Happy Birthday Jerry!

The original Fat man would have turned sixty five today.
Please enjoy a toast to celebrate Jerry Garcia's life today. Heck, while your at it enjoy this set from the Legion of Mary at the Bottom Line in New York City from 4/9/75.
Although I never quite made the 100 show threshold, I give thanks to my brother, and my college friends for exposing me to Jerry's music which became a very integral part of my life. This life experience helped to mold some of my present values as well as broaden my mind.

The sun will shine in my back door someday.
March winds will blow all my troubles away

Amarillo Pale Ale redux

If I can score some 1056 American ale yeast from Ray this week, B & I are going to brew up some more of that tasty Amarillo Pale Ale. This could very well be my new favorite hop. I kegged 5 gallons of this back at the end of June and it was so tasty that we kicked the keg in under two weeks. 5 gallons were bottled for a beer swap, and to hand out to some lucky friends.
I also have a pound of Simcoe hops that I'm planning on using for one of these upcoming batches.

Stalled on Monday

I barely made it out of bed this morning, and can't seem to get anything done today. Today's energy just can't get me rolling with any momentum. Between calls and emails from friends and family members who are have connectivity issues, I'll be lucky if I manage to get out the door at four o'clock today.
Did I mention the auditors are here this week?
The rest of the day just got blown out of the water, as Nick from the auditors wants to catch up with me this afternoon. READ: He's checking our compliance with Sarbox. I'll be riding my bicycle home this evening. yahoo.

Whirlwind weekend

The weekend was pretty nutty here at the house. Iz worked Friday night, and then took of for Naomi's wedding in NYC first thing Saturday morning. My sister agreed to takes the girls Saturday afternoon for a few hours so I could fit a bike ride in, which got rained out. It was nice to have a little break and some time to myself.
On Sunday after I Grace and I helped B bottle two cases of beer, the girls and I met up with Suzanne and Astrid over at Townshend lake for some swimming, frisbee tossing, and a vegetarian cookout.
Look like the next scheduled brew date will be Thursday evening.

Where did the month go?

The summer is officially flying by right now. It is already the end of the month, and August is upon us next week. Woah.
Thing have been pretty quiet on the brewing front. I have no choice at this point unless I want to start full on bottling again, and that ain't gonna happen. I have literally run out of Kegs. I think I still have one left that will need to be cleaned out really well. My brewery is at 95% capacity. Yes Saul Groovy, I'll bringing some beer for you to enjoy when we visit in September.

More dope then the 1989 Dead Summer Tour

Seeing the stay-puff marshmallow man in the womens room at the JFK show in July of 1989 is nothing compared to the dopers getting caught during this years Tour De France.
I just don't get it. Why blow your career on blood doping for a stage win, or a tour win, with the risk so high. Rasmussen and Vino are out. They will probably never race again. Kinda makes you wonder if Lance will ever come clean.

At any rate this will leave the door wide open, and I hope Cadel Evans is able to exploit this and take the yellow jersey back to Australia.

Where is the babysitter?

Isabel and I had a date night planned Wednesday night, and our sitter never showed up. No call. Nothing. I sure hope she is okay. Despite the fact that Izzy and I were unable to go out on a date, I was able to make some major headway in the brewery. I managed to rack 35 gallons of beer into assorted vessels. I did save 5 gallons of California common to get racked...possibly to bottles. I ran out of steam tonight after racking the first 35 gallons. Whew! Ran out of room in the cellar too, and had to take 10 gallons of Imperial Stout over to Ray's for storage. Probably, a good thing! It is so darn hot in my basement that I had to take care of business here, and get the beer cold. The five gallons of CA Common hanging around may just kegged in a couple days if the weather doesn't break.
I Guess I'll be making some lagers beers for the rest of the summer, since I can control those temperatures.
Another side note, since it was so warm I put the IIPA on tap and it is shaping up quite nicely. I honestly wonder if there will be any left by Thanksgiving. I heart beer.

The bottle was dusty but the liquor was clean

Haiku Wednesday

Cloudy July morn.
Permeating fog and mist
-Sunlight burns it off.

USA Cycling Championships

It's been a wicked busy weekend. Good thing the carnage was quiet at the races this weekend. Slow Sunday which is a good thing. then again, they could change the line through the rock garden and make it really interesting.

I saw my Buddy Jay DeJesus this weekend. He's looking good these days. It's hard to imagine he was on the brink and so close to having his life extinguished from meningitis. We made plans to get together down in the Valley when we go to visit my Father for his 70th birthday in September. Gonna rip it up at Lehigh's South Mountain Campus. Haven't been or my mountain bike in ages, let alone Lehigh's amazing trails. Word. BTW I'll bring the beer.

Balloons and Ice Cream

This is what a three year old looks like enjoying ice cream bliss.

Antics at the Green River Festival

There were great acts of tom-foolery and hijynx at the Green River Festival this weekend. Much thanks go to Cynthia for the Green River Festival Tickets. The girls and I met Trout down in Greenfield for some live music, hot air balloons, ice cream, and some cold Dale's Pale Ale. We all had a blast. BTW the chair tipping event took place prior to indulging in the ice cream.

Fenway, Bukowski's and a Flat Rat

The Red Sox game was quite a treat. The Boston experience is alway first rate.




Here is a shot of the flat rat Manzo and I spied Saturday morning in the North End. As you can clearly see he was not in the cross walk. This is what happens to rats who jaywalk in Boston.

Fenway Bound

I'm off to Fenway today to see the Sox play. I'm meeting up with Manzo to have dinner then head out to see Beckett silence the White Sox bats. I may even slip in a visit to see my new niece in Lowell, along with a stop at Mike's Pastry for the goods!

Up like Elk

I awoke this morning at 4:50 am and found myself unable to fall back asleep. I emerged bleary eyed from bed and headed off to the kitchen to make some coffee. I considered a run this morning but opted out being optimistic that it's not going to storm today and I'll be able to fit in my bicycle commute home today.
Grinding coffee beans at five in the morning brought me back to the good old days when I lived with Elk. He'd be up before the crack of dawn grinding beans for coffee, and making snorting noises while clearing his sinus' of the pollen du jour. Often he would sound like a herd of elk in a china shop early in the AM, but I chalk it up to him merely inviting the morning twilight into our apartment. He made a great alarm clock.
I'm off to Fenway Friday night if the weather holds out.

Haiku Wednesday

Steady cool rain drops.
Knocking off early today
-Must tend to sick child.

Preparing the East side of the House

The scraping has been rather arduous. I'm definitely making progress on the house, and it is starting to show. Special thanks once again to B for helping out. The help has been awesome, and sure beats doing it alone. It's been a delicate balance with work, home life, and my own personal pursuits in order to help maintain my sanity on this enormous project. The cycling and brewing really help as far as providing a distraction.
Thanks for all your encouragement in embarking on this endeavor. Anyone got a 40 foot ladder or a lift I could borrow?

House painting and beer

I started the prep work for my house painting project this past weekend. I haven't painted a house since Hank and Suzanne moved to West Townshend. It hasn't been the least bit exciting. Talk about mundane projects. I'm finding that several clapboards, and some trim is in need of being replaced due to rot. I'm gonna have to call Murph on some tips on replacing these clapboards. Oh the joys of home ownership!

Shouts out to my buddy Brian for lending a hand and being a huge help by helping me scrape the building. Sunday morning we scraped the house and brewed 10 more gallons of the California Common. That yeast was so active that the fermentation started within three hours pf pitching. We overshot the gravity on this baby, as a result it's going to be a strong beer. I figure I am going to need some help to finish this project, so on with the brewing.

10,000 losses

I found a website a few weeks back dedicated to the celebration of the Philadelphia Phillies 10,000th loss. Check it out here. It all actually came to fruition this weekend when then Phils got trampled by Cardinals. Here is the field report from their their 10,000th loss.
The Phillies franchise has lost more games then any other team in the history of professional sports. Not exactly devastating as most Philadelphia sports fans like myself are used to it.

Delayed projects. More rain WTF?

We have had Thunderstorms here over the past seven days. This means it has rained at least once per day. This normally wouldn't be a big deal, but I'm trying to get my prepared so that I can paint it this summer. These delays are turning into a huge PITA. We are almost half way into the month, and all I have done is put up a ladder, and a collection of assorted painting, and scraping tools in my garage. I still need another ladder and some ladder jacks which I'll grab up Saturday to help me get started.
On a bright note Iz and I are headed to the Sierra Grille for a five course beer dinner tonight that will feature Dogfish Head. DFH's founder Sam Calagione will be speaking at the dinner tonight. Oh yeah and tomorrow is Friday, and I get to ride my bike home. Yipee!

Haiku Wednesday

Hazy overcast
Ominous black clouds linger
Here comes the Thunder.

It's hot....real hot

Due to a several scheduling conflicts and meetings my commuting schedule is not working out so well this week. It's bad enough that I had to bail on my ride last Friday due to all the rain, but my trusty Merlin has been couped up in my office all week, and my legs are getting itchy to ride. It's truly amazing how I feel the need to feed my cycling addiction one again. I'm loving it!
It's super hot here in Southern Vermont, relief is on the horizon, and the hot weather may break on Thursday.
The California Common is going ape-shit in the fermenter right now. I may try to fit in a back to back brew session with another ali Common and just pitch on top of the present yeast cake. I'll then have 20 gallons of this fine beer to help me get through these hot summer days. It's amazing, I'm already planning out the rest of my brewing summer, and working on projects for this Fall. There are some exciting beers in the works, so stay tuned.
On a side note I have just started the preparation work to get the house painted this Summer, yet another reason to brew copious amounts of beer. Stay cool and support your local brewery!

California Common, the Tour, and some hard working yeast.

The 2007 Tour de France started Saturday with the prologue taking place around London. It's so easy to get caught up in the tour when you have the internet at your fingertips. I would like to catch some live coverage one of these days if time permits. B and I were hard at work down in the brewery Sunday. we brewed up the California Common which has become a standard in my brew house.
It's modeled after Anchor Steam, which is a mighty fine beer. I think the mill is finally dialed in as good as it's going to get. I ran the numbers by Ray and his calculations came up with something like 1.002 points gravity per pound of malt. Ray let me know if this number is inaccurate, as I was not taking very good notes yesterday.
Remember last weeks behemoth Imperial Stout that rang in at 1.096? Well, the 1056 American ale yeast they I used to ferment this beer with, went to work and dropped the gravity down to 1.020. My math sucks, but this should mean about 79% attenuation, which I think is completely acceptable. It got racked to secondary fermentation today and will be blended with the Mustgo Imperial Stout when it gets bottled in a couple weeks.
Next on deck will be some more Amarillo Pale Ale. It very well could be my new favorite hop.

Harry Potter's Birthday, or a celebration for Trout?

I'm told that today is Harry Potter's Birthday. We also found ourselves celebrating Trout's birthday as well.... one week early. The kids napped so we all had big fun out in the country. I brought along a couple growlers of Simply Stout and the Amarillo Pale Ale. The stout is really starting to shine. The pale ale will probably be another week or two before it's totally conditioned. Don't get me wrong, it's entirely drinkable. Sunday I'll commence the prep work for painting the house. Gotta love summer projects.
BTW, yes I did see Jordan and his mandolin Saturday night.

Happy Independence Day

So let's see... how old is this country now, something like 231 years, which is actually pretty darn young if you think about it. Speaking of young, here is a shot of the girls staging before he parade yesterday. We set out to go get their bikes decorated for the fourth of July, and ended up being a part of the parade. They completed their first epic road ride. 1.5 miles.
After the parade we headed over to Sarah's house for her annual Birthday party. I managed to squeeze in a ride myself yesterday with the Murphenator. We got caught in the rain just as we crested Bear Mountain Ya'll. The descent was fast, wet, and the raindrops painful. It was ETB, as a result the fireworks eluded us yet again this year.

Fixit Imperial Stout

Go huge or go home right? With the help of Brian and Matthew last night I was able to pull off brewing The Fixit Imperial stout which will ultimately be blended with the Mustgo Imperial Stout that was brewed a week ago. I consulted my mentor and we did some math on these beers.
Here is what we came up with

• Mustgo Imperial Stout- SG 1.055 IBU's 75
• Fixit Imperial Stout- SG 1.096 IBU's 40

The blended final product will hypothetically have an approximate SG of 1.076, and be around 58 IBU's. Not exactly your over the top delusional hop experience. It will likely be a pretty solid beer however that should age well, and taste pretty darn good despite the lower IBU numbers. I must say that it sure beats the hell out of making a final product that is far to bitter for human consumption. Stay tuned for the hypothetical final ABV for this beer.

I also got some choice pix of Matthew and B in action down in the brewery. They also single handily bottled over four cases of beer. Thanks guys! Wel done.

Twelve Years ago today

was the very last time that I saw the Grateful Dead. I still have vivid memories of this event as if it were yesterday. Highlights.....
Missing the scheduled meeting times for my brother at the Roberto Clemente Statue, Riding over to the show and missing Rusted Root as the opener because we got stuck in traffic. Having to drive to the show, due to the fact that the day before Elk totaled his truck when some soccer mom in a min-van collided with him head on up in the Poconos near the speedway. Gibson getting chased by security after he hopped over the wall on the first base line. Doah, then watching him knock over a sign and politely work his way thru the crowd as men in yellow security shirts pursued him.
All those rain songs, and naturally the encore.....Gloria.
Waking up in the tent at 4:00AM with an inch of water inside the tent. Thankfully Gibson brought that air mattress, otherwise we would have gone hypothermic for certain.
Here is the setlist:

Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, PA (Friday 6/30/95)

Hell In A Bucket
West L.A. Fadeaway
Take Me To The River
Candyman
Masterpiece
Bird Song
Promised Land

Rain
Box Of Rain
Samba In The Rain
Looks Like Rain ->
Terrapin ->
Drums ->
Space ->
I Need A Miracle ->
Standing On The Moon

E: Gloria

God bless the Grateful Dead!

Feeling Surly

I'm not usually like this, but today I am feeling awfully surly. Perhaps it may have something to do with staying up late last night carrying on with Iz and Patty, or maybe it was the combination of homebrew and old chub? At any rate I will plan on doing my best to avoid those people that have a tendency to push my buttons.
Due to last weekends SNAFU in the brewery I will be making another Imperial Stout this weekend. This beer will then be blended with last weeks Imperial Stout to make a total of 20 gallons. With any luck this will make something more drinkable, and enjoyable for mid-Winter. I'll also be bottling around 7 cases of this stuff. Bottling can be a PITA, but in this case it will be well worth it.
Matthew Fleming is working his way through the Northeast next week, complete with a stop at our house. It will be great to see Matthew again. Maybe I'll even send him off with some beer for Art.
I'm also sending that old black shogun twelve speed with Shimano 600 components off to Slockwoo. She will be the proud new sponsor of this timeless bicycle.

Haiku Wednesday

End of June is near
Return from vacation bliss.
-Black flies have vanished.

I thought the full moon was this weekend?

My sister hosted a family dinner at her house last night. Little did we know that we would be treated to a very rare astronomical phenomena of a full moon nearly five days ahead of the scheduled full moon this month.

As we were rounding the corner and heading up Oak St. the fellow on the bicycle pictured on the left was also rounding the corner onto Oak from the opposite side At first I thought the guy was just riding topless, but with closer examination, I observed that he was clearly naked, except for his helmet, sunglasses, and cycling shoes. I cheered him on as we walked up the street, then realized that my camera was in my bag. I took advantage of this Brattleboro phenomena and decided to get some footage. Here is a shot of the naked cyclist that rides through town during the summer.
I wonder if he is the Lanterne Rouge from last
years naked crit ?

Brewery SNAFU

There was a total SNAFU in the brewery Saturday night. I brewed an Imperial Stout with a target gravity of 1.080. I missed the mark by a million miles, and came out at around 1.055. My mill efficiency is still crap. Ray suggested .060 which is the space he has his mill set. I have been using .055. This has resulted in around 55% efficiency. I'm going to dial back and plan on using a spacing between .040 -.050 for the next brew. With any luck this will improve my extract efficiency. At any rate I am considering investing in a larger mash tun for future brews in order to meet my high gravity needs.
I'm now planning on making an0ther stout to blend with this one in order to make it drinkable. Back to the drawing board.

Hail, Hail

We cut our vacation short by one day due to the freaky storms that were blowing through Mid-Coast Maine on Friday. The weather turned from voluminous sunshine to thunder, lightning and hail in a matter of minutes. The car was packed, and we headed back to Vermont. Naturally a trip to Maine wouldn't be complete without a visit to Harraseeket lunch and lobster. This place has become a regular stop for us. We also detoured thru Wells to stop at Tully's beer and wine to check out the bottle selection. While I must say it's list of Belgian beers was quite impressive, its overall beer selection doesn't beat Ryan and Casey's in Greenfield, MA which by the way is a whole lot closer.

Happy Solstice!

The family checked out Friday and headed up to South Bristol, Maine for the week. We brought my mother along. My in-laws will also be joining us for a few days. This has been a very fun week. We checked out the grand opening of the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens down in Boothbay which is a must see for anyone visiting the area. Grace and my mom also enjoyed their first whale watch on Monday. The highlight of the watch was seeing a Minke Whale.

It's been a fun filled family style week of Beach, Sun, Water, Beer, Lobster, and some limited cycling. I'm enjoying some Hugh Malone as I blog today. More lobstah tonight!

We had our date night on Wednesday. Last week before our trip Michael and Beth had recommended Primo which is in Rockland. We didn't feel up for the drive so instead we decided to check out a new place in Damariscotta that opened last August. It's called 74 Main and it was as good as the Sierra Grille down in Northampton.

This morning we hit the beach from 10 to 1. Hot and sunny, but with the water temps at 55f, I refrained from going under all the way. Maybe I'll go under tomorrow.

Vacation Haiku

Lazy Summer day
Paddling Poor house Cove
-Swat that mosquito.

Crack in the road partly fixed

They started to pave Route 5 between Bellows Falls and Putney. The crack in the road is now intermittent. The shoulder is still non-existent, but hey at least some of the road is paved up real nice. I'm riding home today. In the past month and a half I have logged 150 miles commuting. I'm so happy to back on my bike on a regular basis.

Happy Birthday Gus! If you see Gus wish him a happy Birthday, He's 41 today.

Haiku Wednesday

Steamy Summer day
Gently blowing breeze cools me.
-Black fly in my eye.

Last week's Haiku was chosen by the Green Mountain Club to promote their Blackfly Haiku contest. My poetry has moved beyond the blog. Check it out.

Fishing, the Farmers Market, and a night off

The weekend was jam packed with fun and excitement. We all went to the Farmers Market on Saturday, and then did some fishing in the afternoon down at Weatherhead hollow pond. Sunday included a road ride with Murph that involved climbing Huckle Hill from the Vernon, VT side. Who's bright idea was that anyway? It was a suffer-fest for the entire climb. I can attest with 100% certainty that it was the most painful climb of the year for me. I'm looking forward to doing it again soon I returned home from the ride just in time to hop in the car and head up to the Agoki farm open house...err open farm?
Akaogi Farm is providing our CSA this year, and she opens her farm twice in the summer for visitors to come and enjoy the intricate workings off her farm.
Iz gave me the night off Sunday night so Invited Mr. Mann and Murph over to watch San Antonio destroy the Cavaliers. I hear Michael Fuller has tickets for Tuesday and Wednesday nights game.

Near Capacity

The brewery was almost at 100% capacity for a brief moment on Friday night. I brewed up my pale ale recipe with a new twist. During this experiment I tried out a new hop. I used Amarillo hops for middle, late, and knockout additions. This hop smells delicious and I'm pretty certain it will help in making some fine beer. Once again I undershot my gravity on the Pale ale. Luckily I did cut back the IBU's so it won't be super bitter. My math has to be off, as the grist looked fine, and the lauter went swimmingly. My sister is supposed to bring back some Dark Belgian Candy syrup from her visit to PA this weekend. If all goes well I may attempt to brew a Belgian Dubbel Friday night with this adjunct.

More Beer!

We are going to be on vacation soon, and I feel the need to fill up the fermenters before we take off. Friday I am planning on brewing up some beer, likely some more pale ale. I have Thirty gallons that needs to be racked, and 10 gallons to be brewed. If I play my cards right, I will have a plethora of fresh beer awaiting my return from vacation. I love beer.

Spontaneous decisions

Iz and I had a date last night. Spontaneously my sister called and wanted to pick up the girls from school. This lead to another spontaneous act of Iz and I going out to dinner, which lead to a third spontaneous act of eating at Capers. The food was delicious, and the timing couldn't have been more perfect.
It's off to Cousin Eric's for a mini-family reunion today. It will be an abundance of cousins.
Speaking of spontaneous, I think I'll make some beer Friday night, and get the Fermenters totally rockin' before vacation.

Haiku Wednesday

Bagging peaks in June.
-Black flies nibbling my ear.
Pass the bug dope please.

Inflatable Fun

Here are some shots from the post Cow Parade activities. The strolling of the heifers was an absolute hoot.

Time in a Vacuum

Seems like just a few days ago I was waist deep in the White Mountains post-holing my way to the top of Mount Washington for some fine spring riding.
The month of May has flashed before my eyes, and it would seem that June is hot on it's heels. I found myself planning the first full week of the month, and then gasping at the calendar in awe as the dates keep filling up with activities and plans. Some days I wonder where all the time goes. This encourages me to continue living in the moment. If you have children take the time to snuggle up with your children, hug them, and let them know how much they are loved. If your parents are still around, give them a call just to say hello. Let your partner know how much they are loved as well. It's just one of them days.

At least I'm enjoying the ride

The commute home is not the ideal bike ride, but it certainly beats not riding the bike. After a few more rides, and some more miles under my belt I may decide to switch up my ride and head home through Saxtons River, and possibly climb the hill over Kurn Hatten to get myself home. At any rate, I think I'll be ready to switch up my route soon. There is a lot going on this week, and it will certainly be a challenge for me to find a way to get on my bike two more times this week. With some creative planning, flexibility, and luck I think I may be able to fit in 50 more miles before Friday.
With that said my road bike is here at the office today just waiting for the opportunity to get pedaled home.

The Imperial Stout

It seems as thought I have been designing an Imperial Stout for months. It all may very well come to fruition this weekend when I actually attempt making quite possibly the biggest beer I have ever brewed since I made a Barley wine in December of 1995. Fitting it in this weekend may be a challenge since Iz is subbing at the coop this weekend, and the schedule is jam packed with activities. The back up plan is Monday night.
Here is a rough draft of the profile for My first Imperial Stout.

Fool in the rain

I checked the weather radar before I left the office yesterday, and it looked like smooth sailing from Bellows Falls to Brattleboro for the commute home. I got to the Putney town-line and encountered a deluge of rain, along with a few claps of thunder. Hmmm, I was petty much caught out in the open with nowhere to go. I thought about calling Iz for ride support, but decided to tough it out and enjoy the ride home in the pouring rain, aside from the part where I came screaming down the hill into Putney getting pelted by raindrops, the the ride good.
After I arrived home, I hosed off the bike, then myself, and Iz and I headed over to PH for some conversation, light fare, and a few glasses of wine.
Iz is working at the coop tonight, and the girls and I are headed to my mother in laws' piano recital for her students. With any luck, I'll be able to get the kids to bed relatively early so I may be able to watch the Sox-Yankees game tonight.

Hoping for a dry ride today

The weather report is a little sketchy today for this afternoon's ride home. There is a 50% chance of rain. While I don't mind getting caught in the rain, (not much of a Piña Colada drinker) I no longer start a ride off if it is raining. It saves me the time of having to clean my bike up afterwards. Things are looking up on the relationship front today. Improved communication brings an improved quality of life. The sitter is available so We have a date tonight, and then we get to bake apple pies for the Strolling of the heifers event this weekend.

Haiku Wednesday

Breezy summer day
Cherry Blossoms tickle me
-Olfactory bliss

DS resurfaces

It seems that the double standard has returned to my life yet again. This confuses me, and I am having a difficult time understanding it. Last time is made absolutely no sense to me, and this time I feel very sad and upset because my partner simply doesn't trust me. She wants to trust me, but doesn't. My life has seemed to return to great inner turmoil as I struggle to get my arms around this.
The irony in it all is that it has been almost a year since my life started down this slippery slope. I continue to struggle and try to stay awakened. At least Tomorrow will be another fucking glorious day, and my life is mostly good.

Recharged and refreshed

Despite the plethora of activities the family and I engaged in this weekend, I still feel quite refreshed this morning. It certainly was action packed with playdates, bike rides, muffin baking, tag sales, cookouts, hot tubs, and brewing beer. On Sunday I even found some time to watch the Red Sox on the TV. I really wanted to watch the game Saturday night, but fell asleep early and missed the entire game. Back to the office today for a short but intense work week. Gotta love month end!

Extra super long weekend

I'm going to take it easy Friday and start enjoying the weekend a day early. Winter and Sarah enjoyed play date Friday. I picked them up with the bike trailer, and we went over to the crowe lot for a picnic, and some freestyle play at the playground.

The fine art of commuting & it's delicate dance

In an effort to save money, and reduce my carbon footprint, I have been searching for over a year to find someone that I could share my ride to work. Thanks to Upper Valley Rideshare it has finally come to fruition. Not only do I have one person to share the ride with, there are two people that I will be commuting with at least one day a week. This is very cool, and cost effective too.
Taking it one step further, I have also started to commute home on my bicycle two days a week. A part of my past has finally been resurrected. As some of you may very well know, before Isabel and I had children I was an avid cycling enthusiast spending a great deal of my free time riding and racing mountain bikes. The impact surrounding the birth of our first child greatly impacted my riding. While some could argue that one could simply rearrange their priorities and fit cycling in, I opted out of that one and decided that being a parent was going to take precedence. So here we are almost five years later, and I'm going to be out on my bike, riding at least twice a week. Life is good, although my coworkers think I'm gay because I'm so enthusiastic all of this.

Haiku Wednesday

Brilliant Solution
Reducing carbon Footprint
Summer cycling Rocks!

I need to check my math

Ten gallons of Pale were brewed in the basement brewery last night. I missed the target gravity by about fifty miles. I'll need to re-check my math and see if I missed somewhere in the calculations. Here are a few other places where I may not have paid close enough attention.

1. The Profile. I am still tweaking the grain bill to match the efficiency of the new mill.
2. The Grist. I am going to need to really get this dialed. Last time I brewed, I ran the malt thru twice, and nailed the gravity. This time I only ran it thru once.
   
3. The Lauter. I was busy eating dinner, and chatting with my In-laws, and not really paying that close attention to it. I may need to DIY a sparge arm or something to mechanize it a bit to increase efficiency.

My target gravity was 1.054, actual gravity was 1.040. I'd probably get fired in a commercial brewery for missing the mark by .014. Screw that, I'm not doing the math to see how badly I screwed up. Back to the drawing board. If this ferments out quickly enough, I'm making more beer this weekend.

Gratuitous Birthday Post

I'm celebrating 39 years of life on the planet today. While my present life has recently survived many ups and downs I'm grateful to have managed to make it one more year.

I work for an awesome company that gives you your birthday off! However instead of taking off today, I'm going to take off Friday and enjoy a super long weekend. I'll be taking my birthday bike ride Friday morning. Tonight I'll be brewing up some Pale Ale, and enjoying take-out from theTop of the Hill.

Pull over I'm going to boot

Saturday night was an absolute hoot aside from my impending case of acute alcohol poisoning. Iz was tired so Gibson and I dropped her off back at the inn at 9:00pm . We then returned to Connie's house to enjoy copious amounts of Yuengling lager. This would prove to be the beginning of my downfall. After most of the party cleared out Connie, Stin, Gibson, Tara and myself enjoyed a few more beers before Tara gave me a ride back to the inn.
I clearly had enough to drink, however for some reason when I returned to the inn I was compelled to enjoy a hot tub and a Storm King stout. Apparently this was going to be the straw that was going to break the proverbial camel's back. The hot tub, a 9.1% beer, and being inadequately hydrated would prove to be a recipe for disaster. I awoke with a slight hangover that got exponentially worse as the day grew on. This would eventually culminate with me booting in the grass at a rest are on the Sawmill Parkway Sunday afternoon. A hard lesson was relearned on the day before my birthday.

Party Favors

Here we are modeling the shirt that Austin designed for Connie's 40th Birthday.

What is Glibbidy doing in my living room?

This is was Connie's initial reaction when he walked into his living room Saturday evening. Needless to say he was suprised. I haven't seen this guy since Austin's wedding in 2002. Woah, how time flies. We got to see some familiar faces from days gone by. It was a treat. Heck, just getting out of town for the weekend without the children was the highlight of the weekend.
On the way down to Malvern we stopped in Bethlehem at the local Homebrew store so I could pickup supplies to make a few Belgian knock-offs, and some more lager beer. Ummmm lager.
We then made our way down to Victory brewing company for a snack and some samples before going to the bash. There is nothing like a Golden Monkey right from the source!

From the Road

We are in Bethlehem this morning visiting Big Dave and Joanne. My dad got a dog recently, and it is a Peakinease. It's name is Pam, which coincidentally is the same name as my older sister. WTF? Pammy is a very nice dog. It's off to the secret party today. Tonight we'll be staying at the General Warren Inn.

Worn out, big weekend ahead

The game was great, Schilling was a little shaky, however Hinske pulled thru last night with an amazing catch, and then sealed the Tigers fate with a two run homer in the 7th inning. Iz and I are headed to a secret location this weekend for a surprise party. It's our first weekend away without any children. Almost 48 hours of pure bliss. Oh joy. Enjoy your weekend.

Off to Fenway tonight

The Sox got rained out last night, so it's a double header today. I'm headed down to Fenway tonight to meet up with Manzo for the second game and watch Schilling work the Tigers. It should be an interesting game.

The final cut

It took me a few days to figure out Microsoft movie maker. After some trial and error I was able to add audio to the video. Hear is what you all have been waiting for... the final cut. Enjoy. I'll be pulling the link to the other video, and inserting it here to preserve bandwidth, and reduce my virtual web footprint. I'd love to hear your feedback on this either here, or here .

Haiku Wednesday

Soft wind on my cheek.
Longing to feel your embrace.
-Endless Summer days.

The crack in the road

Did you ever notice the crack in the road going southbound on route 5 from Bellows Falls to Putney? B mentioned something about it last week, and I noticed it on my bike ride home from work on Tuesday. The crack goes on for over 8 miles. Riding the bicycle home from work sure is a treat. It would be even better if I didn't have to negotiate rte 5 at all, but unfortunately it's unavoidable.

The Hefe is happily fermenting in the basement. Should be a real nice beer. I'm planning on brewing either the simple stout or a pale ale on my birthday next week. In the meantime I'm on to designing the La Maudite clone.

American Hefeweizen

My life has been pretty busy these days, and I simply have not been able to find the time to post much recently. Oh boo hoo right?
I brewed up 10 gallons of American Hefeweizen last night. I manage to nail my target gravity of 1.043. This is a huge success in my brewery.
Next weeks brew will be the Simple stout again.

Tuckermans Slideshow available

I was able to edit the pix that everyone gave me from the TUX trip. I managed to hack together a video without sound. More to come, maybe even supplemented with audio.
Credit and Thanks go to JC, Connie, and Hank for providing additional photographic footage of the trip. Sit back and enjoy the show!



EDIT: This is the final cut, the old video without sound was removed.

Complete field report coming soon

I'm working on the field report from Tuckermans. My camera crapped out, and the spare battery was nowhere to be found. Waiting on footage from JC and Connie. Check back again soon.
This shot was taken up on left gully.

Getting under way

We should be rolling out late tonight for our adventure. I'm headed over to meet Burnsie at Mcneill's for a few pints, and then off to bed for a few hours before a day of big mountain fun.

Putting Tuckermans in Perspective

I dug this off the T4T forum, and thought it might be helpful in putting the pitch at Tuckerman Ravine in perspective. Ha, burly at best is what comes to mind. Ripcord's pitch is around 38 degrees, while White Heat at Sunday River is around 36. It's as steep as it gets in the East.

Beautiful Spring Weather, Hajj coming together.

The avalanche advisory for Tuckerman Ravine indicates it has has MODERATE avalanche danger. With that said things are looking up, and we may actually move up the trip a few hours and leave early Sunday morning. Lot's of sunshine is expected this weekend before the rain moves in again next week

Chickenpox

The girls are presently enjoying the chickenpox. I'm working remotely today while I stay home with the girls so Iz can go to work today. We don't need no stinkin sunshine, we'll make some fun outside even it if it is raining.
Looks like it is drying up outside. We may be able to get that bike ride in after all.

Chickenpox quarantine

The girls are presently enjoying the chickenpox. I'm working remotely today while I stay home with the girls so Iz can go to work today. We don't need no stinkin sunshine, we'll make some fun outside even it if it is raining.
Looks like it is drying up outside. We may be able to get that bike ride in after all.

My mill arrived today

My new mill arrived today. I am totally stoked to use this bad boy, and see what I can do to improve my brewing efficiency. Know I'll be able to make all those high gravity beers that I have been designing for the past three months. Yum, Russian Imperial Stout.

Weather conditions continue to look favorable for Tuckermans. On the other hand, the avalanche danger is still very high. I'll be watching the avalanche bulletins thru the rest of the week before a decision is made concerning our departure. Oh well, I guess there is always next week.

Haiku Wednesday

Moist April showers
Washing away all the snow.
-Bring on the sunshine.

Mother nature is not playing nice!

While the weather is looking primo for a trip to Tuckermans next week, the avalanche warnings are not looking so hot after the variable precipitation that has fallen on Mt. Washington in the past few days. There were two human triggered avalanches this past weekend up in ravine area. So with avalanche warnings remaining high, we'll just have to wait this one out and see what the weekend brings.

Tuckermans

Tuckerman Ravine and Huntington Ravine have HIGH avalanche danger today. It's a good thing we didn't make the trek up North Sunday night. It does look like weather conditions may be shaping up for next week. Here is the extended forecast for this week.

Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 54.
Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 34.
Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 56.
Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 30.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 57.

The only downside to this is that Son of Inferno is taking place this coming weekend and that means there may be stragglers hanging out for some skiing a few days after the race so who know how crowded it may remain on Monday and Tuesday next week.

Sunday Riding finale at Mt. Snow.

Sunday's riding was like riding in the cream you find on top of Brown Cow yogurt. Since we got a nice dose of snow late last week, and a Nor'Easter was going to be blowing through New England for the next few days Mt. Snow had decided to reopen for the weekend. I met Hank in the parking lot at noon, and we made our way to the lifts for some of the best riding all season. I enjoyed a two hour window with Hank and some ski patrol pals on the north face. We rode all the natural trails we could on the Face before I hit one more run front side to get to my car so I could head home
Wow, Sunday was amazing!

It started raining sideways Sunday afternoon, and doesn't look to be letting up until Wednesday. Flood and wind watch in effect for Windham county Monday.

Chickenpox and Birthday Cake

I slept in until 8:30 am Saturday morning. This was the first in a long time. It was nice to awaken on my own for once, instead of the usually morning pounces, and bounces that I am used to receiving causing me to emerge from my slumber sooner then I desire. Grace dropped her diaper off in the bathroom and on her way to get dressed we noticed a few red spots on her little body. Oh-boy could it be, the pox? Now what? We ares supposed to go to a birthday party, and brunch today

Iz confirmed that Spencer, one of the children from Grace's daycare had chicken pox about two weeks ago. Things started to fall into place with Grace complaining earlier in the week that her belly hurt. She was also acting somewhat peculiar, nothing I could put my finger on, but Iz had noticed it too. So I called Suzanne to advise of the impending quarantine. Unfortunately we had to cancel brunch with the Darlingtons. Iz then called Eve with the heads up about Grace's pox. Eve insisted that Winter come since she was symptom free.

Winty and I attended the party, and enjoyed the better par of the morning munching on Birthday cake, Fruit Salad, and slediding up at Louise's house. I even got to practice my social skills with some of the familiar adult faces at the party.

Pizza and beer

There is never a dull moment around here. The Darlingtons came over Friday night for some homemade pizza and beer. I whipped up several pizza's in the kitchen while catching up with Louise, and Henry, and the rest of the Darlington family while small children ran about, and played nicely with one another. In all I came up with five pizza creations, plus a skin for Pam's crunchy, Freaky, Celiac's pizza. The hit of the evening was the Grape and Gorgonzola Pizza that oddly enough emerged first from the oven as our forerunner. Instead of using the Vin Santo that the recipe called for I simply substituted it for the white we had on hand. For the beer portion of the evening I was pouring my American Pilsner and Altbier. Josh liked the americna Pilsner, while Henry ,Hank, and myself stuck with the altbier.

Luckily the children had napped, so this made for a most pleasant evening. Around 8:45 The kiddo's were showing sign of losing their momentum. A quick exit was prescribed, and we all went to bed.

Friday excitement

The weekend is once again upon us. The whole Darlington family minus Cidney & Dave will be descending upon our house tonight for a Pizza party. Birthday cake on Saturday morning to celebrate our friend Louise's Birthday, Brunch at the Darlington's, skiing Sunday, Noreaster' on Sunday night. What more do we need?

Tuckermans postponed one week

So we got this great storm going on here in Southern Vermont. The falling flakes are quite huge. I checked out the latest extended forecast for Mount Washington, and it looks like nothing but Cold, Rain, and Snow. As a result this upcoming Monday is out, and we'll be bumping the departure back to April 22nd for now.
On a side note Mount Snow will be re-opening for the weekend. I may get some turns in this weekend after all. Heck I might even go with Josh and Hank.
The Michigan Darlingtons are visiting this week, that means all kinds of family filled fun with the old neighbors.

Haiku Wednesday

Winter won't let go
More snow will be falling soon
It ain't over yet!

Tuckermans on the Horizon

Do you have your ticket yet? The window for the annual Tuckermans Hajj is opening. Are you going to be joining us for the most extreme skiing in the East? Presently we have an expedition team of seven people comprised of skiers, pinheads, snowboarders, and one sherpa who has agreed to schlep up the beer and an inflatable for riding over the headwall.

Our first opportunity for departure is Sunday April 15th. With present weather conditions this departure date may pass us due to a combination of moderate/high avalanche warnings, snow or rain in the forecast, and possible rain next Monday-Tuesday. I'll be watching the Hydrometeorological discussions as well as checking in with Trout for weather updates.
Stay posted for additional information and reports here. Some really great news is that the Sherburne trail is open from top to bottom!

Easter, a birthday, and one casualty.

The Easter Bunny paid a visit this weekend and stashed some eggs about the house and neighborhood. What a delight to see Bud, Winty, and Gracer scampering about searching for eggs in the snow. This squirrel also got in on the actions and secured a few eggs for his nest.

We enjoyed a fabulous dinner on Sunday complete with a ham. My sister Pammy and Carl showed up along with most of the Rose Family. Hank missed the train, so he was left behind.
I baked a flour-less chocolate cake complete with raspberry sauce to celebrate Pam's Birthday. Happy Birthday Pammy!
After everyone left I retreated to the basement to rack beer. I narrowly escaped injury when I dropped a six gallon carbouy full of water and sanitizing solution on the floor in the basement. The carbouy shattered into a million pieces. At least the basement floor is sanitized. Why, yes I did have my swerve on just in case anyone was wondering.

Saturday at the Mountain & Saturday night at the pint

I wrapped up my last day of ski patrol for the season on Saturday. Woah, talk about going out with a bang. We were still enjoying mid-Winter conditions today. It was an extraordinary day on the Mountain today.
Despite the mediocre beers and overpriced food Iz and I enjoyed a terrific date at the Peoples Pint Saturday night. I must say that I was quite disappointed this timer around, and will likely not go back for awhile.
It's so sad that the season has ended. Next up is the Tucks trip. Stay Posted.

Friday Morning Riding with Thomas

Some difficult decisions needed to be made Thursday night. Was I going to join my ski patrol pals Thursday night or stay in and get some work done so I could spend some QT with Hank and my Brother Thomas? Family time won out, and I abstained from the party only to enjoy some fantastic mid-winter conditions at Mt. Snow. It was a stellar morning of riding, which was complete with some fresh pow. I also managed to make it into the office by 1:00 pm to finish out my work week. Life is good

Haiku Wednesday

Prevailing Snow showers
It's the first week of April
-Four to eight inches tonight!

More Beer

I blew off the ski patrol party, and blew off making beer Saturday night. Heck I even blew off working ski Patrol Sunday. I enjoyed the entire weekend with the family. I'll be brewing up some beer tonight. Tonights brewing session will consist of a new beer. I'm going to be brewing Warrior Red Ale. As it turns out I ran out of Crystal malt, so I'm going to use 1% chocolate malt in hopes to get the color I'm looking for. We'll see what happens. after tonight's brew I'll have 30 gallons of beer in fermenters, and another 10-15 gallons on tap. The American Pilsner I brewed in February has turned out quite nicely despite my initial hesitations about the taste of this beer. I think I'm going to try and save a keg of this for later on in the summer.

On a side note, Iz and I had a fabulous date last night at the Sierra Grille which hosted the Rogue beer dinner. The food was sumptuous and the beer heavenly.

Friday

So the ski patrol party is this weekend, and I'm on a roll with brewing. I can't decide if I want to bail on the party and brew beer Saturday night. Oh, whats a brewer to do?

Moving day

Strange day today, I awoke hoping to get out for a run, but lacked the time to go the distance. Iz had a breakfast meeting at 7:00am and I was in charge of dropping the kids of today. So no run, but I did get some work done at 5:30am this morning. Good thing because I found out at lunch today that my office was going to be moved after lunch. WTF? Good thing I'm flexible.
It's the end of the month so all the typical crazy month end shit is starting now. EEK! Maybe I'll try to swing making some beer in the next few days. It's nice to have my inventory up for a change. Still working on that Imperial Stout. I'm also considering an Amber ale with some nice Centennial, Cascade, and Northern Brewers hops to throw in it.

Haiku Wednesday

Fog eats at the snow
Delicious Spring Conditions
No sunshine Tuesday

Another fine Spring Day

I spent yet another fine Tuesday at the Mountain today enjoying some splendid Spring conditions. Today for a change I was caught on film in the fog.....on Ripcord. This is a video of Sam and I making turns on the cord. Thanks Mooie!

kindergarten registration

This morning we registered Winter for Kindergarten. How exciting is that? We even submitted a letter requesting her placement at the Green Street School. Time seems to be ripping by so quickly I'm afraid to blink.
By the way my new toy arrived today, It's the ice ax I'll be using to earn my turns up at Tucks in a few weeks. Stay posted as that adventure unfolds.

Spring skiing with Winty

Winty and I headed over to Mt. Snow today for some fine homestyle spring skiing, complete with mashed potatoes, and a dummy downhill. This was Winter's fourth day out this season. We may get one more day in before the mountain closes. Who knows maybe we'll make the trip to Killington for some late April fun if time permits. Anyway this will be her final season in the harness. Next year she's off to Snow Camp for the learning experience of a lifetime. I think I have been able to give her the taste she needed to get hooked on this wonderful sport. Next season, Grace will be carving up big turns with the purple/pink harness.
Despite her inability to make the Pizza wedge it was a terrific morning complete with some nice turns. No Manzo sightings this weekend, but I did run into his brother Scott, friend Lanna, and Lanna's son Nikita before cashing it in and heading over to watch the dummy downhill and meet up with Iz and Grace. Did I mention it snowed another 3 inches at the mountain last night? Winter just can't seem to let go, and I'm okay with that.

Got my JooJoo on in the brewery Saturday night

Tonight was an epic night in the basement brewery. I racked 30 gallons of beer in various stages of fermentation all while brewing some Pale ale. I racked the American Pilsner to kegs last night. Now I have them conditioning in my lager chamber. I racked the Altbier that I brewed last week to secondary fermentation. I may end up cold conditioning this beer prior to putting it into kegs. As I briefly mentioned above I brewed an English style Pale Ale tonight. No shortage of hops here either. This baby went into the books with 45 IBU's and 1.5 ounces of Challenger hops at knockout. I fell short on the gravity for this one, which is no surprise lately.
My target was a lofty 1.060, and I ended up with 1.056. Despite my shit for efficiency, it will still be a fine beer. I'm going to invest in a new mill soon to remedy this situation and hopefully improve my efficiency. Right now I'm running at approximately 55%. With a more efficient roller style mill, I am certain that I will be a able to get my efficiency up to 80% which would not only be ideal, but permit me to brew higher gravity brews without maxing out my mash tun.

Taking full advantage of my time in the basement also afforded me a complete cleanup of my gear ready and prep it for the next brew session. I'm already thinking about my next batch. Maybe we'll shoot for a dark beer like a stout just to balance things up around here, as well as bring additional diversity to the beer selections on tap.
Coming to visit us soon? Something you would like to taste? Let me know, and I'll see what I can brew up. haha! Unfortunately no Belgians will be brewed until that new mill arrives.

Grace goes alpine

Grace got her first taste of alpine skiing on Saturday when we headed over to Living Memorial park to ride the T-bar and make her first gravity fed turns. We made three runs and then headed over to the park for some freestyle play followed by a trip to the Chelsea for some strawberry ice cream for her alpine efforts.

Busy, busy, busy

I have been incredibly busy at home and at the office the past few weeks, as a result I really have not had much time for blogging. Here is what I do know. The Spring skiing/riding right now is exceptional here in Southern Vermont. I took off on Tuesday, well um.....actually every Tuesday in March except the 13th to work the rescue gig over at the mountain.
The brewery has seen a surge in production lately. I brewed an altbier last week that I'm planning on racking to secondary fermentation tonight,. The Pilzner's brewed recently hve turned out terrific. I was going to brew a Pale ale tonight, but I'm feeling a little under the weather, so I'll lay low and just do some prep work in order to get the brew done sometime this weekend or Monday night. I haven't seen much of my partner this week either, so some QT with Iz would be nice. I'm also in the process of planning the Tuckermans Hajj.

On a side note I had a great conversation with my friend Dave Watson today, whom I haven't spoken to in ages. He's headed to Newfoundland with Meathead films in a few weeks for some backcountry skiing, getting married to Audrey in May, moving to Minnesota, and planning his third trip to summit Everest. He also gave me some good insight on picking theright ice ax for my trip to Tucks. Thanks Watson, and good luck!

Haiku Wednesday

A brilliant blue sky.
Mid-Winter ski conditions.
-Vernal Equinox

Out with the video camera

I brought the video camera to the mountain on Tuesday. Here is some choice footage of Tony and Chris ripping it up on Jaws. JC and I were also playing in the glades which BTW was hip deep in places.

Haiku Wednesday

Bitter Cold March Day.
Sun is getting high in the sky.
Tuckerman's is getting near.

Trout said...

It was cold today, and I believe him. We were living the dream today with -16f on the summit. Ripcord was ripping, as well as the Rock Garden, and Sap-tapper. WE skied mostly stuff that isn't on a current trail map. Amazing how much snow can actually blow around the mountain and manage to fill everything in. It is estimated that the temps on the summit were -50f with the wind chill. If you see Tony, ask him what he thought of Ricpcord on Tuesday.