Tasting Notes, Kegerator Contest, Suds of the South, Site Updates

It has been a little while since we posted, but we have been quite busy. So let's catch up on a few things first.

Tasting Notes
As featured in our first "BrewDay" blog post, our English Bitter and Coffe Malt Stout brews turned out really nicely. The bitter was a little hoppier than we expected, but is a nonetheless really tasty, clean and easy to drink. The stout also turned out pretty good. A little sweet for my taste; I think I prefer a drier stout. But the coffee flavor in it is great. It makes a wonderful dessert.

Kegerator Contest
Overall, we had a lot of fun watching everyone comment on and post pictures of their draft beer setups. Congratulations to Paul Kilgore! He is the lucky winner of a free, personalized tap handle from BrewTaps.com. Unfortunately, it seems that we has some technical difficulties with the posting of pictures on the Facebook page that led to some misunderstandings. However, we will not let this deter us from another Facebook contest; we already have several ideas for fun stuff to do and great prizes to give away.

Suds of the South
We had the great oppurtunity to get to attend the 2011 Suds of the South beer festival (http://wellthatscool.com/sots/) in Tuscaloosa, AL. We had a great time sampling beers and meeting people from all across the South, as well as this year's "Southern Sympathizer," Bell's Brewing. Honestly though, sometimes these super high-gravity beers that places are pumping out just taste horrible to me. I suppose my palette just isn't trained enough to appreciate them, but it really makes me appreciate a nice, smooth beer than won't make your breath fire.

Site Updates
The site had been down for a few days while we upgraded the ordering system. It took a little longer than we thought to get everything running smoothily, but as of today, we have worked most of the kinks out and she is up and running! We added a "shopping cart" system to make ordering multiple handles easier. We are going to be making a few updates here and there, but we will keep you updated.

That's all for now. Talk to you soon, and cheers!

- BrewTaps
http://www.brewtaps.com/

Beer: The Newest Sports Drink?

The Erdinger Weissbräu company of Germany is touting its non-alcoholic offering as the newest replacement for Gatorade. The company insists that the beer is an isotonic, vitamin-rich, all natural beverage with naturally regenerative powers. The Erdinger website literally refers to the non-alcoholic brew as "the Sports and Fitness Drink."

The company has been a long time sponsor of athletes in the national and international biathlon and triathlon circuits, and Erdinger Non-Alcoholic is regularly distributed in the finishing areas of such events.

Nutrition experts acknowledge the that it may have some regernerative value for athletes post work out, and the lack of alcohol to further dehydrate an athlete's body is more ideal than a beer with alcohol. However, Professor Mary Ellen Camire, a nutritionist at the Unviersity of Maine, said "It will help with rehydration. Whether it's the ideal drink to have, I'm not sure."

I've always heard a single beer will rehydrate you better than a glass of water, and after reading this, I'm sticking to it.

- BrewTaps
http://www.brewtaps.com/