Volunteer Firefighter Spots for SFFMA

The State Firemen’s and Fire Marshals’ Association called on The MAD House to help them develop a volunteer firefighter recruiting campaign for Texas. Along with collateral materials, we also produced a couple of television PSAs and a 5 minute mini-documentary. The good folks at Beef and Pie Productions are responsible for the ace camera work and editing. Tequila Mockingbird helped out with sound design, background music is by Kevin Russell of The Gourds and Shiny Ribs fame, and Dale Watson provided the voice-overs.

Here are the two PSAs:

Thanks for watching. We are aiming for a couple more in the by Q2 of ‘10.

Cheers!
LM

Hoping Lumpy’s IP-Alot Will Redeem for Botched Trunkload

Well, what started out as a good idea has gone terribly wrong. The Trunkload Oaked Chocolate Porter turned out to be a gushing, foaming turd. I either didn’t let it ferment long enough, or used too much priming sugar, or (most likely) let some kind on naughty wild bug infect the beer. No bottle grenades, but I’m dumping what’s left. Here’s what happens when I open them – and they don’t stop until it’s mostly gone. Check it:

With that disappointment out of the way, I set about brewing the next batch: Lumpy’s IP-Alot – an American IPA.  And after waiting forever to get a boil out the porter on the stove top, I finally dug the turkey fryer out of the storage room and did it the easy way. And, it was a helluva lot quicker. I know, I know – what took so long to use the proper tools.

So, with the gas cooker, and a nice clear evening, I got the IPA going. Great boil.  Wonderful aromas from the Columbus and Cascade hops. Interesting color. Anxious to see how it looks when it’s all settled out.

Brew day: Lumpy's IP-Alot American IPA

Now, it’s in primary and started bubbling away Sunday afternoon.

Will update with more pics and such when I move it over to secondary.

Cheers!

Dig the Shoes

I likes my celery.

From Vibram FiveFingers
to the note “Vibram FiveFingers Photo Contest Winners!“

Tree Launch

Saw this today and had to share. Excellent.

This certainly gives me a few ideas. Hmmm….

The MAD House & Beef and Pie Put The Wraps On Some Fun TV PSAs

Spot: "Cow" Photo: Beef and Pie Productions, The MAD House

Howdy all. Hope you are having a happy holiday season. Over the past couple of months, the slightly bent creative crew at The MAD House. along with our friends at Beef and Pie Productions, put together a couple of television public service announcements for the State Firemen and Fire Marshals’ Association. The goal is recruitment for volunteer fire departments throughout the state. We’ll break the spots late in the first quarter of 2010, along with supporting collateral materials. Here are a couple of location still shots from Beef and Pie’s RED camera. Look for the finished spots here after the first of the year.

Spot: "Drive Thru" Photo: Beef and Pie Productions, The MAD House

Spot: "Cow" Photo: Beef and Pie Productions, The MAD House

Spot: "Drive Thru" Photo: Beef and Pie Productions, The MAD House

Trunkload Oaked Chocolate Porter Gets a Label

Trunkload label, designed by the MonkeyBoy.

Visiting MAD Therapist MonkeyBoy designed this for my latest homebrew concoction, called Trunkload. It’s an oaked, chocolate porter. The “oaked” part comes from the french oak chips that soaked in the secondary fermentation. The “chocolate” comes from the organic cacao nibs which were also “dry nibbed” in the secondary. It’s been in the bottles now for about three weeks. Getting better all the time. Mmmm.

Energy: Old School and New School

Driving through west Texas Tuesday night, somewhere between Sweetwater and Lubbock, my son and I saw all of these red blinking lights dotting the countryside. It was a very dark and foggy evening, which made the whole scene fairly eerie. The highway finally took us close enough to some to see that they were the blinking red warning lights on top of energy producing windmills. Hundreds and hundreds of them.

It’s been about 4 years since I last drove through this region on my way to Durango, and there were some windmills back then. But nothing compared to now.

On the way back home on Wednesday afternoon we were able to see just how many there are. Many are on farm land towering above cotton and corn. Wind farms growing on traditional farms. In some places the giant propellers stretch as far as the eye can see, surrounded neatly by rows and rows of crops.

Interspersed, occasionally, with the windmills are the symbols of our oil addiction. Oil pumps working away, sucking the crude up from below. Even at night you know the pumps are there – by the smell in the air.

Oily

Old school vs. new school.

GABF – More Pics from Sessions 2-4

Friday night was pretty wild at this year’s Great American Beer Festival (and at the “after events”). Did I mention there was a Sex Toy Show in the hall next to the beer fest? And there was also a huge Women and Faith convention in town. Talk about a diverse, and, in some cases, perverse crowd!

Friday night saw numerous “Tweetups” including gatherings with @TheBeerWench Ashley, @TeecycleTim Tim, @ChipperDave Dave, @BeerTodd Todd, @Hookedonwinter PJ, and others with handles like @pacificbrewnews, @olllllo, @SudsyMaggie, @jeffbearer, @BeachBumChris, @waynethetrain, @sarahhuska, @beermolly, @ironorr, @beerinator, @misohungry and on and on. What a lovable bunch of happy, geeky beer freaks. We wandered the aisles of the hall back and forth trying everyones’ favorites.

When the Friday night session ended, the partying began in earnest. Nothing like a town full of brewers and beer lovers all trying to go to the same places. Lines were insane. Falling Rock, an excellent Denver beer bar,  seemed to be the epicenter. Outside the crowds were overflowing even as the door guy did his best to maintain the correct fire code number. Inside, it only took a few minutes, surprisingly, to get a beer. Downstairs, the brewers were hiding. Glancing around the room was like looking at the Who’ Who in brewing. Special releases were hauled out, samples poured, and a good time was had by all.

Saturday afternoon’s closed session was a bit more laid back. It was a good opportunity to hit some of the booths that had been overrun the evening before. Later in the session, awards were announced with Pizza Port taking home a boat load.

Here are some additional pics.

Cheers!

Todd Parker of Copper Canyon Brewing.

Jim Koch from Sam Admas is somewhere in that pile of people.

The crowd at always popular Oskar Blues.

Amy Cartright and Hollie from Austin's Independence Brewing.

Brian Peters, head brewer at Uncle Billy's and Vickie Jones.

Anat Baron of Beer Wars: The Movie, Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head, and Greg Koch of Stone Brewing.

#GABFTweetup. @TeecycleTim, TheBeerWench,Tim's buddy, @hookedonwinter, excited volunteer, @olllllo,@pacificbrewnews.

Ashley TheBeerWench, and the boys from NOLA Brewing.

The Shiner folks were there with a Spoetzl replica.

Session One – GABF Denver

Day one of the Great American Beer Festival got under way to the sounds of bagpipes and thunderous cheers from the crowd. Here are some pics from day 1.

Jason, head brewer at Freetail Brewing in San Antonio

Charlie Papazian

A Twitter #GABFTweetup

512's Kevin Brand works the GABF crowd.

Sam Calagione from Dogfish Head Brewing

Sam Calagione from Dogfish Head Brewing & Canyon Creek's Todd Parker

Kevin Brand and the crew from 512 Brewing

More to come from sessions 2-4.

Cheers!

New Hampshire Brewers Festival

We recently had the good fortune to hook up with Jay Riley and the New Hampshire Brewers Festival for some logo design fun. MAD designer Steve Chandler (aka MonkeyBoy) did an awesome job knocking out these logos on a super tight turn-around. Simple. To the point, and beery!

New Hampshire Brewers Festival logos by The MAD House designer Steve Chandler