Independence Weekend & Beer

Here at LGB we live by the higher ideals of Independence and Self-Determination.  We will bring you the finest independently brewed ales and lagers that your palate and liver desire.  We also proudly depend on the farming families who provide us with the freshest hops and the maltsters that allow us to turn barley into liquid gold. So to those fine folks that fly under the radar while we brewers reap all the publicity above ground and under -- we salute you & your efforts, Cheers!

There's a busy and super-social weekend coming up so swing by the brewery on Friday or Saturday July 1 & 2 for a Tour of Frothiness.  We'll be closed on July 3 & 4 for special events, not to mention some much needed beach time.

So above you find a very, very crude and almost rude sketch of our logo.  If anybody can draw my little satyr with big beer mugs better than this brewer -- you may be showered in glory.  Sounds scary, I know but it will be worth your while.  Get back to me on that one.  This brewery is a community effort on many fronts, particularly the illustrative front.

Go find The Little Giant Brewery on Facebook, Twitter, LittleGiantBrewer@yahoo.com or at 2230 Whitfield Park Drive Sarasota, FL 34243.

O.P.P.

I'm not sure what O.P.P. means to you, but I know what it means to me. And I'm down with it.

So I'm sitting here watching my wort cool down on one of those beauteous but sun-baked Florida afternoons, wondering just how warm the water is coming out of our Manatee County water lines. I'm also wondering if beauteous is a word or if I just made it up. I think Lord Byron called an ale "beauteous" once, but don't quote me on that. Maybe it was Charlie Papazianhttp://www.examiner.com/beer-in-national/charlie-papazian.

Regardless.  Rather than fret the wort's going in the fermenter a bit warm I figured I'd check in with you all.

Hold on. . .

Ok, had to finish up the cool down/cleanup. Everything is good today at Little Giant Brewery. The Overhead Peeler Porter is a hell of a great beer to brew, and doesn't give me any guff during the vorlauf and lauter. I can't say the same about the American Wheat which is a little more fickle. But as the old saying goes: "It won't be easy, but it will be worth it." The porter weighs in at 16 Plato --1.066 specific gravity for you Old Schoolers out there.

As for the American Wheat, it's making it's way to a benefit concert http://wslr.org/wslr-events/ by our local non-profit community radio station WSLR 96.5FM(in stereo).  Be there.  That's all I'm saying.

That's it folks. . . beer is being brewed and I think it's about time for a pale ale.

Mahalo.

Summa

Wow, it's been months since I've written here. Strange, since my undergraduate degree is in Literature -- you would think I would be more inspired. Anyway, here comes another missive of questionable

quality.

I am asked, often, why small brewers don't install air conditioning in their breweries. Two reasons: 1) It's dang expensive, and I'd rather spend my monies on quality raw materials. And 2) I reply with a question -- "Do you realize how big my beer-gut would be if I didn't sweat so much?"

All in good time my peoples. For now, we sweat together we imbibe together we have good times.

Today in the brewery I'm kegging a sweat-beating Kolsch-Styled Ale that is both super-super refreshing and flavorful. Imagine that -- you can brew a beer that fills the demands of both our blazing Florida heat and our refined palate. This beer was inspired by my German Butcher friend who bribed me with a 5-pound slab of double-smoked bacon. That's all it takes, Folks, for me to dig deep and crank out some love with Weyermann Malts and Bavarian Spalt hops.