Buffalo Beer Week 2012 has come and gone, and what a great time it was! Hopefully everyone made it out to at least one or two events, because you certainly had a variety to choose from.

Since we last spoke CBW had two events: the beer mob at the Nortel and a beer pairing dinner at Giancarlo’s. I can only speak to the former, as Ethan was our representative at Giancarlo’s. He had quite a good time and said the food was excellent, so if they have future events it would be in your best interests to attend!

Pint Craft: a selection of beers

As for the Nortel: I was excited to see what sort of turnout we would get from an event that was, essentially, “Hey come drink beer.” The result? Very good indeed! The bar filled up as people came in for beer and food, though I quick quarantined myself and two others in a corner so we could play Pint Craft, the beer card game that’s currently being funded on Kickstarter.

I wrote a session report on BoardGameGeek if you’d like a detailed report (or if you want to see the avatar of me with Cthulhu tentacles on my face), but to summarize: it was fun! Perhaps a bit long, but the brewing theme worked really well. A few people who missed the start hung around and watched us, and if I’m not mistaken the Kickstarter campaign got a few new backers that night. Thanks to Eric and Julie for playing with me, and I hope to see you again.

Again? Oh yes, this wasn’t a one time event. Similar to its Cash Mob namesake, we’d like to make this a monthly affair. There isn’t a December location set, but we’d like to continue the tradition of pairing it with a board game. Next month I think I’ll bring Bang!, which is like The Resistance except set in the wild west and with less arguing and more shooting. We can play a few games of it, meaning if you get there at 7:30 you won’t be excluded. Sound good? Good. See you there.

Pint Craft: brewing up an Oatmeal Stout

Now then, down to retail hours. As a reminder: we’re no longer at the Bidwell farmer’s market on Saturdays. Instead, we’re at the brewery from 10-8! That’s in addition to 3-7 today and 3-8 tomorrow. If you missed out on our Beer Week specialty beers, there’s still a bit left! Rudy estimates 2.5 gallons (five growlers) each of In C and Batch 100 are available, so those probably won’t last until the end of the day tonight. There’s also about three gallons of Blonde Roots that’s uncarbonated: it’s hooked up to gas now and should be ready by Saturday morning.

Have you realized it’s only a few weeks until Thanksgiving? Time usually slips away from me, but we have planned ahead and are prepared to unveil Thanksgiving retail hours! We’ll be open Monday 11/19, Tuesday 11/20, Wednesday 11/21, closed the day itself, then open again Friday 11/23 (aka Fibonacci Day) and Saturday 11/24. You’ll have plenty of time to stock up for your feasting.

Finally, almost the last word on glycol: it’s in! Yes, no more shuffling kegs around a cramped fermentation chamber: now they’re stored in a roomy walk-in cooler. I said “almost” the last word because there’s still some hardware to get before our brite tanks and tap box are fully armed and operational. You’ll hear about it once or twice more, and then start to see the fruits of its labor.