Cocktail Confessions

It doesn’t seem all that long ago that I remember sitting right here at an empty blog post thinking that I was going to take 2011 by storm and own it.

In fact, it’s been a year. 

A year exactly.  To the day.

Today is January 3rd, 2012 and I’ve been spending the last few days actually thinking on what I was going to say right here.  As usual, it just seems to be a mish-mash of ideas that really never solidified into something coherent….until now….and even just now, I’m just winging it.

If you’ll recall (or maybe your new here, so you won’t at all), I came up with a mantra that was to define my 2011.  Simply stated it was “Taking It Back.”  What exactly did I mean by that?  Well, I seem to remember that towards the end of 2010 I was taking stock of my last few years or months leading up to 2011 and not being overly impressed or happy with myself.  So many opportunities came and went as I stood on the sidelines like a geeky Junior High wallflower at the dance…..afraid to make a commitment or chance on anything.  In case you’re interested in all my pontificating back then, you can read that entry right here: “A new year to take it all back“.

Even stating it like that seems somewhat over dramatic.  The fact is I was 40 years old and just seemingly going through the motions of life: wakeup, go to work, pay the bills, watch a few sitcoms, go to bed….rinse and repeat….like I had for so many years prior.

Expect I was determined that 2011 was going to be different.  I wanted to take the bull by the horns if you will, and charge on, noting certain accomplishments and what-not.  Sorta like a bucket list of things I wanted to do. 

I re-read that post today, just now in fact, and realized that although I did indeed accomplish some of those tasks, others I failed miserable in, and in the end many of those cynical feelings I had back in 2010…I still have today.  One can even say that it rings true: “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”  Amen.

A whole year, 2011, has come and gone.  Another year lost to the annals of time, more opportunities came and went, some good, some bad.  I checked some thinsg off the list, and left some untouched.  I had my fair share of heart break, highs, lows, and everything inbetween.  Some events I never want to experience ever again, and some I hold near and dear.

So what did I get done?

• I did build a 3.5′ x 6.5′ benchwork for my dream train set, although I haven’t progressed much on the train itself.
• I did infact lose close to 20 lbs from the beginning of January through April, but sadly put most of it back on.  Sad to say, I am a net -2 lbs overall from last year.
• I did manage to plan and cooridinate a mini-vacation with 8 of my closest friends to a cabin up in Big Bear, although the planning phase and getting everyone to cooperate and get on the same page at the time was a bit more stresseful that I would have liked, and I don’ want to that again (maybe a smaller group next time).
• I did make my own sauage and brew my own beer, but sadly, not as often as I would have liked to have.
• I did start a new blog, regarding my train hobby.  Visit WilloughbyJunction.com to learn more.

And my failures?

• I did not work at an animal shelter, but did start volunteering for the Billy Graham telephone ministry.  It’s not same, obviously, and I still want to work with animals.  I think deep down, I must be scared to commit to this.  I have a very soft spot and empathetic heart towards animals, and maybe I’m just not emotionally ready to watch an animal suffer or be cast aside.
• I didn’t do any podcasting.  Although the desire was (and still is infact) there, I just didn’t.  More on this later.
• I didn’t get a highschool reunion bbq put together like I had hoped, but that’s not entirely my fault.  I did invite people on more than one occasion, but peoples schedules and their own lives didn’t always cooperate with my vision, so we just had more of the same with a few new faces.  I did have a somewhat successful ‘Oktoberfest’ in November held in my backyard, but like I mentioned…I can only invite, not demand who shows up.  For those that were invited and didn’t make, you missed a good time…and I hope you’ll make the next one…but if you can’t find a babysitter or re-arrange things for a few hours with 2 months prior notice..then suck it.
• I didn’t post here on a regular basis: my funny bone just wasn’t tickled at times, at others maybe I was angry at something, or just didn’t find the humor in things.  Other times, maybe it was just inconvenient for me to sit down or have a PC nearby.
• My outlook on work didn’t improve much either.  You can blame that on the economy….2011 didn’t show for much in the was of people getting back in the saddle.  As a matter of fact, my wife lost her job of 10 years back in April 2011 and has been unemployed since.  Then all those self-centered, entitlement brats started that whole “Occupy” movement, which just bugged the shit out of me.  Yeah, yeah, I’m part of that 99% paying for you assholes to sit in a park and whine about your shitty and poor decisions that landed you over yoru heads in credit debt and whatnot.  Screw you.  No, seriously, screw you.  With a slow economy, my employer didn’t invest much into anything, including me, so….well…..you get the point.  I came to work every morning with one hand tied behind my back to begin with.
• Finally both my wife and I has found ourselves in some ‘family’ related issues with both sides of the family.  Some of it my business, some of it not, and none of yours, so don’t ask.   Suffice it to say, “No family I have ever met, or have been a part of” is going to win and family-of-the-year awards anytime soon.

So where does all this leave me now?

Why don’t you check back here in the not so far future and find out.

I know, I know…I’ve been a horrible blogger as of late.  No excuses other than sheer laziness, but here’s what’s happening lately:

• Wife still hasn’t found a job.  Been just over three months and not even a bite.  I know she’s getting stir crazy and depending on the day, a bit moody.  I understand the economy is tough, and unemployment figures are still hovering at a national average of 10%, closer to 12% in CA, so I take that into consideration.  But kids, let this be a note to you…if you hate retail, then stay in school.  The fact that my wife does not have anything beyond a H.S. diploma seems to be a major thorn in her quest to even get a call back from anybody.
• The step-daughter, after 8 month moved back in with us.  Time will tell if she’s changed, or matured, for the better.  Ohio was rough on her….couch surfing, running with a wrong crowd, having issues with her manager, etc., etc.  So she moved back last week and so far….not bad….but it’s too early for me to render any judgement thus far on positive behavioral and attitude changes.
• I started yet another new blog, Willoughby Junction, on my love for model railroading.  Go ahead, click the link to see a 41 year old dude play with trains.
• Wife did paint the kitchen a nice deep aqua blue color that real stands out in a positive way.  Everyone whose seen it so far has liked it, and I’ll have to admit, I do too.  I was a bit leary on her painting (see how she handled past painting projects), and she did fairly well….if only she would have took off the face plates off sockets first.  But we corrected that.
• My weight….Sigh….well, I put back a few pounds, but overall not so much.  Remember, I started at 237 lbs back around January 4th of this year.  And by eating more fish, jello, water, cutting back on booze and portion sizes, and finally hitting eth gym, I got down to I think around 211-212 on my best weigh in.  Well, I’ve been feeling a bit ‘thick’ again as of late.  I know I’ve been imbibing in some additional drinking (Thanks, Steve), and a few more late night snacks.  The result?  This morning I was 222.2  So I’ve gained back around 10 pounds, but overall still down 15.  So I’m back on the oatmeal as of this morning, and hitting the gym after work, and back to drinking more water and eating more fish and steamed veggies.  I’m gonna shoot for a 5 lb loss by the end of September.
• My Schnauzer, Frankie, turned 6 years old the other day, and still the love of my life.
• Celebrated my grandfather’s 93rd birthday this past weekend.
• Camping trip to Big Bear went fairly well.  I have pictures I still need to post…..eventually.
• Counting the days until I can possibly get my hands on the new Droid Bionic.  My gen 1 Droid phone is lagging as of late, and really having a tough time of things.  I don’t like the $299 rumored price point, but I’m getting so frustrated with it.  Really need to change out the phone, but do I wait for a HTC model?  Don’t know.

So it’s already coming up on the close of July 2011.  I can’t believe how quickly this year is flying by for me.  It seems like only a few weeks ago I was writing about my mantra for this year: “Taking it all back”.  Okay, it may seem silly to you in retrospect, but for me I need to set some goals in my life, create a list of things I want to do or accomplish so I can look back and realize the year wasn’t a complete waste. 

Believe me, I’ve had that feeling quite a few times where I look back in time and wonder how much time was wasted (although it didn’t seem like it at the time) and how much life has passed me by and I have nothing to show for it.

I was driving into work this morning and think back over the last seven months, and I feel ‘okay’ about stuff.  I could do a bit more, but overall pretty satisfied on what I’ve done thus far.  I have five more months to check a few things off my bucket list for 2011, and I need to revisit some of my goals…such as losing weight.

Speaking of losing weight….I started out the year with a bang.  On January 4th I bought a scale and weighed in at 237 pounds.  Over the course of the next few months, eating a lot of Jello and heading back to the gym, I managed to get down to an average of 215 (I had one freak day where I was 211, but that was an anomoly)….and I got a lot of compliments and noticeable results from my friends and coworkers.  But then back in late April, I started making excuses to ‘cheat’ a little bit more.  My diet, while never 100% returned to the way I was eating before, became a bit more lax and then I brewed my keg’s worth of beer (Hebrew Amber Ale) , and then there were a few holidays mixed in…and before I knew it I think I’m back up to around 220-225.   I’m not exactly sure of my current weight, ’cause I’ve been afraid to step on a scale and actually find out, lest I become discouraged and crestfallen, but I know I put a few back on. 

It didn’t help that last night I ate a huge butter soaked rib eye steak chased by a few good premium beers.  I also haven’t been to the gym in almost 2 weeks, due to a spider bite that made me a ill last week.  I actually planned on going back to the gym yesterday, but instead got side-lined by the steak…..so I’m going to try my hardest and go tonight (although the heat is going to drain me and make me miserable, I’m sure.).

Speaking of my spider bite, I can’t recall the last time I got bit by something that made me sick like that.  It’s been at least 15+ years, and I just thank God it wasn’t a Black Widow or Brown Recluse…but it was strong enough to give me a ugly looking (and perfectly circular) welt on my leg (which turned various colors) that has lasted for just over a week now.  The first few days had me suffer syptoms of food poisoning (headache, body aches, intestinal distress, suppression of appetite).  Anyway, it’s almost gone now, and just in time for……..

CAMPING.  Well, okay, maybe not techincally ‘camping’ in the ‘Boy Scout’ type of way.  There will be no hiking for hours on end with 50 lbs. strapped to my back, or pitching a tent on uneven ground.  No, my idea of ‘camping’ these days must include a functional toilet and preferably an actual shower these days.  9 of us will be traveling to Big Bear next week where we rented a ‘cabin’ on the outskirts of town.  I’m looking forward to BBQ’ing on the deck, drinking some beers (and other cocktails I’m sure), doing some mild hiking and sightseeing and a whole lot of B.S.ing….. all with my closest friends that I grew up with (as far back as 2nd and 3rd grade, if you can believe that).  Okay, it might not be the most stellar vacation in the world, but the fact is my wife and I (and I know one of my other friends Steve) haven’t been on a get-away for longer than 3 days in years.  It’ll be as much fun as we make it to be, so I am determined to be in a good mood, relax, get psyched/pumped-up, etc.  And who knows….if we all have a good time, maybe we can turn this into an annual or bi-annual event?  Speaking of which I need to read the manual on my camera and charge up my small video camera and borrow the neighbors hot plate for breakfast….You can tell, I’m now counting down the days (7 to go).

Last weekend I put in a screen door in our kitchen entry to the garage.  I’m pretty proud of myself as I more or less did it by myself, and I did it correctly.  I still have to drill and mount for the handle, but I took my time and did it right.  I have two neighbors who installed the same exact screen door….and it looks like shit…no offense…but it does indeed look like shit.  I’m sure there was a few beers involved in their installation, and the fact that they probably didn’t read the instructions….Well, I’m pretty sure they didn’t read the instructions as I noted that they had the hinges on backwards and failed to cut the expander bracket…so thiers actually fits ‘oustide’ the door jamb and not flush within it.  They also rushed it.  Between the two of them, they put the door up in a matter of 2 hours.  Not that this is rocket science, but it looks like they put it up in two hours as well.  I took my time, measured, re-measured, test-fit, drilled pilot holes, etc.  Yeah, it took me quite a bit of time…..but it was done correctly…. and looks like it.

So far we’ve been lucky as far as the weather goes for summer.  We’ve managed to dodge a massive heat wave thus far, but it’s finally starting to creep up on us now, and thank goodness I put that door in.  As a matter of fact, last night at 10pm, even with our windows open, it was 85 degrees in our bedroom.  We finally broke down and turned our A/C last night, but I have a feeling I may be sleeping on the couch in the coming weeks, where it is much cooler downstairs to avoid turning on the A/C.  It’s tough to justify the cost of running it when your wife is on unemployment and we’re down to a single income.

The only other decent news is since my wife has been at home as of late, she’s spent a fair amount of time on small projects around the house that have a collective impact.  She’s cleaned up the garage, ditched some old stuff, and consolidated some boxes giving us much more space in the garage.  In the backyard, she done some weeding, sweeping, power washing, etc. and it looks nice.  Ditto for the front yard.  I’ve also noticed a lot more vacuuming of the house has taken place, so overall…a win.  Plus I’m sure the dog enjoys her company all day.

Yeah, I know it really doesn’t have much to do with cocktails, BBQ’s, or overall general craziness, but I wanted to go ahead and promote my new blog: Willoughby Junction.

What?,  A guy can’t have multiple hobbies?

Yeah, that’s right.  On top of entertaining my friends, being a foodie (and a amateur mixologist), I like to build model trains.  “But wait..”, you say, “Isn’t that an old dude’s hobby?”  Well, it’s not like I lock myself in a basement for the winter, don an engineer’s cap, and watch my trains go in a circle.  As a matter of fact, I don’t even have a basement.

No I enjoy the ‘modeling’ aspect of it quite a bit.  Meaning, I like to build ‘craftsman structure’ kits….realistic looking buildings based on actual structures built over the last 100 years.  It’s a hobby I can do by myself, in my spare time, and require a lot of patience.  I kinda look at it as therapy….somewhere I can tune the rest of the world out for an hour or so at a time and really get involved in my miodeling skills and not have to worry about anything else.

So head on over to Willoughby Junction if you like model trains, structure kits, N-scale, Ho-scale, etc.

A buddy of mine just sent this to me.  It’s a link for a huge BBQ festival held at the Sports Park in Fountain Valley, CA come August 18th thru the 21st this year.  I haven’t checked it out myself, but I’m surely interested.

You can buy tickets early and there will be 6 award winning BBQ teams present.

From the webpage:

Welcome to the official website of The Orange County BBQ Bonanza to be held August 18-21, 2011, at the Fountain Valley Sports Park in Fountain Valley, California. You won’t want to miss this event!

The West’s Best BBQ All-in-One Outdoor Family Festival!

Thursday, August 18th — 5 PM – 10 PM
Friday, August 19th — 11 AM – 11 PM
Saturday, August 20th — 11 AM – 11 PM
Sunday, August 21st — 11 AM – 9 PM

FREE Souvenir E-Picture!

The Orange County BBQ Bonanza is the largest four day BBQ Extravaganza featuring the WORLD’S BEST BBQ Ribs, Pulled Pork, Tri-tip, Sausages, Chicken and more. The competition is fierce and the flavors rich as National Award Winning Rib Cookers of America and local grillers produce the best that their secret recipes have to offer.

Come Have a Toe-tappin, BBQ-eatin’ Good Time!

We combine local and nationally known bands, the BEST BBQ IN TOWN, giant food court (chinese, mexican, local eateries and american foods — something for everyone), children’s area (including carnival rides, bounces, magicians, and storytellers) and stage, dance floor, arts and crafts, cantinas (serving water, beer, wine, liquor drinks — “The Screaming Cowboy” and Margaritas), to create the largest BBQ Extravaganza, right here in Southern California.

Well, it’s a nother year, another summer, and I’ll be fit to be damned tied if I don’t get to go on any type of vacation get-away.  It’s been at least 4 years…maybe even 5 now the last time my wife and I went anywhere exciting that was more than an hour from our house for any length of time. 

And that was the Grand Canyon, and we drove, and we were only gone a total of 5 days (maybe 6), but I think 5….maybe all the hours in the car have affected my memory on the matter.  Since then, the best we’ve done since is a 2 night stay out in Palm Springs, one overnight at the Queen Mary in Long Beach and nothing else since.

Earlier this year I tried to rally some friends together for a camping trip.  One in which I’d rent a 27′-30′ RV with a slide out and go to Mojave Narrows near Apple Valley, CA.  There seemed to be a lot of buzz and excitement at first with everybody showing an initial glimmer of interest, but as I tried to spearhead this experience….I soon came to realize that maybe my friends were ‘all-talk’ and ‘no-action’.  I love my friends and I wouldn’t trade any of them, but the whole outing seemed to come a part at the seems when no one could commit to a date.  Mind you, I was planning on an outing with 2, almost 3, months advance notice.  Plenty of time to request time off from work, maybe find a sitter or two, put aside a little cash, and have plenty of weekends available.

I went through the whole process of finding the campsite, lining up the camper, breaking it all down to some more than affordable based on the amount of people that expressed interest, and the closer I got to signing a contract on the dotted line, none of my friends were now able to commit. 

Ugh…failed attempt.

Well, here we are again, a few months later and I’m trying to regroup…..re-circle the wagons… and try again. 

In an effort to make it a simple and cost effective as possible, I found some very nice cabins up in Big Bear, CA.  For those that feared about a home on wheels, cramped conditions, single sardine like toilet/shower combination, and an unproven campsite….I went the cabin route.  We’ll have bedrooms, a full size kitchen and living room, 2 full sized showers/bathrooms, plenty of parking, an outside porch and backyard deck.  We’ll be close to town (2-3 miles) and plenty of tourist attractions.  Big Bear is also pretty close to everyone…within or less than 2 hours away from all of us.  And the price is not bad at all!!!  At $199 a night, if you break that down between 4-5 people and we go for 4 days, we’re looking at $100 a person!!

So the initial email went out today, and I’m targeting a late July or early to mid August date.  Now perhaps I’m getting myself too pysched up, but I’m hoping I (we) can pull this off.  It would be great to do, and it’d be a shame if another summer year went by and we didn’t do anything or go anywhere.

In the not so distant past, I would never have given the discount store Big Lots a second glance when planning a party, let alone when thinking about hosting a backyard BBQ.

However, on a recent trip to a local neighborhood shopping center, I decided to go on ahead and check Big Lots out.  I haven’t been in one of these stores since they used to be called “Pick and Save” here on the west coast back in the mid 80′s. 

I’m not sure what I expected.  I’ll be honest in my thinking when I say I suppose I was expecting cheap clothing, clearance Christmas ornaments, “As Seen on TV” trinkets, and other second hand and junk gernerally reserved for out of state truck stops or Goodwill, but instead I discovered a whole new world that I can apply to my backyard parties.

Namely, they have tons of party supplies, backyard decorations, picnic style foods, condiments, sauces, spices and much more for dirt cheap.  There’s nothing wrong with this stuff either, that is if you don’t mind an occasional dented can, off-kilter label, mis-colored packaing, or a crushed corner of a box.

It was total impulse that I went in this past weekend, and I also did quite a bit of impulsive shopping walking away with quite a few things for a grand total of under $20.  Some of my items included: 1 bottle of marinade, 2 jars of dry rub,  a jar of salsa, 4 packs of cilantro/lime rice, a few cans of pinto beans w/ diced onions, can of diced jalepenos, a few bags of chips and more.

I strolled around a bit and I made a mental note of more things I can use next time around, and many of these things are at least 50% – 75% off the price you’d find at your local grocery store or Target:

• Tiki Torch fuel
• Dixie plastic cups (the kind you see at parties), plates, utensils.
• Chips, dips, salsas, nuts and candies of various varities.
• Sodas, energy drinks, teas.
• Rubs, mustards, marinades, spices, crackers, canned beans.
• BBQ utensils, charcoal, lighter fluid, portable/disposable grills (for camping or the beach).
• Bug sprays, cintronella candles, solar lights, disposable towels, coolers, outdoor furniture, and more.

Most of the stuff is name brand, although there are a few ‘generic’ products in the mix, but I know I would have spent closer to $50 or more for the same excat stuff I bought for just under $20.

So try a Big Lots the next time you think about hosting a BBQ or backyard party.  You’ll be surprised what you’ll find for discounted prices, especially in this economy.

Jon bottling beer

In my post published April 14, Brew Bakers (Part I) , I was able to share with you the experience of my friends and I actually brewing our respective beers.  It was a few weeks later that we made a reservation (April 2nd) to go back and now bottle our beer.

Unfortunately, due to unforseen personal reasons, Brian couldn’t make it that day but our mutual friend Jon would be able to step in for him and pick up the slack.

Brew Bakers happened to be much busier this particular day as they were hosting a children’s ‘root beer’ making birthday party along with pizza’s and a lot of anxious kids.  I can’t blame them for their excitement.  How many kids get to brag that they made their very own soda pop and then bottle it at a brewery and have artisan pizza to boot?  I know I would have enjoyed this as a kid myself.

There also seemed to be a large number of tasting patrons this day as well.  That is, not really making any beer, but just came in to sample various bottled creations up at the bar.  Something I’d also do more often if I lived a bit closer myself.

We had an intial start time of 2pm, but because of some paperwork snafus, the birthday party, and overall general bee hive of activity that day, we really didn’t get to start before 2:30 and some change.  So what did we do as we patiently waited?  Have some more samples of course!

Finally when a bottling station opened up, Sam was up first.  Seeing that he only had a 1/2 order to begin with and already a 1/2 hour behind schedule, we all chipped in to label his bottles. 

The bottling process itself is a bit mechancial and repetitive.  You place two (2) 22oz bottles in an upright stainless steel case with a plexi-glass front.  Once the front slides down, using a pnuematic control you begin to fill your bottles first with CO2 for a count of 5-Mississippi.  Then you flip the switch in the other direction to begin pumping your brew from your plastic fermenation keg into the actual bottle, about half way up the neck.  Once filled, we remove the bottles and then using a hand cranked capping device, we place the virgin zinc bottle caps on top and crimp in place.  Voila!  Rinse and repeat until all your bottles are done.

When the second bottling station opened, I began to ‘birth’ my 72 bottles, two at a time.  I didn’t have my labels with me this day as I opted to make mine at home with the artistic help of my friend Joe.  Once Sam was done with his 1/2 order, Jon was able to start on Brian’s beer.  I’m sure Sam volunteered to go first because this allowed him to get another ‘mac & cheese’ sandwich like we had before, (although it wasn’t as big as last months offering to his chagrin).

Towards the end of Jon’s and my bottling endeavors, we started to come up just a tad bit short in a full 72 bottles each.  I barely managed to squeak by….my last two bottles only filled about 2/3rds of the way up.  However, Brian’s lot came up short a whole 6 bottles.  The nice thing about Brew Bakers is that they guarantee a complete experience, and seeing that we paid for a full batch, they made good on their promise and allowed Jon to hit the fridge and pick any 6 bottles he wanted to complete the order.  So in a way Brian may be the luckiest of the bunch…he ended up with 66 of his own bottled brew and 6 various other home made beers that he could sample on his own.

We also learned that they have discounted brewing services on Thursday’s, so next time around I’ll be sure to book an appointment for a Thursday afternoon….allowing me to leave work early for a day and make some brew at a fration of the price.

Now as far as labeling goes, I had my friend Joe Tingle use his Photshop skills and come up with a label under my direction and our joint creativity.  He came up with the words “He-brew” one evening as we joked around and an image of Charelton Heston as Moses from the classic movie ‘The Ten Commandments’ came to my mind…hands outstretched before the Red Sea.  In each hand a 40oz beer.  I sketched out the design and left it up to Joe to come up with a prototype mock up.  His first pass at the label showed a lot of promise and I knew we were on the right track.  With a few additional suggestions from me, some changes to color, font size, and effects, the label was born.  When Joe emailed me the final .JPG file, I was ecstatic to go to our local office supply store and buy the appropriate Avery labels for my color ink-jet printer.  After an initial few test prints of diffrent qualities and sizing, we finally had our finished labels:

In the coming weeks, we plan on hosting a joint BBQ at my house where we’ll sample each others beers along with various sausages, hot wings, and other goodies.

Seems like this entry has been at least a month, if not more in the making.

At the beginning of this year, I outlined a ‘bucket-list’ of things I wanted to accomplish this year, and I started out with a bang the first two months.  I have lost close to 25lbs already, made at least 10lbs of two sausage varietals from scratch, built the basic framework for a 3.5′ x 6.5′ N-scale benchwork in my spare bedroom, and even attempted to get my friends together to rent a 31ft RV to go camping (that failed miserably, but not because I didn’t try).

Another item on my list this year was to brew a fresh batch of beer.  Well, I finally made the appointment back for March 12th of this year up at Brewbakersof Huntington Beach.  If you’ll recall, I mentioned that back in the spring of 2005 I made a large batch of ‘Frankie Beer’ (sure, it’s not the most creative of a names….it was named after my Mini-Schnauzer) and it was a hit with my neighbors, friends, and family for the 4th of July weekend back then.

Well here I am, almost six years later and I managed to get my good friends Brian and Sam to join me this time around for the experience.  We had a great time together; we tasted some phenomenal beers whilst brewing our own, had some delicious beer bread to take home from the used mash of our efforts, had a gut-busting grilled-macaroni & cheese sandwich, and of course just had a great time hanging out for the afternoon.

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It’s a tad bit more expensive than I remembered, but isn’t everything 6 years later?  Then again, Brewbakers has everything self-contained, meaning no large mess or epic scale clean up at my house at the end of the day, and all the tasting of fabulous brewed beer our fabulous hosts could pour down our gullets.  I swear, I think we were starting on a decent buzz even before we picked up our first bowl of grain!

Sam made a Chocolate Stout, Brian – a whisky inspired ale, and yours truly attempted a Honey Amber Ale.  By far, Sam’s recipe and efforts were the most complex….he had at least 6 pounds of various grains, chocolate, hops and more for his creation whereas mine was probably the simplest (although I added a tad bit more honey and cut back slightly on the hops to alter the flavor towards the sweeter side of things).  Brian and I each made an equivalent of close to a keg’s worth (72 x 22oz bottles), whereas Sam made 1/2 a batch (36 x 22oz).

It’s a really fun and educational process to boot, (so kids, tell your mom you wanna make beer..it’ll advance your knowledge in the history and science!).  Once you pick out a recipe that sounds good to you…many mimic the taste of many popular craft beers, or you can bring your own in as well, you’re given a kettle station, stainless steel bowls, measuring devices and scales and off you go.

Once you pick your toasted grains and measure them all out, you’ll need to mill them to help break them apart and remove some of the chaff.  Then into the kettle of boiling water where you’ll steep it every so often for the next 1/2 hour or so.  Towards the end of the rolling boil time limit, that’s where you’ll add you liquid ingredients such as honey, adjunct, molasses, etc. and give it a thorough stirring with large paddles.  Next, we hit the fridge unit and dig out our fresh hops to add and let sit a bit longer.

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Soon enough our respective brews are pumped out of their brass kettles into a plastic lined barrel where we then add our last, yet most vital ingredient: live active yeast cultures.  Once our yeast is added in to start the fermentation process, our plastic barrels are sealed up and stored away in a temperature controlled room where they’ll sit for 3-4 weeks before we come back to bottle.

From start to finish the process takes just around two hours.  Brewbakers has this down to an efficient science as they need to clean up the kettles, counters, etc., and get ready for the next round of scheduled appointments.  That being said, we were there closer to 3.5 hours, spending the first 30 minutes or so sampling various beers already on draft.  And while we were brewing and steeping our grains, we had one of the best grilled sandwiches ever.  The gooey mac-n-cheese on grilled beer bread was just divine.  All three of us had it and walked away more than satisfied.  If you’re still hungry, Brewbakers also makes their very own soft pretzels and rolled out pizza.

One of the best things about Brewbakers is its atmosphere.  Everyone is there for a good time, usually creating beers for birthday parties, anniversaries, special events, etc.  They also let kids come in and make root beer, and next door, if you like wine, there is a separate establishment that will guide you through making your own wine.  The staff at Brewbakers are fun, energetic, and friendly.  But still the best part to me is perusing the homemade labels.  See, since this is your beer, you also get to flex your creative muscles and design your own labels.  For a slightly extra charge Brewbakers will print out a few sheet for you, provided you send them a digital .jpg file, but I’m no stranger to this.  I have a color ink-jet at home, and just need to buy the appropriate Avery labels and make my own. 

Anyway, the walls are littered with examples and past pride and a real treat to look at.  Some are tame, some a bit more risque, most are funny or a clever play on words.  Some look like they were done in 10 minutes while others look like real pieces of art, but they all have a certain amount of charm in their own right and you cannot get bored discovering all these little slices of peoples lives captured in these micro-events of a 3″ x 4″ label.

Next…returning in 3 weeks for bottling!!

Two Australian companies claim to have developed the very first space beer, news.com.au reported Tuesday. Perhaps we are one step closer to Romulan Ale after all.

Saber Astronautics Australia has teamed up with the Four Pines Brewing Company to develop the very first beer that can be consumed safely in space in preparation for the supposed space tourism industry that is expected to start very soon. While perhaps a novel idea, I can’t help think this is slightly premature and more of a marketing gimmick than anything else.

Jaron Mitchell, founder of Four Pines, said the creation of space beer was an event for the history books.

“Wherever humans have journeyed to throughout history in the last few thousand years, we first worry about water, food, shelter and clothing,” he told Aussie news website news.com.au. “In many cases beer is the next consideration soon after the above four.”

“This is a modern day voyage, similar to the voyage and creation of the ‘pale ale as prepared for India’ in the 1800s, or what is now referred to as the India Pale Ale.

The brew gets its name “Vostok” after the first manned spaceflight back in 1961.

Apparently, according to the article, human biology changes in zero gravity conditions. The tongue swells, the senses dull — altering the way food and drink tastes.

“We also wanted to make the beer good to drink on earth as well. So the idea is you can drink this beer anywhere in the universe,” said Dr Jason Held, director of Saber Astronautics Australia.

Saber picked a high-flavored beer as a baseline recipe to ensure that space travelers could enjoy the full flavor of the smoky Irish-style stout, no matter how long the flight duration.   Too bad they didn’t spend as much time or effort on the logo (looks pretty lame if you ask me…but chances are, you aren’t).

Four Pines Brewing Company is a microbrewery, bar and restaurant based in Manly, Sydney.