beertastic weekend

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY :
kegged the sullen beaver oatmeal stout.
drank the sullen beaver oatmeal stout.
drank the sullen beaver oatmeal stout.
drank the sullen beaver oatmeal stout.
brewed one last EPA.

THE DETAILS :
It was a dark and stormy morning. The drive up to castle rock was slow and aggravating, as the SO and I got stuck behind a blowhard who weaved in and out of the single lane. That wasn't a big deal, but what was a big deal was that he weaved in and out of the *passing* lane as I attempted to pass him, thus blocking me. I don't think he understood what the (very very short) passing lanes were for, so I clued him in by honking my horn -- something I rarely do. In fact, only the second honk was a proper honk, the first one, I had to spend time remembering how to do it. At last, he got the message and pulled to the side so I could pass, just in time to get stuck behind a slow moving truck.

We arrived at CRSP eventually, in the pouring rain, to meet Rictor-Veg for a nice, short, somewhat intense hike-in-the-rain, wherein i got soaked pretty thoroughly and all the contents of my backpack were soaked, which was fine, because my sandwiches were in tupperware, but not so fine for 203, whose bread was wrapped only in paper. oops.

we met up with some boy scouts who were learning to make fire. just as they got theirs going, and offered us its use, we departed. then we arrived at the parking lot, to make another, more lengthy departure. along the way home, we stopped at REI. then we stopped at another, and, on the way to our third, final REI of the day, we stopped at a going-out-of-business antique store that is situation next to an REI. inside, i found, quite by chance, a pub tap-handle (supposedly "antique" since it was in an antique store, though it bore no vintage markings) with a "BASS DRAUGHT" logo emblazened upon it. It was quite the find, and while it was not a steal of a price, it was reasonable, and Bass Ale is 203's preferred megabrew, and presumably the "ale" to which she is referring when she says such things as, "i don't like stout, i like ale".

sigh.

so after we got home and cleaned up and sanitized, i kegged the oatmeal stout. and then, because our kegging sample tasted a little carbonated, and decently cooled, i decided: why wait to hook up the kegerator? i hooked it right up, after a big PITA of cleaning the lines, discovering how to use the cleaning pump, some scary moments with the CO2 (oh shit!! there's no pressure! we let all the gas leak out!!!! -- oh, wait, it's just turned off at the source.), and after making a plethora of messes, i got it all hooked up and pulled a creamy pint! man, that rocked.

then all the other pints until this writing were undercarbonated and too warm, but that's just learning curve. need to get it properly adjusted and all that.

i did not find the kegging to be *greatly* easier than bottling, but then, i do assembly-line bottling with two or three assistants, so that's pretty easy. and 203 does all the cleaning either way. but i reckon once i get more experience with the kegging it will be a breeze. likewise with cleaning the kegerator.

anyhow, because i have one, I attached a digital temp controller to the kegerator, because then i can adjust the temp without opening the door, and also, it looks cool. that is, i can look at it and see how cool it is. inside the kegerator.

cool!

so then it occurred to me that my kegerator has a two-keg capacity and a double spout. and there was only one full keg in there, and no beer brewing in my closet. i wouldn't get to brew for at least another two weeks. that's half capacity for a month! (two weeks to brew, two weeks min to ferment). I realized that this would not stand. Also I realized that morebeer, while distant, is open on sundays.

BACKTRACK :
on the way back from one of the REIs, we stopped at "fermentation frenzy" in PA, which had, that very day, begun the conversion to "morebeer". alas, morebeer has no more bay area competition (outside the city) that i know of. that's a shame, because the FF guys were friendly, helpful, and usually more or less sober.

RETRACK :
So i decided I'd brew up another batch of EPA because hte last batch had come out so very nicely. Then I'd have a dark beer and a light ale on tap. Plus, the EPA would be ready to go in probably 10 days, 14 to be safe. So the next day I picked up Rictor-Veg and we went all the way to concord, where I bought the ingredients for an EPA and RV bought a lagering kit! He's on his way to becoming a brewmaster, huzzar for him.

I left out a lot about morebeer not answering their phone all morning, and making the drive to concord not knowing if they had my EPA ingredients, and icky mexican food, and all that.

Finally back home I got to brew the EPA. I boiled the hops for too long and burned the grain bag onto the bottom of the pot. Further, I broke my promise that my next brew would be all-grain. But I don't care, much. It is probably fermenting even now, though the yeast were still chilly when I pitched (no choice) and I have no clue how hot hte wort was (don't care) (also, it was 80F) and I made 10 dozen other mistakes.

I know by now to Relax, Don't Worry, Have a Homebrew. At worst, there will be some burnt-plastic funk in the brew. Overall it will be good. I'll drown out any funk with a shot of stout from the other tap :D