Yaktoberfest 2012: Now on www.Yaktoberfest.org

First glass of a fresh glass of Kölsch

We had our first planning session for Yaktoberfest 2012 last night.  Several of us homebrewers came together and sampled each other's wares.  I unveiled my just-bottled Kölsch, which seemed to be received warmly.  We have a few new ideas for this year's fest.  We're also proud to announce a new home for Yaktoberfest on the web:  www.yaktoberfest.org is up.  Bookmark it and check back for festival announcements.

Fun Fun Fun 2012: Lineup Out; Music Mixes for Each Stage

The lineup for this year's edition of Fun Fun Fun, our favorite Austin music festival, came out last week.  While last year's fest was heavier on the metal, this year the hip-hop and electronic acts are out front.  As noted in an earlier post, Run-D.M.C. are this year's headliners, and they'll be joined by a barrage of strong hip-hop acts both rising and classic on the Blue Stage, from Schoolboy Q to Rakim.  Three more stages will feature a mix of indie rock, hard stuff and comedy, plus a few "events" like the veggie hot dog eating contest. The full lineup is below.

The last few years, we've made a big music mix to celebrate the lineup release.  This year, we thought we'd try something different:  Four stages, four mixes.  Into metal or punk rock?  Check out the Black Stage mix.  Like your music more twee and drippy?  Orange is for you.  Between the four, there's a boatload of music (and humor) to check out.

2012 FUN FUN FUN FESTIVAL LINEUP

BLUE STAGE

RUN-D.M.C. A$AP ROCKY GIRL TALK

DE LA SOUL ETIENNE DE CRECY  BUN B

STARFUCKER  ARAABMUZIK DILLON FRANCIS RAKIM

DANNY BROWN THE OCTOPUS PROJECT TRUST TANLINES

DMC KREAYSHAWN MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS ASTRONAUTALIS

SCHOOLBOY Q CHARLI XCX PENGUIN PRISON EL TEN ELEVEN CLASS ACTRESS

ANAMANAGUCHI DIAMOND RINGS NITE JEWEL NICK WATERHOUSE NICKY DA B A.DD+

MUSTARD PIMP DAUGHN GIBSON GOLD FIELDS ICONA POP 10 YR ORTHY LOVE INKS BAAUER

AMERICAN ROYALTY VOCKAH REDU FEATHERS

ORANGE STAGE

EDWARD SHARPE & THE MAGNETIC ZEROS  PUBLIC IMAGE LTD.

EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY SANTIGOLD

THE HEAD AND THE HEART SUPERCHUNK REAL ESTATE

THE BLACK ANGELS LUCERO MINUS THE BEAR THE PROMISE RING

SURFER BLOOD DEERHOOF PAUL BANKS (OF INTERPOL) BOB MOULD

WHY? ATLAS SOUND SHARON VAN ETTEN BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW

OMAR RODRIGUEZ LOPEZ CURSIVE ...AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD

GIVERS HELIO SEQUENCE TWIN SISTER NOUVELLE VAGUE DIAMOND RUGS DUM DUM GIRLS

TITUS ANDRONICUS BEACH FOSSILS BRENDAN BENSON DOLDRUMS DISAPPEARS GIANT SAND

YELLOW OSTRICH THE JEZABELS A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS FANG ISLAND FOXY SHAZAM

DEATHFIX CULT OF YOUTH BALMORHEA UME THE GOLDEN BOYS NOT IN THE FACE HUNDRED VISIONS

BLACK STAGE

REFUSED TURBONEGRO X (PERFORMING LOS ANGELES)

TOMAHAWK AGAINST ME! FUCKED UP WAVVES

SEAWEED THE SWORD CONVERGE YOUTH OF TODAY

LAGWAGON BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME NAPALM DEATH

NOMEANSNO OFF! THE BRIEFS THE SPITS BARONESS BRAID MUNICIPAL WASTE

JAPANDROIDS VALIENT THORR TORCHE DWARVES LITURGY EARTH THE RIVERBOAT GAMBLERS

LA DISPUTE PEELANDER Z RED FANG DEVIN CHEAP GIRLS DEAFHEAVEN KVELERTAK

BURNING LOVE PALLBEARER RESIDUAL KID JOYCE MANOR POWER TRIP FLESH LIGHTS THE YOUNG TIA CARRERA

YELLOW STAGE

DAVID CROSS HANNIBAL BURESS

WYATT CENAC DOUG BENSON

EUGENE MIRMAN SAUL WILLIAMS

JON BENJAMIN TIG NOTARO W. KAMAU BELL  DUNCAN CARSON

MORTIFIED SESSIONS FFF DATING GAME BATTLE RAP ROYAL

AIR SEX CHAMPIONSHIP RAMIN NAZER DOUG MELLARD CHRIS CUBAS

NEW MOVEMENT SKETCH COMEDY TROUPE ALTERCATION PUNK ROCK COMEDY HOUR

VEGGIE HOT DOG EATING CONTEST TACO CANNON WEIRD AL TRIBUTE BAND (MIDGETMEN)

NOLA COMEDY HOUR  KATH BARBADORO CHRISTOPHER WONDER MAGIC SHOW 

KEVIN SECONDS (SPOKEN WORD) SETH COCKFIELD DANNY PALUMBO

ASHLEY BARNHILL ERIC KRUG JOE SIB JAKE FLORES CAMERON BUCHHOLTZ DEREK PHELPS KAT RAMZINSKI  BRENDAN K. O'GRADY

Fun Fun Fun 2012: Run-D.M.C. Reunion Highlights Lineup Leaks

The full lineup for the 2012  Fun Fun Fun Festival  has not been released yet.  To appease eager fans (and entice ticket sales), festival organizers have been "leaking" a handful performers over the past couple of weeks.  The latest news, and probably biggest so far, is a partial reunion of old school rap legends and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members Run-D.M.C.  Living members Joseph "Run" Simmons and Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniel (DJ Jason "Jam-Master Jay" Mizell was murdered in 2002) will reunite to perform together for the first time in a decade at this years Fun Fun Fun.

As someone who purchased Run-D.M.C.'s first album on cassette in my early teens and a fan of hip-hop since the golden age, I'm excited.  After watching fellow old-schoolers Public Enemy rock the festival with overflowing energy last year, I'd bet on the duo delivering a good set.

If you happen to catch this post early and are hear in Austin, head over to the Mohawk RIGHT NOW - some Fun Fun Fun tickets are being given away during a "Run-D.M.C. Happy Hour" from 5-8.  If not, well, buy tickets to the fest?  In the meantime, here's a little update of Run-D.M.C.'s "It's Like That" produced by Jason Nevins a few years back.




By the way, other leaks so far include Atlas Sound, Bob Mould, Against Me!, The Head and the Heart, Danny Brown and fellow rap legend Rakim, a late scratch from last year's festival.

Music Mix Archives Added to FBtA (along with "Stella Got a Fella")

Ever wonder what becomes of the music mixes we post here in our right sidebar?  After staying up on our homepage for a time, most of our music mixes used to vanish into the internet's hazy cloud.  We wanted to give those mixes a second life, so we created the From Boston to Austin Music Mix Archives.  So if you wanted to revisit ACL 2010 or check back in on my mom's 45s from the '50s, the link is now up there on the menu bar.  The page is full of widgets and takes a few secs to load, but your patience will be rewarded.

Speaking of those 45s, when we first posted about revisiting my collection of my mother's 7" records, we mentioned a certain tune by the Fireflies, "Stella Got a Fella."  At the time, the song was not available on Grooveshark and therefore didn't make it into our music mix.  Since then, Grooveshark's scope has grown, and "Stella" is now there in all its glory.  We added it to our "Mom's 45s from the '50s" mix, so go check it out.

Yaktoberfest 2012 Update: Upgraded Beer Equipment (Equals Upgraded Beer?)

After several years of brewing with a mix of grains and malt extracts, I decided to upgrade and make the switch to an all-grain home brewing rig.  All-grain brewing takes a bit longer than extract brewing does, but the ingredients are cheaper.  Plus, the process is more "authentic."  And "authentic" equals "hardcore," which is a virtue, right?

With a few parts from Lowe's and the local home brew store, Austin Homebrew Supply, and a few hours of tinkering, I was ready to experiment.  Yesterday I started up a new batch of a version of the Kolsch that was a hit at last year's Yaktoberfest.  I soaked a mix of cara pils and 2-row malts, plus a bit of wheat, in hot water, then sparged with 5 gallons of hot water.  After cooking the wort with hops for an hour and cooling it, I pitched a tube of White Labs German Ale/Kolsch Yeast.  That was about 8:30 last night.

Early this morning, there wasn't much activity, but by late morning a bit of foam was starting to develop on top.  By noon, a nice kreusen was taking shape.

Not much else to do but wait for now.  In a couple of weeks, we'll be ready to bottle.  And in a month, I'll know whether this recipe's Yaktoberfest-worthy or not.