It's been a month since I brewed.

I just checked my brew logs, and it has been over a month since I last brewed. Life is good though, as I have a several kegs on tap, as well as a nice assortment of beer conditioning. I really need to get around to making that RYEPA. It's nice to take some time off from the brewery. I think I may consider doing this every January. It seems like a nice way to ease into the new year.

Haiku

Early Morning run
Under light of a full moon.
-Frost beneath my feet

Brewers night out

Saturday night I hosted a non-brewing event with some (mostly local) homebrewers. Typically we get together a few times a year and make beer. Saturday night was all about drinking the beer. We started the afternoon off by meeting up with my friend Ray who gave us a tour of his new facility.
Afterwards we returned to my house for dinner and more beer, and even more talk of beer, followed by some fresh air and a visit to Flat St. where we were promptly cut-off after our second round. Honestly I'm surprised they even let us in to the place. If you see Ray ask him about the DFH 120. I don't think he had any idea of what he was getting into.

Paddling Solo

Grace made her first unaided strokes today. Way to go Gracie!

Thursday Night Pizza Party

Thomas, and Roddy were in town Thursday night for a pizza party. We had quite the houseful. We even made some new friends.

Wednesday Night Indulgence

I accidentally got my swerve on last night. While I was down in the basement racking beer, and listening to the latest Dead podcast on my ipod I overindulged and managed to get my swerve on. I'm paying for it this morning. I swear I didn't have more then four or five pints! I must have been all that sampling while I was getting the beer into final packaging.

Haiku Wednesday

Fresh, Dry Mountain air
Snow blankets terra firma.
The deep freeze is here.

Farwell to Zak

Our good friend Zak is movin' to Montana soon. This time He is moving there for good. I know what you may be thinking...Dental floss tycoon, right? Well no, he's a ski bum at heart and is moving out there to be with his college buddies, and enjoy the big mountain pow that Montana has to offer. Bye Zak we'll miss you very much. We hope you'll still make it back to Vermont around the holidays.

Saturday afternoon snowshoe adventure

There is no Saturday swim lesson video this week. Instead I have some prime footage of Grace to offer this week. We decided that after swim lessons we would have lunch and then head into the woods for a snowshoe adventure. We ended up hiking up to the tower.

By the way Manzo did show up Friday night. All fun and games til we drank the Vermonster.

Manzo threat is Orange

Manzo just called. He's on his way to my house from skiing at Killington. I'll let you know if he actually shows.

Rye it is

I have decided to pass on making the steam beer, and have opted for brewing a beer with 20% malted rye. This is a new malt for me, so I'm off into uncharted territory. I have been doing some research, and now the time has come the recipe formulation.

Coming out of both ends

Grace is home sick today. I handled the morning shift, while Izzy is pulling the afternoon shift. Make note to self: Do not let toddlers wear pants and tights at the same time if they are experiencing intestinal distress. There simply isn't enough time to dress down.

Snowshoe adventure

As it turns out we got a few more inches of freshies on Monday, and the girls had off from school. The enjoyed and epic nap, and a s a result had some energy to burn late in the afternoon. After we cleaned the snow up in the driveway, the girls and I headed out on a night time snowshoe adventure in the woods. We all had a blast. Unfortunately the camera battery died, so no pix this time around. They girls really enjoyed themselves. I think I found a new outdoor afterschool adventure for them.

Back to the brewing board

I took a few weeks of from brewing to enjoy some free skiing. A few days off from work, and making turns has been a welcome relief from the stresses of everyday life.
Recently I discovered that my conical fermenter will not fit in the lager chamber (airlock is too tall). I racked the beer out of the conical and into two five gallon glass carboy's. The conical is now free'd up and I'm ready to make an ale or possibly a steam beer depending on where I store the conical in my basement. If the brewery temps continue to hover around 58f then I may go for a steam beer, on the other side of the basement if the cellar room temps hover around 62-64f, I may decide to make an ale. Lagers are out right now since the chamber is full. Maybe I will be able to fit it in this weekend.

Evacuating the Fermenters

So about a month or so ago I set out to fill all my fermenters, and kegs in order to get to maximum capacity. I got close but failed. This only only due to the fact that I undermined my objective by investing in a 14.5 gallon stainless steel conical fermenter. So now that the holidays are over and are visitors have all departed, I'm left in a wake of empty kegs, which I have started to refill. I like the idea of brewing beer to keep up with consumption. I like the idea of brewing beer in order to keep all my kegs full all the time even more.
I ordered a few spare parts on-line yesterday in order to replace a pressure relief valve on one of my corny's so that I may get some beer in it. I'm thinking about possibly brewing this weekend. I may have to go with a steam beer since it's still pretty cold in the basement.

Swim lessons week two

Raining, Pouring

The temps have gradually gone up since a week ago Thursday. We have seen some unseasonably warm temps this week, which has caused a few raindrops instead of snow to fall. This morning along with the freezing rain it started pouring when I dropped Winty off at School. It's very disappointing to see all this snow disappear so rapidly. The good news is, there may be some some snow in the forecast for us on Monday, so cross your fingers, and hope for the best.
I'm going to be down in the brewery tonight filling up some kegs, and clearing out the fermenters for more beer. Yes, more beer. Here's to the 2008 run.

Impromptu dinner guests

I mentioned that We would not get to see my brother this week due to poor timing. I took a few days off over the past week, and was unable to schedule additional time off due to month end/year end stuff at work. Needless to say I was disappointed that I would not be able to meet up with my brother who was only going to be 24 miles up the road. Having a family and especially two small children can really provide for a logistical challenge at times. Enough rambling.
Thomas called me at the office just before 4:00pm to see what our dinner plans were tonight. Thinking quick I advised him that We would be dining with him tonight, and told him to pick up some salad on the way from Okemo. He obliged, and sixty-five minutes later he, and Hank were rolling into the driveway for a spontaneous dinner date. The girls as you see were delighted to have Uncle Tommy and Hank over for dinner. I was too!

Timing is everything

My Brother Thomas is visiting this week from NY. He is staying with our friends Astrid and Suzanne. Unfortunately we will not get a chance to meet up for turns on the slopes or dinner this week. The good news is he'll be back a couple more times this season, so the probability is high that we may actually get to hang out together. It's been raining and the weather has warmed up quite a bit, so all that great snow we have been enjoying is starting to melt rapidly.
Possible snow in the forecast for early next week.

Get out while the getting is good

The Manzo threat was elevated to orange last Thursday, and went to Green on Monday when he inevitably pulled a Manzo and never showed up. The skiing and riding was great this past weekend. Friday being my favorite day out of the three days that Billy and I made turns. Sunday was decent, and Monday was moist and ticky-tacky. I worked the volunteer gig at the mountain on Monday. Ripcord was inviting.
I think I have about fourteen days of riding in this season. I wonder if I'll hit the 40 day mark this year?

The Iversen Dantona visit

Here are a few shots from dinner Sunday night. After a hard day of skiing and riding on the slopes We surprised Billy and Lilith with a Babysitter, and they surprised us with dinner at the India Palace.
BTW Manzo flaked again today.

Footage from the pool

swim lessons

The girls started swimming lessons this weekend. This is Winty's second time around with structured lessons. Both girls have become increasingly comfortable in the water over the past few Summer's, and we have finally made that leap to get them paddling on their own.

Looking forward to a few days off

Our friends Billy and Lilith are visiting with their daughter this weekend from Chico. Billy is a friend of mine from my college days, that I re-connected with here in Southern Vermont. He and his family have since moved to Chico, California via Philadelphia. I'm taking a few days off so We plan on getting out to make lots and lots of turns up at Mount Snow this weekend.

Starting the new year out proper

We started 2008 out in style by getting eight inches of nice dry snow. I bailed on getting out to ride my snowboard and opted to spend the day at home. It was a challenging day, but we all managed to have some fun. Hope you are enjoying you new year snow or not.