I ran across a couple of articles today that were pretty interesting. According to this Forbes Article, drinking 1 – 2 beers daily can:

1. 1. Cut Men’s risk of dying from a heart attack by 30 – 35%.
2. 2. Raise your HDL (good cholesterol).
3. 3. Make your blood cells less likely to clog an artery.
4. 4. Help protect against type 2 diabetes.

I also ran across this article in wired citing a study that linked beer consumption with higher bone mineral density. Evidently Beer has a good deal of bio-available Silicon, which our body needs.

I’ve also seen research, but am too lazy to go look it up now, that shows that an active chemical in hops may be able to help stop prostate and breast cancer. Those studies are still in the early stages though.

Go Beer!

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Or is it that brewing is excitement? A few weeks ago, I set a brew date for myself, and it’s this Sunday! I started getting excited as soon as I set it, and have just been gearing up since.

I won’t be brewing at Great Divide Brewing Co, but it was a fitting picture for the post.

This time, I’m making a 10 gallon batch of a recipe called “Centennial Blonde” that I found over at Home Brew Talk forums. I’ve made it once before and everyone loved it, but I only made 5 Gallons of it, so this time I’m going to double the pleasure, double the fun.

This will also be my first 10 gallon batch, so I’m hoping it doesn’t add too much to the brew day. The original idea was to use some yeast that I “rinsed”, which is basically a way to re-use yeast, but my starter doesn’t seem to be active, so I think those yeasties are either really sleepy, or dead.

To add a little interesting twist to the recipe, I think I’m going to use the Nottingham yeast that it calls for in the recipe for one of my 5 Gallon Carboys, and buy some new American Ale yeast for the second carboy. This way I can compare them and see if I can tell a difference.

I’m already plotting to try and put a Stout on top of the yeast cake after I bottle, but we’ll see if that happens.

Oh yea, and Christmas is coming up too. I am pretty psyched up for Christmas, I think I got some good gifts for my family, and I’m looking forward to having some good friends over for Christmas Eve dinner. Maybe they can help me empty some beer bottles for my next batch.

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March? Really? I haven’t put anything here since March?

In my last post, I mentioned that I had been doing a lot of reading about beer, and was thinking of starting to brew my own. Well after a summer of not being home, between various work travels and vacation, I’m now pretty far along with that hobby.

Directly after the last post I ended up brewing a delicious Hefeweizen, and I was incredibly pleased with how well it came out. Then came all the travel.

My next batch of beer was a “No Sham Shamrock Irish Ale” from the book “The Complete Joy of Homebrewing”, and I only have 6 of those left. They also came out terrifically.

Right now, I have a few weeks before the next batch is ready, it is Presidential Pale Ale, which I hope I like as much as I like Bristol’s Red Rocket.

Then last night I brewed Thunderstruck Pumpkin Ale, which I found on the most useful Home Brew Talk Forums. Highly suggest a visit there if you are interested in the subject.

I’m up to 20 Gallons brewed, and I’m looking forward to my next batch.

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So I recently became kind of a beer connoisseur, it all started when I decided that brewing beer might be something that I enjoy. So, long story short, I’ve been doing a lot of reading about beer, and the more I read, the more I can come to appreciate it.

So in my journey down through the wonderful world of beer, I tried Liberty Ale from Anchor Brewing. What a great beer! Just enough hops to keep it really crisp, it’s very refreshing and delicious.

Maybe in the future I can add more constructive comments, but for now, let me just say that it’s really really good. With the hot summer months coming up, I can see getting more  of it.

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