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Category: beer

There’s a Rock in my Hops!

Published February 12, 2012

After some fun bike riding I got to brewing another batch of beer; a slight variant on a blonde ale referred to by Cap N Cork as Vegas Gold. This was to have 2 oz of Sterling Leaf Hops in it (these are from LD Carlson), but while measuring them out into two mugs there was a bang of something hard falling into one of the containers.

Reaching into the hops I found this rock, which per my kitchen scale has a mass of ~10g. I thought that one of this bag of hops seemed a bit small, but I figured it was just a little more compact than usual. Since it constituted a bit more than one third of a bag the finishing and aroma additions were a bit short, but I’m sure the beer will be fine. And now I have a hop-encrusted rock!

(Thankfully this was in the bag that I’d been measuring out and not the one that got dumped right into the kettle. While I don’t think the rock is particularly dirty I’m glad it didn’t get boiled in case something odd might have come off or out of it.)

UPDATE: I’d emailed this post to LD Carlson, and a very friendly person there contacted me and ended up sending me some replacement hops which I used in my next batch of beer. Interestingly, they no longer stocked Sterling Leaf Hops, so the ones that I purchased must have been pretty old. Hopefully it won’t mess with the flavor of the beer. Maybe I should stick to pelletized stuff for now on…

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Kegged Beer Cooler Upgrades In Progress…

Published February 2, 2012

Upgrades to the Kegged Beer Cooler are coming along very nicely. While not quite complete I’ve build, finished, and fitted a pine and poplar collar, and acquired and installed some taps. I still have to work out the drip tray, insulation inside the collar, and a few other random bits, but it’s almost set.

A year ago when first built it I figured that maybe one day I’d add taps, and a year later I’ve done so. After using a few friends’ taps and getting some nice ideas from how another friend built a collar I figured I’d go for it.

I feel really happy, proud, and fortunate that I have the means and abilities to do so. Growing up my dad and mom would let me help out with a bunch of things that they were working on. From both that and just being allowed to play with things I learned how to try and that it’s okay if things don’t always go right because you can learn and move on. These are very important things to know and I wholly believe that it helps me with most everything I do.

Now, hopefully I can finish off the kegged beer cooler / kegerator successfully and not end up with foaming taps or a poor quality drip tray or something…

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Two Six Packs of Hopslam

Published January 21, 2012

Bell’s has released this year’s batch of Hopslam and per usual it’s not at all stores. Thanks to Jon Boughner pointing me to Busch’s in Rochester Hills I was able to pick up two six packs for $15.99/ea. I believe there were six or eight cases of it sitting on display just waiting to be purchased.

I’ve got one pack sitting in the fridge, and I’ll let the other sit (and age) in the basement until warm weather arrives. Hopslam is always a nice surprise for people when summer comes around.

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The Brew Hauler

Published January 16, 2012

This past Saturday when I stopped at Cap N Cork to get some brewing supplies I also bought a Brew Hauler. This low-cost (~$12 or so) strap system made out of nylon webbing fits around a carboy making it much easier to carry. Instead of having to carefully lift a full (and potentially wet) carboy and hug it while carrying it around the house I can now just lift the nylon straps and carry it.

This worked well on the initial test of carrying a carboy of Chocolate Milk Stout from the laundry room into the bathtub where it’s fermenting, and I suspect it’ll work well after that. While looking up info on the product I did find this report of it not working right for one person, but I suspect that they didn’t have it set up quite right, resulting in the carboy sliding out one side of it. I’ll keep a careful eye on it, but it seems like it’ll be just fine.

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Winter Beer Assortment

Published December 23, 2011

It’s been a while since I purchased an assortment of beer, but finding myself near Red Wagon this afternoon I decided to stop in and pick up a bunch of winter-y beers. The assortment purchased today is as follows, from left to right:

· North Peak Brewing Company‘s Dubious Black Chocolate Stout
· Delerium Tremens
· Samichlaus Bier
· Lagunitas Hop Stoopid
· Young’s Double Chocolate Stout
· New Holland Brewing‘s Dragons Milk
· Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier
· Southern Tier Brewing Company‘s mokah
· Brau Brothers Brewing Company Moo Joos Oatmeal Milk Stout
· Weihenstephan Vitus
· Genesee Beer
· Keeweenaw Brewing Company‘s Widow Maker Black Ale

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Shower Beer

Published October 15, 2011

Here’s to one of the greatest pleasures in the world: a quality beer while showering. I guess this is the evening corollary to drinking morning coffee in the shower, another one of life’s great pleasures. Not only does one get to enjoy a comfortable, relaxing shower a tasty beverage comes along for the trip.

The beer shown here is Big Sky Brewing Company’s Moose Drool, brought to me by my parents from their recent trip out west; seen poured into a glass here. Also in this sampler is Scape Goat Pale Ale, Big Sky IPA, and Trout Slayer Wheat Ale. All of these beers were quite good, and if I can find this stuff in Michigan (I think it’s distributed here…) I’ll likely pick some up.

This shower comes at the end of a long, and slightly frustrating, day. Today was Massive Fallout, a lengthy group bike ride around a number of local trails and an event that I’d looked forward to all year. This morning the weather was rather poor, and being not-quite-properly dressed for it and somewhat uninterested in riding in cold and rainy weather I skipped out on the ride. I don’t regret my choice, but I can’t help but be disappointed at the weather which kept the event from being what I’d hoped. Oh well, maybe I’ll be able to do the ride next weekend with friends or something like that.

(For what it’s worth, this photo was taken with the Olympus Stylus 850 SW that I’ve had for more than three years and which has accompanied me on almost every sweaty bike ride that I’ve taken, a couple of international trips, a few swimming adventures, and random other hostile places and it’s held up great. I’d highly recommend a camera from this series if one is looking to purchase a decent-image-quality pocket camera that can be taken along on almost all trips.)

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Odell Brewing Company’s Myrcenary Double IPA

Published August 27, 2011

Tonight beer, being sipped while writing this post and some research into a particular GPS-based bike computer, is Odell Brewing Company’s Myrcenary Double IPA. This is very much a slow-sipping super-hoppy beer, exactly the kind that I love to spend two hours with while working on personal projects in the evening.

This bottle of beer is the last one of the outstanding selection of Colorado beers brought back by some friends on a recent trip to Colorado.

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The Bruery’s Mischief

Published August 20, 2011

Here is a bottle of The Bruery’s Mischief, given to me by my sister and brother-in-law (Sarah and Josh) as part of a wedding gift. Because of the 750mL bottle and 8.5% ABV I’d been saving this for a bit, and last night was the perfect time to try it. I really enjoyed this beer, and it was a spot-on hoppy Belgian ale. I really enjoyed this, and if it were available in Michigan I’d definitely pick it up sometime in the future. I guess I’ll just have to keep an eye out for it next time I’m in Ohio.

(Oh, and yes, I way over-exposed the photo. Bringing it back to normal levels left the top of the blass almost completely blown out. At least the bottle is nicely visible and the beer is its proper color.)

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Flat 400 Pound Monkey

Published August 14, 2011

One of the Colorado beer that I was given was a bottle of Left Hand Brewing Company’s 400 Pound Monkey. Unfortunately, it opened without a hiss and turned out to be flat. The label reads that it is “English Style”, so while I initially thought that maybe they going for the idea of a bottled cask-ish ale, the photo on the beer’s product page shows a rich head, so I think that bottle just happens to be flat. Like the other Left Hand Brewing Company beers that I’ve tried I can tell that it’d be good with an appropriate amount of CO2 in it, but instead this is a bit more like a malty/hoppy wine.

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