What kind of beer goes best with the addition of a puppy to the mix? Yesterday we brought home an eight week old 1/2 poodle, 1/4 Rotweiler, 1/4 naughty neighbor dog. Turned out the dad was also a naughty neighbor dog. The owner of the dam was looking to mate her rot mix with a boxer!

Our little bundle of teeth claws and fur has a faint brown mask around his eyes and a dusting of brown throughout his black coat. So far he appears very alert and intelligent. We’ll just have to see how the next few months go. The mother’s owner called him bandit, and on the drive home I thought “Zorro” would work well.

So, on to the question! What beer should I brew to commemorate our newest family member?

Cheers,
Tony

If the weather ever cooperates and gives me something slightly warmer then the current 56*, I plan on trying to brew something different this summer. It has been a while since I brewed up a trippel (tripel?) and I am hankering to do that again. I haven’t done a light pilsner, and it has been a while since I’ve done a kolsch. I’ve got a pumpkin ale kit sitting in the garage screaming at me to do something with it though. Perhaps that should be the first thing. That way I can leave it in the keg under the stairs until fall.

I’ve found myself in a bit of a non brewing rut lately, taking months between batches. With gas a hairsbreadth from $4.00 a gallon, perhaps I should step up the brewing a bit. Save a couple bucks on trips to the liquor store. At this point, paying the shipping charge is worth it.

There was one point last summer that we were brewing once a month, doing double batches.

No, I know what I need to do. I need to start on all grain once that pumpkin ale is brewed. All grain and real malty ones.  Ooh, Oktoberfest of course!

Cheers!
Tony

Recently I contacted a friend that had moved away from the area via email just to say “hey, we’ve been thinking of you guys” and got a response that made me laugh out loud.

Now, typically, I don’t react to things I read on the internet so vocally, but since it does pertain this blog I thought I would share. It might just be the fact that I spend most of my waking time in the presence of children that I thought it was so funny, but here it is:

Hey Tony good to hear from you. Enjoying your blog - mostly on my phone whilst sitting on the can at work.

So, to keep your identity secret I will say no more along those lines, except to chuckle again and to thank you for giving me a laugh! I’m glad to be able to brighten your “me time” a little! (Don’t forget to wash your hands )

Cheers,
Tony

May’s Homebrew Blogging Day is “I remember when I started homebrewing.

My first kit was a bock from the local homebrew shop where my wife got my gear from. It took me two months of reading and reading, researching and asking questions before I finally got up the nerve to light the fire and get it done.

Inside the box was a can of hopped malt extract, some dry extract and the yeast. No hops, no grains, nothing too difficult. My notes in my brew book are very detailed, all about the boil, what temp I pitched at, where I stored the carboy. I even forgot to add the can of extract until the very end. It must have turned out ok though.

3/21/02 Fantastic, lots-o-carbonation. Very Bocky, tastes as good as bockfest bock… no better!

Yeah, I wasn’t biased at all.

Cheers!
Tony

Moose wrote about a couple of cobras that have been spotted in his state and the possibility they were released as part of an animal activist group wishing to push a ban on exotic animals. How exactly does that help? To raise awareness?!? Really? And how aware will folks be when someone gets bit and dies?

Pure unadulterated irresponsible insanity.

Animal Protection Institute is supporting bills in North Carolina to have the state step in and begin regulating the private ownership of exotic animals. What a better tactic then to cause a panic among the public by turning some of these snakes loose. If a group or an individual purposely turned poisonous snakes loose I believe this should be considered a terrorist attack.

I would have to agree. No beer for them.

Cheers.
Tony

I wanted to give a great big welcome to Pace and his Men’s Corner blog, new to Skinnymoose Media! As a fellow Stay at Home Dad, we have swapped posts on the forum. I look forward to the many posts forthcoming, nothing like a good read to start the day.

Give him a read, just watch out for his beer posts. I’d hate to have him out run me in that department! Hahaha

Cheers!
Tony

I finished the garden beds and was mulching around them looking down at how we built the frames. They look very much like the last collar I built with one sturdy exception.

At the corners, we nailed into a 4×4 to make the corner very sturdy and the box more durable. A little light went on in my head and I thought making a collar for a chest freezer can use the same technique. Obviously not with a 4×4 though.

I will take pictures of the collar as soon as I find a small chest freezer to make another kegerator out of.

Cheers!

I’ve been stewing about this for a bit. Actually I’ve been stewing about this since we picked up the turkey fryer with that nice metal stand. Every time I have to light it, I need to take one of those long lighters and reach under the pot.

What I was thinking about was getting one of those replacement electric lighters for grills. I bet it would be easy beans to attach the button end near the bottom of the leg and put the spark probe close to the flame ports.

I know this isn’t much of an original idea, I’m sure I’ve seen it in brew magazines in the past. How nice will it be to simply push a button each time I want to light the burner. I have to light it for steeping, again after I’ve removed the grain bag, again after adding the malt.

Next time I make it to the hardware store, I might just have to pick one up. Last time I checked on the prices they were around $10. Hey, there is another excuse to get that other kit brewed up before my yeast goes bad.

Cheers!

One easy way to get gas is to brew up a malty ale and forget to put a whirlfloc tablet in the kettle. Then, when its nice and carbonated, drink three or four pints and wait an hour or so…

Oh, wait…

Where to get CO2 to push the beer out of the keg! What really worked for me the last time is ask my father in law to fill it up when he takes the work cylinders in to be filled. Realistically there are probably not that many father in laws out there that can do that, so the second best way is to look in the phone book.

Check for welding equipment and supplies as well as welding gas. There are some big companies out there, like Praxair as well as smaller folks. The bigger companies usually don’t deal in the five and ten pound cylinders though. Most places I have run into in Minnesota swap the cylinder out rather than filling it on the premises.  For this reason I stress to folks buying a new kegging kit to skip out on the shiny pretty new aluminum cylinder since the first fill will likely be the last time you see it.

For a bit cheaper than new the company will likely “sell” you a filled one. Then each subsequent filling you only have to pay for the gas. The last time mine was filled it was under $20. My 10lb cylinder lasts almost two years, less when I brew more, but I’ve only swapped it three or four times since I started.

The next place is fire extinguisher places. Look for the industrial places that cater to warehouses and the like. Again the price will be very reasonable. The first place I got mine from was a fire extinguisher place, and he wanted me to sign up for their filling plan. At the time I had no idea how long it would take to use up the gas and prudently passed on that offer.

Its been suggested to look at paintball retailers for a fill as well, but since I have no experience with that I cannot comment on whether or not that is a good source.

Just knowing where to look is the hardest part of the battle!

Cheers!

I’ve been thinking more and more about making the jump into all grain brewing. The biggest drawback to me right now is the time added on to a brew day to wait for the grains to steep, er, mash.

I’ve already decided on batch sparging to begin with. At first blush from reading it appears much less fussy as well as quicker. From what I’ve read it also consistently produces high conversion yields. So what is stopping me?

Besides the added hour or two, I need to find myself a decent cooler. I have a blue one … somewhere, maybe in the crawl space. I am pretty sure that cooler is still full of my “collection” of growlers that I fully intend on putting back on a shelf with the rest of my bar-ware, just as soon as I have some place to put that shelf. It would also help to have a working kegerator in the same room to justify taking up shelf space with glassware. I digress.

The other part is not having a 7 or 8 gallon brew kettle. Yes, I do have two (or three?) five gallon kettles, and sure, I could split the batch and boil on two burners, or try for a Texas two step type brew day… Ooh, I wonder, since batch sparging is done with two sets of rinsing, right? Take the heavier first run and boil that, and hop the second lighter gravity to get more usage from the hops?

Maybe it isn’t as far fetched as I thought. I do like hoppy beer.

I wonder if Midwest would like some of my stimulus money?

Yes, dear, I am kidding.

Cheers!