2010-11 Bowl Pick-em
Follow all the results here. I will update as frequently as possible. Good luck to everyone.
Updated Jan. 4
NY Pat 15-7
Ming Dynasty 15-7
Allaina 13-9
1 Carl W 13-9
S. Wilson 12-10
John B 12-10
BMackin 12-10
Bonker 11-11
2 Carl W 11-11
JC’s Boyz 11-11
Cali the Dog 11-11
Mama Murf 11-11
Jeff W 11-11
Barney P 10-12
Jim Martin 10-12
Marcus Dye 10-12
LSU Melissa 9-13
Mumble 9-13
E Clark 8-14
Shelly S 8-14
Ashley G 8-14
Yazoo Hop Project 39
Available at Corner Market in Vicksburg. Very tasty.
Yazoo Brew story
Hall’s homebrew now big business — and available here
VICKSBURG — The requests were manageable each time Linus Hall loaded up the car and drove from his home in Nashville to see family and friends in his childhood home of Vicksburg.
The word was getting out about Hall’s proclivity as a homebrewer, and those who knew him in Vicksburg wanted a taste.
It quickly got out of hand.
“We would have to take two cars,” said Hall, brewmaster and founder of Yazoo Brewing Co., whose beers are now available in the Vicksburg/Jackson market. “I would load my car up with the dog and the beer, and my wife would load her and the kids into a second car.”
Not until his sister’s wedding, though, was it certain that Hall’s brew could be a hit in Mississippi, a state with less-than-historical roots in the craft-beer industry.
Hall’s sister, Sarah, had planned a summer wedding in Mississippi and wanted her brother, still homebrewing, to make a batch of dark ale for the reception. Though color in beer has little to do with its alcohol content or strength, the perception exists that dark beers are not fit for blazing, Mississippi summer afternoons.
“I said, ‘Your wedding is outside, and in Mississippi,’ and I didn’t want to be responsible for her wedding guests being passed out,” Hall said with a chuckle.
Linus Hall experimented and created a brew that was dark in color, but light-drinking, fit for a beer geek or just a new-found fan of craft beer.
The keg lasted 30 minutes.
The recipe used became Yazoo’s Dos Perros after Hall took his hobby and turned it into a thriving business. Dos Perros, along with Pale Ale and Hefeweizen and Yazoo’s signature Hop Project, now can be found at area grocery stores.
He has plans to move further through Mississippi, taking things “one area at a time.”
“We are super excited to be in Mississippi. In fact, we just shipped another load down,” Hall said Tuesday.
His start, though, came while he was an college undergraduate student in Virginia. With few financial resources, buying beer was too expensive, so he invested in a homebrew kit and started experimenting.
Homebrewing, though, still remained a hobby and Hall returned to Vicksburg after college to make a living as an engineer at Rouse Rubber.
In 1996, Hall, now 39, moved to Nashville to work as an engineer with tire-maker Firestone.
“I got tired of trying to make tires more round,” Hall said.
With encouragement from his wife, Lila, also a Vicksburg native, he quit his job and went back to school. He received a business degree from Vanderbilt, a craft-brewing degree from the American Brewers Guild and did an internship with Garrett Oliver in New York.
Oliver, considered one of the fathers of modern American craft beer, is owner/brewmaster of the Brooklyn Brewery in New York.
“I learned an awful lot from him, and he is a great resource to call on if I have a problem,” Hall said. “He is a great representative for our industry.”
Having advanced through his internship, Hall went back to Nashville and bought a 10-barrel brewing system from an out-of-business brewpub in Iowa. The system could produce about 400 gallons of beer, and the first brewery was in an old motorworks shop in downtown Nashville in 2003 and Yazoo Brewing Company was born. The name Yazoo stems from Hall’s wedding on Fort Hill overlooking the Yazoo Diversion Canal.
“The name really just came to us,” Hall said. “We wanted to find a Southern name and a fun way to ask for our beer.” The logo, designed by Lila, is a tribute to local artist Earl Wayne Simmons, whose folk art is a staple at Vicksburg’s Attic Gallery.
Six years later, the brewery moved into its current facility, in downtown Nashville in an area known as the Gulch, with four times the brewing capacity as the previous and plenty of room for expansion.
“The hobby turned into an obsession,” Hall said when asked what made him decide to launch a beer business. “It was a big change in our lives. My wife and I thought about it, and all we had was a house note. We were young and if things didn’t work out and we lost everything, we could always go back and get jobs.”
Yazoo has nine employees — including Hall and his wife. They brew five days a week, sometimes more than one batch in a day. On Wednesday, they were starting on the latest batch of Pale Ale, which is one of the most popular.
Mississippi, which is the last state in the Union to have Prohibition-era laws regarding beer alcohol content, is a late arrival into the craft beer market, but Hall sees a golden opportunity.
Lazy Magnolia Brewing Co. of Kiln is the only Mississippi-based brewer. Mark and Leslie Henderson began much the way Hall did — as a hobby. Lazy Magnolia is now a fixture in the Southeast and has expansion plans. Both breweries were at the first Top of the Hops Beer Festival in Jackson in July.
Hall, helping man his Yazoo booth, saw patrons gravitate to his Hop Project. He also noticed was blown away 3,500 in attendance for a beer event never before seen. Hall said he was surprised that patrons gravitated toward the hoppier Hop Project more than lighter varieties. It also showed a growing demand for craft beer in Mississippi.
Butch Bailey, president of Raise Your Pints Mississippi, a grassroots organization trying to bring awareness of craft beer in the state, said the Yazoo is another example of Mississippians embracing the craft beer culture.
“Raise Your Pints’ purpose is to bring a world-class beer culture to Mississippi,” Bailey said. “Anytime we can help a brewery like Yazoo in bringing their fantastic beers to our state, we’re delighted. This is just another example of how Mississippians are excited about gourmet craft beer.”
•
Sean P. Murphy is web editor. Reach him at smurphy@vicksburgpost.com.
Wow, I have been gone
A while. Inexcusable.
Anyway, I wrote this up about Yazoo Brew on Sunday, Nov. 14. Hope everyone enjoys it.
On the radio
Tune in Thursday morning to 1490 AM in Vicksburg or online at vicksburglive.com I will be discussing Raise Your Pints and the Top of the Hops Beer Festival in Jackson.
Mississippi Craft Beer Week
The growing phenomenon of craft beer in America is slowly seeping into the culture of Mississippi, a state long held hostage by antiquated beer laws limiting consumers’ choices as to what beer one may enjoy.
Raise Your Pints Mississippi has been lobbying state leaders for three years trying to get changes to the law to mirror 49 other states, but measures to up the alcohol content level in beer and introduce a home brewing bill have continually failed to make it out of committee in the state Legislature.
Last Monday, Gov. Haley Barbour issued a proclamation claiming the week of July 24-31 as the first Mississippi Craft Beer Week. The weeklong events will culminate on July 31 at the Jackson Convention Center with the first Top of the Hops Beer Festival.
More than 160 different beers will be available for tasting, and informational booths will be available to educate a rapidly growing segment of this state.
Craft beer sales in 2009 saw a 10.3 percent increase by dollars and a 7.2 percent increase in sales by volume, said a report issued by the Brewers Association, a Colorado-based trade publication. Mass-market beer sales during the same time period saw a 2.2 percent decline in sales, while imported beers saw a 9.8 percent decrease in sales.
Two brewing behemoths — InBev (formerly Anheuser-Busch) and MillerCoors — still dominate the national beer landscape, but in 2009 more than 1,500 breweries were operational for part of all of the year, more than at any other time since prohibition began in 1920, the Brewers Association reported.
Mississippi, though, still lags. The state limits the alcohol by volume to 5.5 percent. For example, Louisiana brewer Abita, in an effort to raise money for the Gulf of Mexico oil cleanup is creating a special “Save our Shores” beer with a bit of each sale going to cleanup efforts. Won’t help here, though, because the 7 percent beer will be unavailable in a state so affected by the oil leak.
With Craft Beer Week and beer festivals scheduled statewide in the coming months, an end to oppressive choice limits is imminent. If for no other reason, think tax money. Craft beers are brewed in small batches meaning prices will be higher than mass-market brews. Higher prices mean more tax collections.
Pressure will mount on the Legislature if Mississippi Craft Beer Week is successful.
•
Sean P. Murphy is web editor. He can be reached at smurphy@vicksburgpost.com
Help spread the word
We are continually trying to find new members. Please help all you can and get the word out about Raise Your Pints Mississppi — Vicksburg Big Black River chapter.
email me at sean@raiseyourpints.com for information.
I also am trying to schedule a barbecue, gathering, beer tasting for mid-July. Will keep everyone posted.
Mark it, Dude!
July 31 in Jackson – Top of the Hops beer festival at the Convention Center. Details are few, so check back often.
Even more good news
A couple things more.
Capital City Beverage has again introduced another beer into our market — Atlanta Brewing Co.’s Laughing Skull. Give this nice Amber a chance. Laughing Skull is available at Kroger in Vicksburg and Clinton, as well as Corner Market in Vicksburg.
Speaking of good beer and good beer news, the 3rd annual Zoo Brew at the Jackson Zoo is scheduled for Friday, May 14. Eighteen different beers will be sampled.
This is from the zoo brew news: This unique event will feature live music, specialty food, beer and wine samplings and other activities! Zoo Brew is a 21 and over event, and is sure to appeal to the 25-54+ crowd. It is a casual event with a “happy hour” feel, and is a great place to entertain employees, friends, co-workers or clients. Become a Host and Sign-up now!
Beers that will be available at ZooBrew
Southeast Region – Lazy Magnolia Southern Gold, Lazy Magnolia Reb Ale, Lazy Magnolia Indian Summer, Lazy Magnolia Gulf Porter, Laughing Skull, Red Brick Blonde,
Red Brick Pale Ale, Abita Purple Haze, Abita Golden
Northeast Region – Woodchuck Amber, Sam Adams Blackberry Witbier, Sam Adams Summer Ale, Sam Adams Pale Ale
Western – Sierra Pale Ale, Sierra Summer Fest, Shiner Blonde, Shiner Bock, Rogue American Amber Ale
Another newbie coming soon
Look for the Tallgrass Brewing Co. offering of Kold. I had some on Thursday night and it was very refreshing and fit for summertime. This is how the brewery describes Kold:
KÖLD
(ABV 5.0%, 16 IBU)
The fourth beer to add to our flavorful collection of brews, Köld is a crisp, easy-drinking lager with a traditional Pilsner malt aroma and subtle notes of honey and citrus. Köld is brewed using the finest German malts and hops, making it reminiscent of German-style lagers.
Köld originated as one of Jeff’s earlier brews where he and his buddies spent a few nights racing to the bottom of the keg. It has since been crafted into a brew that we are very proud to bring into our diverse, yet tasty family of beers. This is a beer that everyone can enjoy, and in copious quantities we might add (always responsibly of course)!
You can find Köld in bottles and on taps in more and more places! Ask for Köld at your favorite bar or retail outlet!
Also look for Buffalo Sweat Stout and the Ale. Unfortunately, the IPA and Oasis, a Double ESB/IPAish beer, are not yet available here because of their alcohol content levels. That just means everyone needs to join Raise Your Pints so we can have more and better choices. Contact me at sean@raiseyourpints.com if you would like to be part of the Big Black River Chapter of RYP.
