Sunday started by looking like this: (sorry, I realize looking at the picture now that we need to wash the van)




And ended like this: (on the ride home)

With all this in between:

Some of Misty's relatives from Indiana were in town- Anna Maria Island to be more specific, so we went out to visit.

This poor umbrella just had the hardest time staying upright:

Pelican:

Self-portrait: (I'm not in the sand because I was seeking the shade after my Independence Day sunburn)

Kevin: (16 and cool)

See, the hardest time:

Lindy's pic-a-nic blanket:

Our poor sunburnt Devin, playing 'neath the umbrella:

Zack, Trey, Nick, and Kevin (left to right): (it's been a few years since they all saw each other, but they hung out on the beach and played "ladderball" like a bunch of guys hanging out at the beach)
I was not able to to get any good pictures of Lauren as she stayed out and under-water most of the afternoon.

All Grain II

There's a film on top of the wort. The dry hops are underneath the film.

possible problem?

I don't know, but I think it may be wild yeast.

does anyone know?

Thanks to Fred from H.A.M.S. for the brew day at his house last weekend. His homebrewery is AWESOME!

Independence Day

We had a good ol' time, thanks to Ernesto and Pam's invitation. We met them out at South Lido Park where they had a great spot back off the nature trail.

I guess our food smelled pretty good. This little lady tried to pry the lid off Pam's baked beans dish while nobody was looking. (Credit to Misty for getting this photo)

Must have smelled really good! Look at all the boats that came in:

Ribs:

Self-portrait:

Lauren, left and Devin, right:

Kevin, having trouble with his goggles:

Devin's grapes:

Sea grapes:

I must have had my camera set to video by accident. I inteded to do a little macro shot of the sea grapes, but caught what appears to be an ant chasing off a fly.

Thanks, guys!

1st time All-Grain

Malt. Mild Ale, Crystal, and Chocolate. All you can really see is the crystal and a little bit of the mild ale.




My humble brewpot:

Saxo, for inspirational purposes:

My humble mash-tun, overfilled. I had to put a bit into the brewpot early so I could close the lid.

A Fuggle plug, for those who don't know. Surpisingly, many homebrewers have only ever seen pelletized hops. I prefer these:

As they say in all the books: a "vigorous boil":

Terrible efficiency, I know, but for my 6 gallons of 1.033 wort I used:

12 lbs. mild ale malt (Munton's)

2 lbs. crystal malt, 80 L

1/4 lb. chocolate malt

1/4 oz. Fuggle in the mash

1/4 oz. Fuggle 1st wort hopped

1/4 oz. Fuggle last 15 minutes, flavor

1/4 oz. Fuggle last 7 minutes, aroma

added 1 lb. sugar to come to 1.040 starting gravity

Wyeast Activator pack of the Ringwood strain. Yes, I did a diacetyl rest in case you wondered, though I'm not sure it was required.

Fermented at ambient temps around 74-76F and finished at 1.004! A pretty classy lawnmower beer, if I say so myself. Did the trick when I got done mowing yesterday, anyway.

Poor extract aside, it turned out to be really good! I'll post some new pics after Independance Day so you can see the finished product.

(edit to add a couple pics 7-7-08)

Roller Derby

We went with Jim and John, a couple of fellow HAMS club members, and met up also with Marck and Heather of Bacon Towne Records, to a recent Bradentucky Bombers roller derby thing (match, game, ???). It was the last of the season, the Bombers split into two teams: the Garter Belt Gangsters (who we rooted for) vs. the Jawbreakers (they wore pink) in the Trailer Trash Rumble. We (the Garter Belt Gangsters) won! It was the first time I'd witnessed a roller derby event and I was really quite impressed at the thing. It was much better than I thought it would be, and really was very athletic and sportslike. You'd have to see it to understand, I think. Perhaps next time, I'll learn to do video and add it to the blog.

for once,

A t-shirt I do own:

We got it at a gun show a couple of years back. I wonder if it really translates correctly...

happy father's day to me!

Dessert:
"Saisson Athene" from Saint Somewhere Brewing Co. and gooey butter cake made by Lauren to Grammy's own recipe (oh, the memories!).

The last concert of the year:

Band. Middle School. Lauren. Jazz Band, in this picture:

Lauren's infamous "tapping foot". It doesn't necessarily even keep time, but it keeps on tapping all throughout.

Congratulations

For my wife, Misty:

Congratulations, official RN!!!

Last Beer.

The last of the brown bitter, anyway.

A Musical Week

5-18, Kevin's Band Concert (Drums):



5-22, Lauren's Orchestra Concert (Violin):




And she's got a band concert (Flute) next week, too!

I've seen this sign for the last 4 years: "Rosa Fiorelli Winery 14 miles".

Misty and I went with some fellow H.A.M.S. club members to Rosa Fiorelli Winery this afternoon.

We were given this tasting sheet to go by. As you can see, I felt the best was #9, followed by #4, then #5. Strange thing about #9 was this: it was supposed to be a dessert wine, but Antonio (we're on a first name basis with sr. Fiorelli now LOL) forgot to back-sweeten it before bottling. We also tried it fully sweetened, but preferred the mistake! My notes got cut off, but it says re #9: "deep, big grape".
On the back I made notes about tasting #5 and #7 chilled. The server made a production out of drinking the Conquistador Gold just right so as to flush the cheeks and produce goosebumps. I think it worked. The illustration at the bottom references the dessert in a photo below.






Most of the tasting room pics came out blurry because of the low light, but I thought this one of dessert preparation was OK.

Our two favorites:
After tasting, we toured. First up, the 55 degree room:

I love that he uses the same airlock that homebrewers do!

Bottle filler:
Crusher/destemmer, and bladder press:

Then we went outside to visit with the grapes for a while.

New plantings:
Antonio:

When he was young, in Sicily, he didn't like picking grapes and making wine but was made to do it by his family. Now, he says, "it is the passion".

Clois du Bois:
The entrance/exit:

Sarasota Reds vs. Daytona Cubs

A pre-Mothers' day event!


Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get any blog-acceptable pix of Kevin, Misty, or my Mom. You get the two girls, though.

And he was... SAFE!

This was a serious grounder, went all the way to the wall, if I remember correctly.

Funny, as the sun went down and the shadows began to creep onto the grass, I was reminded of...

...Busch Stadium (the elder) and this picture from our return trip from Uncle Steve's funeral.

Lauren, having a generally pleasant time:

Devin, eagerly awaiting a foul ball:

The pitcher, quite noteably not a "belly itcher":

Devin running the bases after the game (it was a 12 and under thing, sorry Lauren):

The final score: