Tag: Published

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.

Stopped by for dinner last night, optimistic there might be a new player in town for good beer and food. New Cheese Grill is run by the same guy behind Penuche’s Ale House. Since Penuche’s is commonly referred to as ‘Nuche’s, the name of this place makes sense. (Say it out loud if you’re still having trouble.)

We walked inside and were greeted by a completely empty pub save for a couple of people sitting at the bar. Not a single employee in sight. We waited for a few minutes and once acknowledged by someone sat ourselves at a table outside. Their outdoor seating is on the sidewalk, but being a tree-lined side street makes it quieter and cooler. There were 3 other tables besides us, all being waited on by the same waitress. She was friendly but clearly in need of help as she was servicing the whole place herself.

The menu is full of your typical pub fare like burgers and wraps. I had the chicken sandwich and my significant other had a plate of pasta of some kind. We were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food. Although the entrees themselves were nothing special they were fresh and very tasty. Unfortunately, the lack of help showed in our spotty service. When we first arrived, we were quick to get menus but it got progressively worse. When we finished eating, I nearly had to go inside to ask for the check. Once all the tables had food, the waitress disappeared.

What about the beer selection? In a word: disappointing. Although they have a good number of taps, what they have on them is nothing special. As of last night, the tap list is as follows: Bass, Boddington’s, Blue Moon, Stella Artois, Long Trail, Guinness, New Castle, Sierra Nevada, Magic Hat #9, Coors Light, Smithwick’s, Woodchuck Cider, Rogue Dead Guy Ale, Sam Adams, Sam Adams Summer, with Harpoon IPA as the rotating tap IPA and UFO has the Hefeweizen. They have a bunch of bottles with the only beers of note there being the Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA and Long Trail.

Would I go back? Probably. The food is good and fairly priced and even though the beer choice was limited at least they have a few brews I would drink. The Sierra Nevada on tap was fresh, so points for that. I had higher hopes that there would be a better beer selection. The service issues I will chalk up to it being a Sunday night.