Alyn Family » homebrew

April Roundup

egg — Thu, 01 May 2008 02:25:28 +0000

Busy month and clearly I’ve been slacking in my informational duties. Gretchen started the month with a trip to the beach to visit Vince and Jan while I stayed behind and finally made sense of my office. Spring sort of sprung and we did a bunch of cleanup in the yard only to have a whole mess of branches blow down the next day! The city cleared out the alley quickly and cable and telephone service were restored in short order. There are still wires draped in the alley and the Rizza’s fence and natural tree barrier will take some time to repair though.

We took the boys to see the Harlem Globetrotters after a successful elementary school game that featured the staff vs. 5th graders. Both games were a lot of fun although Oskar was frustrated the Globetrotters spent so much time talking instead of playing the game. Xavier seemed to enjoy it… or at least he enjoyed the candy .

Gretchen had a birthday which Oskar and Xavier made a cake and pinata for. The effort spanned a few days but was enjoyed by all. The cake had a slightly deformed shape after sticking to the baking pan, but we shoved it back together and hid the seams with frosting and it tasted just fine!

Oskar also joined Cub Scouts and attended his first Den meeting this past Tuesday. He’ll be joining the Wolf Pack officially in mid May but will participate with the Tigers now. I’m not sure how much fun he’s having yet, but I’m having a blast. So much so that I started a little campfire with the boys in the back yard this evening. Next time we’ll have marshmallows.

Gretchen has also instituted Friday night Pizza night featuring some most excellent home made Pizza that she’s been making. Gretchen and Oskar have also been working hard at Montessori work. Oskar is working hard as a first time pupil for Gretchen as she masters the materials.

Both of the boys are recovering from cases of pink eye and everyone is being hit hard by the seasonal allergies.

Last but not least, I opened my homebrew that I made WAY WAY WAY back in January for the first time. Despite being heavily over carbonated it tastes pretty good. It takes a couple of minutes for the head to go back to liquid though Next time – I’ll move it to the lagering shelves much sooner.

Busy Saturday

egg — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 13:59:06 +0000

Yesterday we sure did a lot! Patty, Kathy and us went to the Rochester Farmers Market and picked up some more meat and then headed to Avocados for a nice lunch before Patty hit the road. Xavier and I then went for a sleepy time drive and drove through the parking lot at the local VW dealer and spotted a nice new R32 while Oskar worked on Times Attack, a multiplication memorization game he’s enjoying these days. After X finally crashed, Oskar and I worked on bottling the homebrew. It’s smelled amazing and after getting primed with a little light malt tasted pretty good too. Just 4 more weeks of bottle conditioning and I can try some! After that it was time to wake up Xavier and the boys played nicely for about an hour. Gretchen still had more Montessori work to do so we headed to the RAC for Pizza and some play time. We ended up spending nearly 3 hours there climbing, running and having a good time. It was time for bed when we got home and despite not wanting to sleep, even Xavier was asleep by 8:45pm.

Yikes! A few days without an update!

egg — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 02:56:09 +0000

Last week Vince and Jan came for a brief visit before heading on to see Christopher. We checked out Mayo and the downtown subway. The kids were ecstatic to see them. We had a nice visit and celebrated their 10th anniversary at Michaels on Thursday. The house is almost back together after the holiday and it’s getting back to life as usual here in MN. I bottled the MrBeer homebrew last Saturday. Sunday while Gretchen nursed a cold, Oskar and I worked on a photo booth for taking macro photographs of stuff for eBay and I caught up for dinner with Joe Rinehart on Sunday. I’ve been working too much this week, pulling 16 hours Monday and probably 12 by the end of today and was able to have Joe over to the house for dinner. I guess the end of the month makes it all worth it. Last but not least, we converted Kathy to Mac… so Kevin and Rachel – your the last stand for PC.

MrBeer Homebrew Batch Coming Along Nicely

egg — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 20:35:56 +0000

After a 7 day fermentation in the basement, which was a few degrees too cold for the yeast, I moved it into the kitchen and it’s coming along nicely — definitely a good move. The MrBeer kit was a present from Kathy; Kevin, Steve, Chris and I all worked on this first batch together on Christmas. It’s been fermenting for 9 days now and I think in another 2-3 days it should be ready for bottling. I tested it just now and it has a nice yeast smell and is losing the sweetness it had when I decided to move it upstairs. It’s a little sharp on the tongue but it’s still not done, I’ll taste it before I bottle it and let you know how it is. It has a very nice amber color and should make a good pale ale judging from the color and smell at this point.

More on MN Homebrew Shops

egg — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 14:06:38 +0000

I did some searching online this morning while Xavier played Nintendo and found that while there are a number of resources for homebrewers in Minnesota, there really wasn’t a full of homebrew supply shops that’s been vetted. So rather than create a list of cities that I’m unfamiliar with, I visualized it on this map using the data from a number of resources, including MNBeer.com and by using a few manufactures websites and looking at their “where to buy” listing.

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Rochester Homebrew Shop

egg — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 22:23:17 +0000

I’m finding my way around Rochester! I found a homebrew shop the other day and the boys went with me this morning to check it out. The Von Klopp Brew Shop sells beer and wine making supplies! Since the nearest brewpub I’ve been able to locate is around 30 minutes away, next year I just might dust off some of my old recipes and try them out again – perhaps even try a few new ones like those found in Zymurgy, the official publication of the American Homebrewers Association.