BLOGGER TEMPLATES AND TWITTER BACKGROUNDS

Monday, September 29, 2014

Harvesting Beer

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,
 
This weekend I got around to getting some new shoes for Gretchen… the old ones weren’t horrible but they weren’t getting any better either, so she should be good for at least another five years. Happy early anniversary, Gretchen! Now we just need to get you some new brakes & spend a small fortune so that I’m allowed to insure you & drive you on the streets of California so that bikers that don’t pay ANYTHING can get angry when I use the roads. YAY!!! And f**k you, bikers!!!
 
Saturday morning, Izzy & I went through her garden and… basically she’s got a bit of a green thumb. Apparently our Chinook hops popped up over the last few weeks & are now tangled in the nearby fence… and our Mt. Hood hops haven’t sprouted (probably started them late) but we have some good garlic growing in the barrel bucket for now… and she had a nice harvest of sweet potatoes & regular potatoes… and BEETS!!! Behold!!!
 




Next up, we headed back to my place to start our Pumpkin Ale #2, which was our 2nd batch ever made last September/October, and it was so damn good that we thought we’d do it again… and because it’s Pumpkin Beer Season! This particular Here are some pictures…
 





 

 
We also kegged our Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Porter so it should be ready for drinking in a few days… and if the test sample is any indication… it’s gonna be pretty good… but we shall see…
 


Izzy sampling from the hydrometer...
mmm... so hot...





We also tasted our Experimental Batch of Pale Ales and... they're pretty fantastic. The strawberry & kiwi pale ales especially... like we may need to do a whole batch of combining those two. The jalapeno pale ale had a nice burn, but not too much. That was with two little chilis per 12 oz bottle. Even the pineapple was good, the dry hopped wasn't my bag, but still pretty good. Very similar to our Torpedo clone. Here are some pictures... but trust me, they're all good...




 
Well, that was this past weekend… and this next weekend is OAKTOBERFEST!!! It’s a celebration of German beer & the beer community in the heart of Oakland… and I’ve been excited about it for many months now. Can’t wait to show you all… have a great day everybody!!!

Monday, September 22, 2014

Northern California Homebrewers Festival 2014

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,
 
This past weekend was the Northern California Homebrewers Festival at Lake Francisc in Dobbins, California north of Sacramento. The event really started Friday night but Izzy & I got out there early Saturday morning for the BIG day!!! Hundreds of homebrewers and their respective clubs came out to represent & share their wonderful beer creations with the rest, there were raffles, prizes, competitions, and even a somewhat unspoken competition about which club had the best beer overall (which I think we won, but then again, I’m biased). Here are some pictures of the beautiful venue & some of the incredible areas designed by fellow homebrewers…
 




















































 











 
As the night fell, most of the clubs kinda folded in… but with our combination of fantastic beer & great décor, we were a VERY popular spot for people to chill out& enjoy themselves. After a few laps during the day to the other tents, I spent most of the afternoon & evening behind the bar serving up drinks… and it was a LOT of fun helping the club out, especially since most of the planning for the event happened when we were in Utah & setting up Friday night… but overall, an absolutely tremendous event & I honestly can’t wait until next year’s. I highly recommend it to anybody who may be interested in spending a wonderful camping trip at a homebrew festival. If you’re interested in joining the rockinest guild of Homebrewers in the Bay Area, drop me a line.
 
Also, a big congratulations to Izzy on winning the Logo Competition and designing next year’s logo that will be on all of the T-Shirts, announcements & other merchandise associated with this great event. Heck, we almost HAVE to go next year now. Congratulations beautiful!!!
 
That’ll pretty much do it for this entry. The festival was an amazing success, everybody had fun, nobody got hurt, can’t really ask for a better group of people to hang with for a weekend. See y’all next year at NCHF!!! Have a great day everybody!!!