10 years of homebrewing
¶ by Rob FrieselTen years ago today, a good friend came over and we brewed a beer together. “Felicitas” was the first of many over the next several years.
Author Archives: Rob Friesel
About Rob Friesel
Software engineer by day. Science fiction writer by night. Weekend homebrewer, beer educator at Black Flannel, and Certified Cicerone. Author of The PhantomJS Cookbook and a short story in Please Do Not Remove.5 favorite beers from when I was brewing a lot
¶ by Rob FrieselAs I continue to wax nostalgic for the days when I was brewing “a lot” (oh say… twice a month?) — the thought occurred to me to reflect on the beers that became my favorites. The ones I was most proud of, or else became in some way obsessed with. There were certainly quite a […]
Reflection on the 2024 mead study group
¶ by Rob FrieselEarlier this year, my friend Kyle organized a mead study group which was not unlike the 2017-2018 BJCP study group. 1 And while this study group did discuss aspects of mead judging, it was more like a tasting group than one focused on earning the BJCP Mead Judge endorsement. I don’t mean this as a […]
A brief summary of recent brewing
¶ by Rob FrieselWhile a more thorough re-telling of my homebrewing hiatus seems worthy of its own post someday, in the spirit of writing more and trying to keep that running log of my brewing adventures here (it’s been a while!), I’ve decided to summarize the brewing I’ve managed to do since returning to Vermont in 2021.
Trying to write more in 2024
¶ by Rob FrieselTo put it bluntly: I’ve let this blog languish for the last couple of years. While topics had narrowed down to be almost exclusively about #homebrewing since about 2015 or so, my time in Washington and COVID and a few other things derailed just about everything for me. Writing for this thing was definitely not […]
Got married
¶ by Rob FrieselI love you, Jess. (This post retroactively posted to be roughly the time we said our vows.)
Chaos or Community?
¶ by Rob FrieselIn the week or so leading up to this Martin Luther King Jr. Day of 2024, it occurred to me that I had never read any of his “full length” works — only essays, excerpts, and speech transcripts. I wanted to understand more about him and his legacy. I wanted to hear his message more […]
2023 recap
¶ by Rob FrieselPart year-in-review, part brag sheet, part best things and stuff, part tap-the-microphone “is this thing on?” life support post for this, my much-neglected blog. It’s been a few years since the last time I did one of these, and several of those were pretty hard years — but now seemed like the perfect time to […]
book review: Just Ride
¶ by Rob FrieselAt the age of 41, while living in Bellingham, WA, I decided to “spend too much money” on a mountain bike. It had been about 2 years since I’d owned a bike, and (if I’m being honest) probably about 10 years since I’d done any riding. I was going through a tough time (pandemic + […]
dream.20220504: Rice Krispie Treat pairings
¶ by Rob FrieselYou’ve been sent on an assignment to ascertain the perfect cocktail pairing for a Rice Krispie Treat. You’ve been to too many of these places already but what’s one more? You repeat your now banal-seeming request: “I’ll have the house Rice Krispie Treat and whatever cocktail pairing you usually recommend.” This particular bartender opens with […]