Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Ceramic beer mugs of the demigods

Another confession from the community, this time from Jim Gottuso.  Jim writes:

I'm a potter, not a brewer but a beer aficionado (a hophead). My cousin (Randy) is an accomplished brewer and brews out of his home. He told me this thanksgiving that he's coming up on 1000 batches and I think he's done over 80 different styles.

This year I took it upon myself to start making porcelain beer glasses and thought that maybe some of you beer connoisseurs might be interested.
Yes they would, Jim!  But first I want to point everyone over to Jim's blog, Sofia's Dads Pots. Get on over there and check out Jim's first hand account of the visits to his cousin Randy's house (go here to see last year's visit;  go here to see this year's) because to say that Randy is an accomplished brewer and beer geek is a huuuuuuuge understatement.  He has a set up to die for! Check out just one of his home brew tap contraptions:

  Exactly.  And if that wasn't bad ass enough, Jim has a 700 cubic foot walk-in beer fridge!  HELLS YES!

Santa, all I want for Christmas is Randy's set up.  That is all.

Now that I've gushed over Randy, let me do some pimpin' for my new beer homey, Jim Gottuso.  While Jim is a lover of beer, he makes his coin as a ceramic artist in Louisville, Kentucky.  Jim decided to create a kick ass line of beer mugs.  Check out these old school lookin' drinking wessels:


They remind me of something Hercules, Leonidas, Spartacus - or Homer Simpson - would drink out!

Granted, they're not cheap ($50 - $60), but these are individually made with the same quality craftsmanship as the beer you'll be drinking out of them.  You gotta pay for quality.  So shoot on over to Jim's online store and check out the selection. These would make a great Christmas present for the beer lover in your life.

Zivjeli!

4 comments:

Yeti said...

Mmmmm these are pretty awesome, but I'd be super bummed if I broke it!

jim said...

hi yeti, although porcelain has a reputation for being fragile, these glasses are very strong... much stronger than glass. of course, like anything, they're certainly not indestructible but that's an added advantage of the texture on the outside of them... it makes them easier to grip and hold onto after the brew takes effect.

Wesley Griffin said...

I'm a part of the team at Beer Universe (www.beer-universe.com) and I have to say, Randy may have almost as many beers in that walk-in fridge as we do in our entire database!

Who knows whether or not Randy will take the next step and begin brewing beer commercially, but I think it's informative to see that intermediary step most brewers must go through when they realize "Holy cow, I can do this really well and on a large scale. Maybe..."

If I've planted any seeds here, I'm happy to be compensated in FutureBeer. Great post, and also great ceramic mugs!

Glass Bottles said...

This sounds like a fantastic way to enjoy a quality beer. Are you able to personalize them, or are they handcrafted stock styles?