Basketball Christmas 2015

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

That’s right boys & girls!!! It’s a basketball nerd’s favorite day!!! Where the world of “amateurs” meets the world of “getting’ f**king PAID”!!! Or at least the opportunity is presented to get paid… but yeah, the NBA Draft in this year of our Lord 2015… and I was a little excited about this one (as I usually am). I had actually watched a handful of NCAA tournament games (ok, like 5 from the Elite 8 on) and even some NBA playoffs but… just in general, I’m excited to see how team organizations work themselves from doormats to perennial championship contenders with a fairly even playing field (salary cap, profit sharing, draft setup, etc) versus other issues (income tax-free Texas, lottery draft rigging, free agency to go to Miami rather than Minnesota, etc) and the Draft is kind of the antithesis of every team trying to maneuver to get that one potential star that can turn their team around… or take a gamble on a foreign guy & have it blow up in your face and alienate your fan base. Anyway, here’s what happened Thursday night:

 

1.       Minnesota – Karl-Anthony Towns – Center from Kentucky – Everybody kinda knew this was going to happen… and it makes perfect sense… and makes the Timberwolves like the new Pelicans… where they’ll be exciting to watch, probably good enough to juuuust miss the playoffs the next few years… but then could be REALLY good if they stay healthy& work together. Towns & last year’s rookie of the year Andrew Wiggins lead the team into the future… and they even picked up the fellow freshman, hometown hero, Minnesota native & Most Outstanding Player of this year’s Final Four, Duke point guard Tyus Jones later in this round… good for them.

 

2.       L.A. Lakers – D’Angelo Russell – Guard from The Ohio State – Not going to lie… I’ve never seen D’Angelo play except for a few highlights… but I hope for his sake that he’s half as good as the Lakers think that he is, because he’ll always be compared to the next pick, Magic Johnson & James Worthy since that was the last time that this team picked this high back in the early 80’s. He’s probably the best guard in the draft, good size, good killer instinct, a little bit of D-Wade in his highlights… but there’s also a lot of rumors that the Lakers are trying to trade to get Kings center DeMarcus Cousins and D’Angelo may be a bit of a bargaining chip… and then the Lakers sign Rajon Rondo & Kevin Love in free agency. It must be good to be the Lakers organization. Oh, they also picked up Wyoming forward Larry Nance jr & Stanford guard Anthony Brown a little later in the draft but… they might not get roster spots when it’s all said & done in free agency.

 

3.       Philadelphia – Jahlil Okafur – Center from Duke – With last year’s lottery pick Joel Embiid’s recovery in serious Greg Oden potential, this pick kinda fell into the Sixers laps after the Lakers picked D’Angelo. I can totally see this guy as a cornerstone for this team… when & if they decide to really kick things into gear with all of their assets. They also had a sh*t ton of 2^nd round picks that probably won’t amount to anything like last year’s plethora but… trust the process is their mantra… but it’s GOTTA be frustrating for their fan base.

 

4.       New York – Kristaps Porzingis – Center from Latvia – Still don’t really know this guy’s dimensions… or if he can play against actual people with skills… but hey, he’s on the world’s biggest stage now teamed up with potential the league’s most overrated superstar… and alleged basketball mastermind Phil Jackson running the whole show… so I hope he’s HALF as good as everybody thinks he could be… and not like famous poster co-star Frederic Weis. I like the attitude. He’s only 19 so he’ll grow… but what will he grow into? Who knows? Although, I really like that later in the first round, the Knicks were able to get tournament darling Notre Dame guard Jerian Grant to potentially run the point from day one. That pick feels like a much safer bet than Porzingis… but time will tell.

 

5.       Orlando – Mario Hezonja – Guard from Croatia – One thing that Orlando really didn’t have was a guy who will throw out Kobe’s patented no-pass look as opposed to the no-look pass… and now they have it. Based on reports, this guy has decent size & skills for a guard… but more importantly, some f**king attitude… and let’s face it, what takes a person from a role player to a potential max contract & marketable player or fan favorite… is incredible skill… and then a little mean muggin’ to back it up. Not crazy Ron Artest BS or Rodman’s legendary theatrics… but just when you see Westbrook or Steph Curry hit that fadeaway three after crossing over somebody… and then pose for the slow motion timeout commercial break. I like it… but have no idea how good this guy really is… I’m willing to watch the highlights (and lowlights).

 

6.       Sacramento – Willie Cauley-Stein – Center from Kentucky – Great defensive presence, VERY raw on offense… it’s going to be really interesting what happens with this DeMarcus Cousins to the Lakers rumor… but if that does go through, at least they have somebody to get posterized under the three-point line. He’s not a stretch guy like all the critics are saying the league needs… but he’s a decent big. I like this pick but… the Kings need a LOT of help at just about every position EXCEPT center… but then again, they know more about the situation than I do.

 

7.       Denver - Emmanuel Mudiay – Guard from Congo/High School/China – He will step in from day one, especially if the Nuggets end up trading Ty Lawson for another player… but I’ve never seen this guy play… but he’s got the build of a future superstar. Tall, athletic guard… stern attitude… and a year of some humility in China for reference. Everybody compares him to Brandon Jennings for obvious reasons (circumstances, features & path to the pros) but we’ll really see how it turns out soon… because he may be the best player on that team right now. Maybe Jusuf Nurkic is better…

 

8.       Detroit - Stanley Johnson – Forward from Arizona – Bit of a head-scratcher as JUSTISE was still on the board… but he’s a decent all-around player… and with fellow Arizona alum Andre Iguodala winning the Finals MVP there’s a lot of need for that grit in Detroit… and Johnson’s a little bigger than Winslow, so this pick can make some sense. I haven’t seen him play more than highlights though so… we’ll see.

 

9.       Charlotte – Frank Kaminsky – Center from Wisconsin – Great pick for the Hornets in my opinion! I had him going higher with the Kings instead of “Willie Trill” but he’d work good with this team too in helping to stretch out the offense & execute great passing. Pleeeeease just don’t let him turn into Cody Zeller… who I still think can be a decent pro… but time will tell.

 

10.   Miami – Justise Winslow – Forward from Duke – GOD DAMN IT!!! How did this guy fall to Miami with the 10^th pick??? Shenanigans!!! Sigh… okay, so Miami basically got this generation’s Paul Pierce with the late lottery pick & he’ll go on to a Hall of Fame career and become a South Beach icon. Meanwhile, at least four teams earlier in the draft are going to have general managers fall on their f**king swords within the next five years & be completely disappointed that they didn’t go with their gut instinct & choose… JUSTISE!!! Steal of the draft… write it down.

 

11.   Indiana – Myles Turner – Center from Texas – I like this pick, especially since Roy Hibbert unfortunately seems on his way out of the league due to injuries (tall man’s burden). Turner is young, versatile & seven feet tall… he had #1 overall pick hype before people actually watched him play at Texas, but he could be a potential steal, especially if he beefs up (with muscle, not fat).

 

12.   Utah – Trey Lyles – Forward from Kentucky – Good passing big who can spread out the floor on the offensive side for the Jazz since they have questionable shooting backcourt, a few slashers like Hayward & then the Stifel Tower in Rudy Gobert. I really like this pick.

 

13.   Phoenix – Devin Booker – Guard from Kentucky – One might say that the Suns are kind of going into the same situation that they did last year where they had far too many undersized point guards on their roster (before the busy trade deadline) after drafting this 3-point sharpshooter & then following it up with drafting his Kentucky teammate point guard Andrew Harrison in the 2^nd round… but I like it. It fits this team who’s on the run & gun, spread-em offense with bigs that can run for the most part… so yeah, shoot em up! Also, I expect

 

14.   Oklahoma City – Cameron Payne – Guard from Murray State – I’ve never seen this guy play… but I liked his confidence in the post-pick interview… and people tell me good things… so yeah, he’s probably an upgrade from Dion Waiters (whose pick I’ve criticized & feel completely vindicated since he entered the league). I also like that they picked up seldom-used Kentucky backup center Dakari Johnson in the 2^nd round. He could either be Daniel Orton… or Kendrick Perkins… or he could be groomed into something far better than Steven Adams… not a horrible gamble for a 2^nd round pick at all. I like it very much.

 

15.   Atlanta (to Washington) – Kelly Oubre – Forward from Kansas – Great fit for this wing player with the Wizards who had an abundance of big guys low & John Wall / Brandon Beal for the backcourt… so potential upgrade from former lottery pick Otto Porter.

 

16.   Boston – Terry Rozier – Guard from Louisville – I guess they have to replace Rondo but… this was really the most questionable pick for me… but hey, coach Brad Stevens is well on his way to turning this franchise back around, so what do I know? They also picked up Georgia State guard R.J. Hunter later in the 1^st& LSU forward Jordan Mickey a few picks later. Not a bad haul for them… but I’m sure there are some trades in the works.

 

18.  Houston – Sam Dekker – Forward from Wisconsin – “The Second Coming of Larry Bird” from my pre-draft post could work out very well as a Trevor Ariza type with Houston. Basically he may be the 2^nd coming of Chandler Parsons at a quarter the salary. Louisville forward Montrezl Harrell had a lot of lottery hype last year before deciding to go back to school, but is a potential beast for an early 2^nd round pick for the Rockets. Great draft by the Rockets in my opinion.

 

20.  Toronto – Delon Wright – Guard from Utah – Great pick for the Raptors… Ute goes to the Raptors… I love it!!! Just sad that the Spurs didn’t get him…

 

21.  Dallas – Justin Anderson – Guard from Virginia – F**K!!! I was so sure the Spurs were going to be able to pick up this guy. I really like Justin’s game. Hopefully it carries over to the pros… and Dallas also drafted the first Indian-born draft pick in Satnam Singh Bhamara, but we’ll see how he pans out… my money’s on fade away…

 

22.  Chicago – Bobby Portis – Forward from Arkansas – DOUBLE F**K!!! I was REALLY hoping he’d fall to the Spurs… lottery potential dropping into a perfect situation for him in Chicago. Great post scorer, decent defender, can learn from seasoned frontcourt veterans the first year or two like Pau Gasol, Taj Gibson & Joakim Noah. Sh*t… this is a good pick for the Bulls. Like… TOO good. Something tragic must be coming… (queue Derrick Rose’s retirement?)

 

23.  Portland (to Brooklyn) – Rondae Hollis-Jefferson – Forward from Arizona – TRIPLE F**K!!! A third straight Spurs gut punch! Okay… it doesn’t matter who the Spurs pick at this point. This guy is pretty good too in the highlights that I’ve seen… a lot like Stanley Johnson’s game, but they were on the same team. Good pick for the Nets… and they also took a good late 1^st round gamble on Syracuse forward Chris McCullough too.

 

26.  San Antonio – Nikola Milutinov – Center from Serbia – Sigh… it must be an odd year… because the Spurs drafted an obscure foreigner who nobody has seen play… but yeah, he’ll probably be another f**king superstar in the greatest system in sports. GO SPURS!!! Wait… who’s still on the board?

 

30. Golden State – Kevin Looney – Forward from UCLA – Okay… so this guy might be the real Steal of the Draft. Winslow in Miami is ridiculously fortuitous, but this guy had lottery potential and lasted all the way to the last pick of the first round… to go to the defending World Champions… and basically replace a key player in their championship run who hits free agency in the next few weeks. Draymond Green is probably going to cash in this summer… and he’s a gritty, all-around great player whose a versatile quick power forward build. He passes, he rebounds, he plays defense, he chips in on offense… and that will get him hella cash. Kevin Looney led the NCAA in double-doubles (games 10+ points & 10+rebounds) including those at the top of the draft board… and he’ll come in on a rookie contract. Also, if the Warriors can somehow unload David Lee’s contract, they can make a play for Green. Worst case, Looney is basically what Lee was… and fills that Green void a bit… perfect pick for them… and he’s 19 years old and about a tenth the cost to the salary cap.

 

56.  New Orleans (to LA Clippers) – Branden Dawson – Forward from Michigan State – Speaking of Draymond Green, I see a LOT of his game in this guy whose going to the Clippers with a later 2^nd round pick… just keep an eye on him. Great gritty defender & boards guy who will play well with everybody else taking shots, especially since DeAndre Jordan may be leaving in free agency.

 

 

Guys who didn’t get drafted but you’ll probably see in the league:

 

Cliff Alexander – Forward from Kansas – This guy was going to be a lottery pick and then some character things came into play… and he didn’t get a lot of play with the Jayhawks so… not even drafted… but if I’m the Spurs, give him a spot on the summer league team & make it work.

 

Robert Upshaw – Center from Washington – You can’t teach big… so don’t be surprised if this guy pops up as an undrafted role player somewhere.

 

Christian Wood – Forward from UNLV – I blame Anthony Bennett for this guy not getting drafted. He has a very similar game, nearly identical stats & same school as the former #1 overall pick… but can’t even get drafted while his teammate guard Rashad Vaughn went in the first round. It’s weird… but I wasn’t at the combine & have never really seen him play.

 

Aaron Harrison – Guard from Kentucky – I totally expect Phoenix to sign him as a free agent so he can join his twin brother on the team… and the Morris twins. Why? Why the hell not? Make it happen, Phoenix!!!

 

Terran Petteway - Guard from Nebraska – I was really surprised by this one. He’s a tall point guard who was the leading scorer on his Big-10 Team… but he had the unfortunate events of his mom dying from cancer & apparently it through him a little out of whack on the PR side. Hopefully he gets the opportunity to prove himself & make his mama proud... can't hate on that.

 

Anyway, thank you for listening to some of my ramblings. Have a great weekend everybody!!!

We Need More Teeth

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

Saturday morning, Izzy & I woke up a little early for the weekend and hit a matinee viewing of “Jurassic World” starring Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard and M.F. T-Rex. Yes, this is the 4^th installment of the Jurassic Park franchise… and after the original 1993 movie shaped an entire f**king generation, the two sequels were… well, not horrible per se but… definitely horrible by comparison & in blockbuster movie potential scales. (shiver) Okay, I’m going to set you at ease right now & tell you that Jeff Goldblum & Tea Leoni are NOT in this one. Based on the previews… I REALLY expected this movie to suck… like really bad… and I was still going to watch it. F**k it, I’m a dinosaur nerd… always have been… my brewery is called Terrible Lizard Brewing for Christ’s Sake!!! While we were at NHC, the movie opened to a half BILLION dollar opening worldwide… and reviews were good… so we had to check it out. This movie takes place back on the original island of Isla Nublar from the first movie… and they’ve actually opened the theme park… and it’s been open for about a decade or so… and things are good… but stockholders demand bigger, badder dinosaurs… and apparently so do the guests (?) but in the rush to have the next, new bigger thing… oh, at this point, if you haven’t seen the original Jurassic Park, watch it RIGHT NOW!!! I realize that I haven’t explained the plot (you know, theme park with dinosaurs brought back through genetic science magic) but just assumed that everybody knows it… like everybody knows the basic story of WWII or something… it’s just something that everybody should know. Anyway, the park has been open for a few years… and for the next big thing… they created a new dinosaur. No, not just resurrected an extinct species like the other 20 dinosaur species on the island… but they basically created a new species by taking traits from all the others & combining them (not unlike their Dilophosaurs from the first movie) to create a super baddie!!! The rest of the movie is them discussing how they’re going to spend their lucrative earnings and open another park in the Azores… possibly another near Macau. OF COURES NOT!!! SOMETHING GOES WRONG!!! SH*T GETS REAL!!! SUPER BADDIE GETS LOOSE!!!

 

Now, this movie… was pretty f**king entertaining. How good was it? When the new roommate wanted to watch it again on Sunday, we went… and I paid full price. That’s right, about $40 of that billion dollars that this movie has made in the past two weeks worldwide was mine… and not just because I’m a nerd. This movie pays a lot of homage to the first movie (pretty much skipping #2 & #3 though, for good reason) and all of the things that I thought would be really blah based on the commercials (let’s face it, the human element, especially the Pratt-Howard relationship and family drama in general) actually wasn’t horribly done. It feels a lot like an 80’s movie. You know, the Spielberg-y schlock that you & I probably grew up on… but still resonates as an adult for some reason. You want the brothers to make it out together… you understand why people are doing the things they do… you understand why Chris Pratt’s character loves his Raptor Bros as if they were his own puppies, but respects them as if they’re semi-domesticated wolves… you actually feel some of that. It’s not just filler to make the movie a full two hours while cutting down on visual effects like most movies. You’re concerned for these characters. Most of us have been to Disneyland, Sea World, the zoo… so we can kinda understand what it would be like if one of the grizzlies got loose & started eating other animals, people in concession stands & taking out helicopters. Okay, that last sentence might be too much… but still, that portion of the movie is well executed.

 

Let’s be honest though… you want to see some mutha f**king dinosaurs… that’s why you’re watching this movie! You’re not paying to watch a romantic comedy starring that guy from “Parks & Rec” and Opey’s daughter… you came to hear a T-Rex roar like a 747 with bathroom-like acoustics. You came to see raptors tear things to shreds. Maybe you came for a whimsical kayak cruise past some herbivores like stegosaurus & some longnecks… until this new Indominus Rex comes through & messes up your day. On that note, you get a LOT of dinosaurs… and yes, it’s mostly CGI but there are still some practical effects & plenty of action pieces throughout this movie… and the final fight scene… HOLY SH*T, the final fight scene… sorry for my tumescence… but it’s pretty f**king good. I highly recommend that you check this movie out… and hopefully the sequels to follow will be good too. LOVED IT!!! Currently, I’m still debating whether to push it all the way to #2 on my Movies of 2015 list thus far… it’s battling “Chappie” and I watched that movie again Sunday night… and they’re both pretty damn good… but I think I have to give it to Jurassic World because of Dinosaurs. You know the TEN THINGS list. “Mad Max: Fury Road“ is still #1 though… go see all three of them immediately… Chappie is out on DVD already.

 

Also, all three roommates have been replaced with three new ones in the last month… and so far, the new ones are pretty f**king awesome! We’ll call them Lucy, Brah & TBD. Lucy moved in at the beginning of June with her teacup Yorkshire terrier… and yes, I fear for that animal’s life around my feet… but she’s a good dog & her owner is pretty cool… not your typical twenty-something that I’ve had too often as roommates. She’s legit… from small town Warshington… and a little hickish. Brah is pretty much your typical brah… but he’s pretty cool too. I haven’t seen him much as he moved in while I was at NHC… so it’s really been like a week & he’s out checking the bar scene… but yeah, pretty cool. TBD is TBD… but we had interviews on Wednesday as the roommate they’ll replace basically told me she was moving out while she was doing her final packing… and frankly, I was perfectly okay with it… just made sure a few of my kitchen items were well guarded since I seem to lose a lot of stuff whenever roommates move out… especially the bitchy ones. Weirdest thing… like I don’t know where they‘re moving to or have released them from the lease or something. Anyway, super excited about the new roommates.

 

Anyway, just a quick entry… NBA Christmas was last night… so you’ll get one of those boring (and incredibly accurate) info-rants shortly… in the meantime, have a great day everybody!!!

Little Beers & Little People

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

Okay… first & foremost, I have to tell you about this movie that I had never heard of… and I’m a little angry because of it. That movie is 2003’s “Tiptoes” which is a smaller independent film… but with a cast featuring Academy Award winners Matthew McConaughey & Gary Oldman… along with peak Kate Beckinsale… Patricia Arquette’s crazy ass… and two of my favorites Peter Dinklage & David Alan Grier… yet I’ve never heard of it. HOW??? Well, let me tell you why… it’s a horrible movie. No, not the premise or message or anything… just the execution of the “story” and… wait, wait, I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me set the stage for this movie first… it’s the story of a well-to-do man (McConaughey) with an amazing apartment… and a superhot artist girlfriend (Beckinsale) who just dropped the bomb that… wait for it… she’s pregnant! So… the man becomes INCREDIBLY worried… not about being a father or something typical… but because he comes from a family of little people… and he’s afraid that his genes may lead to their progeny being little… oh & they’ve never met or really mentioned each other’s families apparently. Anyway, here’s a list of the actors & a basically synopsis of the characters that they play:

 

Matthew McConaughey – He plays an apparently wealthy firefighter trainer who’s concern over bringing a little person into this world, despite being a major part of a benefit for little people to start the movie, turns pretty f**king dark… where he destroys (the world’s weakest) wall in the doctor’s office when he finds out it’s going to be little… grows increasing distant for the first few months of the child’s life… and then basically kicks out his wife & child at the 2^nd act. How will the 3^rd act end? My guess is horribly…

 

Kate Beckinsale – She plays an artist who makes horrible, horrible life decisions (“you can just say artist, $teve”) and even worse art… and frankly, I don’t know who dressed her for this movie… but even though she’s Peak Kate Beckinsale, I’m barely even aroused by her because of her wardrobe choices & hairdos (there’s one that’s a mix of Bram Stoker’s Dracula & Princess Leia) and that’s not even to mention the RIDICULOUS stuff that she says… here’s an example of some of the awkward sentences that will be spoken in this movie: (to her fiancé McConaughey) “You had a circle jerk with a bunch of midgets… I’d love to see that.” Ugh… That’s some sexy pillow talk… (slide whistle down) I also still have no idea what the tattoo is on her arm but… my money’s on Anne Frank & Izzy’s is on Shirley Temple… either way, she’s getting judged justly & harshly.

 

Gary Oldman – Gary Oldman is an American treasure! “Ugh, $teve… Gary Oldman is English.” HE’S EVERYTHING!!! HE’S A F**KING CHAMELEON!!! The man could play a live-action Easter Bunny and I’m all in… you are too. However… this role… is just a ridiculous stretch. I’ll explain it slowly, please try to keep up with me. He plays… McConaughey’s brother… wait, there’s more… his TWIN brother despite 12 years real life age difference… and the makeup & abs make it look more like 30 years difference. Oh wait… there’s more… he’s also… a biker, WAIT!!! One more little thing… he also wears glasses. They want you to believe that Gary Oldman is Matthew McConaughey’s twin badass four-eyed biker brother… how crazy is that? Crazy, right? Yeah… HE’S ALSO A F**KING MIDGET!!! (Mind exploding!!!)

 

Peter Dinklage – This… may be my favorite. The great Peter Dinklage plays… Gary Oldman’s friend… who is a very proud & chauvinistic French Marxist biker… and everything that comes out of his mouth is f**king gold. However, I have a theory. Hear me out. I believe that Mr. Dinklage was supposed to play Gary Oldman’s character… and that originally there weren’t two biker characters, just him. Why do I think this? Well… I’m thinking that he was signed on… but in order to get funding for the movie, they wanted more name recognition (made in 2003 before “Game of Thrones”) so they brought in Gary Oldman… and thus the role was split. Furthermore… he doesn’t really do anything in the movie except bang Patricia Arquette’s character, spout French obscenities, have health issues for exposition about the struggles of little life… and has cornrows in one legendary funeral scene (that I assume was filmed separately from the rest, just on the way it’s shot). There’s no real reason for him to be in the story for progression.

 

Patricia Arquette – An extension of Peter Dinklage’s awkward addition is this character… who was THROWN OFF A BUS (no reason given) in the middle of the desert, I assume to die… and luckily right behind the bus… are two little people on big bikes to pick her up… and she & Peter Dinklage bang a lot… she has so little to do with this movie that I don’t think she changes clothes for any scene in this movie… just one outfit over the course or a year-plus.

 

David Alan Grier – He’s a showman & host of the little people fundraiser… and then is found banging Gary Oldman’s girlfriend later in the movie… it’s more of a cameo than anything else… for this Tony nominated actor. Good to see DAG in movies though.

 

The big question: Would I recommend that you watch this movie? Just to give you some perspective, when the two-hour cut of this movie was given to the studio, the director Matthew Bright was IMMEDIATELY FIRED and hasn’t worked in Hollywood since… and then the studio made some serious cuts & edits to get it to 90 minutes and… I think that’s why there’s a lot of loose threads & seemingly idiotic decisions… maybe that extra 30 minutes had some development points that were cut out… but yeah, probably not. It’s an interesting movie to watch with friends and basically make fun of… but yeah, if you want to see well respected actors do ridiculous things… and I loved little actors getting roles including the legendary Ed Gale as McConaughey & Oldman’s father… but yeah, it’s pretty bad. Watch while a little buzzed… and yes, you’ll have to rewind a few times because you thought you missed something… and you didn’t…

 

Sunday morning, we brewed a Chocolate Stout which we may later barrel age… but even if we don’t, we’ve made the same recipe in the past (with hazelnut extract) and we usually drink the keg in about three weeks… so it’s just a good recipe. Here are some pictures…

 

Another cool thing we found out at NHC was FastFerment which is a cool plastic conical fermenter with a reservoir in the bottom to collect the yeast during fermentation, a built-in thermometer to keep accurate track of the wort temperature during fermentation, and quick & easy switching of attachments for bottling, kegging and anything else that may need to be done. We are really excited to use it… but we ran into a problem when we added our wort into the FastFerment… and there was a little leak where the metal thermometer stand meets the plastic of the carboy/structure. It wasn’t much… but even at the miniscule rate, over the course of several weeks, it’ll basically drain anything above the leak (about two gallons of the five) AND there’s more possibility of infection (if wort can get out, other things can get in). So unfortunately we had to transfer to the standard glass carboys… but I’m sure we’ll get a new FastFerment quickly… or I might just have to work all the points where metal meets plastic with some epoxy or something. We shall see… here are some pictures of the process…

 

Next, we kegged our Dunkelweizen… which is the dark roasted German wheat beer recipe & due to a few scheduling things (graduation, graduation parties, weddings, NHC, etc) we weren’t able to really do a secondary fermentation, just kept it in primary for five weeks… so we’re curious how it’ll turn out… but if it’s anything like the sample from the hydrometer, it’s right on course for a 5% wheat beer and it tastes delicious…

 

More fascinating beer & movie related things to come this week… including movies so good that I decided to see them a 2^nd time!!! Yes, one of the ultimate compliments to movies made nowadays… watching it TWICE!!! IN A THEATRE EVEN!!! Until then, have a great week everybody!!!

Road to NHC: Part Three

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

Sunday, we (sobered up and) spent the entire day at the San Diego Zoo & it was Izzy’s first time (and my first in about 7-8 years) and we just had a wonderful time… pictures of adorable animals…

 

That evening after checking into our hotel, the San Diego Marriott Marquis…

 

We had dinner at the Karl Strauss Brewery a few blocks away… great food & great beer…

 

Monday was the drive-back day… and we timed it so that we could get back to Rose City Pizza until for an early lunch…

 

After that… it started to get hot… like over 100 degrees going through the Grapevine mountain pass between L.A. and the Central Valley… and Gretchen had a full load of kegs, swag & other crap… so she overheated a little bit… and I’ll admit, I was scared. I don’t do the heat well. I had no idea how bad the damage was. The only other time I had an issue with her was in Gilroy when she overheated on the way to the 6^th ring of Hell a.k.a. Garlic Festival… but I take pretty good care of her with standard maintenance. Long story short, after letting the radiator vent, we turned the heater on (f**k my life!!!), opened the windows and made it through the mountain pass… immediately stopping on the other side where it flattens out at Jack in the Box for a shake and some ice water… crisis averted… but it was still well over 100 degrees the entire drive back. Izzy was a trooper & always making sure that I was okay and hydrated (the sun was on my side). She’s the best!!! I’m lucky to have her.

 

Long story short, we made it back to town in the early evening… and I started dreading going back to work… but that’s neither here nor there. It was an amazing trip& I can’t wait for the next one!!! Hope you all enjoyed coming along with us virtually… and until next time, have a great day everybody!!!