Roland TR-808

This was the first drum machine one of my early mentors taught me on.  It flopped originally until it was discovered in pawn shops by early hip-hop and techno producers.  Now you can’t turn on the radio without hearing it’s signature sub-bass sound which, by the way, doesn’t actually come out of the box raw.  You have to process the bass drum sound to get it.

I’ve always wanted one of these but I figured it wouldn’t happen till I turn 80, but an 808 practically fell in my lap last year.  Now it’s a major part of my production process and my life is complete. I can die happy now.

All hail the 808!!!!

http://retrosynthads.blogspot.com

I’m playing Fallout on my Bootcamp partition, so this will be my second RPG.

I’m downloading as I type.

I found this article about the making of the Sony PlayStation and being the logo freak I am, I was sold by this picture of toss away ideas.  I haven’t actually read the multiple page article yet so holler if it’s any good, or bad.  Enjoy, and welcome back!

If you want to see Batches Brew go prime time, do me a favor. Check back often and leave comments.  This will help investors see that we are building something here.

Beer news, art, and more beer, and podcasts are on the way. Surprises lurk in the future. Stay up and drink good beer, responsibly.

If you know who designed it, let me know.

The Wretched of the Earth by Franztz Fanon – Buy Now

Looks like Sierra Nevada is getting into the fuel game, making ethanol from spent brew yeast.

“Creating ethanol from discarded organic waste is an excellent example of how the MicroFueler can help eliminate our reliance on the oil industry infrastructure. This is especially true when considering Americans reportedly discard 50 percent of all agricultural farmed products,” said Tom Quinn, E-Fuel founder and chief executive officer. “Using a waste product to fuel your car is friendlier to the environment and lighter on your wallet, easily beating prices at the gas pump.”

I’m all for that. I truly believe that beer & weed can solve all of the worlds problems.

Story here.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program. A man is charged with shooting a cooler to get beer, and an author says beer belly is a sign of male menopause.

I love my job.

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This weeks going to be different from the previous weeks, so do yourself a favor and stay tuned.

Past episodes.

This sticker can also be used to disguise a beer can and since there’s some good craft beer in a can, I can get with this. Perfect for the skatepark full of soccer moms and pad nannies.

This brew was brought to me by the magnificent Ms. Mieko. It’s 8.7% alc/vol. That’s all I know.

Appearance: Dark brown with no translucency. There’s a nice, tan head.

Smell: It has a dank, maybe prune, aroma. Hops is present as well.  The smell is slightly piny.

Taste: Wow. Just wow.  It’s sweet, creamy and smooth with a caramel or toffee like backbone. It’s pretty sweet but well balanced by a pronounced bitterness.  There’s a strong flavor of hops, but it’s hard to pin down.  Is it piny, grassy, or citric?  I’m going with pine. Whatever it is, it’s bold and flavorful.

Mouthfeel: The flavor concentrates in the center/back of tongue.  The strong hop aftertaste lingers. It’s very provocative to the tongue. The alcohol is barely present.

Drinkability: I will drink again, most definately. I didn’t know what to expect with this one because I didn’t read the label.  When it poured I was surprised to see a dark brew. After tasting, there was an element I couldn’t put my finger on. Turned out to be outrageous hops. It was hiding in plain sight. Wow, a dark, super hoppy beer. It’s like a cross between a mild, sweet porter, kind of, and a double IPA. Amazing. Simply amazing. Right now it’s my favorite beer.

Illustrated by Diego Rivera

Set List

1. Magic & Islaam’s Groove – DJ Magic Mike
2. Power – Ice-T
3. Walk Into The Sun – Organized Konfusion
4. Ain’t Got Nuttin’ – Termintator X
5. He’s Funky – Chubb Rock
6. Shaft in Africa- Johnny Pate
7. Stunts, Blunts, & Hip-Hop – Diamond D

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Today’s review is WipeOut IPA, a micro brew from San Diego, which I purchased from Whole Foods, West Hollywood.

Appearance: Golden amber, slightly cloudy, not much head, lots of bubbles floating to the top. Noticed some yeast on the bottom of the bottle so it must be a live beer.

Aroma: Dank hoppy aroma, not overwhelming, smooth, with lemon, and slight grass notes.

Flavor: It’s very bitter and very hoppy. The flavor’s much more bitter than one would expect from the aroma. There’s quite an alcohol bite with a strong, sweet, malty backdrop.

Mouthfeel: This lingers on the tongue. Alcohol presence is strong and it’s a little too sweet, which distracts from the hop flavor.

Drinkable: It’s drinkable. Actually, it’s quite good but the alcohol hotness is a little strong. There’s a lot going on here, and the elements seem a little unbalanced. I would be real happy if given this with a slice of pizza in a pub, but I doubt I’ll buy this anytime soon.

During

After

Gardenburger from Astro™ Burger at Santa Monica and Vista, West Hollywood. Stupid good for the vegetarian that wants a burger and fries.

Set List

1. MC Lyte Likes Swingin’ – MC Lyte
2. Set ‘em Straight – Eric B & Rakim
3. Here I Am – Shyheim
4. Black With N.V. (No Vision) – Black Sheep
5. I Like My Girls With A Boom – Lord Finesse
6. This Is How It Sounds – Skee-Lo
7. Just in the Nick of Rhyme – Common
8. Straight Out The Jungle – Jungle Brothers

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In iTunes, go to the advanced menu, click Subscribe to Podcast, enter feed url. That should do it. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Hump Day Bump #0003 coming later today.

FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS

Today I got up early to skate in a cage at the Burbank Skatepark.  Every once in a while I enjoy skating something made to skate, but most the time I enjoy “natural terrain”.  Burbank is fun and the pad nannies are cool. There are a couple of flat bars, a pyramid, a bunch of quarters, and a small but steep bowl in the back.  Not really worth the $5 entrance fee but I’m sure I’ll return when invited.

Pretty chill morning, had the park to ourselves for about an hour, and it was in the 70′s.  Gotta love winter in SoCal.

Last year, Supreme released a limited run of Kermit the Frog t-shirts, and this sticker was part of the line. You must remember hundreds of grown men waiting in line for hours to cop a Supreme tee with a Muppet rocking a Supreme tee. That’s a little too post modern for me so I sat that one out. Did grab the sticker, though, since my girlfriend’s a freak for frogs.

Bonus item, Kermit the Frog toy, manufactured by Medicom Toy Corporation of Japan.

It tastes amazing and has a dry finish, which is good for showcasing the hops. It’s really bold. Besides the excessive hop addition in the boil, I’m adding 3 oz to the secondary. This is called “dry hopping” and I’m doing it to give it a strong, hoppy aroma to match the intense, bitter flavor of the beer.

This is the secondary carboy, with ale being racked upon 2 oz Cascade (5.5) pellet hops and 1 oz Amarillo (9.3) fresh hops.

Things seemed good with the airlock intact, but as the hops started expanding, CO2 was forced out of solution causing beer to fill the airlock and overflow.

Problem solved with a small blow off tube. I will leave this alone for two weeks, then bottle.

That was my first dry hop experience. Besides the expanding hops and overflowing airlock, all went well. I could consider racking to a larger carboy when excessively dry hopping, as in this case, to make room for expansion.

Today I’m trying Stone Cali-Belgie IPA. According to Stone, this is their flagship IPA besides being fermented in Belgian culture which gives it a distinct funkiness. I don’t recall being impressed by their IPA but the Ruination is amazing. Hopefully the yeast will give this something new and enjoyable for my taste buds. The stats are as follows. 6.9% ABV, 77 IBU’s, hopped with Columbus, Centennial, and dry hopped with Chinook.

Appearance: Clear, dark yellow, real nice head that lingers for a while
Aroma: sour citrus yeast, hops
Flavor: Hoppy, clean, bitter, lemon hints, slight alcohol hotness. It tastes interesting but not stupid bold. The yeast does give it a slight funkyness. It seems more dank than their normal ipa. The malty flavor is a firm and balanced jump off point for the hops. Slight butterscotch. grassy sour, grass
Mouthfeel: Carbonation is nice, alcohol flavor is a little up there but not distracting, bitterness is strong but not overwhelming. Refreshing, yet heavy.
Drinkable: I would definitely drink another. I’m impressed. Smooth enough to have a few, but bold enough to keep it interesting.

The footage nothing special, just good times, but since homie’s all the rage, I put it up. Enjoy.

This is a very beat paperback but I’m not poaching so deal. Unless noted, what I post is part of my personal collection. I’ve always enjoyed this version of George Orwell’s 1984, especially the colors and the type.

Mixed by: DJ Taza One

Set List

1. Call Me D-Nice – D-Nice
2. Generals – Fu-Schnickens
3. Time To Go (snippet) – King Sun
4. Ooh, Watcha Gonna Do – Run-DMC
5. Bran Nu Swetta – Digital Underground
6. Ahonetwo, Ahonetwo – Del The Funky Homosapien

More info at TheBerrics. While you’re there, check out the latest entry in the Trickipedia.  Half-Cab Heel Flips.

Painted by artists unknown, in San Francisco’s Mission District, 1996. Balmy Street is, basically, an alley that was covered, head to toe, in murals. According to google maps, it still is.

View Larger Map

There’s a lot of chocolate malt in our Fairfax Village Porter but Sapporo’s going Count Chocolaholic with a straight up and down Chocolate Beer, brewed with barley and cacao. Some guy in Munich may cringe at the idea but it seems the Mesoamericans brewed with cacao.  I hardly think their libations resembled this concoction, therefore I remain suspect.

Be sure to watch Batches Brew on Twitter: http://twitter.com/lifesabatch

Sticker included in original The Dark Side of the Moon LP.

How many home brew setups can you place on one html page? I don’t know but Brewhalla has hella. Brew rig porn for your enjoyment.

I’ve had Rogue Dead Guy Ale once before and wasn’t impressed.  Maybe I was craving something else because I’m really enjoying a pint right now. I’ve been having a lot of hop assaults as of late so the malty, breadiness is a real treat right now. Still pretty hoppy on the nose, but my palette has been raped by Maximus and Ruination so I’m not noting it that much on the tongue. The malty sweetness is really full bodied.  The grains really come to the front.  It’s refreshing.  Wishing now I’d picked up a few of those Halloween growlers because Rogue is coming through with an amazing brew.  Nothing new, but I bring it to you.  Sad to finish this one, wish I had more.

JACKET DESIGN BY ALAN PECKOLICK

Appearance: Clear and orange. It has a white-colored, medium head with a lot of bubbles floating to the top.

Aroma: Very green, piney, and grassy. Like sticking your nose in a bag of hops. It’s citric, as well. There’s a real hop complexity here. Smelling this is addictive.

Flavor: Puckering hops. This beer is very, very bitter, but not in a bad way. It’s grassy and spicy with citrus and mint notes. The hops actually play a melody on your tongue. The psychedelic guitar solo leaves your tongue in a state of shock. This is an orgy of hop flavor. The malt is barely noticeable. I know the malt is there, but it’s completely dominated. The hop flavor is real earthy and dank.  The hop aroma is prevalent.  After taking a few more sips I’m tasting the malt a little more. Did I mention a strong hop flavor?

Mouthfeel: Bitter, puckering, yet oddly smooth. The flavor goes to the center of the tongue as the bitterness pulsates to the sides. It leaves the tongue tingling.   There is a strong, grassy aftertaste that lingers till the next sip. It feels like your tongue’s been marinating in hop tea.

Drinkability: I love this. I like the over-the-top hop flavor. The alcohol presence is subdued, and it goes down rather smoothly.  I love hoppy bear and could drink an IPA daily, but I’ll save this beer for special occasions. It’s perfect for when when I want to have a bold, shocking flavor experience.

HUMP DAY BUMP (New Years Edition)  mp3 – Click to listen

SET LIST

1. Fantastic Voyage – Lakeside
2. Mary, Mary – Run-DMC
3. Do This My Way – Kid ‘N Play
4. Buttermilk Biscuits – Sir Mix-A-Lot
5. Renegades of Funk – Afrika Bambaata
6. Mega-Mixx II – The 2 Live Crew
7. Cooley High – Rodney O & Joe Cooley
8. Apache – Sugarhill Gang
   

Source greenUPGRADER

In other news there was a beer spill in Germany, which quickly froze in the winter cold. It’s the one time where I might actually eat yellow snow. Source

Closer to home an overturned semi sends beer barreling. It was BMC beer so it’s no loss. Story here.

Finally, Legends of Beer has a list of 15 beers you’ll probably never drink.

Happy dranks to you.

Today I’m reviewing Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout (8.29% ABV), brewed with 30 lbs of Hardcore Coffee from Sebastopol, CA. I don’t know how that compares to other coffee stouts on the market, but that’s some serious joe.

Served in a glass mug, from a 22 oz bottle, this stout pours dark with a slight, ruby glow when held to light.  It’s not as dark as one might think for a stout.  There’s a slight head that hangs around for a minute, more so if poured vigorously.

The aroma is sweet with strong coffee character.  Then chocolate and slightly nutty tones linger around the nose.  I’m gonna let this warm up for ten minutes and then give it a taste.  While we wait for that, let’s take a tour of the Lagunitas Brewing Company’s new facility.

Let’s drink.

Upon tasting, the coffee really comes to the forefront.  It’s very smooth, balancing malty sweetness with bitter coffee flavor.  A chocolate character looks to upstage the coffee, but hazelnut and caramel notes keep it in check.  You can get lost in the complexity of this sexy, smooth tasting brew.

At 8.29% ABV, the alcohol is very well hidden.  It’s like a sweet cup of coffee with sugar and a bit of caramel or toffee nut syrup.  The stout flavor is overpowered by the coffee, but it’s still quite malty so you know you’re drinking beer.  The coffee bitterness lingers on the tongue, which you may or may not like.  I do because I love coffee and I think it’s a good reminder of the caffeine buzz that’s imminent.  Be careful because the alcohol effect sneaks up on you.  I can’t help but think that the flavors may marry a little better if aged because the coffee is a little astringent.  I’m going to throw a couple in the cellar for later tasting.

I love this beer but I’m giving it 8/10 because of the astringency, color, and lack of strong stout characteristics.  I will be drinking more, and I think, with aging, this will turn into a 9/10.

This is a 1973, first edition, hard cover, Revolutionary Suicide by Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense.

The blue hand script is brilliant over the black and white photo of the revolutionary, shot up, torn.  It’s powerful, inspiring, and melancholy.

You can get Revolutionary Suicide: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) here, but it doesn’t include this iconic cover.  That’s a shame but I’m buying one anyway.  Don’t want to destroy this beautiful rare book.

In beer related news, a 21 year old Illinois man is accused of stealing beer from a store that had been recently destroyed by fire. He allegedly crossed the yellow caution tape and helped himself to a few cold ones. Freezing winter temperatures shattered many of the bottles, which police found him with. There’s only one question I have. Did he go for the craft brew or some BMC peepee water?

Check out this Beer Art at Brookstone Beer Bulletin. As a lifelong fan of the arts and stuff, I heartily endorse this product and/or event.

This has been Batches Blurbs. Until next time, happy drankin’.

“It’s always my turn, sometimes I let other people go.” - Salba

Inspired by the epic skatepark, The Pipeline of Upland, California, this brew is a clean, refreshing wheat ale, perfect after a hot day of skateboarding or chillaxin’ at the beach. This is a good entry beer into the world “good ale” because it’s clean, crisp, and not too hoppy or bold.

This ale pours golden with a nice head that sticks around, leaving a nice lace.  It’s best enjoyed in a weizen glass, with the yeast poured in. The yeast is what gives it a cloudy look and spicy, fruit flavor. Pouring the yeast in the glass is best achieved by leaving a couple inches of beer in the bottom of the bottle, swirling it around to mix the yeast in, and then pouring it.

15 year old BatchMasta™

One of the greatest snake session I ever experienced was at The Pipeline.  The combi pool was gnarly as f%#k.   The square part felt like all vert.  The full pipe was crazy huge.  One of the drawbacks was the air back then?  After 20 minutes of skating your lungs would start to hurt.  Seriously, taking a deep breath would kill.  I only got to skate it a few times, but it left a huge  impression on my skating.  I feel fortunate to have experienced it this legendary park and my knees have the scars to prove it.

Salba – Wheels of Fire

Gnarly slam (Chris Miller)

Rad Pipeline sesh

Read Story Here

To find the answers to these important questions and more, click here.

Source: LegendsOfBeer

Cold, Wet, & Grey in West Hollywood, CA

It’s raining like crazy in LA which makes today a perfect brew day.  I’m brewing an American Brown Ale.  Shooting for the upper range in both IBU’s and ABV.  It may be a little light as well, so maybe I shouldn’t even call this an ABA.  Is there such a thing as Cali Brown?  I guess I should taste the end result before I try coining new beer styles.

Stove Top Mash (Barley)

The barley used in the new beer is a third-generation offshoot of the original plant stored for five months in a Russian laboratory in the station.

Read more.

Source:  BLDGBLOG