FuzzyBrew

The Flying Saucer in Downtown Memphis is turning 15 years old this month, and on June 2, the craft beer mecca will throw a huge birthday bash.

Starting at 11 a.m. when the festivities begin, the Saucer will tap 15 rare kegs for 15 hours throughout the  day.

The list includes:
• 2011 Stone Imperial Russian Stout
• Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.’s Life & Limb
• Sierra Nevada’s Fritz and Ken’s Ale
• La Trappe Quadrupel
• Troubadour Stout
• Tallgrass Brewing Co.’s Buffalo Sweat
• Sierra Nevada’s Charlie, Fred And Ken’s Bock 2010
• Stone Vertical Epic 11-11-11
• Green Flash Palate Wrecker
• Sierra Nevada’s Ovila Quad
• Sierra Nevada’s Hoptimum Double IPA
• Green Flash Trippel
• Plus, special releases from Yazoo Brewing Company and Lazy Magnolia Brewing Company

In addition to the beer, music will be provided by Memphis jam band Free World, starting at 9:30 p.m.

Boscos won its first medal at the World Beer Cup this weekend, capturing the gold for the Boscos Hefeweizen.

Boscos won in “Category 52: German-Style Pale Wheat Ale,” which had 22 entries. It was only the second time Boscos had entered the World Beer Cup, according to Boscos founding partner Chuck Skypeck.

And it was the second big win in the past year for the Boscos Hefeweizen, which also took gold at the 2011 Great American Beer Festival.

Boscos has brewpubs in Memphis, Nashville and Franklin in Tennessee, as well as Little Rock, Ark. The Hefeweizen was brewed at the Little Rock brewery, though all the Boscos breweries entered the beer collectively.

The 2012 World Beer Cup, the ninth bi-annual such competition, boasted the strongest field of entrants on record, with 799 breweries from 54 countries and 45 U.S. states entering 3,921 beers in 95 beer style categories. A 17.7 percent increase over 2010,  entries were eligible for gold, silver and bronze awards in their respective categories. Judges presented a total of 284 awards.

“It’s called ‘The Olympics of Beer Competition’ for good reason,” said Charlie Papazian, president of the Brewers Association, the U.S.-based trade association that has put on the competition every two years since 1996.

“The event brings together great brewers from all corners of the globe. Plus, the awards are highly regarded. A brewer who wins a World Beer Cup gold award knows that their winning beer represents the best of that beer style in the world. Congratulations to all the winners of the 2012 World Beer Cup. The Brewers Association and the proud sponsors of our event thank all participating brewers for their involvement.”

Go here for a complete list of winners.

On Saturday, more than 20 Memphis area homebrewers brewed beer on the parking lot of Boscos in Overton Square to celebrate National Homebrew Day.

The brew day was part of the American Homebrewers Association Big Brew, an annual event to celebrate National Homebrew Day held on the first Saturday in May.

Boscos provided the space and gave each homebrewer free wort to brew with, as well as yeast. Brewers brought their own hops and made whatever concoction they wanted with the base of mostly two-row malt, with some crystal malt.

Homebrewers from the Bluff City Brewers & Connoisseurs and the Memphis Brewer’s Association participated in the event, which is always one of the highlights of the year for the brew clubs.

Grant waits for his wort inside Boscos.

Homebrewer Joe Barnes fills the kettle. Barnes was among the volunteers who assisted Boscos brewer Adam Hargrove on Saturday.

Each brewer got 5-10 gallons of wort to boil.

Mark and Nate carry a kettle full of wort to the burner.

Some people didn’t need help!

Memphis-grown Cascade hops.

I made a single-hop Cascade American Pale Ale.

FuzzyBrew kettles.

After chilling, the wort is dumped into carboys, with yeast added soon after at home.

What did you make for National Homebrew Day? Leave a comment below.

They’ve run through Downtown and Midtown in Memphis. Now the guys from Nashville’s Yazoo Brewing Company are organizing a beer fun run out east in Cordova.

Yazoo will host the “Barely a 4K Beer Run” on Saturday, May 26, beginning and ending at The Flying Saucer, 1400 N. Germantown Pkwy, Suite 114.  The run starts at 10 a.m., but you need to check in between 9 and 9:30.

With your $15 registration, you get a one-of-a-kind “Barely a 4K Beer Run” T-shirt and two complimentary Yazoo beers. Go here to sign up.

Here’s more from Yazoo:

There won’t be any challenging hills, nor will there be any time chips for your shoes. We are just jogging around the neighborhood and having some tasty beverages afterward.  …. As with all of our Barely a 4K Beer Runs, we will not be shutting down streets or stopping traffic, so you are running at your own risk. Heck, you don’t even have to run if you don’t want, but it is always a lot more fun if you do! All participants must be 21 or older, and we will be checking ID’s during the check in period before the run.

To see a map of the course, go here. Also, be sure to check out FuzzyBrew’s recap from the December run in Downtown Memphis.