Aloha

Packing up to leave our resort experience, we had a mini-fridge full o' stuff that we needed to do something with.

Of course, we chose the logical route, and coined the Kitchen Sink Tropical Drink:

1/8 bottle Maui golden rum
3/4 mini (shooter) bottle Johnny Love vodka
unknown amount watermelon juice from fresh Hawaii watermelon
juice of one squeezed lime
pineapple-orange-banana juice to taste

It's pretty wicked.

Flying out tonight, after one more day wandering around Oahu. More reports later!

Moose, on the ruuunn...



This moose was hanging out between our driveway and the street, and got spooked by something. You can see one of the new raised bed gardens in the lower left corner; happily the moose was content to eat the new green underbrush that is popping up everywhere.

Need to pack soon for a week in Oahu. Yeah, life is rough. We should have planned it better, though, to observe the rule that Alaskans should vacation during the winter, not the summer.

On a related note, the tourists are already wandering aimlessly around the tchotchke shops of downtown Anchorage, and walking out into traffic without looking, and Moose's Tooth is already whacked. A recent Wednesday evening at 5:30pm had an hour wait for four. We opted instead for Organic Oasis which had about four tables taken. Much more pleasant.

BREWING BOOT CAMP!

3B: Beyond Boston Barleywine
OG 1.103, FG 1.020, ABV 10.9% (a balance between american and english barleywine styles, like Rogue Old Crustacean: hoppy but also malty sweet)

Middle Child
projected OG 1.045, FG 1.004, ABV 5.4%
(the second and third runnings of 3B, the boil included a pint of my sister in law's habanero jelly. the resulting beer is actually quite tasty: think Wynkoop's Patty's Chile Beer, but not as spicy)

SDS: Schizo Disordered Stout
OG 1.076, FG 1.019, ABV 7.5%
(secondary was on four ounces of French oak chips soaked for nine days in Jim Beam)

Drop the Ball DIPA
OG 1.084, FG 1.009, ABV 9.8%
(let's just say the process was a little less than smooth. okay, we were drunk. a total of about 5.8 ounces of hops in the boil, and dry hopped with another ounce of Columbus)

AB: Alaskan Bastard
OG 1.080, FG 1.015, ABV 8.5%
(another installment in the bastard series, and the first one made in Alaska)

Go to the Dentist! Amber Ale
OG 1.060, SG 1.015, ABV 5.9%
(still in primary, as I want to pitch onto the yeast cake)

and about ten days after brewing boot camp:

May Day Proletariat Porter
OG 1.088, SG at secondary 1.017 (current ABV 9.2%)
pitched onto the SDS yeast cake

some documentary evidence that this madness actually occurred:

fortifications... Rule #1 is no joke!

getting ready to dough-in Go to the Dentist! Amber Ale

the end of a vigorous boil, with wort chiller

four days, six batches... and we even avoided acute alcohol poisoning!

the second chief deputy assistant brewer steps up to the plate for a little brewing baseball... diligent application of Rule #1 will do that to you.
EDIT, EDIT, EDIT. AHEM.

cleaning salvaged bottles from the NW regional judging of the NHC

kegerator, with three of the batches force carbonating

Another month, another post

Busy busy busy! Sacramento was good, got a lot of work and drinking done, but came down with a cold that was a bit of a damper. Looking forward to Hawaii: we fly out Saturday for a week.

We finally got the raised bed gardens planted: three with vegetables, one with mostly herbs. Picking up the topsoil in bulk was a little sketchy: a front loader dropped a little over a cubic yard into our trailer, which is rated for something like 1250 pounds. Thing is, a cubic yard of topsoil weighs about a ton, give or take for moisture content. Fortunately, it was a relatively short drive.

We shoveled all that topsoil in, then added about another 1.2 cubic yards of Organic 5: basically compost.

Here are some images post-planting:

broccoli, red cabbage, and green peppers

herb bed

tomatoes and basil

direct sown seeds: onions, red peppers, basil, spinach, and salad mix

some lemon balm, marigolds, and willamette hops in the background