The "Doctor" Is In

While perusing Twitter one day I stumbled upon a re-tweet about a gypsy brewer coming to Oklahoma. Naturally intrigued by new beers being brewed in our state I dug through Twitter to find out @DocBuckmans. He hails from the Yuengling state of Pennsylvania with professional brewing experience at The Church Brew Works in Pittsburgh. He certainly has a passion and you can get his full story by reading his blog: Doc Buckman's Beer. There you will get his line up of beers like Snake Oil IPA and Lazy Bully Lager.

Ethan works his craft. (Photo by D'Wain Carthen)

In the meantime Ethan has taken a job with Mustang providing sales support for the Tulsa area and developing recipes. Sounds pretty amazing for someone that's only 22. I had a big passion for drinking quality beer but Ethan certainly took it to a whole new level at that age. After meeting through Twitter we met several times to enjoy local craft beer like Prairie Standard at R Bar over poutine and at home with an eclectic beer collection while dining on Andolini's pizza. (Do you see a trend forming?) We went through a bit of our reserves that day so we decided why not do a home brew to replenish our stock.

With three extract brews under my belt I was chomping at the bit to brew again. We brought in fellow blog contributor D'Wain Carthen as well and commandeered his home in the process. (Thanks Jess!) D'Wain was new to the whole brewing process and this time so was I as we used the brew-in-a-bag method. 

But what did you brew you may ask? Well the Fall season is upon us so we kicked around the idea of a pumpkin ale. While pumpkins are highly favored; what was once unusual and unheard of seemed mainstream, so Ethan suggested a sweet potato porter. It sounds complex but it couldn't be simpler by adding sweet potato to your wort and boil up those starches and create a dark and malty porter.

Brew day went well thanks to High Gravity always having an amazing stock of grains, hops and yeast to choose from. The brew-in-a-bag method was a mystery but after witnessing first hand and squeezing out the wort I think I found a new method. Naturally we imbibed on Oklahoma Craft beer like Marshall's 5, Prairie Puncheon and Choc's Gratzer and consumed Siegi's fine German food. Awww Schnitzel! 

After imbibing and catching up on TV shows we need to watch Ethan made note of the new Unbridled Series that Mustang Brewery will soon release. "They will all be very hop forward for the styles and the hops we'll be using wont just be the typical west coast citra and cascade combo," Ethan said. They are developing a Tripple, India Red Ale and a Black Lager for some time this winter.

This is just part one of the home brew saga so stay tuned to hear how it turns out and you may even be able to sample our first Beer Is OK beer!

View from the South

(blog post by D'Wain Carthen)

Let's talk about beer! OK now that I have your attention let's get down to business. There's a new beer spot in town..and its name is McNellies South City. Yes. Our beloved McNellies has opened a new location in South Tulsa. For me this is great news. I literally live less that 5 miles from this place as opposed to having to drive 20 minutes downtown.

Convenience. Is. King. But is it everything? 

This is the question of which we seek to answer.

McNellie's South City is located on 71st. & Yale in Tulsa right by the Charleston's. If you have been to the OG McNellies in downtown Tulsa you are used to being greeted by a squeeky door before walking in to a room full of wood....and beer. South City delivers the wood and beer(this should he their tag line), but what they are missing is the worn ruggedness that we have all come to love. 

Everything in South City is new as it should be, but I instantly miss the old worn feel of miss matched chairs and Irish memorabilia.  We had a group of 8 and the wait was only 30 minutes, so the capacity is much larger at this location, if you exclude the upstairs area downtown.  As we waited I surveyed the taps. Instantly, I loved the bar setup. Double-sided wrap around bar and I spot Anthem Golden One and Rough Tail along with the usual suspects: Marshall and Prairie on tap. Support local!  There is also a nice beautiful cooler lining the back wall behind 
the bar. Loving the aesthetics. 

In place of the upstairs area there is a patio area outside.  This will be great when the whether is nice.  I could easily see some outside games coming about out there, like a big Jenga board...ping pong..etc.  There is certainly a lot more room for the place to evolve.  As does McNellie's downtown, the South location reflects the area of town that it is in.  I encourage my fellow craft beer drinkers to check out our new beer location and try some local brews.  I was disappointed to see many rounds of Coors Light tallboys being ordered by a table nearby us...but I guess you go with what you know.

While South City provides more space and convenience, for me I still feel like McNellies downtown is my place to be.  However, the idea is to make South City in to a great place to go have a beer.  The time is nigh!  They just opened within the last month. We need to build its character. Make it in to YOUR beer place. Sit at the bar, imbibe with those around, and have fun.

Cheers! 

-D'Wain