Hope Springs Eternal

Well, it is Spring and the time of new birth, thus I will be making a better effort to post to my blog - at least once every couple of days. Life has been happening since I last posted (the day after getting Abby) November 2. Here are some highlights

• I had a birthday (38)
• Ian turned 8
• Julie had a birthday (not telling)
• I wrecked my Jetta
• The kids have grown
• We've visited the beach a lot
• Life has happened

For an overview, you can visit http://gallery.mac.com/sitecrafting

Also, if you really want to know what's going on you can follow me on twitter www.twitter.com/brainfroth or SiteCrafting on twitter is www.twitter.com/sitecrafting

Puppy!

The St. Michael Auction was last night and we have a new member of the family. She is an 8 week old black lab mix - a rescued puppy that now has a new home. The kids are very excited as you can tell from the new November pictures.

October Photos and More

Well, life has happened again and I've not been posting as much as I'd like. The good news is, I've made up for some lost time. I've updated the September Photos and added a gallery for October.

A few highlights:

• A visit from Jennifer and Elizabeth
• Trips to Seabrook
• Fishing photos
• Halloween

Enjoy! More to come including Christmas Brew and more...

Bavarian Weisen - Mostly Compliant

The keg is ready, and so like all good brewers I elected to give the latest brew a try. This Bavarian Weizen (Wheat) is a very good beer. While technically not fully compliant with Reinheitsgebot - The German Beer Purity Law which allows for only barley, hops, and water. This is pretty close as it has barley hops and water and wheat malt, (from Canada no less).

While I prefer the Belgian Wit, this is still a very good beer for summer. Too bad it's 48, rainy, and nearly Fall. :)

The best part of this beer is the fact that I brewed it with my Dad. We spent a Saturday in August and it tastes a bit better knowing that.

Here's the recipe (10 Gallons All Grain) :

10 lbs. Wheat Malt
10 lbs. Pale Malt (2-Row) - Breiss
1.5 lbs. Munich Malt 10L

1 oz. Tettnanger 2.8 - 60 min
2 oz. Tettnanger 2.8 - 30 min
1 oz. Tettnanger 2.8 - 0 min.

White Labs WLP351 Bavarian Weizen - Platinum

Next up - likely tomorrow - Wassail Christmas Ale

Makeup Time

OK, so I've been slacking...

We have been busy though too!

I've posted pictures from August, like this one.

View More From August including Charlotte's Birthday Party, a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Forth and a short flyfishing expedition on the Deschutes River.

Earlier this month we visited Disneyland and family in California. To view these pictures, click here or on the California Vacation Gallery on the Right below is a sample picture.

And Finally the First Day of School which was Monday for Ian and today for Charlotte. I'll be posting an entry about school soon, but for now here's a preview. You can see more in the September Gallery.

Founder's Day Fun!

We spent this past weekend out at Seabrook for Founder's Day. This is likely our last overnight for several weeks as the house is completely booked for August. We have mixed feelings about it as we have really grown to cherish our time out there and have all met friends we enjoy seeing. Our next trip will likely be the 17th of August with my parents. After that, some time in September. I am planning at least a few Fall fishing trips as the big salmon will be heading into the coastal rivers in the September/October.

We had a great time, the kids especially. They worked for hours at "The Stump" with the next door neighbor kids (also from Olympia). Evan and Ian are both seven and have really hit it off and spend most waking time riding bikes or this weekend, working on "The Stump".

I've updated the July Photos with a bunch of new ones. Added a video of Alec counting the stairs. You may remember a previous entry.

Enjoy!

Alt Style Ale - Part Deux

Cracked open a bottle this afternoon of the Alt. I've previously discussed the first batch which was very good. I had bottled 5 gallons and kegged another 5. This second batch consisted of 10 gallons and I had bottled the entire batch. One of the benefits of brewing a lot of beer in a short period of time is you are not inclined (at least I'm not) to rush drinking it. So, it fermented in the primary for over 10 days, sat in the secondary for almost two weeks and has been bottled for almost a month. Thus, the beer is very clear and very good.

I did switch up the recipe from the first batch in that I used whole hops vs. pellets which has resulted in a less hoppy beer (I happen to like hops) and has increased the clarity. Although, I'm sure time has more to do with that.

I have a second batch of Belgian Wit still in the secondary which I will bottle this week. With the remaining Alt in the keg and several cases of Alt and some Belgian Wit...my guess is this second batch of Wit will get plenty of time to sit undisturbed prior to drinking.

Oh, what to brew next?