First Time For Everything

As a home brewer I've always heard other people's brewing disaster stories (exploding this and that). I figured they were either urban legends or the result of carelessness.

So, I walk into where I keep my beer and smell, well, beer. My first thought was that when I was moving something around I had hit a bottle and cracked it or some such. After closer inspection, it was obvious that a full bottle had broken. And there was beer stains on the ceiling. Something clearly had blown. It's been warm here, but not that hot. Apparently I had not filled one of the bottles enough. At least it wasn't a bottle from a really good batch.

I'll have to keep this in mind when I bottle the Swine Flu Porter early next week.

Got Me Some Mangy Pussy

When my wife and the HB were leaving the house this morning to spend a good chunk of Sunday with my mil, they came across a very sad looking black cat in front of our house. It was totally exhausted (could barely keep its head up), had matted fur and ridden with mange. So, I called to find a shelter that was open on Sundays and went and got our rarely used dog carrier. About 30 minutes later (it was tired, but its flight reaction was still operational), we were able to corral the cat into the carrier and off to the shelter.

That was all well and good, but it put me and the NZS about an hour behind in heading to my brewing buddy's house. More on that in a bit. However, the big news was that it gave me the opportunity to take the NZS to Tommy's for the first time. He's had In-and-Out burgers, but, IMHO Tommy burgers are far superior. The NZS now agrees.

So, we grabbed some burgers and chili fries and headed to my brewing buddy's house. I like dark hoppy beers (stouts and porters), he tends to like lighter ones. Since we were at his house, I picked up stuff for a red bitter ale. I'll letchya know how it comes out, in about 2 months.

One cool thing about heading to his house is that he has the DirectTV Sunday ticket for the NFL games. He primarily has it because he and his wife are big Packer fans (she grew up in Oconomowoc, WI). Since the Pack isn't playing until tomorrow night, he wasn't married to any one game in particular. So, we dialed into the Sunday Ticket RedZone channel. Essentially, on this channel they switch to games where a team is about to score. As such, you get to see lots of improtant action and NO COMMERCIALS! It's the first time that I've really wanted to have Sunday Ticket. But, since it's a crapshoot as to whether I'm even home on Sundays, I'll still probably pass. Even with DVR, I still wouldn't get to see most of it.

Should be a good work week. Finally got some client data on Friday that I've been waiting for and I launched another survey in Asia about an hour ago. The HB has school tomorrow and and half-day on Tuesday.

The NZS is off all week, but his football team crushed during their first round playoff game on Friday night, meaning they have another one this Friday, so he'll have practice and physical therapy all week. He called me right after their playoff game and they were very psyched, espcially considering the nearly 3 hour bus ride they had to get there. He really enjoys the comaradarie of being on a team so this was a big thrill for him.

Hm....Beer......

I busted our the new brown ale with my fellow home brewer today. It was delish (needs another couple of weeks in the bottle, but that's OK at this point). The beer has a nice hoppy finish since I dry hopped it. My brew buddy requested that we make something maltier next time. I'm good with that. If you know of any good recipes that bring out the malty flavor, please send them my way.

Tonight I made pasta salad for dinner. Weird in that it's usually a summer staple here, but it's the first time I've made it in a while. Nothing too fancy: Rigatoni, zucchini, onions, 3 types of olives, broccoli, and cheese. I made the vinaigrette from olive oil, balsamic vinegar, ginger, garlic and molasses. I think I know what I'm having for lunch tomorrow.

Oh, and in the "I told you so" department, the Angels ended up splitting their series with the Yankees (too many errors today). This put them at 7-3 for the trip. They're in first place by 11.5 games over Texas, maintained their best AL record of 2 games over Tampa and increased their lead by 2 additional games over Boston in NY. Not a bad trip at all.

In the marital bliss department, the new sectional couch came in and it is VERY comfy. Better yet, the wife saw things my way and we're not going to get new chairs...probably just get them reupholstered. Whew.

International Cultural Emergency

Lola, get yer arse on the next Aer Lingus flight. This cannot stand. A tourist caught drinking Bud in an Irish pub should be thrown out. But a local? They should sent to beer drinking re-education camp or something.

This, plus a Belgian company buying Anheuser-Busch (the purveyors of Bud, etc).

Can't wait for my home made brown ale to be ready...a couple of more weeks.

Belated Brewing

Last Sunday I just had the hankering to brew. I figured I would invite someone over to help out or hold off until Thursday when my normal brew buddy came over. But, my neighbor was up for it, so we brewed.

We whipped up a brown ale (think Newcastle, but with more hops). The recipe was interesting in that it called for the grains to be steeped in a separate vessel from dissolving the malt. Usually I'll steep then add the malt in the same pot. Using smaller amounts of liquid made the temperatures easier to manage, so if this comes out good I'll use the technique again.

I'm a little concerned about the heat and its effect on the fermentation. It's fermenting in a closet in a north facing room, so it's the coolest place in the house. But, yeast likes things at about 72 degree Fahrenheit, and I know that it's warmer than that in there now. Things should start cooling down tonight, so I may just have to give it an extra day or two for the yeast to get going again.

I'll bottle it in about a week or so (after fermentation), then it would be ready to drink in two more weeks after that. But, I'll give it another 4 weeks so the tastes really start to come together.

All this beer talk is making me thirsty. I'll make my next post after I pop one open.

Brew Bash

It's a beautiful day. The sun is shining, birds are singing and later today I'll be making beer. Woot! Er...Wort! For those of you who care, me and my buddy Joe will be whipping up some oatmeal stout.

I've been brewing for about 15 years. I knew some people who made beer in college and it sucked. It wasn't until a friend of mine made some good beer that I tried making my own. I don't make my own wine because I've never had good homemade wine. I'd say outside of the china, I use the brewing equipment more than any other wedding present the wife and I got (we were married in 1993).

I won't go into the details of brewing (the classic book is Papazian's, even with it's cheesy 70's pictures), but it's like making a liquid cake to start a yeast farm. You want to give the yeast something good and (at first) sugary to eat so that they piss alcohol and fart carbon dioxide. Using different grains, yeast and hops affect the flavor. For examle, the darker the grain the richer the flavor. Some yeasts give off crisp, big bubbles (like in a pale ale) and others give off smaller, creamier bubbles (like in a Guinness). Hops give beer it's bitterness and floral aroma. I'm a "hop head" in that I like my beer the opposite of women: cold and bitter.

Originally for this extravaganza, Joe and his wife and kids were going to come over and we'd brew, grill and hang in the jacuzzi. But, true to how things tend to work with him, the family part went by the wayside, so it's just going to be him. This made my wife a bit, er, bitter. So, at this point I don't know if it's just going to be me and Joe with the wife and the HB at her mom's house or what.

On the work front, things are a bit slow but, uh, brewing. I have some good things in the pipeline and had a meeting to review a pilot project with a client and his boss on Wednesday. My client's boss's reaction was, "I wish we would have done this with all the groups instead of just a pilot." So, I think I'm in good shape on that one. I'm still going to have some time to catch up on a few things (like continuing education credits) before anything really kicks in.