Dogfish Head Punkin Ale

I have been very busy with class, firm presentations and, now, job interviews. So, naturally I haven't managed to get a solid post in. I've thought of numerous things I wanted to blog about and have read countless other blogs about beer and homebrewing to get some ideas. I have a couple of ideas and changes I may be trying out with the blog over the next couple of weeks so bear with me.

I told KKW to take this picture so I don't feel bad stealing it from her blog.

Over Labor Day weekend I went with KKW and some of my friends to DC for the long weekend. Since KKW has already dedicated an entire blog post to DC (Our Nation's Capital) I will just mention that while we were there we had the opportunity to visit the Dogfish Head Alehouse in Arlington. If I could I would spend every day in a place such as this alehouse. As KKW mentions in her post, the food was amazing and obviously the beer was too. I had been looking forward to buying the Punkin Ale soon near here only to find out it wasn't (at the time of release anyways which happened to be my birthday) anywhere within 100 miles of Chapel Hill or Charlotte. Luckily, we found this Dogfish Head Alehouse right near our hotel. It was like a sign from God. I could have racked up a pretty hefty bar tab but tried to restrain myself despite being in beer heaven.

There are a number of homebrewing related things I've wanted to try recently, including growing my own hops. The problem is you need a lot of outdoor space unless you grow them in a container and use some pretty crafty tricks to make it work. To learn more about growing hops in containers, check out this blog post at NChomebrewing.com: How to Grow Hops on Trellis.   My apartment lacks a porch entirely and KKW's is fairly small and she has a dog in her house which makes it risky for the dog as hops are poisonous to dogs so that idea is gonna have to sit on the back burner.

I also want to get started brewing on an all-grain system but still lack the money to buy one and/or the knowledge to build one myself. However the itch do to an all-grain batch is getting to be too much so I'm going to have to find a solution sooner rather than later. 

If you have any experiences to share about Punkin Ale or other fall seasonal beers please comment on the post and let me know what they are!