Beware of Man-Cub

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

Sunday, Izzy & I hosted a Learn to Homebrew Day at my apartment, which we have done several times in the past, and this time… there were only two people who took us up on the offer… but weather may have been a factor as it was a rainy weekend. Regardless, we brewed up what should be a delightful Honey Porter (recipe available on the White House website) and got to share plenty of beverages during the process and share stories and great food. After the brewing, we headed over to Sessions at the Presidio to catch the Warriors – Spurs game. Good times all around!!! Here are some pictures…

 

Monday night was the monthly meeting of the San Francisco Homebrewers Guild at Black Sands Brewery. This was our first time with Black Sands hosting… and it was pretty fantastic. Black Sands is located in the legendary Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, and this was the first meeting that was basically ran by the new leadership… and they did pretty dang good! We’re up & running with a number of competitions, special events, and plenty of fun stuff for the year… and of course there was plenty of great homebrew to share… and I took the bus home. Here are some pictures of the Black Sands venue…

 

Tuesday night, Izzy & I also got to see a special pre-screening of Disney’s newest live-action classic reboot “The Jungle Book” starring the voice talents of Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Scarlett Johannson, Lupita Nyong’o, Christopher Walken, Sami Rami, Russell Peters, Giancarlo Esposito, director Jon Favreau & the late great Garry Shandling. For those who don’t know somehow, this movie is about a tiny Indian man-cub (child) named Mowgli who flees into the jungle based on the threat of a tiger named Shere Khan (Elba) and is helped by some of the local jungle creatures… including a panther, a bear, some monkeys… and they sing the whole time. Wait… that was the original animated movie based on the Rudyard Kipling book… this rendition is actually pretty similar... though with a few less musical numbers… my guess to keep up pacing because they added a few during the end credits. That being said... I definitely recommend checking out this movie. We watched it in IMAX 3D and that's kind of the way to see it... the graphics are fantastic! The story is pretty much what you remember... but it's done in a great, updated way that's good for kids & adults alike.

 

Well, that’s good for a quick update. Be sure to check out the Everything I Learned From Movies Podcast for our first Listener Vote selection, with a review of one of my favorite late 90’s movies, “The Mummy” featuring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz and CGI that may or may not stand the test of time. We may also do a little blurb about the cartoonish sequel “The Mummy Returns”… and there may be some other surprises as well. Be sure to subscribe for the latest info, check us out on Facebook, Twitter, all the social medias. In the meantime, have a great day everybody!!!

LTHD & California State Homebrew Comp

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

Saturday morning, Izzy & I attended a National Learn to Homebrew Day event being held at the home of fellow SF Homebrewers Guild members Karlo& Sami. For those who don’t remember our event last year, this is essentially the annual event where people who are interested or novice homebrewers can come to check out somebody’s setup… and learn the basic information about brewing… and whatever else they really want to know as most of the time is waiting for water & wort to boil or cool. Karlo & Sami were AMAZING hosts… and they showed us their new brew system called the (Fairy) Grainfather, which is an all-in-one brewing system… and it’s pretty damn amazing. Here are some pictures…

 

Sunday, Izzy went to her sister’s Baby Shower in Sacramento… and I assume she’ll elaborate on her Untidy Venus blog… but apparently it was a lot of fun.

 

I however went help setup & steward at the annual California State Homebrew Competition at Anchor Brewing which is easily one of the largest homebrew competitions in the nation… nay, WORLD!!! You all know my love for Anchor Brewing… and their magnificent beers… and their incredible hospitality in hosting the SF Homebrewers Guild for the past few years… and just being at the forefront of the craft beer movement… so having them as the host for this incredible event is always awesome. Hats off to them, first & foremost!

 

First was the final round of judging for the beers entered. You may recall a few weeks ago (while I was having a bout with food poisoning) that the bottled entries were collected & sorted, then the following week (when Izzy & I were helping her mom move) was the preliminary rounds of judging so that those beers that scored the best made it to this final round. We first set up a bunch of tables and a proper & efficient judging area… so that we could spend two hours judging beer… then that would leave more time for eating & drinking beer. It makes perfect sense! Hats off for the judges & stewards who helped make this happen!

 

 

 

After the judging portion, it was time for a little break (aforementioned drinking & burritos were obviously involved) and then we held a raffle for some incredible prizes… and then the big moment… the final results and giving away some ribbons to the best homebrewers in the state. All in all, there were dozens of ribbons given away… but fellow guild member Keith Kost was awarded with Homebrewer of the Year and walked away with TEN more ribbons (to go with his… I’m guessing well over a hundred in various competitions) to add to his collection. Congratulations Keith!

 

Then… it was time to award to the Homebrew Club of the Year… and that award went to Strand Brewers Club in Long Beach (I think there are a few pictures from NHC) who walked away with the prestigious award. Congratulations to them!

 

Now… was I expected for SF Homebrewers Guild to get the award for Homebrew Club of the Year? Well… obviously we boasted not only the Homebrewer of the Year, the most award winners, probably one of the largest clubs in the state, great showings at both NHC & NCHF, setting up & orchestrating the competition where it was awarded, and just overall great experiences in promoting homebrewing… but it just goes to show that there is a LOT of great competition for a prestigious award like this. Also, I’m a little biased… so that may play in it as well. Hopefully we can have a real chance at winning next year… and if the plans for the next few months are any indication… we’ll be taking that trophy home next year. Here’s hoping!

 

Again, a big thank you to Anchor Brewing, senior leadership of the event, and everybody else out there who made this event happen… it was an incredible experience& a great time!

 

Join us next time when I share our adventures in Belgium... inspired beer techniques. Have a great day everybody!!!

Learn to Homebrew Day & Meals on Wheels

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Thursday night, we kegged our Milk Stout in preparation for Learn to Homebrew Day on Saturday... here are some pictures...

Saturday, we started around 10:30 AM and we had about 8-10 guests for our Learn to Homebrew Day. We had our first one about six months ago in early November... and during it, we basically explain the process of brewing beer (much like this blog), share some of our homebrew to show what can be done, share some of their own (some have done a handful of brews), and share stories, answer questions, just plain have fun. This time around, we did a partial mash English style Porter. Here are some pictures...

Above: Our fabulous potluck

Below: Spent Grains 

The whole brew took about four hours total, so a pretty quick spiel... and everybody had a good time... and hopefully we'll have a few more readers of this blog. For those new readers, please feel free to go back through some of the past entries. There are LOTS of pictures and further explanations of past brews. I'd also like to thank everybody for coming out to the event & please check out the San Francisco Homebrewers Guild page for details on how to learn more... join their mailing list... join the blog... or just read our blog too... it's pretty awesome! Comments are always welcome & I can certainly recommend past entries & answer questions if you want to know more. It's truly my pleasure.

After the event, since we had all of the gear still out... we also decided to transfer our SMaSH English Pale Ale to secondary as well...

 Beer Lacing Alert - Beer Turkey!!!

Sunday, we helped out at the Meals on Wheels Fundraiser Gala where they annual raise MILLIONS of dollars for elderly individuals who cannot provide food for themselves... so a great cause and a great night with a LOT of great individuals helping out those less fortunate. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures... but yeah, everybody dressed to the nines, a lot of great restaurants & vintners donating... and yeah, I highly recommend helping out, if not this charity, charities in your areas... just do it! Pay it forward!

Anyway, that's about it for this entry... unfortunately I'm just a wee bit busy... but please leave comments, check out some past entries & just enjoy your wonderful lives! Have a great day everybody!