School starts, someone turns 30, and the beer is good.

School started for the kids and you know what that means. Back to school shopping, homework, enforced bedtimes, all sorts of fun! Kay-la has opted into the G.E.D. program and is already ready to test on 4 of 6 subjects. Noah is starting to really take off with his reading skills. He's found that he can read books all on his own if he just pays close attention to what the words REALLY are.

My 30th bday just passed and it was a BLAST! We had a number of folks over to help me celebrate and the party went into the wee morning hours. Thankfully we warned the neighbors and let them know that if we were too loud we would like them to let us know....not that we where loud, but we did go pretty late!

Stay outta my beer!

Had a birthday party for a friend over the weekend and it was a smashing success. Only one little issue....I bought a ton of beer and put it all in the kegerator out back. I showed all the beer drinkers where the beer was, and what was available. I even put all the beer out there that the guests brought. Now a few hours pass and someone walks up to me and says "Wow this is good, but there is no label...what it is?" This guy didn't understand why I started to freak out, but he had just gone though my kitchen fridge and raided the beer in the back that I had put away to save (thankfully he hadn't opened one of the barley wine style ales). Specifically he had just popped open a cherry stout that a home brew friend had given me. I know this isn't that big of a deal....but I am still a little pissed that I didn't get to taste it....

Spring Term update

Man it been awhile since I posted on here! Well, I am just about to start classes for my MCSA and am going to test for my A+ certification so I've been busy studying. Other then that I have been fighting my Media Center PC. Its been randomly rebooting. Thought it might be an update issue, but wasn't. So, I tore it apart, cleaned it up, reinstalled a lot of stuff, uninstalled all the unneeded apps and what not, and it was still rebooting. Finally, I just wiped the hard drive and upgraded to Vista....still not sure if that was a good idea or not 'cause now I have a whole different set of problems :)

On the kid front, Noah is back in soccer now. I'm not sure how much he is enjoying himself. I suspect he would rather stay home and play video games or go out and play with friends. Kay-la is back home with us now. Seems to be that her time away from home was somewhat beneficial. Its been a week now and she willingly cleans up when asked, and often with out being asked at all.

I've been brewing a lot of beer for the last year or so and have been brewing "all grain" since the start of the year. All grain brewing is when you start with just malted wheat and barley, not using the syrupy malt extract. Takes a lot more time, but gives you a lot more control over the final project. About Oct of last year, I joined a newly formed brew club which has been a lot of fun. I've met a lot of fun people.

Hopefully, I'll be able to keep up on posting here. I've also decided to start a new beer related blog, Everyday Drinking, though so far haven't been able to post much, lol. My hope is that each weekend I can post there what I have been drinking (along with photos, description, availiblity, etc.), and write about the local beer scene and any beer related events coming up.

At this time I am planning on going to the Oregon Brewer's Festival, and Hop Madness, and my 30th birthday is just bout 6 months away. Expect to hear more details soon about the party to beat all parties!

Southern Oregon Brewing releases first beers

Southern Oregon Brewing releases first beers

November 08, 2007, from Medford Mail Tribune

Southern Oregon Brewing Co. has released its first beers and has opened a tap room for public tasting and sales at its brew house. A golden ale and a porter are on tap.

Tap room hours are 4 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The tap room is at 1922 United Way in Medford, behind Lava Lanes. Tasters at the 24-foot bar and tables can view brewery activity through two large plate-glass windows.

Owner Tom Hammond and brewer Anders Johansen, whose resume includes stints with Pyramid and Deschutes breweries, are brewing once a week. Southern Oregon Brewing's 20-barrel brew house is capable of producing 620 gallons per batch.

Southern Oregon Brewing's phone number is 776-9898.

*I'm really excited about this. This area needs more local brewpubs. The building looks great and I hope to get a chance to visit them soon!

Wish List for Chris’s Birthday/Christmas/Just ‘cause:

In no specific order

Beer making stuff:

• Temperature control unit (http://morebeer.com/view_product/16663/102282) $54
• Chest freezer
• Brewing Kits (http://morebeer.com/search/102177) $30-$45
• Aeration system (http://morebeer.com/view_product/16607/102281) $32
• 6.5 gallon glass carboys (Hermans) 34$
• 5 gallon kegs (Hermans or www.morebeer.com) approx $35
• Carboy caps 6.5 gallon (2) and 5 gallon (2) (http://morebeer.com/search/102269) $3
• Carboy drainer (http://morebeer.com/view_product/15773/102269) $7
• Erlenmeyer Flask (1000 ml) http://morebeer.com/view_product/19890/102367 $10
• Stir plate http://morebeer.com/view_product/19911/102367 $114
• Gas Manifold 2/3/4 way (http://morebeer.com/search/102238) $27 to $47
• Bonnet Angler (http://morebeer.com/view_product/16272) $12.50

Books:

• How to Brew, by John Palmer
• Designing Great Beers
• Beer Captured
• Radical Brewing
• Brew like a Monk
• Clone Brews

Electronics:

• HD switcher box for the tv
• Itunes Gift Certificate
• Video Games, Guitar Hero 3, Rock Band
• Computer Hard Drive

Other Stuff:

• Gift Certificates
• T-shirts
• AHA (American Home brewer Association) Membership
• Beer of the month club
• MoreBeer’s Kit of the month club (www.morebeer.com)
• New Boots
• Quality Dress Shoes (that don’t squeak!)
• Chair Massager
• Beer Glassware (pilsner, goblet, stein, English Imperial pint, Samuel Adams Perfect pint glass)

Whats up with us?

Molly update: She came home after 8 days in the doggy E.R. and was put on a Malox and baby food diet. Apparently, she got a virus call the Corona Virus, which is a puppy bug that causes lethargy and loose stool. Then she ate something that is highly toxic to dogs (I suspect my hops the I dump in the compost after I brew my beer). The combination was so tough on her that her imune system couldn't fight the virus and it rampaged through her. So, 8 days and 900$ later, she is a perky little pup of 2 years again.

Jenn update: She is working a job that she doesn't like but she likes working....if that makes since. She was a stay at home mom for a year and a half but she got tired of cleaning up after our lazy butts. So she went and got a job.

T.E.D. update: He has Halo 3 now....

Kay-la update: Started her second year of high school a few weeks ago and went to her first dance of the year. So far so good!

Noah update: He has made some friends in the neighborhood that are rowdy little boys. Normally I wouldn't like this, except that Noah is kinda shy and needs some kids like this to bring him out of his shell....hopefully this wouldn't back fire and make Noah a rowdy little boy....

Chris update: Got my Kegerator up and running. Its a dual tap system with a 10lbs c02 tank. One tap is a Sanky (for commercial kegs) and one is for home brew. Right now I have a Kolsh from Wild River and my Belgium Golden Strong ale on tap. Work has been tough since its "back to school time" and everyone needs their problems fixed yesterday.

Michael Jackson, The Beer Hunter, dies

:( This is sad news indeed. For those of you who don't know who this is read this.

Summer Blogging

Well, its been a few weeks since the last post but hey, we've been busy! Jenn's party was nice. We did a little BBQ with our close friends, just what she asked for. Noah has gone up to Portland to spend 6 weeks with his mom, Kay-la is being a teenager on summer vacation, and Ted's work finely got a few more people hired. Hopefully he won't have to work as much over time soon.

Over the last few days I have been researching "Beer School" and found OSU's Fermentation Science degree program. Its pretty neat stuff. I wasn't going to seriously consider it, but then I saw that they are hiring for a position that is currently what I do here. So...I could move to Corvallis, attend Beer School, and work there doing what I do now for more pay....except that I don't think anyone else wants to move. Well, I can always go later.

WIth the 4th of July coming up we have begun making plans. Looks like we will be doing a BBQ out at Wayland's and then going over to Linda's to watch the fireworks. Linda's house is right across the street from where they shoot off the fireworks, plus we can sit int he front yard and consume my beer, yay me!

More Beer

Sunday afternoon Jen, Jen's mom, Noah and I bottled my second batch of home brewed beer. This one is a pale ale and I have a feeling it is going to turn out better then the first summer ale I did. But, while we worked we also cracked open the first few bottles of my first batch. It was a little lighter in body then I had hoped as well as a little sweeter then I had expected. But its only been two weeks in the bottle so it should improve over then next month or two. However, I sent some home to Jen's grandma and granddad. Grandma liked it so much that she called to tell me so....maybe I'll be willing to give them a few more bottles since they liked it so much.

Save water, drink beer

I've been talking about it but I've finally done it. I spent Saturday afternoon brewing my first batch of beer. The most surprising thing about the whole experience is how easy it was. Now, if everything proceeds as planned then I should be able to drink my first home brewed beer in about 3 weeks.