[Pipe-announce] 20080810 - several new offerings

[Kurt Huhn]

There hasn't been a new update in quite a while, so this one is a big 
one with lots of new stuff.

First is a really nice rhodesian in the countryman line.  The entire 
story about this pipe can be read here:
http://pipecrafter.blogspot.com/2008/08/changes-to-countryman-line.html
You should start seeing many more updates, with a heavy emphasis on the 
countryman line, in a few short weeks.  Here's the pipe:
http://www.pipecrafter.com/pipes/countryman/rhodesian12.php

Next is a dublin-ish pot that I decided to call... dublin pot.  Hooray 
for active imaginations!  At just a hair over one ounce, this is a 
lightweight pipe, but still a real joy to look at:
http://www.pipecrafter.com/pipes/cityman/dublin_pot1.php

Here's a really nice sandblast egg that I'm personally very fond of. 
This is the kind of pipe that I buy when I've got some extra cash laying 
around (which isn't often):
http://www.pipecrafter.com/pipes/cityman/egg5.php

Next are the inaugural pipes in a new year-round offering of 
interpretations of seasonal beers.  I decided to combine two aspects of 
my life that I enjoy and actively persue, and create a series of regular 
special edition pipes based on beers associated with a particular time 
of year.  One of my great passions is good beer, including brewing and 
historical research, so the pairing of pipes and beer was inevitable. 
These next two are the summer pipes, the Summer Ale and the Pale Ale.

The Summer Ale is an interpretation of beers in that genre.  While 
there's no official style called "summer ale", they are largely 
recognized as having a light color and flavor, with low maltiness and 
hop flavor and aroma, but spiced with peppery notes from spices, and 
possibly citrus notes either from seasoning or particular varieties of 
hops.  This pipe is my attempt at capturing those flavors:
http://www.pipecrafter.com/pipes/seasonal/summer_ale.php

The Pale Ale is another of my favorite beers, and unlike it's friend 
above, does have a specific style guide associated with it.  The malty 
flavors of the barley, along with an underlying sweetness, are more 
present than in the summer ale, but are balanced by increased hop 
bitterness.  For me, pale ales are the embodiment of adventure. 
Sometimes that first step out from the impersonal mass produced cans and 
bottles of the mega-brewers, and into the land of the lovingly created 
craft brewed ales and lagers of small regional brewers, takes a bit of 
an adventurous spirit.  After all, how many folks would belly up to a 
bar and ask for a Burning River?  Enough about beer, here's the pipe:
http://www.pipecrafter.com/pipes/seasonal/pale_ale.php

The last thing I want to show off is a pipe that ended up not being for 
sale.  This one was well on it's way to being one hell of a pipe, but 
the discovery of a flaw in the tobacco chamber ruled that out.  I made a 
decision to finish it anyway and keep it for myself.  As any pipe maker 
knows, that flaw could well amount to nothing, and the pipe might 
outlast me and end up getting passed on to a son-in-law or something, 
but it just can't be sold.  I actually wrote up a couple blog entries on 
the subject here:
http://pipecrafter.blogspot.com/2008/08/epic-fail.html
http://pipecrafter.blogspot.com/2008/08/risen-from-failure.html
Here's the pics:
http://www.pipecrafter.com/pipeimages/phoenix1.jpg
http://www.pipecrafter.com/pipeimages/phoenix1-alt1.jpg
http://www.pipecrafter.com/pipeimages/phoenix1-alt2.jpg
http://www.pipecrafter.com/pipeimages/phoenix1-alt3.jpg

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

-- 
Kurt Huhn
pipecrafter at pipecrafter.com
http://www.pipecrafter.com

Visit my pipe making blog:
http://pipecrafter.blogspot.com/