Bottling Easter

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

Friday night, Izzy & I watched “Space Cowboys” starring Clint Eastwood, James Garner, Tommy Lee Jones & Donald Sutherland in this pseudo-comedy about four geriatric former Air Force astronaut candidates from the 50’s who missed out on the Apollo missions because their… I don’t know… boss? Commanding officer? It’s kinda vague exactly what kind of influence he (James Cromwell) really had over them… but they sent a chimp into space instead of these four. Now, forty years later (made in 1999) there’s an aging Russian satellite that’s malfunctioning… and the only person that can fix it is the creator of the antique guidance system that’s on it (Eastwood). However, he wants to go to space… and take his buddies along with him… and basically just stick it to the guy in charge of NASA (still Cromwell somehow, forty years later). So the outlaw Josey Wales gets the band back together with an elderly “Casanova” (Sutherland), Rockford-turned-preacher (Garner) and… well… widower crop duster Tommy Lee Jones playing Tommy Lee Jones as only Tommy Lee Jones can play. It’s a pretty good little flick… kinda BS at some points… but really what do you expect with the premise? Overall, I’d say check it out… maybe with your parents… you know, make ‘em feel like they could be astronauts still… cuz chances are they’d thought about it a few times as a kid.

 

There were just two things about this movie that kinda bothered me. First off, the flight controller was apparently having some kind of f**king issue with his prosthetic teeth (caps) because they’re basically sticking out the entire time & I know he’s supposed to be chewing on gum constantly… but it looks like when you put peanut butter in a horse’s mouth the entire time. It was off-putting… but still, kudos to him for still acting through it. Secondly, spoiler alert… so turn away if you must, I have a minor issue with the ending. Okay... again, spoiler alert, to start the 3^rd act, Tommy Lee Jones’ character Hawk is diagnosed with inoperable cancer… so he’s going to die soon… gee, I wonder who’s going to have to sacrifice himself when they’re in space. That’s not the issue… I liked that. My issue is that… he sacrifices himself to save the others… and just before the credits roll, there’s a scene set to Sinatra’s “Fly Me To The Moon” where you see… basically Tommy Lee Jones’ astronaut suit sat up against a moon rock and enjoying the view of Earth as if he were in a lounge chair during his last few moments… not a bad way to go out, right? Except for one little thing… forgiving that I assume for TLJ to make it to the lunar surface, there was probably some kind of re-entry collision with the ground… if this is truly his final resting place… then basically what you’re seeing is the suit containing the corpse of a man who died GASPING for air in the infinity of space, alone… and I’m not going to lie… instead of watching the reflections off his gold-plated astronaut visor, I kinda wanted the visor to flip open at the last minute revealing the frozen, contorted face not unlike somebody beholding the Ark of the Covenant. Yes, it’s a horrible & image to imagine… but hey, that’s just me… play ‘em out, Frankie! Roll credits…

 

Saturday, Izzy & I helped out for her class’ final reading of their literary works at the SAFEhouse for the Arts. Izzy read a short story about her recent BS with the electric company (where basically because used less electricity than most first world citizens do, she was penalized & charged about five times as much in penalties) but it was very well written & even pleasantly humorous. She & about a dozen other gifted artists shared their poems & short stories… and a good time was had by all. I know what you’re thinking… and no, I didn’t read. I manned the bar. Somebody has to get that money to help fund the arts. Good times…

 

Sunday was Easter… and I’ll be honest, it was the first holiday where not having my dad around since his passing kinda hit me a little bit. Basically I awoke Sunday morning to my mom calling from Utah (an hour ahead & I was sleeping in) and saying “Happy Easter” and playing this ridiculous little blue plush bunny that says “Meeeeeh somebunny loves youuuuu… ntntntntntntntt (bunny chomping)” and then my niece & nephew joined in. Along with having my lovely ladyfriend by my side … Really a good way to be woken up if I say so myself… and also it was raining… which I also enjoy immensely. After chatting it up with them briefly, my first thought upon hanging up was “I should call my dad and wish him a hap…” and then it kinda hit me… just enough… and it probably didn’t help that basically what I was looking at while laying back in my bed was his mini-urn hanging over my closet. It also probably didn’t help that my dad looked a lot like Jesus most of the time growing up… long hair, beard, basically picture White Jesus with Aviator sunglasses… and the alleged point of Easter is that He arose three days after being killed to seek revenge on his conspirators… or something like that, I think the story kinda tapers off after he comes back… like people went “Holy sh*t! He’s alive! He’s reborn!” Then Jesus kinda wanders off while they’re busy telling their friends or something? I don’t recall a big meeting where He says anything about His return or any deeds that He di… NO! NO NO NO! I’m not getting off track with another “What the f**k is Easter exactly?” rant… back to the point. Anyway, so the thought of the three days… turned to three weeks… and then the three months that it was been (how zombie trilogies go, right?) and it was kinda like… “Yeah… he’s not coming back… and I miss him.” Did I know this before? Absolutely! Hell, my stepmom had him cremated & a party in his honor within three days… and we’re not on speaking terms. Not that I’m bitter or anything, it’s just any time that my brother or I try to figure out what’s going on with “the estate” there’s no contact back… so I assume it’s either being given away to family members that aren’t us… or being wholesaled to try & finance the massive debt that was probably kept from us. Alas… that was my moment… and then I squoze my ladyfriend & we began our busy brew day… cuz what can you do other than move along happily with your life? On that note, here are some pictures from our walks...

 

The day started with a special new brew for us known as a SMaSH recipe. SMaSH stands for Single Malt and Single Hop… so basically the recipe is fairly simple, usuing only one grain to extract the sugars from… and then one hop variety during the boil and/or fermentation. Though the recipe is simple, it’s also a great way to experiment, toy with, and accentuate or find out what flavor qualities come from the malt & hop being used. For this first time, we thought that it’d be interesting to try to do an English Pale Ale using Maris Otter grain, which typically has a bready/biscuit flavor… and UK Kent Golding hops, which compliment it well & are often used in English Ales of all sorts. Though the malt will typically be pretty one-note, you can toy around with the hop additions during the boil to empathize different levels of bitterness and aroma… all from the same hop variety. Anyway, here are some pictures of the process…

 

 

Another big thing that happened… was that Izzy & I FINALLY bottled our Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout that we started back in October & has been fermenting away in our five-gallon whiskey barrel from Seven Stills for a little over two months now. Remember, the ABV was about 11% BEFORE we put it in the whiskey barrel… and let me tell you, all it really did was add even more complexity to the flavors… and basically mellow out the alcohol burn you normally get in the mouthfeel with a beer this big… but it’s also probably around 13-15% ABV now… so yeah, VERY delicious & boozy… and it shall be called… $teve’s Birthday Cake! Here are pictures… including Izzy’s reaction shot to this deliciousness in her mouth…

 

 

Now that he had an open whiskey barrel, we put our Scotch Ale from a few weeks ago in there to age. The Scotch Ale by itself seems a little on the lighter side from most Scotch Ale recipes due to our attenuation probably being in the 60-70% range where Elevation 66’s equipment helps them to get in the 80% range… but still a very delicious, full flavored beer… and now it gets the barrel aging treatment. Here are some more pictures of that…

 

Lastly, we also transferred our Cactus Milk Stout to secondary fermentation… and this looks and smells like it’s going to be a truly delicious beer…

 

Anyway, that was our Easter weekend… oddly enough no deviled eggs, but I’ll be sure to bring that up for this weekend… or maybe a random breakfast. Hope you all had a wonderful time with your families or at least just having fun! Have a great day everybody!!!