Beer and Pavement

Have you filled out my survey? Well, do it. I have a grade to maintain. And on with the list…

1. 20 Years Ago – It seems that the nostalgia cycle has firmly settled on my generation (X). There are numerous Nevermind tributes, including my own. However, there were other records that came out in 1991. That and a lot has come out in honor of feminism’s third wave taking off in the form of ‘zines and riot grrrl happenings. Of course, all of this 90’s retro fever will only encourage me to force outdated media on my child. Hence the purpose of this blog has gone mainstream (aside from the beer part).

2. The Ohio State Buckeyes 2011 Football Season – I’d rather not write much about football. All is not lost, but it’s a rebuilding year for sure. Freshman Braxton Miller started and won. So, there’s that. B1G starts this week. We’ll see how things go from here on out. The off-season of suspensions and coach firings has done a number on my favorite sports team. Here’s to hoping the NCAA is kind next month.

3. Spotify – I wish I had more time for Spotify. This is the social music tool for which I’ve always dreamed. I haven’t created a lot of complete play lists, but I’m starting. If only they had more music. At least a third of the music for which I search is not yet available. I know that I could just upload my own, but that takes time and most of my CD’s are put away. It will take time, but I’ll post some play lists soon enough. In the meantime, subscribe to my play list for the blog. It will be updated periodically.

4. Black Francis Update – Black Francis is bottled and will sit for another 3-4 weeks in said bottles for some additional aging and conditioning. I originally planned to let it sit in the secondary for two months, but I decided to move it after six weeks? Why? Multiple reasons, really. First, I’m impatient waiting on home brew and I knew it tasted pretty great a week or two ago. Second, I have plans to brew more and figured I might need the carboy and/or the space. Third, everything was long-settled and the flavors seemed to have soaked in well enough. Fourth, I accidentally left the cover off the carboy for several days after tasting it. I don’t detect any oxidation, but I figured it was time to bottle and move on. My hope is that I have plenty of bottles to share around the holidays.

Speaking of home brewing…I brewed an all-grain batch of my Simcoe-dependency yesterday. It should be awesome. It smelled pretty awesome anyway. I may offer tasting notes once it’s ready.

5. Hopz – I tried one of those Hopz cigars. I bought them for my father-in-law for his retirement. We smoked a couple yesterday. Pretty mild, loosely wrapped, but I didn’t get any hops. Maybe it’s all marketing. I guess it worked.