We have some more exciting news. Our equipment is officially on order! We have attached a picture of the brewhouse in all of her shiny stainless goodness. We can’t wait for her arrival so that we can get to brewing!! Next up is getting the brewery ready for her. This is exciting! Cheers!!
We know we have been quiet for the first month and a half of this year, but things are about to change! As of 5PM last night Pair O’ Dice has an official home! That’s right we have signed the papers for our building and we will now have a lot more to post about. 2013 is definitely shaping up to be a good year for craft beer in the Tampa Bay area and Pair O’ Dice is excited to be a part of it! We are anxious to get moving forward with turning our building into a brewery! For your viewing pleasure … Continue reading
Whew we know its been a while since our last post, but that’s because its been pretty dang busy over here. So first of all we hope everyone had a great and safe holiday season and a wonderful New Year. Hopefully you enjoyed some of your favorite craft brews over the holidays. We’ve been cranking away here at Pair O’ Dice trying to get everything inline and finalized so that our brewery can begin construction! We are very close to finalizing our financing and securing our location. We are also beginning the trek with an architect to get our drawings done for our … Continue reading
Happy Thanksgiving!!! It’s that time of year when we get together with family, friends, and loved ones to celebrate the things we are thankful for. During our celebrations we may be quick to reach for a bottle of wine, but is that really the best drink to go with all of these flavors? There are a lot of sweet, earthy, herbal, and rich flavors associated with this holiday, and trying to find a wine to complement these flavor profiles is a daunting if not impossible task! Would it surprise you to learn that beer actually pairs better with a meal … Continue reading
Saturday, November 3rd is the 14th Annual Learn to Homebrew day! There are events being held all over the country in recognition of this day. So if you ever wanted to learn to make your own beer, wanted to see how it’s done, or just wanted to learn more about the beer brewing process we highly suggest you seek out one of these events and learn about this great hobby! Most homebrew supply stores and homebrew clubs will be hosting events for this day. You can go to the Learn to Homebrew Day website for a listing of events by state! … Continue reading
Happy Halloween! It’s been very busy here at Pair O’ Dice, and we’ll be back with more posts shortly. In the meantime grab your favorite craft brewed stout and enjoy this hauntingly delicious, but simple beer float cocktail. Black Cauldron Ingredients 2 cups vanilla ice cream ¼ cup vodka ¼ cup brewed espresso 24 ounces of craft brewed stout beer Preparation Place ½ cup vanilla ice cream in each of 4 tall glasses. Top each serving with 1 tablespoon vodka, 1 tablespoon brewed espresso, and 6 ounces craft brewed stout beer. Serve immediately. Servings: 4 Best enjoyed while chanting, “Double, … Continue reading
The Great American Beer Festival, GABF, is in full swing out in Denver, CO. As one of the largest craft beer festivals and commercial beer competitions in the country, it is quite an event for breweries and craft beer lovers alike. Many breweries will walk away with accolades and medals from the festivities this weekend. On the heels of our first medal winning beer we thought we should talk about what an award winning beer means. It’s always an honor to win a medal in any kind of competition, but a beer competition is unlike any other due to its … Continue reading
Over the past few weeks we have been posting some of our tasting notes and recommendations in our “Friday Faves”, so this week we figured we should discuss how to properly taste and evaluate a beer so that you can follow along! When you decide to sit down and drink a beer for a taste evaluation, and not for casual enjoyment, we call that “critical tasting”. It’s important to understand that critical tasting has a goal that is much different than casual enjoyment, and must be treated a little differently. Critical tasting is more focused and structured meaning it requires … Continue reading
Ahh the Oktoberfest! The most famous beer festival in the world where ladies dressed in traditional Bavarian dirndls carry many liters of beer to thirsty patrons! Such an iconic image! Since the 179th Oktoberfest (or “Wiesn” as the locals call it) is happening right now let’s take some time and talk about this amazing event. First a little history! The original Oktoberfest was held on October 13th and 14th 1810 to honor the marriage of Prince Ludwig, the Crown Prince of Bavaria, to Princess Therese. Ludwig’s father, Maximilian the King of Bavaria, organized this celebration by offering free beer and … Continue reading
Welcome back! Continuing on our adventures in understanding brewing, we turn to the cold side of the house. Depending on the brewer, brewery, or beer style several steps on this side of the house are optional. The steps on the cold side include primary fermentation, dry hopping, aging, filtering, carbonating, packaging, and of course enjoying! Primary Fermentation Once the wort has been cooled it is time for it to hit the fermentor. This is where the magic happens! It’s at this stage that the brewers add the magic ingredient to convert wort to beer, yeast! Keep in mind that yeast … Continue reading