Month: March 2012

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Buying by the Sack

I brewed 35 batches of beer between 4/19/2008 and 2/27/2012. That means I have brewed about every seven weeks. I would have guessed it would have been more frequent. In the last year, I have brewed about every four weeks. That is more like it. The average grain bill for my last 13 batches has been about 12 pounds. If it were all base malt then I would be going through a 55 pound sack of grain every five months or so. I have been using Crisp Maris Otter as my base malt, so let us see what the marketplace for sacks holds.

Just for comparison, here are the same vendors for 10 pounds of Crisp Maris Otter, noting that Fifty Pound Sack only sells by the sack.

While they do not sell by the sack, I have been buying my Crisp Maris Otter from Rebel Brewer. Here is their price for 10 pounds.

  • Rebel Brewer: $14.31 + $14.02 shipping = $28.33 -or- $2.83 per pound shipped

So, I could pay just over 50% of what I have been paying by buying by the sack.

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Shared: Better Beer Society and Brewing TV Present: Pouring a Proper Pint

Better Beer Society and Brewing TV Present: Pouring a Proper Pint by BetterBeerSociety:

We know that you appreciate good beer. Your tap selection is exceptional, and you truly want your customers to receive the highest quality experience when enjoying their beer.

The Better Beer Society and our friends at Brewing TV have teamed up to provide this short video on how to pour a proper pint and achieve “beer clean” glassware.

Our goal is to help educate those seeking to improve upon their service standards, help prevent against profit loss, and maximize the quality of the beer being served.

We feel that there is a need for this; moreover, we feel the beer community deserves this. People have a choice of where to spend their hard earned dollars and nothing can ruin a beer faster than with dirty glassware or an improper pour.

Working together to raise the bar can only be a good thing for the Minnesota beer community, and as we strive to become one of the next destination craft beer states, it will be the little details like this that will truly matter.

For more information on staff training, menu consultations, or other ways that BBS can help your bar or restaurant, please contact rob@betterbeersociety.com or visit our website at http://www.betterbeersociety.com/

Cheers,

~Rob Shellman

Founder/Certified Cicerone®
Better Beer Society, LLC

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Shared: Somewhere Over the Rainbow/Simple Gifts (Piano/Cello Cover) – The Piano Guys

Somewhere Over the Rainbow/Simple Gifts (Piano/Cello Cover) – The Piano Guys by ThePianoGuys:

Become a Piano Guys Founder and get our Limited Edition Piano Guys Album (YouTube Hits Vol. 1) here: http://www.thepianoguys.com/music

Support us by downloading this song at one of the following links:
Our site: http://thepianoguys.com/newstore/somewhere-over-the-rainbow.html
iTunes – http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/the-piano-guys/id498030399
Amazon.com – http://www.amazon.com/Somewhere-Over-Rainbow-Simple-Gifts/dp/B007EK1RWY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330456192&sr=8-1

SUBSCRIBE to our YOUTUBE Channel here: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=thepianoguys

Follow ThePianoGuys here:
http://www.thepianoguys.com
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Story behind the song:
Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson were booked for a Piano Guys show in Hawaii. How could we resist filming our next video in the land of Aloha — beautiful beaches, green mountains, and fresh pineapple?? We went to our Founders and Facebook fans to ask what song they wanted us to play there. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” was the nearly-unanimous response. But you know how we are … we couldn’t “just” do this tune by itself…so in the studio we found a made-in-heaven matchup in the timeless melody from the Shaker Hymn “Simple Gifts” written in the 1800’s (also used by Aaron Copland in his Ballet “Appalachian Spring”). We feel it’s an especially appropriate mash-up because of our profound love and respect for the Hawaiian culture — a people who are so good at finding happiness in simplicity. As you probably could hear we borrowed a lot of ideas from Iz’s version which has become the stuff of legend. This arrangement is, in part, a tribute to him.

Getting a piano onto a sandy beach and then onto a big hill in a famous ranch within the SAME day (we only had 8 hours to film) was no small feat. The only thing harder would be to be predict Hawaiian weather, which ended up being our biggest challenge.

“We had a little extra help on this one. My mother, Lynne Sanders Nelson — a main source of my inspiration for pursuing music — passed away early in life from the effects of a brain tumor. She was an incredibly-gifted musician and taught me to play music passionately rather than just playing ‘notes’ on a page. ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ was one of her favorite songs. We finished this arrangement on what would have been her 70th birthday. Somehow she helped. I miss her so very much, but when I play songs like this I feel like I get to be with her again. This song is dedicated to her.”
-Steven Sharp Nelson

Thank you so much to the Kualoa Ranch who bent over backwards last-minute for us and provided us such a beautiful place to shoot. Visit their site at http://www.kualoa.com — when you visit Hawaii be sure to stop by and take a tour — its where dozens of huge blockbluster movies/tv shows have been filmed.

This song is dedicated to
Lynne Sanders Nelson, The Hill Family, J. Mueller, & the people of Hawaii

Filming locations:
Beach Scene:
Pounders Beach, North Shore, Oahu Hawaii
Finale:
Kualoa Ranch, North Shore, Oahu Hawaii (This is the place to go for sightseeing on Oahu!)
Toll Free: (800) 231-7321
Tour Desk: (808) 237-7321
http://www.kualoa.com

Credits:
Over the Rainbow music written by Harold E. Arlen in 1939 for the movie “Wizard of Oz” — originally performed by Judy Garland
Published by EMI Feist Catalog, Inc.
Inspired, in part, by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s cover
Simple Gifts written by Joseph Brackett in 1848
Arrangement produced by Al van der Beek & Steven Sharp Nelson
Arrangement written by Jon Schmidt, Al van der Beek & Steven Sharp Nelson
Video produced by Paul Anderson and Tel Stewart
Piano: Jon Schmidt
Electric/Acoustic Cellos: Steven Sharp Nelson
Vocals: Al van der Beek
Percussion: Steven Sharp Nelson & Al van der Beek
Recorded, mixed & mastered by Al van der Beek at TPG Studio