Who doesn't love leftovers?  I didn't get a chance to purchase any new grains before the holiday break, but I did have some ingredients around from the last couple of batches.  Leftovers.  So, after gathering all my leftover beer making and Thanksgiving dinner ingredients I heated up some delicious leftover mashed potatoes, stuffing, turnkey, and gravy and commenced another brew.  The recipe turned out alright - something that should resemble an IPA.  I'm calling it my LeftoverIPA.  Alcohol content should be north of 6.0, so I'm happy.  I got 4.5 gallons into the fermenter, so I was a little off there - would have loved to get 5.5 gallons..  
I decided to use a stainless steel pad to act as a filter.  It worked great.  For a little bit.  The first one clogged pretty quick.  I was able to change it out smoothly though, and kept going.  I had never seen wort that clear!  Then I started getting tired standing there, and the wort started draining slower - and then, bingo, I'm sucking up all sorts of 'trub' (the 'sludge', pronounced 'troob').  It was good while it lasted.  I'll work on it for next time.  I was impressed with the possibilities.
I drank some Dogfish 60 minute IPA during the mash - I always like to try and drink the type of beer I am brewing when I am brewing it, it's good mojo..  Then I moved on to a Sierra Nevada Harvest Wet Hop Ale, during the boil.  These beers, coincidentally, were also leftovers from the Thanksgiving celebretaion at my house.  All good mojo.  All bringiing it together to what should be a great LeftoverIPA.
sidenote:  the Sierra Nevada Harvest Wet Hop Ale is fantastic.  Apparently it is the "12th Release" - but this is the first I ever heard of it, thanks to Lumbeer John (and JD, for bringing it to the feast)!

Like many American's, I love the feast and celebration of Thanksgiving. A time for getting the family together for a delicious meal, beverage, and good times.  It is actually my favorite holiday - it's Christmas without all of the commercial and religious overtones.  I do love Christmas, though, too - it's the happy time of year and people actually go out of their way to be nice.
Like most human traditions, the Thanksgiving holiday has evolved over time - from a time to be thankful for the end of the harvest, to thanking the almighty for allowing for a peaceful government to exist.  It is not a tradition specific to America either, as many countries have their own days of Thanksgiving.
As millions of us will be doing, I plan on eating and drinking a bunch, and celebrating my family - and maybe even taking a nap at some point!
So, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.  Enjoy, be thankful, and be safe.


Slainte!  Cheers!  Prost!  Salute!  Oogy Wawa! L'Chaim!

Well, evolution has a couple of parts to it.  Trial and error gets some results that are good and continue on, and other results that are not so good, and don't live on.
My JTR Irish Red Ale is one of those that will likely go by the wayside.  It is actually tasty, but since I'm still dialing in my brewing setup - I ended up with a much 'lighter' beer than I wanted.  Lighter as in alcohol content, which is upsetting to me.  In past batches, I have sacrificed volume for alcohol content, but this time I wanted to get a full 5 gallons of drinkable beer.  Turns out, I think I used too much water and blah blah blah... the beer is bit on the BudLight side of Alcohol content.  
Now, this will likely be alright as my family and I will be able to drink all day and not be completely hammered.  But damn, I like me some decent percentage alcohol in my beers.
I'll figure it out, though, don't worry about that!

So, my dad got a new motorcycle - good for him (that is his bike in the picture to the left).  I personally have driven a motorcycle a handful of times.  The first time was ridiculous - I had a couple of beers in me, and my cousin actually let me get on the "Ninja" he just got.  I made it all of 15 feet - literally not further than across the street, where I hit a patch of sand and dropped the bike!  I wasn't going that fast, and there wasn't much damage, so it worked out I guess.  I did eventually get to ride some other bikes - a Honda, which I drove with my brother on the back (holding on for dear life) a few miles up and down the boulevard and a 1969 Triumph Bonneville.  I like to say I actually helped restore that '69 Triumph bike with my dad - I did help, and learned a bunch about the bike and how it works.  I'm pretty sure all I did was hold the damn flashlight, though.  I spent a lot of my youth holding a flashlight.
Anyway, my dad is now crazy about this bike (obsessed?).  And now, apparently, he's a "Harley-Guy".  I remember the days when he was a "Triumph-Guy", but things change I guess.  That may be the point of this post.  Not anything major.  It isn't earth shattering or anything like that - just that people change.  
So, as you can see, these posts aren't always going to be about homebrewing and beer per se - but I'd like to try and tie it all back together to brewing or beer or something if I can - cause I think that things that you are passionate about can get tied into most everything that happens - or at least one can make it seem that way.
While I spent a lot of time holding a flashlight for my dad as a youth, I also spent a good amount of time 'helping' him in his winemaking endeavors.  Mostly, I cleaned out carboys and helped sanitize bottles - oh yeah, and helping to carry hundreds of pounds of grapes into the basement was fun too!  I learned a bunch of things that I didn't think I'd use when I 'grew up'.  Turns out I do use some of those things - like cleaning and rinsing carboys - I do that a lot nowadays.  And, if there were an olympic sport for it, I'd be the Michael Phelps of flashlight holding!
I'll likely write more in the future about my old days as a winemaker, maybe get my dad to contribute something, who knows.  But this is it for now.
Cheers!

I can't move forward with this Brew Blog without a shout-out to the man, Charlie Papazian (pictured).  Before I even thought about brewing my own beer, I had seen his book around - "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" (Amazon Link) - a friend of mine in Law School had a copy and my brother-in-law had one too.  In fact, it was my brother-in-law that leant me his copy when I was just getting started.  That book was later eaten by my dog, an upsetting day.  I need to get a replacement soon, as I just don't feel right not having that book around.
Well, Papazian is a "legend" in my world.  He is just this cool, laid back kind of guy who loves beer, especially that which is homebrewed.  And, he loves to share knowledge about it, which is also great.  Those of you in the homebrewing world will recognize his catchphrase - "Relax, Don't Worry, Have a Homebrew" (or RDWHAHB).  He says it over and over in his books, and it really is a great piece of advice.  A lot of people have tendencies to get 'crazy' with things - like sanitation, or obsessing about this ingredient or that way of doing things.  The reality is, though, that humans have been making beer for a good chunk of our existence before we had cleaners and sanitizers, etc.  Pay attention to sanitation and cleanliness, yes, but also just go for it - don't obsess.
Well, Charlie Papazian, cheers to you for your part in this movement to create delicious beers at home.  

During the course of some conversations with people I am sometimes accused of being a 'beer snob' based on the fact that I would rather drink a Long Trail Ale than a Bud Light or a Coors Light (I hate the taste of Coors Light).  The problem is, I'm not a beer snob at all - but I do have a taste for the more fuller bodied beers.  

I "grew up" on the MillerBudCoors (MBC) type beers.  In fact a large chunk of my college years was spent drinking Genny Light from cans, kegs and bottles (I went to college in upstate NY).  At the time, I really liked it, and from time to time I will pick up a sixer for nostalgia's sake.  The point is, it was easy to drink mass quantities of Genny Light - and lets be serious here, that was the whole point.

But now, I'm old and I just don't have the time to devote to drinking mass amounts of watery not that alcoholy beer.  I need something to satisfy my taste buds' desires, as well as, my increased tolerance and reduced amount of leisure time.  

To bring it on home, this is just another reason why homebrewing is great - cause you can make some nice full bodied beers with a decent amount of alcohol.  But, you can also make beers that are lighter bodied with a decent amount of alcohol that will be similar to an MBC type beer, especially if you make lager beers (which I currently do not).

Anyway, I am not a beer snob.  I can recognize the finer things in life, but I do not look down on beers because of what they are, or beer drinkers because of what they are drinking.  I love beer, and am just glad to see when others are enjoying one too.

That's right.  I admit it.  I get a joy from taking the red cap off of my airlock and sniffing it as it bubbles away.
As I type this, I have a Pale Ale bubbling away in the basement.  It is fermenting like crazy, if my records are correct - I may get over 90% attenuation, which would be a record for me.
That's fine and all - the great part is the smell.  The hops are coming through nicely.  Its a pleasant surprise, as it is another JTR recipe formulation from scratch.  I'm not joking when I say that just a year ago I was a clueless "noob" in the beer world.  So a successful brew is still a pretty significant thing for me.
So, if you dont mind, please excuse me - I need to go sniff my airlock...

This is it, my first blog post.  I can't imagine there will be too many.  If history is anything to go by - I'll probably have a bunch of things on this site to begin with, and then it will trickle off as I grow bored!

I must say, though, that I can't imagine myself growing bored of this whole homebrewing thing.  That is something.  The whole experience is great.  The smells of the grains steeping, and the wort boiling.  The exercise and sweating from moving quickly and running around doing this and that.  And then, when done, there is something to show for it.  Actually, more importantly, there is something to drink of it - hopefully with a high alcohol content!

Blogging and putting a website up is really great too - but I can't get drunk off of a blog post or a website update - so, we'll see.  Anyway, here's to the future.


Cheers.