January 30, 2008

Greetings fellow Tyranenaeans,

Don't have a whole lot to say this week... other than these cold temperatures are getting me down. I need a vacation! Any recommendations for exotic locales would be welcome, especially now that we are about to hit our slow season.

Dirty Old Man Update. Labels are not yet here... but we are still tentatively scheduled to bottle our latest addition to the Brewers Gone Wild! series on Monday, February 4. We'll see if the labels actually make it in house before that date.

Next Brewers Gone Wild! Update. We have received Statement of Process approval for the next two beers in the Brewers Gone Wild! series. The next beer will have no description as the government is requiring a 17 word Statement of Composition. I'm wondering if once the government requires nutritional information along with a Statement of Composition along with brand name along with the Government Warning along with the Brewer's Location Information along with the number of ounces along with Type of Beverage information along with state government bottle refund information if there will be any room whatsoever for any marketing information or beer descriptions. Our planned summer release has a much more realistic requirement from the government, only 5 words that actually fit perfectly with our "Style."

Tyranena Beer Of The Month In February At The Old Fashioned In Madison. Yes, I've said it a few times already... but our Scotch Ale will be the Beer of the Month at the Old Fashioned. If you missed the Scotch Ale at the brewery... or if you miss the Scotch Ale at the brewery... you now know where to go.

Tyranena Up 22 Percent In 2007. Last year we were taxed (by several levels of government - is their a recurring theme here?) for 2,792 barrels of beer, up a little over 500 barrels from 2006. That still places us firmly amongst the smaller craft breweries in the state... a little less than 5 percent the size of our best known Wisconsin rival, about 10 percent the size of that lager brewery in Middleton and about 28 percent of the size of the "Best Brewery Tour In Milwaukee" brewery.

Volleyball Report: Had a bye last week, which is fortunate as I caught one of those nasty, albeit short-lived, colds that was going around. Our record remains 4 wins and 5 losses.

Brewing: Brewed a batch of Headless Man Amber Alt and will be brewing a batch of Chief BlackHawk Porter on Thursday.

Bottling: Bottled 409 cases of Rocky's Revenge on Monday. Miserable run due to labeling issues which somehow seemed to work itself out by the end of the day - but should still probably take it apart and see if I can make things worse. We have 3 cases of mislabels. Will be bottling approximately 280 cases of Three Beaches Honey Blonde on Friday.

Wednesday is Pitcher Night! That means $7.00 pitchers, Gardetto's snack mix, and occassionally sweaty volleyball players. Mindy is returning again this week... and hopefully she will make it here in time to open without doing donuts in the middle of intersections due to the slick roads!

Thursday is Thirsty Thursdays. Thirsty Thirsdays is your opportunity to earn a beer on us. Each time you join us in the Tasting Room on a Thursday night you'll receive one stamp for each tap beer you purchase on your Thirsty Thursday card. Buy yourself a well deserved beer, earn a stamp. Buy someone else a beer, earn another stamp. When the card is full, turn it in for a free pint and be entered in quarterly prize drawing! The drawings will be held at Hopluck Dinners. Participants need not be present to win.

Saturday is Live Music: The Mud Angels. The Mud Angels categorize their music as "blues with an edge",  created by Laura England on vocals, Mike O'Connor and Jackson on guitars, Mike Burden on bass and Andy Mosey on drums. With a name like the Mud Angels, you might think water is their main element, but it's more like fire - their live performance has been described by Rick's Cafe, regional music magazine, as "blazing", "incendiary", and "steamy". This will be Laura's return to the Tasting Room after vocal surgery caused the Mud Angels to cancel their show here last fall. Come congratulate her on a speedy recovery!

The Mud Angels - Blues Rock - 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Sunday is... the Last Day of the Weekend! We will be likely be closing early on Sunday so that our bartender can get home or to a party for the Super Bowl. Make sure you come in early for growler fills or six packs... you don't want to go to that party empty-handed. We'll be open at 11:00 a.m. and likely closed before game time.

I can certainly tell it is almost February.... everyone's recently had or still has a cold... Rob is whining about needing a vacation.... Benji is wandering around haphazardly, dreaming of his own vacation plans and aspirations... and I'm damn cold. IT'S FREEZING! I think I might bring in a personal heater for under my desk because it's that cold in this office.... Jessie just got back from Florida on Sunday so she's gotten over her Wisconsin winter blues and, from the sound of her voice, her cold as well. What a lucky girl....

Well, like I said last week, Jessie and I will be at the Olympia Resort and Spa on Saturday for the Oconomowoc Rotary's Beer Festival. I've got ticket info and times posted on our website (www.tyranena.com/events/festivals.htm) as well as a bunch of other info on the festivals we'll be attending through about June. I'll be updating them as we go so keep an eye out!

Tyranena Oktoberfest Bike Ride. Can you believe that 15 people have already signed up for the 2008 TOBR? I'm simply amazed. I can barely decide what I'm doing for dinner tonight, let alone how I'm going to be spending the first Saturday in October! But then again.... I do plan out most of our beer festival attendence for the year in January.... Anyway, it just seems like October is still so far away! I better get cracking on our plans for TOBR; we'll have new routes again in 2008!

Online registration is now available at Active.com for both the Tyranena Oktoberfest Bike Ride and the Tyranena Beer Run. And all Active's registration fees are included in this year's costs so there is no longer any additional fees to register online!

February 1, 2008 - Tasting at Paradise Liquor in Madison from 4 to 6 pm.
Located at 3179 Muir Field Road, Madison - 608-848-6128.

February 15, 2008 - Tasting at Princeton Liquors in Maple Grove, MN, from 4 to 6 pm.
Located at 12790 Bass Lake Road, Maple Grove, MN - 763-559-3257.

                                    

February 21, 2008 - Tasting at Discount Liquor in Waukesha from 4 to 7 pm.
Located at 919 N. Barstow Street, Waukesha - 262-547-7525.

                             

February 22, 2008 - Tasting at Discount Liquor in Milwaukee from 4 to 7 pm.
Located at 5031 W. Oklahoma Avenue - 414-545-2175.

                                   

February 29, 2008 - Tasting at Sentry Foods in Wauwatosa from 5 to 7 pm.
Located at 6700 W State Street, Wauwatosa - 414-259-8560.