Good Boy!

October 21, 2009

This last Monday, October 19th, 2009, our family lost it’s best friend.

For 14 years, you were our child, our companion, protector, and friend. Always happy to do whatever it is that we wanted, or go where ever we were going, enthusiasm wasn’t in short supply with you.

I can’t put into words what those years meant to us, or what they meant to me.

We will never forget you.

Good Boy Fantus!

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Poor Man’s Immersion Chiller

September 6, 2009

Now, is this what they meant by “immersion chiller”

I was worried about getting my un-fermented beer cooled down quickly, and had been looking around at immersion chillers. Having spent enough this week on brewing equipment, I was thinking that I could probably just use a clean garbage can full of water, and pump cold water from the bottom every now and then.

I know it’s not a perfect solution, but it worked pretty good. I only had water in the pot, and it brought it from boiling to 100 degrees in about 20 minutes, and I wasn’t changing the water out very much.

It took about another 20 minutes to get it to 70 degrees, but when I have real beer in it, I’ll have some ice on hand to help it out.

I’m sure I’ll be in the market soon for a chiller, but for now, I think this will do.

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Brew Your Own Beer?

August 28, 2009

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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Paul Revere would be proud

March 21, 2009

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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Smiling in the same language

March 13, 2009

Zane was in a School Performance last night titled, “Everyone Smiles in the same language”.

It was very good, with the kids doing different songs or dances from different parts of the world.

When we were leaving, I reminded the kids to watch out for cars, because “Everyone gets hit by a car in the same language”.

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