Metal, Lamb, Beer, Candy, and Other Spooktacular Treats!

Hello friends! Now that we got our jack o' lanterns all carved up and ready to go, we're preppin' up for the Spooktacular Times ahead and in the meantime we thought you might like some good times and some tasty treats so that's what we've got!

Kickin' things off on Thursday we've got our weekly cask, and this time around we're takin' a brief breather from dark beer to tap something that's a bit more relevant to the events of the weekend: Orange Red Dead! And just to "kick things up a notch" we jammed that sucker fulla fresh 'n' fruity Idaho 7!

Yasss

And why, praytell, is Orange Red Dead relevant to the events of the weekend? Well, we brewed that beer for Brewtal Fest - more specifically, it was made in collaboration Black Tusk(!) to pair with their set - and that fest is this dang ol' weekend! The downside (for many/most of you) is that the fest is in Pittsburgh, which is mostly known for being a bit of a drive* from Boston, so it might take a bit of planning if you want to go. But if you do go it's certain to be fun as hell because there's tons of great bands playing and even more great breweries and ok fine you get the point I'll stop rubbing it in.

Anyway, things ain't stop movin' at Home Base when our road crew is on the road, and this Friday we're workin' with our friends at Brato and also the American Lamb Board (which is definitely something we had heard of before this event) and we're hosting a Lamb Jam! There's gonna be lamb sausages and beer pairings and... that's probably about it, but it's gonna be tasty!

Hot diggity lamb that is one heckuva sausage special

Speaking of meats that taste good, we're havin' our cured beef friends from Kalahari Biltong in the house on Saturday and they'll be dishin' out some good tastes for all your sampling needs!

I do not believe the boots are included in the sampling. Could be wrong tho

Lastly, we gotta put in a plug for our Halloween Spooktacular that we're throwin' on Saturday the 27th. There's gonna be a costume contest and prizes and oh hell yes there's gonna be tasty barbecue during the day and also there's gonna be beer and candy pairings all dang weekend! Now, I admit that our Candy Game might have been a smidge lackluster last year, so to pay our penance this time around we spent a good long time over the weekend eating candy and tasting beer in order to come up with just the right pairings and then we spent an even longer time feeling kind of gross because it turns out that eating a full pound of candy and then chasing it with three beers isn't always the best idea in the world - though we do encourage you to find out for yourself next week!

The aftermath of our staff candy pairing. WE DID IT FOR YOU

​...Anyway we almost forgot the OTHER best part: Apple Brandy Barrel Shelby! Remember Shelby? The lightly-smoky imperial stout that came in a sweet special glass? A glass which we still have in stock and whose proceeds go to a good cause? Anyway, we were rather smitten with Shelby and so we decided to give our future selves a present in the form of barrel-aged Shelby! She's been resting in an apple brandy barrel all year (since New Year's Day, if memory serves) and she's ready to come out and mingle and delight your tastebuds once more so we figured we'd show her off at our Halloween party! And oh man, age has done her wonders - the smoke may have faded, but it's been replaced by heaps of dark fruit and chocolate and vanilla and coconut and oh man it's so good (though we don't have a lot, so if you wanna getcha some, we suggest you do it as soon as she's tapped).

... Mostly because we gon' drink it all ourselves if you don't stop us

* Places that are closer to Pittsburgh than Boston include: Detroit, Indianapolis, and Louisville - none of which are places we consider to be "near Pennsylvania."