Thursday, May 12, 2011

Beer, Beer, Beer, Tiddley, Beer, Beer, Beer

Brewing is in full swing at Hob Knob Brewery. To say this has become an obsession would be an understatement. Knowing me though, I've had numerous obsession's in the past, so we'll see how long this one survives! Still, this one has had a pretty firm hold on me over the last year I've been brewing, and I think it *might* be a safe bet to say that I might be starting a nanobrewery sometime next year that I can run out of my garage on the weekends. A nanobrewery is a 1-2bbl system, with 1bbl (beer barrel) being 31 gallons. I figure I already brew 5 gallon batches on the weekend, so won't be much difference between that and a 31 gallon batch - just bigger equipment.

I'm reading a bunch of stuff on brewing, including "Starting Your Own Brewery", by the brewer's association, which has loads of great information. I just started my own hop garden with 7 plants - 2 cascade hops, 2 fuggle english hops, 1 jumbo nugget, 1 zues, and 1 golden. Besides that, every new trinket I find for the (now upgraded to 10g) brewery, opens up a new world of wonderment and curiousness. This Saturday, I'll be stewarding the local US Open Beer Championship for my local home brew club, the Carolina Brewmasters.

The beers I've been brewing have gotten better and better looking - especially now that the system has a complete 5 to 1 micron filtering system. Here's the latest - a golden ale:


I'm working on a honey brown ale right behind the golden ale. Here's a shot in the brew kettle!


After fermenting, she sits in the secondary to clear and age. By the way, that born on date b.s. the big box breweries put out...complete hogwash. A good beer needs to mature. So I'll leave most beers around 4 weeks in this secondary 'carboy' (unless the kegerator is running low! :D)


And last but not least...it's time to enjoy.


I plan on doing a lot of brewing, especially since I just got my all grain system and filtration system. To all my buddies, I'm looking for honest feedback (I might even create a feedback form lol), to identify recipes that are good and bad. You won't hurt my feelings if you say the beer sucks, but it's important that I get a general feel with how well my brews are received. Finally, make sure you guys come on up for a good brew! :)

Monday, February 21, 2011

Long Time, No Posts?!?

So my last post was around the time I started to get sick. I'm still trying to overcome a lot of the complications from the illness. All signs point to it being a combination of stress, anxiety, panic disorder, depression, and ADD. I can tell you guys that that stuff, especially the panic disorder and depression is no joke. It's seriously some of the hardest stuff I've been through in my entire life. Some days it was a battle to just get out of bed. Thanks to all my friends and family who showed a tremendous amount of support.

Stuff is getting better and better by the day. I've been reading books like it's going out of style that have been helping. In fact, I truly recommend "Self-Coaching" by Joseph Luciani. Great book. I just bought a copy after finishing the one the library let me borrow. All...yes ALL of my relationships have improved. Family, friends, even strangers.

Enter the BRN (Big Red Nose). One of the books I recently absorbed in a matter of days(I'm patting myself on the back, because honestly, I used to hate reading), was Patch Adam's "Gesundheit". One of his recommendations was to simply clown around. It was a bit out of my element, but I took his advice, and ordered a simple clown nose. The reactions it got were the most heart warming thing I'd had in months. One girl laughed so hard, I got a free dinner out of it at Boston Market. Other people did everything from crack a smile to bend over laughing. Making other people happy was a key to overcoming the anxiety, and the depression.

It was so much fun, even hoser got in on the action (ok...in all seriousness, it took like 20 tries to get this pic!)



Hangin with the fam has been great too. Last Friday was a beautiful day in the park with my sis and niece. Cute as cute can be!



That kid has a limitless supply of energy, and she can wear out 10 adults before she will. Not sure how Karen keeps up! Props to being a great mom! I consider myself to be in 'relatively' good shape, and I was worn out in 30 minutes between playing "BOING!" and "Airplane" and "Tree Climber"!! Great times though!

Don't worry,



to come!!!! I plan to keep up to date with the blog on a more consistent basis.