Homebrew #32: Honestatis (Mk. VI)
¶ by Rob FrieselSince the bottles from batch #5 went so quickly, I was… forced to brew this again. And apply the lessons learned from the judges’ feedback. Honestatis (Mk. VI), my extra amber ale:
dream.20170310: Speed Scrabble with Jordan
¶ by Rob FrieselYou’re sitting at a table in a semi-crowded gym. You’re catching up with a friend (A.M.) during a kind of reunion or party hosted there. A tall figure approaches and looms over you, standing behind your friend. In one arm is a baby girl, and in the other is an open box of Scrabble. He nods at you, then at the board. Clearly he is challenging you to a round. You recognize him instantly as Michael Jordan. You don’t want to appear starstruck, but nor do you want to appear rude to your friend. You give a wave back, the kind that acknowledges but also urges patience. Just a second. But he’s insistent. He crouches down and hands over the baby girl to your friend. Hold her for a second, will you? He lays out the board and dumps the tiles into the box top. He makes sure they’re all flipped over, face down. He has your friend mix them up a bit. Speed Scrabble, he explains: you pick up one tile at a time until you can make a word and then you put it down. Within seconds, he is putting down words like QUIZZICAL and PSEUDOPODIA; you manage to get down WORTHWHILE but that’s it. He’s a gracious winner though, and doesn’t make you feel too bad, even if your heart is racing.
Homebrew #30: Doors Off: Kauai Tropical Stout
¶ by Rob FrieselIn 2016, my lovely partner and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. We never had a honeymoon, so it seemed time to remedy that by marking the milestone with a vacation that would make up for it. Being the gastronomes that we are, 1 much of our trip was marked by the flavors we experienced while we were there. Pineapple and coconut and papaya and guava… I wanted to capture some these flavors in a beer to mark the occasion. And then I learned about tropical stouts and thought That’s it! Thus, Doors Off, the Kauai Tropical Stout:
- Or at least fancy ourselves to be.[↩]
documenting my homebrewing technique
¶ by Rob Friesel
To bastardize the Rifleman’s Creed: This my brewing technique. There are many like it, but this one is mine. Indeed there are many articles about technique and process — everything from “basics for beginners” to super-specific niche techniques. I do not pretend to be an expert, but I also thought that a post like this could serve two useful purposes. First, capturing my technique it would help me to clarify what I’m doing and why. Second, if there is someone else out there looking to follow a similar process, perhaps it can help guide them.
So, the short-short summary version: I typically brew 5 gallon all-grain brew-in-a-bag (BIAB) batches of my own design, and package with a mix of kegging and bottling. Occasionally I’ll mix it up with an extract or partial mash batch, or a 6 gallon batch split two ways, or a 3 gallon experimental batch; but I haven’t brewed from a kit since August 2015.
Continue reading →Homebrew #31: Younger Sister
¶ by Rob FrieselThis beer didn’t start out as a master plan or a bright idea. This beer wasn’t a flash of inspiration. This beer was me staring at the sachets of leftover hops in my refrigerator. The hops I’d planned to use but at the last minute decided would add too much bitterness. The hops sealed up after I used the ¼ oz. for bittering that 3 gallon batch. Yes… Younger Sister was a beer built around the leftover and hand-me-down hops from previous batches. Which does not at all diminish her beauty:
search term haiku: February 2017
¶ by Rob Frieselagile for the shy
incredible cross-sections
cherrypick 3-way
“Search Term Haiku” is a series wherein I examine this site’s log files and construct one or more haiku poems from search terms and phrases that led visitors to the site. Where possible, I attempt to keep the search phrases intact. However, as these are haiku poems, I do need to follow the rules.
Homebrew #29: Diplomatic Mission
¶ by Rob FrieselIn addition to all the homebrewing I’ve done over the past two and a half years, I’ve also been spending a lot of time around the local mead hall. As such, I’ve consumed my fair share 1 of mead. But I hadn’t yet made any. Deciding that this was an error to remedy, I combined this urge to brew 2 with my predilection for rye-based fermented beverages. A rye braggot! And (while the name came much later) thus begins the story for Diplomatic Mission:
- Maybe more than my fair share.[↩]
- Some would argue that brew is not the correct verb for mead production. Pretty sure this is discussed in an episode of Ask the Meadmaker. But I can’t remember which one. And I can’t remember what verb was settled on. But recently they used “brew” — and brew is simple, so I’ll use brew here.[↩]
Homebrew #28: Honestatis (Mk. V)
¶ by Rob FrieselWhen 14th Star announced that they were going to sponsor the third Make the Cut challenge in 2017, I knew immediately that I wanted to enter, and I knew immediately what beer I was going to enter. After all, if I wasn’t fond of this recipe, then why would I have brewed it four previous times? 1 So, with pride, I entered my house favorite: Honestatis:
- See also: Honestatis, Mk. II, Mk. III, and Mk. IV.[↩]
search term haiku: January 2017
¶ by Rob Frieselzombie phobia
panic at stand-up meetings
a drama haiku
“Search Term Haiku” is a series wherein I examine this site’s log files and construct one or more haiku poems from search terms and phrases that led visitors to the site. Where possible, I attempt to keep the search phrases intact. However, as these are haiku poems, I do need to follow the rules.
search term haiku: December 2016
¶ by Rob Friesel“Head First” review blog
social website share buttons
a homebrew Kanzi
After October’s, I was prepared to make December 2016 into my concluding search term haiku — a sort of finale for this long-running series. But I enjoyed this one, so perhaps 2017 will breathe some new life into it. We shall see.
“Search Term Haiku” is a series wherein I examine this site’s log files and construct one or more haiku poems from search terms and phrases that led visitors to the site. Where possible, I attempt to keep the search phrases intact. However, as these are haiku poems, I do need to follow the rules.