Jun
23
It’s been something like a year and a half or more since I’ve brewed beer. I’ve been thinking about brewing a lot. I’ve talked about brewing a lot, but just haven’t pulled the trigger. Saturday I pulled the trigger.

Lots of beery goodness going on in there.
Wanting to get back to basics, I brewed a recipe that was originally a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone that I found from Brew Your Own magazine, but since I was buying my ingredients online and in set volumes, I decided to alter from the recipe a bit. Here’s the recipe I ended up using:
- 1 lb Malt – Crystal 40L
- 1 lb Malt – Carapils
- 8 lbs Light Malt Extract
- 2 oz Perle Hops @ 10min
- Cascade Hops (5 ounces so far)
3 oz @ 45min,
1 oz @ 55min,
1 oz for dry hopping (with more to come)
- American Ale Yeast

Thanks to Mario, all of our plants are properly hydrated.
Seeing as brewing has historically been a social activity (women mostly, but in the last century or two men have taken over), I decided to invite some of the guys over. There was beer to brew and beer to drink and I needed help with both. Mario was the first to arrive just as I was cranking up the burner and was a big help. Earl, Ryan and Dilby showed up a little later in the brew day. Even my dad, fresh from the US Open at Pebble Beach, made an appearance.
I got to break out the wort chiller that my brother made for me for Christmas and it worked like a champ. I just wish there was a way to not use up so much water during the cooling down process. Suffice it to say, every single tree, bush and shrub in the front yard was adequately hydrated on brew-day.
All in all, it was a good day. I’m glad I finally got around to brewing. I was able to take a sip of the brew last night as I was dry-hopping with more Cascade hops and moly-moly are we in for a treat. It still needs some time to age, but I think I’m on to something.
Posted in beer, friends, homebrew
Dec
31
Earl, Josh and I brewed a Mocha Brown Ale a couple weeks ago. Well now its ready to bottle and unless I’m completely worthless tomorrow, Josh and I are going to bottle it. Once that’s done, it should be ready to drink in 2 to 3 weeks (Super Bowl anyone?). This leads me to a very important question:
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Posted in bachelor, beer, brian, earl, friends, honeymoon, jeff, josh, matt, transfer
Nov
01
All of our family and friends are starting to roll into town. Which can mean only one thing: It’s really happening. All of the planning and organizing is actually becoming reality now and Jackie and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. As excited as we are to get married, it’ll be nice to not have to plan a wedding anymore. We are really getting psyched about seeing all of our closest family and friends and hope that you all have a great time.
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Posted in bride, countdown, daniel, dj, food, friends, honeymoon, jackie, wedding
Oct
27
So our wedding is one week from today and everything is falling into place. And believe me, I’m very happy and excited about it, but this whole event has got me thinking. The wedding industry is just a big sham. DJ’s, Florists, Caterers, Wedding planners and the like are all ridiculously priced but “necessary” to have a wedding. Granted you need some sort of entertainment, decorations, food and organization for a wedding to be fun, but the outrageous prices that come about as soon as you say the word “wedding” are completely baffling. ( Read more )
Posted in bride, countdown, daniel, dj, food, friends, honeymoon, jackie, wedding