Anthony Rants

Hopefully not my last :)

Well, for those of you who didn't know, on June 15th we closed on our very first house. The closing went well, so well in fact that because of some credits and such, the sellers ended up cutting us a check to close the deal. Immediately after we got done signing all the papers, we picked up a bottle of Two Brothers Opus 10 and went over to the house to celebrate. Later that afternoon, Anna's dad arrived from Missouri to give us a hand with the most immediate task of repainting the rooms. If you remember the house from the pictures we had up, many of the rooms were painted for children and while Anna and I are quite young at heart, we were looking for something with a bit more sophistication in the area of decor. Anna's dad brought a power roller and lots of motivation, so much so that we got all of the rooms primed and even painted the ceiling in the family room (it was looking a little dingy)... but that wasn't all, we also did first coats of color in two of the rooms. Overall I think we painted the equivalent of eight rooms that day and after some burgers and beers at Murphy's I think we all slept very well.

But alas, Anna's dad had to get back to fighting crime in Jefferson City, and we had to get back to our day jobs. We really appreciated all of his support and hard work though, it made for a really smooth start. Since then we've continued the painting, rewired the outlets in the bedroom we chose to be our office (they weren't grounded), and installed crown molding in the master bedroom. We still have quite a few doors and trim to paint, but we hope to finish that up this weekend.

One thing that we immediately noticed at the new house is the temperature. It is so much cooler than the house we live in now and we aren't even running the air over there. We think it may have something to do with the mature trees or maybe all the insulation in the house or maybe even the gable fan in the attic... whatever it is, it is really pleasant. Hopefully the trend continues and it is warmer in the winter as well. Speaking of mature trees, the previous owners left us a little note explaining quirks of the neighboorhood and of the house and one of the things they told us to get prepared for was the unreal onslaught of leaves in the fall... I don't remember the exact number of bags they said it took to collect them all, but it was immense... anyone want to barter raking for beer in the fall? ;)

In other news... Anna now has her very own blog, http://www.annaraves.com, in the coming weeks I hope to get her setup with some sort of a unique theme based on her guidance; during the same period I hope to fix anthonyandanna.com (I accidentally overwrote the only copy of the site's index that I had). Oh well, I needed some impetus to update it anyways I suppose.

Matt has informed me that if I actually updated my site more than once a month, I would probably have more readers. To that end, I am going to begin an initiative to keep my site up to date (if you are keeping track, this is the 3rd or 4th such initiative). The worst part is, I have lots and lots to post about! This first post will be about something near and dear to my heart (not as near or dear as Anna & Parker though); this post will be about recent beer happenings.

At the beginning of June I entered my second homebrew competition. Feeling a tad more confident, and convinced (at least at the time) that I could handle any negative feedback, I entered four categories and one special entry category. The beers I entered were: BBC 60 Shilling Scottish (BBC stands for Benjamin Brewing Company, this beer was previously a 2nd place winner), BBC Dubbel Down Ale (a Belgian Dubbel), Pink Triang Ale (a beer with a pink hue, it was a Raspberry Cream Ale), and Comrade Alofskie's Russian Imperial Stout (a very, very strong Russian Imperial Stout, it is absolutely pitch black with a dark brown head and weighs in at 12% alcohol by volume). In the end though, Pink Triang Ale was the winner of my entries, grabbing me my first 1st place ribbon (I'll take a picture of it later). My other entries were all panned for various reasons, the Dubbel wasn't complex enough (possibly due to my use of table sugar instead of a complex Belgian sugar syrup, or maybe my yeast selection), the 60 Shilling was too old I think, at the time I bottled it, my bottling methods weren't very sophisticated and to some degree its longevitiy suffered because of it, and Comrade Alofskie's just wasn't 'roasty and toasty' enough apparently. Comrade Alofskie's was also entered into a second special category, a category judged for strength and drinkability (the so-called High Gravity Brew-Off). In that category, Alofskie's was received a little more warmly, garnering comments such as 'Do not share this with those that are unworthy', but alas, even with a relatively high score in that category, it did not place. Winners of the other categories are also all put into a last round selection for Best of Show, and while Pink Triang Ale didn't win BOS, it did get an honorable mention for it, which was cool. My next contests are in September, so I have plenty of time to brew up some entries. I'll probably end up entering alot of things I am brewing for upcoming family social events (more on that in a different entry).

Some recent beer tasting notes (if I can remember, I'll make a separate page in the near future to hold all of my notes in one place):

Project Opus 10, Two Brothers Brewery - To celebrate our house closing (more on that in a different entry), Anna and I bought got a bottle of this unique beer (instead of Champagne). The beer was a dark amber, copper color with a fleeting, rocky white head. The aroma was of wood, earth, and some cherry. The taste started kind of malty, had a touch of tart, and ended with a sort of coffee, leather finish. Overall I think we both liked the beer, but it is relatively expensive for the small bottle and in this case, I'm not sure the cost is justified.

Bare Tree Weiss Wine, Two Brothers Brewery - I'm not sure what vintage the bottles of this I got were, but I did enjoy this beer. A bit of time has passed since I drank it, but I do remember nice complex fruit and wood aromas from the glass. When the beer was cold (around 40F), the flavors were more muted and the hop bitterness was very subdued, when it warmed up (around 50F), many of the flavors were magnified considerably (along with the hop bitterness, so much in fact that Anna finds it much more enjoyable when it is colder, she's not a big bitter fan). I have kept aside two bottles of this for further tasting down the road :)

Three Philosophers Quadrupel, Ommegang Brewery - After listening to the head brewer, Randy Thiel, during an interview on a beer brewing podcast, I was really intrigued by the idea of this beer. A malty, high alcohol beer that is blended with a small amount of tart cherry lambic. I located this beer and decided to try it a few weekends ago; I was not disappointed by what I found. The beer is a dark, rust colored brown with an abundant tan head. The aroma is of malt and fruits. The taste is malty but also has a complex element of figs, prunes, and raisins. This last weekend, I convinced Anna to get another bottle of this for tasting and I think she really enjoyed it as well. In Champaign-Urbana, you'll find that Sunsinger Wine and Deli has the lowest price on this ($6.49 for a 750ml, if I remember correctly, and worth every penny).

Duveneck's Dortmunder Style Lager, BarrelHouse Beers - The first Dortmunder lager I had was actually one of last year's Longshot winners. I enjoyed that beer so much, I decided to give this beer of the same style a try. This particular beer was a malty, decently bodied lager I tried recently with just a touch of hops to it. Overall I thought this beer was a good example of the style.

RedLegg Ale, BarrelHouse Beers - This beer, by the same brewer as the fore-mentioned Dortmunder, is an American Amber Ale. I didn't really know what to make of this beer. It was so malty and butterscotch flavored that I'm not really sure I enjoyed it. The aroma was dominated by malt and the taste was almost entirely malt and some butter to the end. I may try this beer again to get a better feel for what it is all about.

Well, that's all for now, look for another update after work...

Today on my bus ride home I couldn't help but overhear the following conversation:

Man #1: I haven't seen you in awhile, how are you doing!?

Man #2: Well, that's because I've been in a nursing home for the last 6 months! I actually had a botched surgery, it was a back surgery but I got a staph infection. I was paralyzed on my entire right side for awhile, but I'm better now, my foot is a little uneven but that is about all and at least I am finally back to work.

Man #1: Wow, well I hadn't seen your car in awhile and I wondered if you had gone somewhere... say how is your dad doing?

Man #2: Ah, well he passed away... the same day of the botched surgery in fact... He had been in a nursing home with Alzheimer's.. so...

Man #1: I am so sorry to hear that...

Then it was time for my stop so I got off, but when I listened to this guy cheerfully tell of these awful things that had been happening to him, most of my troubles actually didn't seem that big of a deal after all.

Each couple of weeks I try and expand my horizons by trying a beer I haven't had yet. This helps broaden my tastes and sometimes gives me something shoot for if I find an example of a style I have brewed (or am brewing). Here are some recent beers I've had and thoughts regarding them. For anyone in the Urbana / Champaign area, you can assume these beers are available at Friar Tuck's (where I get most of my beer).

Mighty Brown, Small Batch 471 Series, Breckenridge Brewery - I can't find anything about this beer on their website, but as far as I can tell it was a very limited run American Brown Ale from this brewery in Colorado. Friar Tuck's currently features 22 oz. bottles of this beer for a very reasonable $2.99. So far, this has been one of more memorable American Brown ales I have had. The beer is a deep mahogany with a tan head. The first taste is of toasty malt and nuts. It finishes relatively dry with warmth (it is 7.5% ABV after all). If you can find it, I'd recommend it. I haven't had the chance to try any of the other 471 series beers (yet).

Avery New World Porter, Avery Brewing - I had this beer on Friday at Radio Maria. This was a good example of a porter in my opinion. The beer was a very deep brown, bordering on black with a light brown head. Roasty, toasty, caramel dominates the first taste. It finishes with a little bit of a bitter sweet taste. Apparently this beer is currently out of season, but it was still pretty tasty.

Anchor Steam Summer Beer, Anchor Brewing - I had this beer as part of a mixed six pack from Friar Tuck's. This beer seemed to have great potential but I think my particular bottle was skunked. Skunking happens from a reaction of the alpha acids in hops and sunlight. The aroma was dominated by that unfortunately skunky fragrance. The beer was a warm golden color with a bright white head. At first the taste was of that corrupted hop goodness, that gave way to a malty, wheaty sort of spicy. The beer finished dry but still had a faint trace of that skunk aroma. I think that this beer had a lot of potential but it was ruined by the skunky characteristics, this (combined with the next beer) actually makes me think twice about mixed six packs at Friar Tucks. I'll have to try it again from the cooler.

Monarch White Beer, Two Brothers Brewery - This beer was also part of the same mixed six pack from Friar Tuck's. It was supposed to be a beer in the tradition of a Belgian Wit. This beer also had a strange skunky aroma. I think I'll have to reserve judgement until I have a straight six of this as well.

Lunar Ale, Boulevard Brewing - Boulevard is known in Missouri for their unfiltered wheat. This beer was quite a pleasant surprise. The beer is a rich amber with a thick white head. The aroma is very distinct, it smells of a Belgian beer, sweet, yeasty, and malty. The taste starts with a malty and a touch of tart. It finishes dry and clean. I really, really liked this beer, lots of flavor but low alcoho (4.5% ABV), so you can enjoy a few of them. I totally recommend this if you can get a hold of it.

So I guess the real note to take away from this is buyer beware of the Friar Tuck's mixed six packs. I've had them before with no real disappointments, but this last one was really sub-par.

On one of the beer forums I frequent, a guy from Florida posted a couple of really interesting pictures that are a result of a forest fire a few miles away... Check them out.

So just what sort of things can you trade home-brewed beer for? Well so far I've traded it for other homebrew and about a pound in hops! This month I decided to give my first ever 'beer pass' a try. Essentially, names and addresses are drawn and paired. Each person is responsible for sending between 4 and 6 beers to their assigned person (think Secret Santa... but with beer!) The nice thing about participating in the Northern Brewer Forum beer pass is that since NB is a midwest based company, there is a good chance I won't have to ship my beer very far (St. Louis in this case). I ended up sending out two bottles of Alofskie's Russian Imperial Stout, one bottle of BBC English IPA, and one bottle of BBC Dubbel Down Ale. I haven't heard anything back with regards to any of the beers (although in a separate trade, I did hear back about BBC Dubbel Down... more on that later :) ). The person who sent me beer was in Michigan. He sent two bottles of an amber, two bottles of an alt, and two bottles of an IPA. If you're a homebrewer, I'd seriously encourage you to give the beer pass experience a try, it is a great opportunity to experience new beers and receive some feed back about your own beers. Ironically, this has some interesting parallels with what Matt was talking about with photo print exchanges.

My second experience bartering with beer comes from a recent trade of beer for hops. I saw a post on the green board about a guy who was willing to trade one pound of vacuum sealed Hallertauer hops for a 20oz. bottle of beer. Typically, one batch of beer uses anywhere between two ounces and six ounces of hops (depending on the recipe), so you can get quite a few batches out of one pound. So we exchanged information, I sent off a bottle of BBC Dubbel Down (my Belgian Dubbel), incidentally it was the furthest I've sent my beer so far (California), and in exchange I received the hops as promised. I haven't had a chance to use any of the hops yet, but I did receive a nice message regarding my beer:

I brought your Dubbel to the SCHF last weekend and it was great!! We opened it for lunch and had it with some Brats, it was a perfect combo.
I hate to say it but with around 300 beers on tap your dubbel was one of the best we tasted...

The SCHF is the Southern California Homebrewer's Festival, so that was a really nice complement. I can't wait to see how this beer does in the BUZZ competition :)

New photo over at anthonysnaps (on the right...), in the spirit of trying to remember some of my other hobbies ;) Hopefully I snap a picture or two this weekend at some of our planned activities (summaries of those later!)