Update.

At the suggestion of Adrianne, Josh's wife, I have visited the Chicago marathons website. There they have a section that allows you to sign up and receive updates for specific runners at set milestones...10k, halfway, 30k, and of course the finish. The updates will be sent to me via e-mail. I am pretty excited to track his progress, and send out my good vibes. A lot of time and dedication goes into training for a run like this and I really want him to do well.

And now for something completely different...

I am getting ready to bottle my German Altbier. I used very little grains in this brew, mostly extracts so there is not as much of need for it to sit in my brewing bucket. I would like to get my vanilla porter brewed tomorrow as it will need more time to come together...more grains in this recipe.

Another subject change...

Did I mention I got new glasses?


You like?

Cheers

Brewing Season Has Begun.

I brewed my first beer of the season yesterday. I went with a German Altbier. It is somewhat like a pale ale, except it is softer and more well balanced. Pale ales tend to be hoppy and bitter. It should be a good drinking beer for the fall.

No matter how many brews I do I still get excited and a bit nervous when waiting for the fermentation process to begin. So, as you may imagine I was thrilled this morning when I opened up the "beer closet" and saw the tell tale bubbles of fermentation in my airlock.

On tap for next week will be bottling on Saturday and possibly brewing my long anticipated vanilla porter on Sunday. I am hoping to get a few more brews done this year than I did last. I really enjoy the hobby, the fruits of my labor are delicious, Nora loves helping me bottle, but it can be a bit time consuming.

Stay tuned for my next post as I have an announcement. Until then...

No Worries.

Slacker

Many apologies. I have been a blogger slacker. Many things have happened in the time since I last posted. Babies have been born, people have passed on, the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie has been viewed by my children 327 times, the Detroit Tigers made it to .500, then under, then back, then under and back again...you get the picture, Nora's first T-Ball season wrapped up, The Dark Knight made $155.4 million in its opening weekend, Robin and I celebrated 12 years of marriage(July 20), followed by her birthday(July 21), and I found out when I will die. You get the idea, lots happened. and I was not here to give you all the details. For that I am sorry. I would fill you in on all the details, but I am sure you would no more want to read them all than I want to write them all. Instead I will focus on more recent and future events.

Something funny from church this past Sunday. We were celebrating Christmas in July and the sermon was of course on the birth story. Within the sermon our minister used the work "fantastical". My mind immediately went to a Dr. Seuss birth story, and from there a little rendition of Noah's Ark...One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish. I avoided laughter, barely.

In future news, I am going to brew again soon. In honor of the one year anniversary of the last Tuke reunion I will be making B's Point Place Vanilla Porter. I may have to figure out how to ship....

Cheers

Big Day

I cannot wait for tomorrow morning. It is a very special day at Nora's school, donuts with Dad. To make it even better Nora is going to come to work with me in the morning. After the first few hours we will head off to her school for the donuts, and then some entertainment. Nora and her classmates are going to put on their class play for the dads. What a day! I am not sure who is more excited, Nora or me.

In addition to the already planned activities of the weekend I am hoping to get in a little brewing related activity. I would love to be able to bottle my latest brew, Beach Blonde. I am not too sure if that will fit in with everything else going. If I was really ambitious i would include brewing a vanilla porter, but that may be a stretch. We have been having unseasonably cool weather...perfect for brewing, and I do not want to miss it.

You know what else this weather is great for....running. It has been great getting out in these temps. I am sure I am one of a handful of people that like this weather. I went out for four miles today, walked a half mile and ran 3.5. It was my best run to date.

On to the word of the day...going to give you a double dose today as I missed one.

This week's theme: words related to beards.

Vandyke or Van Dyke or vandyke (van dyk) noun

A short, pointed beard.

[After painter Anthony Van Dyck or Vandyke (1599-1641) who painted
portraits of people having these v-shaped beards.]

bluebeard (BLOO-beerd) noun

A man who marries and kills one wife after another.

[After Bluebeard, the nickname of the main character Raoul in a fairy tale
by Charles Perrault (1628-1703). In the story, Bluebeard's wife finds the
bodies of his previous wives in a room she was forbidden to enter. Yes, he
did have a blue beard.]

That last one was news to me. I hope Robin does not want me to shave now.

Cheers

Blow Up

As I am getting more adventurous in my brewing I am discovering new...let's call them "challenges".

In my latest batch, a blonde ale with a hint of lemon, I used more grains than I have in the past. Between the all the grains and malt extract there were more sugars than usual. More sugars means more food for the yeast. So, the fermenting process was a bit more lively than usual. I found my brewing bucket in the morning whistling and beer bubbling out of the air lock. As I was on my way to work I did not have time to really deal with it. All I did was push my lock back in and and make sure the seal was still tight. The plan was to fix it when I got home. No way I could wait that long. I called Robin and had her check on it. What I thought was my temporary fix turned out to be a permanent fix. The water in my air lock had been replaced by beer, but it was bubbling happily away. Life is good, beer is good.

How is this for a name for the afore mentioned brew..."Beach Blond Ale".

Have a good Tuesday.

Cheers

Cook's Night Out

Every 1st Wednesday of the month our church has a "cook's night out". It is an evening of fellowship and good food. Tonights fare was provided by Subway. Can't go wrong with a $5 foot-long.

Every once and a while there is a presentation. Tonight our associate pastors husband, who happens to be the chaplain at Eureka college, did a program on the colleges spring break. They took a group to the Yakima nation mission. Among other topics they covered the various livestock and crops that are produced there.

One of the crops they grow on their land is hops. Yes, people hops. Had I only known! As some of you may know, we are in the midst of a hop shortage. I am in desperate need of hops. It is tough to make a good beer without the flavoring and aroma characteristics of hops. When they were asking for donations I would have been front and center, and all I would have asked in return is for a health supply of hops. I would have forgone the warm feeling inside usually felt after doing a good deed.

I conclusion....

Anyone know where I can score some hops?

Cheers

If you have a few minutes to spare watch this for a chuckle.

This is not how I brew.

Slacker!

I have been slacking as of late and you, my loyal Chrisophiles, have been neglected. I am sorry.

But not as sorry as that bird that made the mistake of making its way into my warehouse. Actually our fine feathered fowl made three mistakes. It's first mistake was coming in two weeks prior to our inspection. The second was singing a cheery song while buzzing my tower. Clearly it had a death wish.

(For those to you who do not know, birds in my warehouse are an automatic failure for our inspection. Not to mention a real pain in my behind.}

After lunch I set up my bird-blind in a lofty location and patiently waited for him to make his appearance. I did not have long to wait. He flew by and took perch on a rafter well within my range. That was his last mistake. As with those who came before him he has been posted outside my warehouse as a warning to others. Feathered creatures that cross my threshold will pay the ultimate price.

A couple notes on last weeks Idol. Being a big Beatles fan I was very worried they would just kill some classic tunes. As expected, some really did. I thought an episode of HeeHaw was about to begin while the "country girl" was putting her spin on "Eight Days A Week". Wow that was bad. The biggest blow to me was not from the show, but from a comment by one of my favorite Chrisophiles. I will not use her name, Adrianne, to protect the innocent. This person actually had the nerve to say she does not love the Beatles. Folks, we almost lost a Chrisophile. However, I have recovered and put this ugly incident behind me. I am going into this weeks Idol with the same level of anticipation and fear....the Lennon/McCartney song book is on the slate once again.

Beer note...My stout is conditioning nicely in the bottles and has great clarity. I think I will be popping one open this weekend. My Blue Moon clone is coming along nicely and I will be transferring it to my secondary fermenter this weekend as well. My next brew planned is a vanilla porter.

Cheers

The Name

You have made your choice. Therefore, I dub you the Chrisophiles! Alright, with that out of the way I can get down to some catching up.

Clarification from my last entry, I did not get a TomTom. It was supposed to be a visual joke with the google map print out acting as my "new TomTom". Man, jokes lose something when you have to explain them. I gotta work on my delivery.

Next, I have to mention the dinner Robin and I had on our weekend get-a-way. We ate at PF Changs. Everything from the service to the food and the atmosphere was fantastic. We started with a drink in the bar, served by a bartender that knew how to sling a drink! Once at the table we were greeted by our server, Mike, and it was apparent he knew his craft. Unfortunately that is a rare trait in a waiter these days. (The industry has suffered since I got out!) We told him we like to take the evening slowly and start with Seared Ahi Tuna. We also received an order of spring rolls on the house. Mike was working us as his "good table" for the night, and doing a fine job I may add. For the main Robin had one of her favorite dishes, SINGAPORE STREET NOODLES; Shrimp, chicken and rice noodles stir-fried in a curry sauce, and I branched out and had TAM'S NOODLES WITH SAVORY BEEF AND SHRIMP; A unique gnocchi-like noodle stir-fried with sliced beef, shrimp and chili peppers in a subtle abalone sauce. Both meals were great! To finish it off we each had one of their new mini desserts selections. Just a taste of sweet to end the meal perfectly. Every restaurant should serve these. I know I have gushed on a bit about dinner, but this was the first dinner in recent memory where Robin and I did not have to rush home and the service, food and atmosphere was good. Oh what a night.

One more note. I cracked open one of my Red Ales last night. It was good! This weekend will be the bottling of my stout, and possibly my first attempt at my own recipe, not from a kit. I am going for a Blue Moon clone.

Cheers my Chrisophiles

And Then My Day Took A Nixon.....

For all you Kinky Friedman readers out there you know what I mean. I had it all planned out. The work day was going to start early, 5 a.m. instead of 6, so I would have the opportunity to leave a bit early. I was going to use that early exit to go to my parents house to pick up my new racking cane, and finish the day off with a good yoga session.

What is the saying..."The best laid plans of mice and men"...blah, blah, blah.

The reason for me being at work early did not play out, my boss was in a cranky mood, work just kept pilling up (no early exit), the racking crane was no where to be found, and I got home late. With all this adding together I decided I did not want to scramble to get to yoga. Now mind you I am a bit sore from other exercises and could benefit from a good stretching, not to mention yoga's decompression attributes. Why then did I decide not to go to the one thing that could have helped?

Because while in Morton I picked up a August Schell Brewery sampler pack. I am going to unwind with a nice caramel bock, Robin, Nora and Nigel. Beat that yoga!

Cheers!

P.S. Do not forget to vote for your name!

BUBBLES!!!

This morning I was greeted by the spectacular sight of bubbles in the air lock of my primary fermenter. What does that mean you might ask? Well let me tell ya. It means the magical and mystical process of fermentation has begun. Yeast cells are consuming the sugars in my newly brewed stout, and in turn, excreting glorious alcohol and carbon dioxide. A what a wonderful way to start the day. What could possibly top that?



Why bottling my red ale, of course. After church Nora and I worked together to transfer my ale from my secondary fermenter into my bottling bucket. After which she assisted me by lining up the bottles for me to fill and then placing the caps on top for me to seal. The family that brews together stays together. That is the age old saying, right?

We now have a few new highly anticipated dates.
February 24th: Secondary ferment stout
March 9th: Bottle stout; DRINK RED ALE!!!

If I had done a better job of planning I would have had my Stout ready for Kiernan's Birthday (St. Patrick's Day), but i am just happy my beer-a-thon weekend has been a success. What a great hobby.

Speaking of hobbies...my Mom needs one. Apparently she was kept awake last night by this thought:
You know the diced hard boiled eggs on the salad bar at Ruby Tuesday? Well do they make them at the restaurant themselves, or do they buy them in bags already boiled? Hey Mom, wanna learn to brew?

Cheers

P.S. Do not forget to vote for your name o' faithful readers.

Satur...oops, I Mean Beerday

So far Beerday has been a great success. Today I brewed my Irish Stout. It smelled fantastic. Waiting the next month or so to drink it is going to be tough. Fortunately I have my buddy Sam Adams to help get me through. In fact, he chipped in today as I was brewing with a Black Lager. What a guy! Tomorrow will be the climax of my beer-a-thon weekend with the bottling of my Red Ale.

I have some relatively disturbing news to follow. If you have not yet eaten, I suggest you read no further. Yesterday at work, I cleaned the employee refrigerator. I almost feel like I should not recount the story as mere words cannot do the carnage I witnessed justice. Man I wish I had had my digital camera with me. It all started with a kielbasa. I opened the fridge to find a 9" kielbasa, out of its wrapper, and lying on the dirty shelf. The only thing protecting the smoked sausage from dried katchup, 5-6 different soda spills, sweet and sour sauce, pickle relish, and various other former foods, was a 3" tall paper cup. Now before you judge me for using this very same fridge in this condition, I only use it to hold my sealed lunch cooler. As I said, the sight of the kielbasa was more than I could handle. I scrubbed that beast from top to bottom. There were sights and smells in there I shall not soon forget.

Keep the positive thoughts flowing for my brew.

Cheers

Beer-a-thon

If all goes well this shall be forever known as the weekend of beer. My plan is to brew my Irish stout on Saturday and bottle my Red ale on Sunday. It is kind of a big deal for me as I have never had two batches going so close together. I am still a bit of an amateur. Additionally I have two wild cards named Nora and Nigel that usually add a bit of excitement to the process. Keep your fingers crossed. Something has just occurred to me. For a guy who brews his own beer, I am shockingly low on said product. Once bottled, my brew will not be ready for two or three more weeks. Oh the torture. It is true what they say, you always want what you cannot have.

The voting is under way for my readers name. If you have not made a choice, do not worry, you have plenty of time. The voting is not nearly as heavy as the great beard debate. You all were more concerned about the future of my face than your own names. I am touched.

Have a great weekend.

Cheers.

The Best Part Of Waking Up....

...Is Folgers in your cup. However, due to the morning I had, I was not able to enjoy that little morning ritual. On my the out of the house to my truck, my thermal mug filled to the brim with hot, delicious java, jumped out of my hand. It then crashed to the floor of our breezway, spilling its contents all over. No Worries, I padded time into my departure (see yesterdays entry for driving adventures), and had plenty of time to stop off for a cup o' joe.

I set off for work eagerly anticipating the giant cup of coffee I was going to purchase. I pulled into the local FastStop, a gourmet coffee heaven, and rushed to the coffee counter. Since I was understandably traumatized from the earlier spill I decided to treat myself with a flavored coffee. That's right, I poured not one, but two little green tubs of Irish Cream creamer into my 20 oz insulated paper cup. Pleasantries and monies were exchanged with the cashier, and I was on my way. The day was saved, or so I thought.

While carrying my cup in my right hand I pushed the door open with my left. Without warning the door snapped back, struck my right elbow, and sent my newly purchased coffee plummeting to the sidewalk. At this point I figured I might as well cash it in and go home. Nothing good could come of this day. Then fate smiled on me. The cashier witnessed the tragedy that had befallen me, and invited me back in for a cup on him. I thanked him profusely and relayed my previous misadventure to him. He was shocked that I was holding up as well as I was. In order to avoid further mishaps, he opened and held the door for me on the way out.

Man I love coffee.

I would like to say the remainder of the day went without incident, but that would be a non-truth-a-tude. I will not bore you with the details as it has to do with chicken, cheese, fuel hoses and annoying customer service reps. I will tell you that the day has a happy ending. Bonus overtime, two cute kids and a lovely wife at home, plus a variety pack.

"Beer is proof God loves us and wants us to be happy", Ben Franklin.

Thanks to all my readers who have left me some comments. It is great to get the feed back.
Andrew, I am glad you get as much humor out of "crazy poop" as I do.
Dad and Karen, thanks for thinking I am nice and being proud of me.
As for Anonymous...how dare you crack on my beloved Samuel Adams in favor of Miller Lite. Why drink water when you can have flavor. I will forgive you however, as you are open to trying my homebrew.

That's all for tonight. A tall, frosty Honey Porter is calling my name.

Cheers!

Superman owns a pair of Chuck Norris pajamas.

P.S. Keep those comments coming