Are they for real?

Autumn

1020071538.jpg
Originally uploaded by bellaflower

Had an awesome day today. Spent the day in the Irish Hills area enjoying the fall colors. Hit a few wineries and cruised the park. (hidden lake gardens). Now, .. I'm beat. :)

26.2

In memory of the big marathon, I decided to run twenty six point two miles this week. Nothing compared to what I was training at last year, but what the heck. This year we're going up to the marathon - not to run it, but to partake in a post marathon pub crawl. Here's the schedule if anyones interested:
Post/Marathon - Lions' Watching meet-up
Craft Beer Michigan - Yahoo Group
11:30 Foran's Irish Pub
1:00 - Detroit Beer Company
3:00 p.m. Slows Barbeque

What a cutey

Um.. yeah.

gas station sign
Originally uploaded by robg2251

Ok, if I don't get a receipt, that's YOUR fault gas station pump. Not mine. Why should I be punished by having to walk in the gas station if I don't get a receipt?! Crazy talk.
Side note: The first time I saw this sign, I did not get a receipt - but, it still charged my account. This morning, a receipt popped out. Oh well, who needs free gas anyhow. :)

pictures

Tattoo regrets

Jen brought a sweet tattoo art book home. I didn't ask why, but now that I think about it, I'm wondering if she's considering getting one. Anyhow, I ran across an msnbc photo story about tattoos people regret. Who on earth would get "69" tattoo'd on their arm?! :)

Beer fountains and smoked fish

smoked fish
Originally uploaded by robg2251

If I haven't announced it yet, I've jumped into the world of beer brewing. There's a definite step by step process you have to go through for beer brewing. I was so nervous about it, I thought about it and read books the entire summer. I went to a beer club meeting, and talked to several people about brewing. Finally, I made the plunge, and brewed a Porter from a Brewers Best kit that came with the equipment I purchased. I decided to dry hop the beer, which, in the end, didn't make too much of a difference - actually, it made kind of a bad difference.
The beer tasted good. Just like a porter. A chocolatey caramel taste. Depending on the temperature, the beer almost had a licorice taste to it. Definitely drinkable. Even my mom, who doesn't drink beer, said it was good! (maybe she was just being nice).. Anyhow, I drank my share of it, and shared some with others.
Last night I was pouring myself one, and the line trickled dry. I was amazed that I went through the beer that fast, but did a quick jiggle test of the keg, to find there was at least a gallon left. I checked the co2 - sure enough, it was out. UGH. I must have done something wrong for it to leak.. I ran to the hardware store today and exchanged the tank. I went home and hooked it back up. Pressure.. but no beer. Hmm. Cloggage maybe? That's what the beer advocate fella's said.
I managed to trace it down to hop clogging the out valve in the keg. I tried various things to unplug the hops. My last attempt was to try to blow the co2 into the in valve. I did, and nothing seemed to happen. I hooked the co2 back up to the correct side. Not thinking, I forgot to let the pressure out of the keg.... can you see where this is going?..

I popped the stem off of the out valve.. and could see hops slowly seeping out, and foam. Everything after this moment happened so fast, I was kind of in shock. I just remember feeling beer on my head, and looking up thinking - holy shit, how is the beer dripping from my ceiling?! I looked back down and there was this amazing porter fountain shooting to the ceiling and spraying all over my garage. I didn't know what else to do so I shoved my finger over the hole and released the pressure in the keg. The fountain subsided as I watched my garage drip with porter.. Good news is - the hops are no longer plugging the keg!!

I cleaned up, and remembered I was supposed to have a beer and eat dinner at my bar in the garage. A smoked whitefish that my friend Steve brought me back from Indian River Michigan (up near the bridge). I didn't want to mess with the keg again, so i shoved it into the fridge. I picked up some cheap beer, and am about to have a splendid smoked fish snack, complete with horse radish and tabasco sauce.

I still kind of smell porter... I imagine I will for a long time to come. Live and learn I told the dog and she pranced around in the puddles of porter in the garage.... live and learn. :)

Bells Hop Slam

Well, if anyone was wondering.. Bells is releasing another batch of Hop Slam in early January 2008. If you're a hop-head, this beer is definitely for you. Hopefully, since they're brewing double the batch, the price will go down some. This beer was around $15.99 a six pack last year. I managed to find some for $7.99. :)
Either way, they'll be a trip to Bells planned late January. woohoo!
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6 ducks on my front porch

I looked out my front porch this morning and seen a grocery bag sitting there. I stepped out and peeked inside. 6 dead ducks. 3 of them were huge, the other 3 smaller. I googled "how to clean a duck" and found this website. It was easy as it looks. Looks like I have a lb or more of duck meat. Now it's time to find some duck recipes!!
Oh - I should probably tell you who gave me the ducks. I met a guy at my garage sale that invited me to the moose lodge. He was telling me about a wild game dinner, and that they have so much game all the time they can't give it away.. Me and free wild game get along great, so I gave him my number. He called yesterday and said he's ready to drop them off. I hope he shows up with a bear or a moose or something. No worries, google will show me how to take care of it. :)

Stone Vertical Epic 07.07.07

Stone Vertical Epic 07.07.07
Originally uploaded by robg2251

I figure from time to time, I'm going to review a beer on my blog - maybe post it to Beer Advocate. I read a review on this beer in the new Beer Advocate magazine, and figured I would give it a shot. The local Food Town carried it - $5.99 for a 22 oz bottle.

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Stone Vertical Epic 07.07.07
Pours an amber orange with a creamy 1/4" head that dissipated quickly.
Smell is sweet banana, orange-grapefruit and nutmeg.
Light to medium on the palette, a bit dry. Fizzy in carbonation that finishes with a moderate alcohol feel.
The initial flavor is light sweetness, and finishes moderately sweet - the 8.4% ABV definitely comes out in the finish.
This is Stones sixth in their "epic" series. They started with a batch on 02.02.02 and followed up year after year - obviously, this years was released on 07.07.07.
This is a Belgian style based on two styles - Saisons and Golden Triples.
This beer is pretty complex. You can taste the fruit flavors throughout it, along with a depth of spices. I'm not a real big fan of Belgians, but I do like to try them. This one will probably have to grow on me. The bottle suggests aging this until 2012. Maybe they plan on it tasting much better by then. Too late for me though, my bottle is already opened and I'm about to finish it!