Racking the lager

I'm going to be working down in the brewery tonight. No brewing, just allot of lager racking. I have twenty gallons of lager in one stage of fermentation or another, which require racking to new vessels. I could stand to do some cleanup down there as well. Perhaps, I'll wrap up the taxes this evening, and put the 2006 tax year to bed after I'm done in the brewery. If time permits I'll also start designing my next beer, which may possibly be a Märzen. woooo, maybe I'll get freaky and perform a triple decoction with this beer.

Haiku Wednesday

Snow just keeps falling.
Daylight savings arrives soon.
George Bush is a mook.

It's not Globus Hystericus

I'm still fighting off these cold and flu like symptoms. Even with the day off Monday I still don't quite feel like I'm running at even 75%, although my taxes are over 75% completed. I did manage to get out for my sister's yoga class which proved to be a minor benefit. I clearly had a difficult time with some of the poses, while other seemed to work out flawlessly. So, while a part of me is clearly out of balance, other parts of me are seemingly in perfect harmony. Go figure!
I'm in the office today playing catch-up, and clearing my throat every 2 minutes. The provisioning department is going to love me today. I seem to be filled with copious amounts of phlegm, that has manifested itself in the back of my throat. Oh, joy. Let's just hope for the best, and I'll do what I can to keep the sputum off my desk. Wow, That was probably TMI. My apologies for ruining your appetite.

Fighting it off

It's Monday, and I have been fighting off sickness since Friday night. I'm taking the day off today, and enjoying some much needed downtime. Iz is off visiting the Miller's in Groton, CT. They are getting ready for their big move to Seattle on St. Phatty's day. So it could be awhile until we see them again.
I was feeling a little sick Friday night, and seemed to recover Saturday morning only to start feeling icky again on Saturday evening after working at the mountain all day. Same thing Sunday, felt fine in the am, and then as the evening wore on I felt worse. I'm totally laying low today except maybe for my sister's yoga class, which may actually help matters. Funny thing is before we had children I never used to get sick other then a head cold every once in awhile. Now I usually lose one or two days a year to being sick other then sick in the head, which is ongoing. I did start the taxes today.

Sunday sliding

Today we got out for some sledding fun over at Living Memorial park.

What's that on your head?

The Mockler Experience

We got to enjoy dinner with one of our very best friends on Saturday night. It's been well over a year since we have seen Mr. Mockler. He dropped off the radar a little over a year ago, and finally surface for dinner with Iz and I. Things usually start out pretty reserved, but ultimately turn a bit zaney as was the case last night.
Even our discussion about the Cat-cow got out of hand. funny how pronunciations can be misunderstood.

It's snowing again

It's snowing today. The snow is loaded with a great deal of moisture which should make for great snowman building. It started snowing on my way home from from work this afternoon. I picked up the girls at daycare and we went sledding over at Living Memorial Park. We ran into Lisa and Elliott who did a few runs with us, and later Tara & Liam showed up. We all had a blast. Liam had his skis with him, and even let Grace borrow them to do some sliding around. We are expecting 1-3 inches total tonight. I hear the neighbors plow already.

A Light American Pilsner

I felt like a bumbling brewer Monday night. If it's not one thing it's your mother. Well, not exactly. My mom had nothing to do with tonights brew. It was all my own undoing.

• First off the gravity of the Bohemian had only dropped to 1.032, so it was clearly not finished fermenting.
• Second I lost about 1.5 gallons of beer when my syphon clogged and got stalled several times.
• I totally missed my gravity on this one. The target was 1.050, and I hit 1.038. As you can see my mill, mills crap for efficiency.
  

With that said I made a really light beer with 100% Pilsner malt. The upside to all of this is that this beer will be an ideal lawnmower beer for those 4 really hot days we get here in Vermont during the Summer.

snow, yes

I have been riding my snowboard allot in the past few days. I'm tired, and will report back soon on the experience.

Haiku wednesday

Epic powder day
Beard is frozen to collar
-Hopping snowshoe hare

Bohemian Pilzner Round III

The brewery is back in operation after a 60 day hiatus. This evening I performed single decoction mash, and brewed up 10 gallons of my Bohemian Pilsner. The basement temperature is holding steady at 50-52 f, which makes it ideal for fermentation using lager yeast. I did a little bit of of cleanup in the brewery tonight, and even defrosted my keg refrigerator. The basic game plan for the remainder of the Winter is to make several batches of beer experimenting with different strains of lager yeast. Naturally this will require a lagering chamber, and since the keg refrigerator is presently void of any beer, it will suffice as the logical solution for lagering since I can fit six cornies in there. This will hopefully get me motivated to get the rest of the hardware to complete the three tap system. Prosit!

Haiku Wednesday

Total Bluebird day.
Brilliant Winter Sun shines high.
-Stuck in the office.

Brrr it's cold

I awoke last night when Grace hopped into bed, and noticed it was quite chilly. Luck would have it the furnace went out because the line on second tank was not opened. What joy to be fiddling around with the furnace, priming the lines at 3:00 AM to get the heat back on. Needless to say it was a challenge to get out of bed this morning, let alone consider running. Temps hovered around 1 f last night. Oh the joys of home ownership amidst a New England Winter.

Slightly worn out from the weekend

It all started with driving to a 50th birthday party in a blinding snow storm on Friday night, I exhausted all of my homebrew for the party goers. I only got to enjoy discussing the redeeming qualities of this beer with fellow party goers as, I was designated driver for the evening. With that said it's time to start brewing again.
Saturday involved another birthday party, only this one was a surprise 30th birthday party for my friend Heath. This bash started at 6:00 pm. Needless to say I had my swerve on by 9:00 PM. This party involved A barn, allot of Red wine, a bonfire, Josh A and Daq sighting, as well as some big cones. Iz and I made it home safely (just barely).
Sunday's Stupidbowl party was by far the most low key event of the weekend. The game was marginally exciting, while the food and beer was extraordinary. My tail was dragging this morning.
BTW way Manzo never showed. He called and gave some story about being ill.

Return of the white blanket

We finally have some snow on the ground after an unusually snow free season. This beats the brown winter of 1979. At least it feels, and looks like winter outside now. More snow please.

Rest peacefully Pat

I just got word this morning that my friend Pat Danahy passed away last night due to a brief illness. He skied his last run at Mount Snow around Christmas this past December. He was in his mid eighties. Pat was a lifetime member of Mount Snow ski patrol with over 55 years of service and was the first man to ski Mount Snow. Heath and Tony proceeded directly to Pat's Pitch and poached it this morning. Get out today and take a run for Pat. You'll be missed old friend.

Manzo Threat Advisory

The present Manzo Threat advisory has been changed to Orange: Presently there is a high risk that Manzo may come to visit this weekend. We have parties to attend Friday, Saturday, and Sunday this weekend. I can't tell you the last time my schedule was booked with this many events, let alone the last time I actually made it out to a party. It will be critical that Manzo show up on time Saturday otherwise he'll miss the boat and be stuck at home with the babysitter, while Iz and I are busy tossing a coin to see who's going to be the designated driver.