Ahh beer...my canvas

The aesthetics of everyday life appear so vibrant to me lately. In this past year I have begun to have more clarity and appreciation of artistic expression. Not until I truely emmersed myself in brewing as an art did I begin to see other's outlets (painting, film, music, technology, science, etc.) with validity and understanding. The passion of personal expression rewards and is beautiful, a genuine release and extension of ones self.

I know, most people out there probably don't look at a glass of beer and think about things like beauty, design, and creative expression. But I do. I see beer as an ameoba, an entity always changing and therefore needing much foresight so those changes are positive. No, I don't use paint or a pencil. My art looks more like a battle, one in which I use chemicals to combat bacteria. It is only then that I get to work with my real tools. Hops. Barley. Yeast. Water. These are the raw essentials for my outlet. I attempt to create beauty. I must. It is essential.

Issues with new blogger

Sorry, It's been a while since I last posted, but blogger has not allowed me (or I just don't know what I am doing). Much has happened along the way...my lovely wife returned home from NY (though she's leaving again soon for Arizona), I brewed a barley wine and then proceeded to drop the carboy on the concrete and it broke into thousands of tiny, little pieces (nooo, I wasn't frustrated at all...nooo, not one single bit), and I began doing yeast viability and cell counts at work (ahh, the real beer geekiness). Pray all is well and I'll write more soon.

The ING's of Bob

Mood...somber...my lovely wife Tiff is at a jewelry show in NY for the week.

Reading...The Omnivor's Dillema (it follows food from inception to the dinner table) by Michael Pollan. Incredible!

Watching...World out of Balance (Nova special on population growth), Heroes, and Simpson's season 8 & 9.

Surfing...two awesome sites...worldchanging.com and goodmagazine.com (fieldwork section on current events).

Listening...Wilco, Waterdeep, French Kicks, Half-handed Cloud, Aretha Franklin, and Modest Mouse.

Fermenting...apple cider with apples from Tiff's parents house.

Conditioning...brown ale for the oak barrel, farmhouse ale with brettanomyces, and sour amber ale (think lambic no fruit).

Bottle conditioning..."the yellow submarine," a strong american golden ale aged in an oak barrel.

Drinking (recent beer highlights)...goudenband by leifmans (from 1999), three sheets by ballest point, 10 by firestone walker, adam by hair of the dog (on draft), en garde by pizza port, la rojo by jolly pumpkin (six months old), boundary bay Ipa, helles by schlenkerla, farmhouse ale by bison brewing, etc.