Category: The Post Cellar

My homebrewing hobby has really been progressing as of late. I’m making an effort to brew beer at least every other weekend that I’m not busy. So far, so good. Thing is, I’m also acquiring more and more brewing gear and it has rapidly taken over the kitchen, den, and area at the top of the basement stairs. It has bumped up against my beer cellar, and I’m out of space.

Since moving into my house in 2005, most of the crap in the basement hasn’t really moved. Boxes and Rubbermaid bins full of random stuff- childhood memories, rats nest balls of various wire and cabling, old dishes, Christmas stuff, and things that should be in my garage or shed. So after some consideration, I decided that some work in the basement could convert it from junk collecting space into a productive brewing area for my beloved hobby.

The choice was between my garage or the basement. It wasn’t a hard choice because my garage is not insulated, heated, and has no plumbing. The basement can be easily heated and installing a utility sink is relatively simple. Shelving and workbench space will be installed first, followed by a big sink. There are two challenges with this project: finding a burner solution and ventilation. Those are two things that wouldn’t be an issue in the garage, but I think are more easily (and cheaply!) solved in the basement compared to the others with the garage.

Earlier today, I moved a lot of stuff from the basement into the garage. I have given away a few items on Craigslist within hours of posting them. Gave away an old iMac and a kerosene heater. I probably could’ve gotten a few bucks for them but I just wanted them gone quickly. Guy who took the iMac drove a beat up minivan and said it was for his kids. The woman who took the heater said she lived on a lake in a drafty old house and wanted something to help in the winter. True or not, I’d rather see stuff get used rather than throw it away.

This will be the first “project” that I blog about. It will be an ongoing process, so I hope to update this series periodically. Stay tuned.

Last year I installed, configured, customized, and otherwise spent hours creating this blog. From that point until recently, I sporadically worked on entries and created content. I wanted a critical mass of “stuff” to go live with on this blog (that few will read.) Right.

So here we are in October of 2009. I turned 30 on Monday. Oddly, I feel like I should be thinking about it more. Shouldn’t I be taking more than a few moments to contemplate what expectations and goals I have for myself in the 3rd decade of life? I’m not sure. I feel good about what I’ve accomplished and built so far but there is always room for improvement and learning new things. Life experience is a great thing.

I got a new cell phone after 2 years of torture with an absolutely inferior product called the “Mogul.” Sold by Sprint. Shoddily built by a company called “HTC” which is now rapidly making a name for themselves in hardware that DOESN’T suck. Case in point, my 3 days (so far) with their latest creation- the “Hero.” Pretty stupid names but I now see the light with Google’s Android operating system. Not quite the polish you get with an iPhone but certainly a solid contender and worthy of the smartphone shopper’s list of considerations.

A new phone. That’s how I started off improving my life 30+ years into it. Oh, and 3 days in I also posted this real blog entry to kick things off. And here we are. Thanks for reading and caring. This is the first “official” post that kicks off regular installments.

Today I decided to brew an IPA. It uses generous amounts of Centennial hops. This is my first IPA having brewed an English IPA and Belgian Pale so far. With my camping trip to Lake Umbagog at the end of the month, I wanted to brew something that my uncle would enjoy, really enjoy. His go-to beer is Harpoon IPA which is a solid, go-to beer for me as well when I don’t have any more preferred options. I have pushed him to try new beers and he is always eager to do so. This will be the first time I brew something myself with him in mind. Crisp, clean IPA.

3.3lbs munich
3.3lbs light
1lb wheat
.5lb crystal
.5lb toasted
SAF ALE S-05 American Ale yeast

2oz pellet Centennial @ 60min
.5oz pellet Centennial @ 10min
4oz whole-leaf Willamette @ 5min
.5oz pellet Centennial @ 1min

The Willamette hops were given to me earlier today by a friendly member of Brew Free or Die, the New Hampshire-based homebrewer club that I’m a member of. Originally not part of the recipe, but after poking around the web I figured I’d throw them in as a late aroma hop. I love the Centennial smell, it’s just so fresh and everything I love about hops. I figure I’ll rack into the secondary in 5 days or so and dry hop with another ounce of the Centennial pellets.

Update 9/3/09: The IPA was ready for camping after force carbonating it the weekend before I left. The flavor was pretty good, but nothing at all like I expected. I can do better, and will. In the meantime, the few people I’ve shared this with have really liked it. This is good, because it means I can empty that keg quickly and move on to new things.

Lately I’ve been on a fresh-squeezed kick. I’ve always squeezed limes when I make margaritas from time to time- Patron Silver, no salt please. But we’ve had a couple of warmer days lately so I’ve turned my attention to lemons and lemonade. I have been playing around with mixtures of pure fresh lemon juice, homemade simple syrup, and water. I tend to like it more tart than any store-bought that I’ve ever had as they are always too sweet. This is the mixture I concocted this afternoon.

2 cups lemon juice
1 cup simple syrup
8 cups water (48oz or 1.9l)
Vigorously shake

You can drink it right away of course, but I think it gets better over the next few days as the flavors chill out together. Served on ice with some muddled mint from my garden. If I’m in the mood for it a bit sweeter, I’ll spike it with a shot of Da Vinci flavored syrup like raspberry or blueberry. Greatly satisfying when it’s 80 and sunny out!

There are many people I know turning 30 this year. I’m one of them. I’m throwing myself a party in October to commemorate my 3 decades. I’m glad to be turning 30, I’m not one of those people that freaks out when they hit various milestones. I look forward to 40 and 50, too.

I’ve reached the point where people my age are getting married and pushing out kids. I’ve done the former and have yet to do the latter. When I think about the beginning of this decade, it doesn’t seem like very long ago. “Oh yeah, 2002…that was…7 years ago.” Seems like just “a few” to me.

All hail, 1979 babies!!

I just received the first of what I hope will be many orders from Joey at South Bay. I put my order in last weekend and it was out on Monday. I purchased a mix of West coast IPAs, including Pure Hoppiness, Blue Dot, and Coronado Red Devil.

I BS’ed with Joey about beer on a Saturday afternoon and he was incredibly helpful. He sends out periodic emails to let people know about new shipments, stock levels on popular brews, and limited release beers.

Joey has another happy customer and I will be ordering from him in the future.

Nov 08 update: He doesn’t ship to NH anymore for some reason as I just tried to place another order. Too bad.