What's in a Name?

Another Dark Beer, so we went looking for more dirty names. No not that kind of dirty.  But this one also had a hint of vanilla and some sweetness. So when we found Ash Cat we knew it was the one. An Ash Cat was a term for the fireman of a steam locomotive. He would be in charge of shoveling coal into the engine which would leave him none too clean. But we all know that Firemen are full of sweetness right!

Bad order is our 1st attempt at a hazy IPA. Most of the time you don't want Haze, so you try to figure out what went wrong and clear it up for next time. This made me think of it as a defective style of beer. And that led me to Bad order.  Bad order in a train means one that needs to be repaired.  Seemed like a good fit to me. 

Yes, yes, yes, we know its not technically a train related name. (although there is a Bordertown train station in Australia) But anyway, most people have heard Seneca called the Little Town on the Border, or Bordertown, so when we made this Bourbon Barrel Black IPA it seemed like a good name for a beer that bordered beer and Bourbon.

Just Like it Sounds. This was the car for the circus clowns. While that is pretty straight forward this beer is not. We took a British Mild ale, known for low hop, low abv, low CO2, and said, you need some clowns in your life.  So we added Tootsie Rolls. Yes those. You know that candy that never goes away.  That is where I got the idea. Left over Halloween Candy. Like what do I do with a million left over tootsie rolls. AHH, put them in BEER! I did however buy fresh ones for the beer. ENJOY!

This is a beer that isn't even out yet, but it's coming May 5th for Cinco De Mayo.  We teamed up with Johnny O's Hot Sauce Company out of Grove, Oklahoma for this one.  He created a red jalapeno Chipotle with Habanero peppers to put in a re-imagined version of Coal Pusher.  So a chocolate peppery version of a great beer gave us this Cocoa Motive name.

Crossbuck signs indicate there is a railroad crossing.  We have all seen them, shaped like a X saying Rail Road Crossing (you can see one on our wall). This beer gets the name because its ingredients cross over the normal beer lines.  Coffee, Salted caramel, and then Nitro instead of CO2 give this a different feel from a normal beer. Like you have crossed over into some strange new world.

We dove right in to this Sour.  We wanted to do this for a long time and finally got to during the local blackberry harvest.  We used copious amounts of blackberries to fight off the intense sourness of this beer.  Why dead man's handle? Well this was device on traction rolling stock that would stop the train if the driver became incapacitated.  We hope the blackberries help stop your sour puss face from making you incapacitated as you drink this sour with just the right amount of sweetness.

Cool, refreshing, and light.  This is a wheat beer shandy with a hint of Pink Grapefruit. Doodlebug or hoodlebug is a nickname in the United States for a type of self-propelled railcar most commonly configured to carry both passengers and freight, often dedicated baggage, mail or express, as in a combine. And I just like to say Doodlebug.

No.. don't like them, No.. never made one, no, no, no, well local and frequent guest Andrew Poor finally got me to say YES! And he helped make this an outstanding MEAD that I love.  We use local Honey from Max Helms bees and a champagne yeast to make this a super dry, high octane Mead. The name is obviously from Andrew and his love of Solar and the fact that bees are the engine that give us this wonderful ingredient to use. We will try to have it each summer, so come see if its back on tap.

See the Mead info above.. this time we added copious amounts of local fresh blueberries

Eighth Notch or Notch eight - is the position of the throttle on a diesel-electric locomotive. That notch means full power. And that is what we did with this stout.  Chalked full of dark grains and oats for bold flavor and body and then barrel aged for 4 months helps crank this baby up to the eighth notch.

This beer started out to be one of our staples until we discovered we were missing some ingredients.  So Brew day turned into recipe making day and we came out with this. So in essence the flag of our staple fell for this new beer.  And in train terms this term describes those railroads, whose corporate names, have been dissolved through merger, bankruptcy, or liquidation.

In train terms this is the first shift of the day on the railroad, which is between 8 AM and 4 PM.  And of course you need to eat a cinnamon bun on your way to work.  Didn't have time to grab one?  Then this is your afternoon version!

Honestly, I just like this word.  It is also a term for a mallet that you use to put the bung in the barrell. So you got me... not a lot of train meaning here.

An activity for adults and children, in which you travel in a vehicle through a set of exciting and frightening experiences.

With this beer we are going for more or an exciting experience than frightening, unless you think it is scary good maybe.

When the tracks from the East and West met at a remote spot named Promontory Summit on May 10, 1869, a small crowd gathered, a few photos were taken, and the famous "Golden Spike" was dropped into a pre-drilled hole in the last railroad tie. Then everyone went home.

This was a high abv beer, and after a couple of them, a photo or two, you too would just... go home.  Hopefully under your own power.

Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin and Trains just go together right?  Well there are some Trains out there called the Pumpkin Train that will take you on rides through pumpkin patches etc.  

These are a semi-automatic form of railway coupling that allow rail cars and locomotives to be securely linked together without rail workers. -

This beer for me is a link between beer and fruit.  We coupled them together to get this apricot and strawberry infused gose.  Not to sour but very sweet.

We took Golden Spike, backed it off a little and added Tart cherry and pineapple to create a very dry fruity IPA. So... it is a LIGHT version of Golden Spike.

A light rail transit (LRT) system is an urban rail transit system with a "light" passenger capacity compared to heavy rail and metro systems. It is named to distinguish it from heavy rail, which refers to rapid transit systems as well as heavier regional rail/intercity rail.

Our first attempt at a milk stout. Nice sweetness with a creamy body.  throw in some cocoa nibbs and a touch of cherry.  YUMMM.

as far as train names go this was a local train that stopped at all or most of the points benefiting principally the dairy farmers who make daily milk shipments.  This was a slow train.  And that tied nicely with this nice sweet beer to sip slowly and enjoy.

Funny Name-Serious Beer - 

This beer is Styled after a friends favorite Duvel. Being a Belgian Beer, I decided that a Belgian train theme was in order.  

In 1835 the first railway in Continental Europe opened. Belgium's first engines were imported, of the engines brought over one was called Olifant meaning Elephant. 

The elephant being strong and bold just like this beer seemed to fit.  Duvel, meaning devil, we went with a different spelling and Elephant Devil (or Olifant Duivel)was born.

What is more October than Pumpkins? Even though this beer has no pumpkin in it, I was inspired by the thought of millions of pumpkins being moved by rail during that time of year.  

An Open wagon was designed primarily for the transportation of bulk goods.  Can't you see it now?  A big ole Wagon of Pumpkins rolling across the plains?  Don't know if it happened, but in my head it did.

Remember the mess ups from Slippery Rail, well this is one.  The original name was Chamoberry. But a friend kept calling it the pink lady beer,  So I had to change it to Pink Lady. Again, Nothing to do with a train, but I own the place and can do what I want SO BACK OFF!!

The doppelbock beer style is a German Style that  is very food-friendly and rich in melanoidins reminiscent of toasted bread. 

The S-Bahn is the name of the high speed train in Germany.

 A temporary track that allows trains to bypass an obstacle that blocks the normal track section.  To me it is what I do all summer while sitting outside enjoying a light refreshing beer swatting at flies.

Think Smokey version of Track 94.  The Smoke Stack is is the part of a steam locomotive through which smoke leaves the boiler.

Another Favorite name and a Crowd Favorite Beer. Soot Happens is just like it is meant to sound. S**T Happens.   Any one that has ever brewed will say the same thing.

Soot, of course is a black powdery or flaky substance consisting largely of amorphous carbon, produced by the incomplete burning of organic matter. This is found in the Smoke Stack and other areas of the train.

This name really just came together for me, this was our Christmas Beer or Winter Warmer, full of Cinnamon, Ginger and other spices.  When thinking about names the Christmas Star kept coming to mind. I got the thinking about the Wise Men Gazing at the stars.

It just so happens that Stargazer, in train terms, meant a Brakeman who fails to see signals. Maybe from Gazing at the stars.

The Traquero was a Mexican Train worker in the old days.

This beer is a play on a chili lime Margarita.  Hint of lime tartness and a little salty kick from the chili salt makes for a very refreshing beer.

Another friend (I know you think I really don't have this many friends... But I guess I do) came up with this recipe, so I let him name it.  He came up with Twisted Spike because the beer is a play on a Pilsner, not quite a traditional pilsner, of course Spike from railroad spikes.  They easily become bent or twisted so it fit.

Why Wheel Monkey?  Because Monkeys like to have fun.. And a pickle beer sounded fun. So we went with it.

As far as train lingo a wheel monkey was a car inspector.

Wigwag was just a fun word. It's the train signal that swings back and forth at the crossing to warn of oncoming trains.  Here is the story about "Her" Release.

We would like to introduce WigWag,  she loves long walks thru orchards, sunsets and hot days. She’s only 4.7 but packs so much flavor the pint can’t contain her.  You might say She’s a real peach.  A Peach Kolsch that is.