Tuesday, May. 19, 2009

Waterford Brew Fest a huge hit

Brew Fest a huge hit

A big thank you to Kathy and Scott Marcus for heading up the Brew Fest 2009 at the pool cabana last weekend. Also a huge thank you to our resident brew master, Bob Phillips. Without Bob we couldn't have had this event.

By the time I got there everyone had already sampled the beer and everyone was having a great time socializing.

Kathy sent me some information to share about the evening.

"Bob has been brewing for about five years. He started with a 20-minute boil kit from weekend brewer. After he became comfortable with that, he started partial mash and currently does all grain beermaking. Bob says "Each step is a little more involved, a little more time consuming, but it produces a much higher quality brew." He started out bottling and almost exclusively kegs now. Bob said: 'You can sink quite a bit of money into this hobby. I must say however that I have stayed with this hobby, continued to grow and learn and still have as much eagerness to learn more as I did when I started.' "

And are we glad he did. His beer was excellent.

About 50 people attended and we started out tasting the home-brewed Samuel Adams Summer Ale, then the home-brewed Samuel Adams Boston Ale and then compared those two to the commercial brewed Sam Adams beers. Hands down everyone liked the home brew by a landslide. The home-brewed Summer Ale was a huge hit.

Next we sampled the home-brewed Whistling Pig Irish Red Ale and compared that to the commercial George Killian's Irish Red and again everyone like the home-brewed much better.

We also tasted Spaten beer, a pilsner from Germany, Sam Adams lagers and Guinness Stout. And again the favorite was the home brewed.

Most of the tasters said the home-brewed was smoother, fresher and tastier than the commercial brews. Most said the commercial beers were a bit bitter.

The weather was outstanding, a great breeze, good music, good fun and yummy beer.

We had many residents sign up to form a Home Brewing Club.

Royalty in Waterford

Yes it is true, we have royalty living among us. I have heard from a very reliable source that one of our neighbors, Val from Harvest Drive, is known as the "king of mangoes" in the Philippines. I heard a funny story that on his last trip to the Philippines, he was treated like royalty by others in that village. Wow.

The mango plantation has been in his family for generations. They keep it organic as did his forefathers. He maintains the entire operation by webcam and video monitors spread out around the plantation. Good thing for the Internet!

Mangoes are well known in the region for being a natural form of pheromones and therefore are in high demand. They are also good in tropical cocktails, says Val. He was attracted to Waterford Plantation partly because the name reminded him of the old country his heart longs for.

Next time you see Val you don't need to bow, a wave will do in the USA.

Happy Birthday, Tina Carbone

Tina and her husband Chris moved into Waterford about six months ago. They have two children, CJ and Gabriella. Besides taking care of her babies, Tina teaches anatomy at Coastal Carolina University. Hope you enjoyed your birthday, Tina.

If you have a story about Waterford to share, email lombardijenn@yahoo.com. If you would like to contribute information about happenings in your neighborhood, email ycf@thesunnews.com.