Plastic kegs? Really?

Browsing some photos today of aspiring brewery in Massachusetts, I saw what was described as a "plastic firkin" and did a double-take. Plastic! Everybody who has every brewed their own beer at home has come to realize the drawbacks of plastic--paramount being they scratch easily and bacterial infestations in those scratches will result in foul and spoiled beer. What commercial organization would want to take such a risk? Further still, plastic is a crude oil-based product, so how could something like this ever show face in the contemporary orgy of "going green"?

Plastic Kegs America seems to be the one swimming against the current here, and I for one can't helped but to cry foul. "Go Plasitic! Go Green!" they say. Even if these things can be recycled, the energy and chemicals used in their construction surely won't tread lightly.

Wednesday 9/23 - Barleywine Brew Night

Here's the plan for tonight!

17.5 lbs american 2-row
2 lbs munich malt
2 lbs crystal malt 40L
1 lb pale wheat
.5 lbs dark wheat

2.5 oz Sorachi Ace 10.8% (75 mins)
1 oz centennial plugs 9.6% (30 mins)
1 oz centennial plugs 9.6% (15 mins)
1 oz UK fuggle pellets 4.5% (1 min)
1 oz UK fuggle pellets 4.5% (dry hop secondary)

1 tsp gypsum (40 mins)
1 tsp irish moss (40 mins)

7 gallons of mash liquor, 165º strike temp
mash at 150º-151º for 90 mins (1.217 lbs/qt ratio, 2.3 gallons absorbed by grain)
sparge with 2.8 gallons @ 172º to yield 7.5 gallons

75 min boil, wort chiller added at 60 mins
cool to 70º
pitch 2 packages of US-04 UK ale yeast

Beer in the bike lane

The conversation about mixing bikes and beer is never-ending, and I have personally felt the dark end in a nasty way. Nonetheless, I feel that you can be safe about it and allow them to peacefully co-exist. So then! Why not just build a bar inside a bike frame?

Beertography

check out our other beer blog: Beertogaphy

Going Green For Beer: Poor Mass Transit In The US Makes Alcohol More Dangerous

President-Elect Barack Obama is under pressure from all sides to create exactly the right kind of economic stimulus package -- some want it green, some want it huge, some say it has to be both (a trillion dollars? ouch!). Early talk had the stimulus going to revamp and green US infrastructure. Better transportation and better energy transmission.

Now there's another argument in favor of improving transportation in the US -- beer:

Driving under the influence of alcohol is a very serious matter. But count me among those who enjoy a good brew or single malt from time to time, so I am not without sympathy for those who find it difficult to enjoy themselves in a world where options other than driving are limited.


And now, the connection has been made. William Brand writes in his beer column for the Contra Costa (CA) Times, "What's On Tap":

"For instance, I live three miles from the closest BART station; there's only bus service 9-5 weekdays and it's five blocks to the damn bus stop. So I drive, usually to BART. Coming home, I don't get back in the car 'til I'm certain I'm sober. It's a hell of a way to live."