You Thought Your Homebrewing Hobby was Out of Control...

This Thursday, after you're full of turkey and stuffed with stuffing, gather the family around the old boob tube and tune into the Discovery Channel at 8pm.  Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, from Mythbusters, will be hosting a one-hour special that tells the narrative of the 25th World Championship Punkin' Chunkin'.  American Chunker, our chunkin' team will be on the show, but you'll have to tune in to see the results if you've haven't read them somewhere else already.

The remnants of one of the biggest storms of the year, Nicole, were bearing down on the Mid-Atlantic region over Hallowe'en.  Rainfall records were set and inches of mud were created.  Even though the rain had largely stopped pouring, the winds were still blowing.  The weather was no match for   Bridgewater, Delaware was hosting the 25th Annual Punkin' Chunkin'.  Dan Henry, our Eastern New England Field Manager was in Bridgewater, Delaware to document the event as our chunking friends, American Chunker, shot for glory.  Here are some of his photos.  

Long Distance Portrait with Mud
by Dan Henry
2010
Digital Photograph

 If you're curious why Victory is in the Smuttynose blog, it's because they also 

sponsor a chunkin' team.  That other team's beer isn't as good.  

Maggie Snayd representing the 'Nose

The wind was so strong it was more powerful than our beer
bottle weights.  Thank goodness Dan Henry was there to save the day!

This meeting of the minds is so intense they needed hard hats!

Nothing like hanging out with
Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale between shots!

That cab is where the action takes place.  Note
the strategically placed logo.

With all that mud, does your hair matter that much?

Dude!  Where are your feet?

Brian LaBrie, American Chunker captain,
lays it down for Jamie and Adam.

Dan and Maggie aren't even fazed by the mud.  

Aw shucks...American Chunker sure is cool....

The point...the whole damn point.

The Firing Line

Adam prepares for his close-up.
 He's a cowboy, on a steel horse.

Lord of the Pies?

Beer Dinner at Nosh

December 12 at 5:30pm, Nosh Kitchen Bar in Portland, Maine will be hosting a Smuttynose Beer Dinner.  The four course menu is loaded with delicious, meaty treats and each course is being paired with one of our Big Beers.  

Peter Egelston, Smuttynose's owner and founder, will be in the house that night, along with a number of our staff.  We'd love to meet you, so please join us.

One of the best ways I can describe Nosh, is to call it a food exaggerator.  There is a trend in the culinary world to take existing food types and dishes and blow them beyond their traditional form.  Kind of like Nigel Tufnel's "amp that goes to eleven" in Spinal Tap.  Nosh has chosen meat as its form of expression and, my God, do they do it well.  Through several visits there, I've had a pork belly Reuben, house-cured tempura bacon, and the Apocalypse Now burger, which is comprised of house ground beef patties, pork belly, fois gras, American cheese, house mayo, and macerated cherries and oranges.  They've recently added a Bolognese Sloppy Joe.  I think you get the idea.

Here is the dinner menu:

Course 1) Mini Charcuterie Plate comprised of Fois Gras Torchone w/Cranberry Jam, Rabbit Rillettes with Smuttynose braised Mustard Seed, Head Cheese with Old Brown Dog Gastrique

Paired with Maibock

Course 2) Maine Shrimp Rangoons served with house Kim Chi and Shrimp Fume, Mint

Paired with Big A IPA

Course 3) Beef Roulade-Beef rolled with Speck, Fontina cheese, Pine Nuts, Raisins and Tomato Sauce served with Seared, Butter-Poached Fingerling Potatoes

Paired with Baltic Porter

Course 4) Cheese Course-Winnimere wrapped in Lardo  and served Chestnut Honey, Toasted Hazelnuts and Candied Bacon.

Paired with Wheat Wine

Tickets are $65 per person.  To book your spot, you can call Nosh directly at 207-553-2227.  Our friends at Novare Res Bier Cafe can also take your information while you're having a pint.  They might even have a few rare barrel-aged Smuttynose beers on tap after the dinner.  Those beers might be the J. Lohr Chardonnay Barrel Tripel and the Utopias-barrel Baltic Porter.

Nosh is on Congress Street, a few blocks away from both the Portland Museum of Art as well as the International Cryptozoology Museum.  Why not make a day trip out of it?

The Mermaid Speaks!

I recently sent a questionnaire to Miss Dixie Von Trixie, the model found on our Star Island Single label.  If you're like me, you've often wondered where that flame-haired mermaid came from.  Here's a peak beyond the flipper!

Name: 

Amanda Suter (aka Dixie von Trixie),  Dixie is my stage name as a burlesque performer.

Occupation:

Vintage clothing dealer, graphic designer, burlesque performer, singer, artist, jewelry designer, all around nutty gal.

Relation to Smuttynose:

Joanne came into my work, which at that time, was a vintage clothing boutique in the Hillcrest neighborhood of San Diego. She was here for Craft Brewers Conference (in 2008). She asked me if I would ever be interested in posing as a mermaid. I exclaimed, "Are you kidding me?! That's like my childhood dream come true!" So, she snapped a pic of me to show Peter on her cell phone and the rest is history.

Astrological sign and your last night meal on Death Row:

I'm an Aries in every sense. Even down to the fire red hair. My last meal would probably be Paneer Tikka Masala with lots of saffron rice, garlic naan bread and mint chutney. To drink, I think I would have an ice cream float made with Raspberry Lambic beer.

Have you modeled before?  What for?

Yes I have. I started modeling at age 17. A photography teacher took notice of me in high school (nothing creepy! haha) and wanted to do some vintage-styled shots. From this, various pro photographers contacted me for various things, usually always vintage-styled. There was a time back in the early 2000's where the whole vintage pinup model thing really took off in Southern California. There were a small handful of girls who became well known for this and I was one of them. I've been in ads for the Las Vegas Tourism Bureau, been in ads as Miss Beauty Bar for Las Vegas, been in calendars for Speedvision, been on numerous record and cd covers around the world, and have been portrayed in famous subculture art pieces. I was also asked to pose for pictures by the famous couture clothing designer Jeremy Scott at his home in Los Angeles. It's been a wild and crazy ride.

What did you think when we first contacted you?

This is AWESOME!!! I can't wait to try my fin on!!!

What all do you remember about the shoot and your trip to NH?

It was so much fun. Portsmouth was so lovely, old, and gorgeous. I loved looking around the town. My boyfriend loved all of the beer, haha. And the beaches are so different than our beaches here in Southern California. I loved them and how these amazing huge old houses were by themselves right by the beach. It looked like something out of a movie. Oh and the old graveyards in peoples' yards, I LOVED that. So cool. Anyhow, the day we shot it was cold and rainy outside. I was so freaked out that my hair was going to completely fall down. Here I was in just a bikini top and my fin in freezing cold water, having to pose all these different ways and look super happy go lucky. But the minute I got in the water my body adjusted and I was fine- it was so weird. And my hair withstood the rain! It was a miracle. But everyone was so great and generous to my boyfriend and I. The whole experience was such a fun, happy time for me. I love telling people about it. 

 How did you discover your calling for burlesque dancing?  What keeps you shimmying and shawing?

Well, I love to sing. Back when I was 22, I was singing karaoke at this hipster bar in San Diego. These girls approached me about joining their burlesque troupe that night; they liked my presence on stage. I didn't know a hoot about burlesque back then. That was 7 years ago. That was the only troupe in SD at the time. I was in that troupe until we dismantled back in 2006. From there, I started my own troupe and we are still together to this day. We have girls all over the West Coast in my troupe and I've been featured in various publications because of my work in burlesque. I perform a lot more on my own now but we will still get all together for the occasional fabulous show here and there. Burlesque is a way to let loose; it's fun. You get to make outrageous costumes and people really dig it. Women especially love to watch it. 

People ask all the time about your hair in the photo (which is the same in all your other photos).  Is it a wig?

Nope, it's my hair. I started dying it this color, "Crimson," about 5 years ago. People have always thought that my hair is a wig in it's various different colors and lengths. I just have tons of hair on my head. Thanks Dad! I'm known for my hair. It always weirds me out because, come on people, it's just hair! ;)

San Diego is a beer town.  Are you a beer drinker?  If so what would I find in your fridge?

Hahaha you're gonna hate this, but I'm not much of a beer girl. When I do drink beer it's usually in the form of a Michelada (mexican beer, lime juice, various sauces and seasonings), or a Red Beer (beer with Bloody Mary mix in it). However, I do drink my Star Island Single beer with a mexican seasoning called Tajin (a Mexican spice blend of chilis, salt, and dehydrated lime juice)  in it. I also tend to like sour ales. Oh yes, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE any of the Lambic fruity beers. My dad is a HUGE beer drinker / snob though. He loves really strong, skunky IPA's. Those are really popular here in SD. 

Tell me about Dixie?  What should we all know that doesn’t come across on the page?  How much of your offstage persona shows up on stage?

 Dixie is Amanda. If anything, Amanda is even naughtier than Dixie, haha. Dixie is known as the Southern Belle from Hell- a little south of the border (being so close to Mexico) and a little Deep South (my family's roots).  Dixie is campy and fun and glamorous, but also creepy and weird. I grew up idolizing Bettie Page and Jessica Rabbit, (I owe both of them a lot for who I am on stage) as well as the old Russ Meyer girls, from his movies. I think Dixie is a combo of all of them, but then, so am I. My whole life revolves around vintage things. I'm a vintage-styled girl with a kick-in-the-pants modern edge.

What else should we know about you?

That I want to come back and visit Portsmouth!!! :D

If you're looking for some great jewelry, check out Dixie's Etsy shop, Magenta Tarantula: http://www.etsy.com/shop/magentatarantula

Smuttynose Baltic Porter; 2010 Big Beer Series #8

Baltic Porter is out in stores and bars now, so it seems there's no better time than the present to share some information with the blogosphere.

Smuttynose Baltic Porter

23° Plato

40 IBU

9.02% ABV

Malt:  Cargill 2-Row, Munich 20L, Weyermann Carahell, Crisp C-120, Baird’s Carastan, Crisp Chocolate, Crisp Black

Hops: Sterling

Yeast:  White Labs Old Bavarian Lager

The most unique aspect of our Baltic Porter is that we ferment and bottle-condition it with lager yeast, in the Eastern European tradition.  Smuttynose Baltic Porter, like all of our lagers undergoes a full cold-conditioning program, which goes longer than most because we don’t filter any of our beers.  Our lager yeast strain flocculates pretty well for a lager strain but it still takes time, so this beer has plenty of age on it (at least a month and a half). 

Like any new additions to our Big Beer Series, Baltic Porter started out when we looked at what sort of big styles were being brewed by others but that we weren’t brewing.  We already had the usual suspects, Imperial Stout, Barleywine, Wheat Wine, S’Muttonator Doublebock and so on.  Baltic Porter seemed like a great way to do something else dark but we wanted to find a way to put a twist on it.  In researching/tasting Strong Baltic-style porters, we saw that a number of the European ones were fermented with lager yeast, because that’s the yeast they already have in their brewery.  Most brewers know that it’s easier to keep your number of yeast strains streamlined.  So lager yeast it was.  The strain is the same one we used in the much-missed but less-purchased Portsmouth Lager.

Smutttynose Baltic Porter is extremely smooth out of the gates but it also ages quite nicely.  And we should know; we just transferred some from two Sam Adams Utopias barrels that had been aging for about two years. 

Thanks for your interest.  Wheat Wine, the final beer of the 2010 Series, will be leaving the building on Monday, December 13.  Despite its recent gold medal win at Mondial de la Biere in Strasbourg, France; it will go on hiatus for 2011.