The unveiling of annual holiday brew Christmas Cookie Ale didn't go as well as we'd hoped. We tinkered with the recipe this year and we tinkered too much. We added too much cinnamon and vanilla to this one and made something that borders on undrinkable. Fortunately for us we have updwards of 30 bottles of the stuff left to drink. Awesome. Just awesome. We hope it mellows out over the coming weeks and softens enough so we can drink it. For now it stares. Not mocking or tempting. Just idling in its own vat of borderline mediocrity.
One of the most excellent gifts the Amazing and Wonderful Wife gave me for Christmas is the fixins for our next brew an oatmeal chocolate stout. We've been talking about whipping up an oatmeal chocolate stout for at least a couple months now. With all that anticipation and build up I'm pumped to have all the ingredients in hand and can't wait to get brewing. I feel like each brew we do we learn a little more about the process the ingredients and how they all work together. I feel like our base of brewing knowledge continues to grow and we become more confident with each brew we make. I have a really good feeling about this one. Prosst!
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Holly Jolly Christmas
2011 marked the 4th year the Amazing and Wonderful Wife and I put on our Christmas Day brunch at our lovely and modest homestead. Each year we invite all our loevd ones to celebrate Christmas without worrying about exchanging any gifts, just partake of the yumminess and enjoy yourself. In years past we've served mimosa's, coffee, (staples to all our brunches) warm apple cider with cinnamon and store bought egg nog. This year we wanted to do something special so we made our egg nog from scratch and damn was it good. We cut the recipe a little and used 3 cups of half and half instead of 3 cups of heavy cream. It still had a dozen egg yolks over a cup of sugar and 3 cups of whole milk so it still makes cardiologists very happy. My brother mentioned over dinner just before the big day that we should do bloody mary's. We didn't have it in us to tinker with our menu (go shopping for more things at the last minute) to get the fixings for them. However we like the idea of keeping the brunch new and fresh so we landed on the idea of making a signature beverage each year. So our tentative plan for next year's beverage is you guessed it, bloody marys. For now we're just basking in the warm glow of another wonderful Christmas day brunch and enjoying the best this time of year has to offer.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Oxford Companion to Beer
Here at S & S Brewing Co. we (see I) have been looking for a clearing house of information on beer. A catch all go to source of information dangling at my fingertips where I can go for all things beer. I want the end all be all for every lick of information there is to know about beer. The search for this holy grail came to a brilliant and triumphant close yesterday, thanks be to The Amazing and Wonderful Wife.
Yesterday I celebrated another year, another ring on the tree trunk. On these occasions gifts are given to celebrate the day you joined everyone else on the 3rd stone from the sun. Such was the case yesterday when The Amazing and Wonderful Wife handed me a hefty gift and was almost giddy for me to open it. After the paper was torn away and my eyes fully swallowed up what the mighty tome on beer I have just been given, I realized this is it. THIS is what I've been looking for. What is it exactly? Well the jacket says it far better than my paltry vernacular and command of the english language could conceive of. "A truly groundbreaking work, The Oxford Companion to Beer is the most comprehensive reference book ever published on the subject of the world's most popular and diverse fermented beverage. Garrett Oliver has collected the vast knowledge and research of more than 165 beer experts from more than twenty countries. The result is a complete compendium of the world of beer, comprising more than a thousand entries, many of them covering subjects that have scarcely been written about before now. From the specifics of the brewing process to beer history, from hop and barley varieties to profiles of beer-producing countries and regions, and from beer styles, food pairing, and glass to barrel aging, dry hopping, and bottle refermentation, this book covers virtually every subject of interest to the enthusiast, brewer, or food and beverage professional. Not only are the entries expertly written, they are also attractively illustrated, with numerous photographs, postcards, etchings, paintings, advertisements, stamps and brocures. The outstanindg eclectic collection of images, some of which date back to before Prohibition also inclues a full-color insert."
It goes on to elaborate on the depth and breadth of the knowledge assembled - "There are over 200 entries for hops alone, covering their histories, genealogical lineages, growing habits, flavors, and uses. Some entries reach back to the beginnings of human society and others bring us right up to the moement, expounding on such cutting-edge subjects as the recent use of wild yeast strains by craft brewers." Oh ya. The Amazing and Wonderful Wife has yet again reinforced why she is The Amazing and Wonderful Wife. (She also set the bar pretty damn high for herself for Christmas!)
Yesterday I celebrated another year, another ring on the tree trunk. On these occasions gifts are given to celebrate the day you joined everyone else on the 3rd stone from the sun. Such was the case yesterday when The Amazing and Wonderful Wife handed me a hefty gift and was almost giddy for me to open it. After the paper was torn away and my eyes fully swallowed up what the mighty tome on beer I have just been given, I realized this is it. THIS is what I've been looking for. What is it exactly? Well the jacket says it far better than my paltry vernacular and command of the english language could conceive of. "A truly groundbreaking work, The Oxford Companion to Beer is the most comprehensive reference book ever published on the subject of the world's most popular and diverse fermented beverage. Garrett Oliver has collected the vast knowledge and research of more than 165 beer experts from more than twenty countries. The result is a complete compendium of the world of beer, comprising more than a thousand entries, many of them covering subjects that have scarcely been written about before now. From the specifics of the brewing process to beer history, from hop and barley varieties to profiles of beer-producing countries and regions, and from beer styles, food pairing, and glass to barrel aging, dry hopping, and bottle refermentation, this book covers virtually every subject of interest to the enthusiast, brewer, or food and beverage professional. Not only are the entries expertly written, they are also attractively illustrated, with numerous photographs, postcards, etchings, paintings, advertisements, stamps and brocures. The outstanindg eclectic collection of images, some of which date back to before Prohibition also inclues a full-color insert."
It goes on to elaborate on the depth and breadth of the knowledge assembled - "There are over 200 entries for hops alone, covering their histories, genealogical lineages, growing habits, flavors, and uses. Some entries reach back to the beginnings of human society and others bring us right up to the moement, expounding on such cutting-edge subjects as the recent use of wild yeast strains by craft brewers." Oh ya. The Amazing and Wonderful Wife has yet again reinforced why she is The Amazing and Wonderful Wife. (She also set the bar pretty damn high for herself for Christmas!)
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Just because.
The Amazing Wife and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving at my brother and sister-in-laws house, they fried up a big ol' bird and whipped up the fixings to go along with it. My sister-in-laws family and my parents were there and everyone had a grand ol' time. The Amazing Wife and I decided we wanted to have a similar celebration but without all the work involved. We also wanted some kick ass left overs. Ya. So we roasted a nice chicken and did it up with all the fixings. We also busted out our fine china and crystal glassware that we received as wedding gifts. We drank our last bottle of Polaris, a wheat stout aged in bourbon barrels, from Rising Tide Brewery. We even got a stussied up for the event. The cause for the celebration? Our life together is damn good.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
The tides continue to ebb and flow
And the world continues on its merry way around a flaming orb. Such is the way of things. Such is ka. It's been quite a while since we did the 'I hope this brew is good' dance for our weizenbeir. The dance looks like the 'I have to PEE' dance with less urgency. All our dancing and prancing paid off for the weizenbeir was a raging success! It was dark gold and more flavorful than we anticipated. It also had more body and richness than say a pilsner, perfect for a late summer day. A lot has happened in and out of the land of S & S Brewing Co. since then...come with me as we step into the Wayback Machine...
The Amazing and Wonderful Wife and I celebrated our first anniversary!! We took a mini vacation to Castine a beautiful seaside town steeped in Revolutionary war history in Down east Maine. Thankfully you won't stumble across Castine by just getting off the turnpike, it's hidden away in a tangle of state routes and country roads. We were pleasantly surprised to find few people elected to be there when we were there. We wandered around the 'town' and checked out all the cool old buildings, we got stussied up and had a wonderful dinner at a local restaurant. We stayed at a really cool old inn The Manor Inn. Tom and Nancy were super welcoming and wonderful hosts, we highly recommend the place. While we're on the topic of our anniversary the Amazing and Wonderful Wife made me a sweater for our anniversary! She measured one of my t-shirts to ensure the fit, knew what color and style I liked and whipped up a masterpiece. If you haven't seen the pics of me modeling it in GQ (I trust there are precious few of you in this group) you can see the finished product here.While you're admiring everything grab a cup of coffee and peruse the other blog posts, the Amazing and Wonderful Wife is a very insightful and articulate writer.
Also on the celebration front we've had Mr. Cecil for a year! His name is actually Cecil but the outstanding dog trainer we worked with gave him the nickname of Mr. Cecil and it stuck. We've put in a tremendous amount of work to make him a healthy happy balanced puppy and it has finally paid off. He finally got the all clear from his heart worms this fall so we started to bring him to local dog parks and nature trails. We let him run around off leash and visit with other dog friends and sniff everything he can get his cute little nose near. Since we've started our weekly excursions we've seen a dramatic shift in his personality. He's more relaxed when he sees other dogs on our walks and is clearly more comfortable in his own fur. A happy healthy balanced puppy makes for very happy dog parents.
Last but not least the beer. S & S Brewing Co. Ya. We're rolling full steam ahead on the heels of success. We're down to the last few bottles of our autumn creation a caramel apple brew. We started with a dortmunder as a base and added carapils chocolate and black malted barley to the brew to give it a sweeter more complex flavor profile. As the name implies we also added apples, a 1/2 a pound of McIntosh to be precise. The apple taste was very subtle when we first opened them up but disappeared a week after we started drinking them. With Christmas knocking on our door this can mean only one thing. Yes. Just one. Our annual Christmas brew Christmas Cookie Ale makes it move to bottles today and should be ready just in time to celebrate Christmas with the jolly bearded guy in a red suit and Santa Claus. We want to recreate the brew we made last year with a couple small changes. We really enjoyed last year's version but we want the cinnamon and vanilla to shine a little more. We added a little more of each and at a different stage of the process. Even if it doesn't get to where we want it it's still going to be a great beer. We also have some designs for our next creation, an oatmeal chocolate stout. We're looking at going all grain for that monster, but to do that we need a lauter tun. I've found some plans to build one for a minimal cost however we're hoping to find one or a way to get one for even less.
The Amazing and Wonderful Wife and I celebrated our first anniversary!! We took a mini vacation to Castine a beautiful seaside town steeped in Revolutionary war history in Down east Maine. Thankfully you won't stumble across Castine by just getting off the turnpike, it's hidden away in a tangle of state routes and country roads. We were pleasantly surprised to find few people elected to be there when we were there. We wandered around the 'town' and checked out all the cool old buildings, we got stussied up and had a wonderful dinner at a local restaurant. We stayed at a really cool old inn The Manor Inn. Tom and Nancy were super welcoming and wonderful hosts, we highly recommend the place. While we're on the topic of our anniversary the Amazing and Wonderful Wife made me a sweater for our anniversary! She measured one of my t-shirts to ensure the fit, knew what color and style I liked and whipped up a masterpiece. If you haven't seen the pics of me modeling it in GQ (I trust there are precious few of you in this group) you can see the finished product here.While you're admiring everything grab a cup of coffee and peruse the other blog posts, the Amazing and Wonderful Wife is a very insightful and articulate writer.
Also on the celebration front we've had Mr. Cecil for a year! His name is actually Cecil but the outstanding dog trainer we worked with gave him the nickname of Mr. Cecil and it stuck. We've put in a tremendous amount of work to make him a healthy happy balanced puppy and it has finally paid off. He finally got the all clear from his heart worms this fall so we started to bring him to local dog parks and nature trails. We let him run around off leash and visit with other dog friends and sniff everything he can get his cute little nose near. Since we've started our weekly excursions we've seen a dramatic shift in his personality. He's more relaxed when he sees other dogs on our walks and is clearly more comfortable in his own fur. A happy healthy balanced puppy makes for very happy dog parents.
Last but not least the beer. S & S Brewing Co. Ya. We're rolling full steam ahead on the heels of success. We're down to the last few bottles of our autumn creation a caramel apple brew. We started with a dortmunder as a base and added carapils chocolate and black malted barley to the brew to give it a sweeter more complex flavor profile. As the name implies we also added apples, a 1/2 a pound of McIntosh to be precise. The apple taste was very subtle when we first opened them up but disappeared a week after we started drinking them. With Christmas knocking on our door this can mean only one thing. Yes. Just one. Our annual Christmas brew Christmas Cookie Ale makes it move to bottles today and should be ready just in time to celebrate Christmas with the jolly bearded guy in a red suit and Santa Claus. We want to recreate the brew we made last year with a couple small changes. We really enjoyed last year's version but we want the cinnamon and vanilla to shine a little more. We added a little more of each and at a different stage of the process. Even if it doesn't get to where we want it it's still going to be a great beer. We also have some designs for our next creation, an oatmeal chocolate stout. We're looking at going all grain for that monster, but to do that we need a lauter tun. I've found some plans to build one for a minimal cost however we're hoping to find one or a way to get one for even less.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Weizenbeir
There is a lot riding on this beer. No, really there is. You see, the past two creations from S & S Brewing Co. have been total disasters. Like the bottles exploded before we had a chance to properly enjoy them kind of disasters. The most recent one, a Belgian Triple added insult to injury and tasted pretty bad, at least the little we could get from what was left of it. So even if we wanted to risk losing an eye the taste wouldn't be worth it. Ah well.
Well we are more focused and driven to creating a brew that we wouldn't be afraid to bring to a friends house now. We want this one, we need this one to be a success. We need our brewing mojo back. We're paying super close attention to sanitizing everything and crossing our lower case f's and dotting the lower case j's. The brew process is almost half way done and there hasn't been any, "that's not right..." so far so good.
The brew itself is a weizenbeir a nice crisp light refreshing brew perfect for summer. We should know in a few short weeks if our bubbling golden creation is a winner. Stay tuned. Happy 4th of July!
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
One foot in front of the other
It's a piece of advice I've heard when someone is talking about doing some grueling activity like running a marathon or hiking the Appalachian Trail. 'Don't think about the distance you have left or not knowing what's around the next corner, just keep putting one foot in front of the other.' It sounds a bit trite when you think about it, (Really? I thought if I stopped and stood around the answer to all my questions would leap out of that rabbit hole) but it's true. It's easy to get bogged down in the minutia of the hunt, the great migration, and you need to remind yourself to stop thinking about it and just do it.
The temp agency sent out a cattle call email last week about a position that would suit our family extremely well. There were 2 slots available for an initial skills test, the 2 slots filled on a first come first serve basis. I thought it was unusual that a job requiring a skills test be sent out as a cattle call and slots filled on a first come first serve basis. I put my questions aside and pounded out the phone number and landed the first slot. I was told the test would cover basic office environment skills like navigating the Internets, setting up appointments, composing word docs and transferring calls, all things I'm more than capable of doing. I felt confident about my chances and pleased with myself for being johnny on the spot, I was the first in line. I had an easy time with the test and met briefly with the person that would be doing the hiring and felt good about our brief exchange, further bolstering my soaring hopes. Today, I called the temp agency to follow up on everything. The great news is that I did extremely well on my test (not surprised) and that I was a pleasure to meet with. Also, nice to hear. Well, they promoted someone from within to fill the position. Not nice to here. Sure that's great for the person that has the job, I'm sure they're very happy with their new surroundings and change in daily routine. They're probably telling their friends and family about their new job, their new boss, maybe even talking about their new desk. Their co-workers are probably making those lame office jokes 'You're leaving us behind??' or 'You're leaving us?! Don't you like us? Hahahaha!' Everyone is a damn comedian.
This is the second promising job and interview I've been on in 2 weeks. Both of them are jobs I'm capable of performing and excelling at. Both would work well for our family, for different reasons. Both meant work. Both meant a chance to get out of house and see what the hell John Q. Public is up to these days. Both said, "Thanks for your interest but we're moving forward with someone else."
It's been almost a year since I last left the house daily for a pay check. Since then I've stayed quite busy, planning our wedding, helping break in our adopted dog, remodeling our bathroom. I've also done some substitute teaching gigs and temporary office work for the temp agency. In between I'm a Stay-at-Home Dad sans the chillins. I take care of our dog, do the laundry, the dishes, run errands, go grocery shopping and do whatever else I can to help keep the house running smoothly. I enjoy doing all of those things and keeping the house running smoothly, everyone is happy when the house runs smoothly. However we have things we'd like to do with our lives and fortunately or unfortunately money is involved with them. It's basic math more money coming in the door means the quicker we can achieve our goals. While I'm not having a lot of luck on the 'pay me for my efforts' front I'm at least getting to the interview stage, I'm getting very good at telling strangers that I'm awesome. I'm still sending out the resume and hoping someone wants to hear me tell them how awesome I am, and then offer me a job because they are so enamored by my awesomeness. I'm also taking the opportunity to give back to the world, to enrich the lives of others and satiate my appetite for being productive in a new way. I'm exploring a couple volunteer opportunities, one is with a local children's museum, and the other is with a local non-profit group that maintains a series of nature trails and walking paths in and around our fair city. Sure they wouldn't pay me for efforts, but I could get out of the house and do something different. It also helps when someone asks 'What have you done with yourself in the past year? Well, I've done all these things in my personal life and I've also been volunteering at such and such a place doing this that and the other thing.' I have no idea when I'll join the ranks of those that get paid for their daily struggles, I hope it's soon. Until then I'm just going to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
The temp agency sent out a cattle call email last week about a position that would suit our family extremely well. There were 2 slots available for an initial skills test, the 2 slots filled on a first come first serve basis. I thought it was unusual that a job requiring a skills test be sent out as a cattle call and slots filled on a first come first serve basis. I put my questions aside and pounded out the phone number and landed the first slot. I was told the test would cover basic office environment skills like navigating the Internets, setting up appointments, composing word docs and transferring calls, all things I'm more than capable of doing. I felt confident about my chances and pleased with myself for being johnny on the spot, I was the first in line. I had an easy time with the test and met briefly with the person that would be doing the hiring and felt good about our brief exchange, further bolstering my soaring hopes. Today, I called the temp agency to follow up on everything. The great news is that I did extremely well on my test (not surprised) and that I was a pleasure to meet with. Also, nice to hear. Well, they promoted someone from within to fill the position. Not nice to here. Sure that's great for the person that has the job, I'm sure they're very happy with their new surroundings and change in daily routine. They're probably telling their friends and family about their new job, their new boss, maybe even talking about their new desk. Their co-workers are probably making those lame office jokes 'You're leaving us behind??' or 'You're leaving us?! Don't you like us? Hahahaha!' Everyone is a damn comedian.
This is the second promising job and interview I've been on in 2 weeks. Both of them are jobs I'm capable of performing and excelling at. Both would work well for our family, for different reasons. Both meant work. Both meant a chance to get out of house and see what the hell John Q. Public is up to these days. Both said, "Thanks for your interest but we're moving forward with someone else."
It's been almost a year since I last left the house daily for a pay check. Since then I've stayed quite busy, planning our wedding, helping break in our adopted dog, remodeling our bathroom. I've also done some substitute teaching gigs and temporary office work for the temp agency. In between I'm a Stay-at-Home Dad sans the chillins. I take care of our dog, do the laundry, the dishes, run errands, go grocery shopping and do whatever else I can to help keep the house running smoothly. I enjoy doing all of those things and keeping the house running smoothly, everyone is happy when the house runs smoothly. However we have things we'd like to do with our lives and fortunately or unfortunately money is involved with them. It's basic math more money coming in the door means the quicker we can achieve our goals. While I'm not having a lot of luck on the 'pay me for my efforts' front I'm at least getting to the interview stage, I'm getting very good at telling strangers that I'm awesome. I'm still sending out the resume and hoping someone wants to hear me tell them how awesome I am, and then offer me a job because they are so enamored by my awesomeness. I'm also taking the opportunity to give back to the world, to enrich the lives of others and satiate my appetite for being productive in a new way. I'm exploring a couple volunteer opportunities, one is with a local children's museum, and the other is with a local non-profit group that maintains a series of nature trails and walking paths in and around our fair city. Sure they wouldn't pay me for efforts, but I could get out of the house and do something different. It also helps when someone asks 'What have you done with yourself in the past year? Well, I've done all these things in my personal life and I've also been volunteering at such and such a place doing this that and the other thing.' I have no idea when I'll join the ranks of those that get paid for their daily struggles, I hope it's soon. Until then I'm just going to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
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