Brew Club

Talking to Jim and DT this weekend, we discussed the idea of starting a brew club that Brian and I had tossed around a while back. Anyone interested?

The idea would be to meet once or twice a month, well who am I kidding, once a month! Each meeting would consist of brewing a batch and sharing beer that others have brewed. We could share recipes, brewing ideas and even make use of equipment that others have already purchased- thus reducing the capital outlay for each person getting a home brew set-up started. Furthermore, it would enable us to share a greater variety of beers, if each person is responsible for buying one batch and upon bottling, filling a growler up for each of the other club members then we've got ourselves a nice little variety going.

If people what to check out a place to purchase kits (brewing hardware) and or ingredients for batches, this is a cool site Alternative Beverage. If you don't find what you're looking for there, eBay always has lots of items.

Let me know your thoughts!

Brewing, Home Improvement NOT biking

Was it too cold to go for a ride this weekend? Well, no, not really. It definitely was not warm and the wind would have demanded warm attire, but a ride would have been possible especially with it being dry and sunny all weekend. But as is often the case other plans pushed, extended and out-maneuvered the biking plans.

I went into work on Saturday morning at 8 AM. A server upgrade was needed and that ended up taking more time than I expected. I even rode in to the office on my road bike with all of my roady gear, intending to leave for a ride and come back after all of the downloads and upgrades finished. But it wasn't to be, too many questions, details and unknowns. I made it back home around 1:45 just in time to meet Jim and DT for some brewing. We bottled a Bavarian Lager and brewed an American Steam. DT figured he'd try out the yeast munge, yeast slurry? left over at the bottom of the Bavarian Lager carboy. After pouring it into a bowl and dipping a cracker in it, he promptly popped it in his mouth. Smiling he offered me one as well. I can't say it was good, but it wasn't bad either. There may be a use for this stuff yet. DT plans to cook what was left down a bit- so it was more pasty... we'll see how that works. Jim and I finished up the American Steam boil. We had a few too many bottles of Trappist beer which left Jim asleep on the couch as I wrapped up the batch- mostly cleaning up. I pitched the yeast later that night and this morning it was piping away.

Sunday I was hopeful about a ride. Katie and I got up fairly early, called Kris and planned an early brunch at the new neighborhood cafe Domku Cafe. At this point they don't have a Web site yet, but they run a cool restaurant. It has an urban hip-ness to it, a great selection of Russian and Eastern European beers and a friendly staff. Kris, Katie and I all agreed we'd be spending more time there, both for brunch and for dinner. Strangely, our visit to Domku was what motivated me to stay home and work on our house rather than go riding. The newly renovated restaurant inspired me to get my butt back into gear to finish the bathroom door molding and mill the oak for our basement rec-room handrail. So that is what I did. I completed it all, happily, but didn't get to ride.

It is supposed to snow tonight, 6-10 inches?? I don't really believe it, but we'll see- regardless, I am setting up the trainer tonight and getting up at 6:30 to turn out at least an hour.




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First Blog

I thought I'd get a blog started. After reading several others over the past years, it only seems fair to make one of my own and share, spew? some thoughts into the web.

I frustratingly chose to order a steak sub for lunch today. Frustrating because I am trying to remain somewhat in shape for the impending cycling season. I like bikes, riding, working on them, reading about them and racing them. Mostly mountain bikes, but I do own a roady and enjoy turning out the miles on some favorite local roady routes.