Things to do with beer...

This is an interesting article I found about things you can do with beer - other than drink it.

32 Things to do with Beer

The Porter is on the way!!

Yesterday I sent out a 220z Porter to friends and family. (You know who you are!!) You should get it hopefully on 3/5 or 3/6 depending on where you live. I hope it makes the trip without bursting or leaking! I sent them ground so hopefully that should be ok.

So let me know what you think of my second effort at homebrew. Either leave me a comment here on this post, send me an email, or vote on the right hand side of this page.

Cheers!!!

Samples & Sam Adams Contest

OK, sorry to those of you who I said I would have some samples of my new Porter out to last week. I have slacked off and didn't send them out yet. They are coming I swear.

In other news, Samuel Adams is holding their 2007 LongShot American Homebrew contest and I am going to submit one or two entries. If mine gets chosen as a winner, they will brew and distribute it with other winners in different categories.

http://www.samueladams.com/promotions.aspx

The Land of Smithwick's, Guinness, & Jameson!!!

So the wheels have been set in motion for Erika and I to travel with some old friends to Dublin!! The band James is reuniting after 6 years in hiatus and are playing their opening night in Dublin on my birthday. Thank God and my employer for airline miles - I'll likely be using all my accumulated miles to make the trip.

You know what a trip to Ireland means - great beer. We visited the Guinness Brewery and Jameson Whiskey last time we were in Dublin in 2004. Hoping to go to the Smithwick's brewery in Kilkenny this time around as well as some pubs I'm sure. If anyone happens to read this and has any suggestions please share.

Easy Labels

Much Thanks to my sister for a tip on how to do easy labels. And they're eco-friendly too! It seems there is a protein in milk that acts as an adhesive. So, for an easy label, just print out a label on your inkjet and then brush a bit of milk on the back of the label and stick onto the bottle. As it dries it glues to the bottle. Here is a picture of a couple bottles of my Sumatra Porter I just bottled. Brewed with Sumatra Coffee.

First Post

Hello and welcome to my beerblog. I've just recently started brewing my own beer and thought it would be fun to share some experiences and tips. Also to receive advice from those of you out there who have more brewing experience. And I will also have some posts from different breweries, pubs, and beers I've tried throughout some of my travels. (Recently just took a trip to London and Belgium and had some great beers.)



So far I have brewed a clone of FAT TIRE. I bought the ingredients from a local brewshop. It was an extract kit with some specialty grains provided. All in all, it was a decent first attempt. The beer had a nice amber color, perhaps a bit darker than a Fat Tire. It also seemed to lack a bit of character or complexity, but that may be because I just couldn't wait to drink it and didn't let it age long enough!