industry.  Sustainability is incorporated into our messages to beer drinkers from bicycle advocacy at Tour de Fat to highlighting environmental efforts in our ads.  Sharing information is the key to a sustainable future.
  
  We don’t measure the effect on the bottom line.  Instead we spend that time researching the next project.  We’re a profitable company and we do some good things for the environment.  It’s possible to do both!

   

  6. Are there any changes in the works currently to further develop the green side of New Belgium?
  Absolutely.  For example, New Belgium continues to implement our Sustainable Management System (SMS).  We are exploring our Supply Chain to identify opportunities for improvement, and using our Life Cycle Assessment as a platform to engage our industry in these issues.  We are also working with the FortZED project to create more on-site renewable energy that will be a part of Fort Collin’s net-zero energy district.

   

  7. What are some things that people would be surprised to learn about New Belgium?
  I have no idea what people know about New Belgium.  After working here 12 years I have lost my perspective on that.  Maybe some people don’t know that we are employee owned?  Or that everyone gets a free bike?  Or that after five years employees get a free trip to Belgium?

   

  

   

  8. How do you think the company culture has influenced its popularity?

  I think it’s been a positive influence.  When it comes to the environment I think people see we’re trying to reduce our impact and they can relate to that.  When we throw a fund raiser like Tour de Fat we let our freak flag fly a little.  It’s a trip to see what comes out of the woodwork here in Fort Collins.

   

  9. What kind of bike do you ride?
  A cruiser.  My kids are just now really getting into riding so we do family rides in the evening.

   

  10. What is the inside scoop on drinking on the job? Does taste testing ever turn into a short workday?
  Not really.  The taste panel samples are small.  I used to work in a brewery where it was common practice to drink a full beer everyday with lunch.  As if lunch alone doesn’t make you tired enough.  We get free coffee instead.

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  Nailing Your Wife: PG Porn

  contributed by rtcrooks October 10, 2008 at 4:20pm

  This video is the first in a series by director James Gunn for PGPorn.tv, starring Aria Giovanni and Nathan Fillion. Well worth the next 2 minutes and 30 seconds of your life. Watch it.
  
  
  
  

  Nailing Your Wife | Girls | SPIKE.com

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  The Year in Beer: Beer Drinking in America by Volume

  contributed by rtcrooks October 9, 2008 at 5:03pm

  Beer. A sweet nectar from the gods themselves. A 8,000 year old process of refinement culminated into 12 oz of sublime libation. More than milk, coffee, or even bottle water, beer is the drink of choice for thirsty Americans of age. Yes, we Americans grease the wheels of human emotion with this social lubricant like no other. Some 200 million barrels a year go down our collective hatches. But instead of a string of numbers, lets visualize our way to grasping the United States' yearly beer consumption.

   

  

   

  Only China is has a greater thirst, but they also have an extra billion people's thirst to quench so with only one fourth of the population, we certainly hold our own.

   

  

   

  Of course the US beer industry is a juggernaught. Ranking around 35th on the global GDP list, our beer sales rival nations.

   

  

   

  War is expensive, and so is free beer. Although it's though unlikely to ever see a politician campaign with a "Make beer, not war" slogan, it is good to know that the economics are there to make it happen.

   

  

   

  While we are day dreaming about free beer, have you ever wanted a swimming pool full of the stuff? I sure hope not. The logistics of keeping a beer pool fresh and cold, not to mention making sure your drunk buddies don't pee in it, are mind boggling. But for 4% of the pool owners out there, this dream could be made a reality.

   

  

   

  With moon-landing levels of public support, cooperation and diligence, we could get this lasting testament to the wonders of Beer created, and filled too. OK, still day dreaming here, but if you just wanted to visualize 30 teragrams of liquid, here you go. What's a teragram? It's a scientific way of saying "that's fucking heavy!"

   

  

   

  Speaking of the moon, where would a visualization attempt be without some reference to the distance to the moon? If its too big for "around the earth x times"' then its "to the moon and back x times". Well this one was quite short of making it to our nearest neighbor, Mars, but this stack of cans tops out at a respectable 4.8 million miles of space. And just for you terrestrial types, that's around the earth 185 times. But really, what a waste of beer.

   

  

   

  Here we go, socialism I can support. Seriously though, here is our yearly consumption as it relates to you. You don't drink, well that's two beers a day for your neighbor. Your wife doesn't drink? Three beers a day for your neighbor. Grandma never touches the stuff? Well then you get the idea. You might want to check in on your neighbor though, he may have a problem.

   

  

   

  And finally, here is our yearly consumption and how it related those less fortunate. It's all about resources, though I doubt even the starving could choke down malted meals five nights a week. Yes the United States is wealthy and enjoys the good life, but just imagine the destruction and carnage that would occur with a nation full of sober and serious people. The hungry masses just might agree.

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  7 Technologies That Could Benefit From the Gmail Goggles Concept

  contributed by rtcrooks October 7, 2008 at 8:10pm

  

  source

  
  
  

  Google's labs have recently put out word of their newest feature, Mail Goggles, which effectively prevents GMail users from firing off random emails when drunk. This new tool requires users to solve several simple math equations if they want to send an email during certain hours and days of the week, to ensure that they are in a stable state of mind. We greatly appreciate Google's effort to help us limit the amount of regret we experience in a given weekend, in fact, I could use similar restraint in other areas of communication that are often a source of shame the morning after. We have figured out social networking and social bookmarking, now we just need to figure out a holistic solution for social handcuffing.

  
  1. Text Goggles
  
  
  
  Alcohol + tiny buttons + abnormally short attention span - context = catastrophic miscommunication. Trying to piece together a text message conversation from the night before can be more painful than your hangover headache. Worse yet is seeing that you sent one solo message laced with liquid courage to which there was absolutely no reply. A foolproof excuse for your textual harassment? "T9 can say the darndest things."
  
  
  
  2. Drunk Dial Goggles
  
  
  
  The mother of all alcohol related tech-communication mishaps. Haven't talked to someone in years? There is probably a reason that your rational mind has stopped you from calling this person sooner. With that pesky reason out of the way, however, you are ready to rekindle the most distant of relationships, albeit with slurred speech. Everyone is excited to catch up and hear the latest news from an old friend or ex. Though you know the fun is over when there is a long pause on the other end of the line..."Wait...are you drunk?"
  
  
  
  3. eBay Goggles
  
  
  
  For a three year stretch of my life, after any rough night at the bars, I dreaded my own personal walk of shame to the computer in the morning. Far too often, I saw my gold Wells Fargo ATM card next to the keyboard, and really hoped that there wasn't some 3 month subscription to a porn site that I had made at 4am without even remembering the logins. In all cases, the autopilot drunk web surfing mode of my brain brought me to eBay, which is why I have a wide assortment of Goya prints, cufflinks, $5 Yves St. Laurent ties, Denver Broncos team sets from the 1980s, and for good measure, a package of 50 random John Elway cards. If I had to do simple addition problems to get in, that would not be a barrier, since I obviously had the wherewithall to function through the bidding process. eBay benefits from this, so it would have to be a 3rd party firefox add-on that made you follow a fly around the screen and click on it 5 times in a row before you could place a bid.
  
  
  
  4. Skype Group Chat Goggles
  
  
  
  Skype users who utilize the group chat feature with multiple groups inevitably know the pitfalls of mixing up conversations. Especially when one conversation is talking about the other conversation. The probability of such a mistake increases exponentially by the number of drinks you have consumed. The information and material you choose to share when intoxicated is not always suitable for the "Richard's Family Reunion 2008" conversation. I propose that you must solve an electronic Rubik's cube before you paste a RedTube link into any chat window.
  
  
  
  5. Twitter Goggles
  
  
  
  If you have your Twitter account set up so that you can update from your cellphone, you could surely benefit from a few restrictive measures that might keep you from trying to sound cool before realizing that all of those people in the tech world that you want to impress just read your update that said "I am so fcuking drunk and stoned rght now. isn 6. Facebook Goggles
  
  
  
  This could also have a great 3rd party add-on, so that you don't get hammered and break up with your girlfriend for the night and go home and write that you are now single. If you have ever had a fight with your significant other with regard to your social networking site profile, then you know that this is truly a "what has my life become?" situation. I never again want to hear that my "default pic", "status", or the contents of my "wall" have somehow tragically affected my real life.
  
  
  
  7. IM Goggles
  
  
  
  There is a certain combination of chemicals that might make some of us decide that it is time for someone to know what we were like in college when we listened to the Pink Floyd discography and nothing else for 3 weeks (including "Animals" 11 times straight through over a 3 day period). MSN Messenger, AIM and GTalk need to do us a favor and slow us down when the words get jumbly and rapid by saying "you may not send a message that often, you are obviously baring your soul to a new acquaintance and now is not the time for them to know the real you." Better yet, just install a breathalyzer on your computer and when you don't pass, just go to sleep.

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  19 Drinks and Cocktails Named After Movies

  contributed by rtcrooks October 6, 2008 at 5:00pm

  Drink names are sometimes a shot in the dark, sometimes spot on: Slippery Nipple? White Russian? The great thing about them is that anyone can come up with a cocktail, and in doing so, name the damned thing. You'd be surprised at some of the concoctions that people have come up with and have made popular, over the years. Below is a list of some interesting cocktails that have been named after movies, that you may expand your drink knowledge, though we wouldn't recommend ordering a "Star Wars" if there are any ladies within earshot. Maybe these will act as a source of inspiration to go rent one of these classics, or go out and create your own drink.

   

  Wayne’s World

  1 oz Jagermeister® herbal liqueur

  1/2 oz Sambuca

   

  Fill the shot glass about 2/3 full of Jager, and then top it off with the Sambuca.

   

  With all the long hair and ripped denim featured in this movie, the fact that Jager is the foundation of this drink should come as no surprise. The Sambuca is just added for good measure. These are great shots to get all liquored up with before you go see the Shitty Beatles perform at a communist bar, or with some pals in the comfort of your parents' basement. You'll laugh, You'll cry, You'll hurl.

   

  Blue Lagoon

  1 oz vodka

  1 oz Blue Curacao liqueur

  Lemonade to taste

  1 cherry garnish

   

  Pour vodka and Curacao over ice in a highball glass. Fill with lemonade, top with the cherry, and serve.

   

  This drink will hopefully conjure up fond memories of when Brooke Shield was attractive. Talk about peaking early. Consider this drink somewhere in between a "Blue Hawaii" and an "Adios Mother Fucker", in terms of badass-ness.

   

  007

  1 oz Stoli® Ohranj vodka

  1 1/2 oz freshly squeezed orange juice

  1 1/2 oz 7-UP ®

   

  Mix vodka with ice in shaker. Pour over ice in highball glass. Fill with 7-UP to taste.

   

  Many would argue that any drink affiliated with the James Bond/007 franchise should be a Martini. This drink's name, however, is derived from the "O" in "Ohranj",the "O" in "Orange" and of course, the "7" in "7-UP". The end result is a very unpretentious cocktail that you can still ask for "shaken not stirred", but that's up to you.

   

  Captain Ron

  2 - 3 oz Captain Morgan® Original spiced rum

  4 oz Juicy Juice® orange tangerine juice

   

  Pour the Captain Morgan into a hurricane glass filled with crushed ice. Add the Juicy Juice orange-tangerine juice, stir and serve.

   

  Quite possibly both Martin Short and Kurt Russell's best film ever. Captain Ron learns from a family that there is more to life than one's selfish, hedonistic pursuits. And the family learns from Ron how to laugh, how to love, and how to live a with a little more fun. Bonuses: the shower scene and when Ron's glass eyeball falls out.

   

  Sideways

  1-2 inch Vanilla Vodka

  Limeade to taste

   

  Fill glass with ice, add vanilla vodka, fill glass with limeade and add a wedge of lime and/or sprig of mint for a little color, stir gently & enjoy!

   

  Another drink with an ingredients list that may not be based entirely on the film's name, or have anything to do with the film, really. In fact, this drink may actually be named "Sideways" because it tastes so good, and that, after a few too many of these you may end up on the ground. Still better than drinking merlot?

   

  Raging bull

  2 1/2 cl Kahlua® coffee liqueur

  2 1/2 cl Sambuca

  1 cl 1800® Tequila

   

  Layer in a shot glass; respectively. 

   

   

  This drink definitely packs a punch, and the Tequila / Kahlua combination is surprisingly pleasant.

   

  Eyes Wide Shut

  1/2 oz Southern Comfort® peach liqueur

  1/2 oz Crown Royal® Canadian whiskey

  1/2 oz amaretto almond liqueur

   1/2 oz orange juice

  1/2 oz pineapple juice

  1/2 oz cranberry juice

  1 splash grenadine syrup

   

  Place ice in shaker and add all ingredients. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass filled with ice. Garnish with orange slice and cherry.

   

  Basically mix a bunch of shit you normally don't drink into one, and consume. The ingredients are playful, colorful and in their orgy of mixed flavors, a delicious cocktail is the end result. Note: Do not watch this movie stoned...with your brother...at 4AM...in a bad hotel in Minneapolis, while on a cross-country road trip.

   

  Incredible Hulk

  1/2 oz Hennessy® cognac

  1/2 oz Hpnotiq® liqueur

   

  Stir together the Hennessy cognac and the Hypnotic tropical-fruit liqueur to make a green, Incredible Hulk color. Serve.

   

  This is an incredible cocktail with two ingredients that really work to take the edge off of each other, and more importantly it gives merit to Hpnotiq's mere existence (at least from my perspective). You could think of the Hpnotiq by itself in the class as mild-mannered Eric Bana, or Ed Norton or whoever will play the Hulk in next year's rendition, and when the Hennesy is mixed in the drink becomes stronger, meaner and green. Do not try to bust through walls after drinking these.

   

  The Godfather

  1 1/2 oz Scotch Whiskey

  3/4 oz amaretto almond liqueur

   

  Pour ingredients into an old-fashioned glass over ice and serve. Bourbon may be substituted for scotch, if preferred.

   

  This is definitely the type of drink you need to be wearing a suit to enjoy. Or, it is also a good cocktail if you are at some type of upscale mixer or dinner party with some older guests. A fairly common cocktail, your local bartender should know how to make this. If he doesn't you can always bust his balls.

   

  Star Wars

  1 oz Southern Comfort® peach liqueur

  1 oz amaretto almond liqueur

  1 oz sweet and sour mix

  1 oz Sprite® soda

   

  Mix all ingredients, and serve in an old-fashioned glass with ice.

   

  Not one of the strongest drinks on the list, but this cocktail offers some eclectic ingredients that combine to be greater than their sum. Much like the cast of this much-loved trilogy. Hold above your head like a light saber and then swing it around rapidly.

   

  Indiana Jones

  1/2 shot 1800® Tequila

  1/2 shot whiskey

  1 shot Champagne

   

  Add the whiskey and tequila together, and double-up with champagne or sparkling wine. Place your hand or a beer mat over the glass, slam itdown onto table and then down it in one.

   

   

  Warning: Mixing tequila and whiskey may be your last crusade.

   

  Midnight Cowboy

  2 oz bourbon whiskey

  1 oz dark rum

  1/2 oz heavy cream

   

  Combine ingredients in a shaker half-filled with ice cubes, shake well, and strain into a cocktail glass.

   

  To me this epitomizes this list - a drink that sounds exactly like it should based on the eponymous movie title. The drink is sweet, strong and pleasant to boot. Great movie = bonus!

   

  Psycho

  4 cl Bacardi® white rum

  2 cl Galliano® herbal liqueur

  8 cl orange juice

  8 cl pineapple juice

  2 cl grenadine syrup

   

  Shake all ingredients with ice, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange slice, pineapple chunk and maraschino cherry.

   

  Nothing about this drink is directly associated with the movie title, nor does it imply that anyone who consumes this cocktail is indeed Psycho. If you drink a few too many of these be sure to do the whole "Tylenol and water before you go to bed trick" because with all the sugar in this drink you'll end up with a crazy hangover.

   

  A Clockwork Tangerine

  12 oz Sprite® soda

  1 packet Kool-Aid® Tangerine mix (Orange if you want to be that guy)

  1 oz Bacardi® gold rum

  1 oz Smirnoff® vodka

   

  Combine all ingredients in a pilsner glass. Stir together, and serve.

   

  Named after one of my favorite movies of all time, this cocktail is surprisingly mild. The recipe calls for a very disproportionate mixer-to-alcohol ratio, so feel free to toy around with it to find your desired taste. Say for instance, 3 oz Sprite / 1/4 packet of mix. Just a suggestion.

   

  Transformer

  1 shot vodka

  1.5 shots Hypnotiq® liqueur

  Orange juice

   

  First pour in shot of vodka and orange juice filling the glass up 3/4 of the way and then after the orange juice pour in your 1 1/2 shots of Serve in bucket glass over ice.

   

   

  Definitely a good way to transform Hypnotiq into something drinkable. Consider this a screwdriver on steroids, or with an sleek, robotic exo-skeleton.

   

  The Green Mile

  1 oz melon liqueur

  3/4 oz Malibu® coconut rum

  1/4 oz Cointreau® orange liqueur

  3 oz pineapple juice

   

  Shake and serve in a cocktail glass.

   

  Imagine if that Tiny guy from this movie drank this cocktail and had a really high voice. That shit would just not add up. The drink is named after the green coloring of the melon liqueur.

   

  The Blues Brothers

  1 oz Captain Morgan® Parrot Bay coconut rum

  1/2 oz Blue Curacao liqueur

  Red Bull® energy drink

  Lemon-lime soda

   

  Fill glass with ice. Add 1 oz coconut rum, 1/2 oz Blue Curacao, fill almost to top with Red Bull, leave room for a healthy splash of Sprite or Sierra Mist.

  

   

  This drink is absolutely amazing. It is the perfect mix of mellow and super-caffeinated that our generation craves. Who knew that mixing stimulants and depressants could be this fun? Do not drive through a shopping mall after drinking these.

   

  Superman

  1 oz gin

  3/4 oz dry vermouth

  1/2 oz apricot brandy

  1 oz mandarin juice

  1 tsp grenadine syrup

   

  Shake with ice and pour un-strained into an old-fashioned glass. Add a speared cherry, and serve.

   

  We have a game where we drink as many of these shots until one of us can't walk. He's declared the winner and receives a wheelchair as prize. Too soon?

   

  The Terminator

  1/2 oz Jagermeister® herbal liqueur

  1/2 oz Southern Comfort® peach liqueur

   

  Pour in your favorite shot glass and enjoy.

   

  Sweet and Strong. Just like Arnold's depiction of a flesh-covered cyborg from the post-apocalyptic future.

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