Bottling Bitters & The Apple Spa

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

This past week, Izzy has been helping out Seven Still Distillery with bottling their latest large shipment of their one-ounce bottles of Bitters. Because they are such a small operation that’s basically ran by a handful of people, they’ve needed a little help to make the timetable… but luckily Izzy has had some free time so she was able to help out. Wednesday night, I was even able to help out… and let’s be honest, bottling is kind of the monotonous & tedious part of just about everything involved in… really any industry, not just beer and/or spirits… but owners Tim & Clint were great and we were able to crank out a few thousand bottles in just the two hours that the four of us were there. Here are some great pictures of their modest setup…

 

 

Afterwards, we had both had a long day… so Izzy decided to make us some fantastic “Old Fashioned” cocktails using Seven Stills’ Fluxuate Whiskey which is distilled using Coffee Porter and Flux Cold Brewed Coffee. The whiskey itself is of course 47% ABV but even after the initial burn, you get some great coffee flavors… and notes of vanilla which are quite smooth & pleasant. This is probably my favorite whiskey from Seven Stills. For the cocktails, we modified the recipe a little bit… so it was essentially ice cubes, Seven Stills’ Fluxuate Whiskey, Seven Stills’ Cocktail Bitters & Maple Syrup (instead of simple syrup) and… it’s f**king fantastic. I highly recommend it…

 

My mom, stepdad & grandma are actually on a wonderful cross-country trip to see a lot of the major monuments in the Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormons). Starting in Buffalo and going through places like Kirtland OH, South Bend IN, Nauvoo IL, Omaha NE, and ending in Kansas City to see some of the Mormon Temples, the Mormon Trail, and a slew of other sights & sites. I have to say… I’m a little jealous. Not necessarily for checking out a bunch of temples… but I remember when I used to be able to go on vacation without… you know… being absolutely necessary to every single aspect of my job. It’s been a good… six years or so since that was the case… and it f**king blows… and frankly I’m not fairly compensated for it… so yeah, changes are definitely on the horizon. You’ve been warned/notified that there’ll be EVEN MORE trip pictures coming soon. I’ve already bugged my mom to send me a pictures of Rick James’ grave (in Buffalo) but we’ll see if she can even operate her text messages any more. Love you mama…

 

Thursday night, Izzy & I watched a few… questionable movies. First up was “Death Spa” starring… well, they weren’t the stars but I did notice horror icon Ken Foree and the lovely ladies Chelsea Field (“Masters of the Universe”) and Karyn Parsons (“Fresh Prince of Bel Air” & “The Ladies Man”). This movie was recently reviewed on the How Did This Get Made podcast… but it’s an interesting story in 1980’s filmmaking… where apparently the story was written in the early 80’s when health clubs were all the rage (featured on Time Magazine) but the movie didn’t get funded or made until 1989… and then was released in like 1991, when nobody cared anymore but it has ALL the 80’s that you could ever want. The story is about the Starbody Health Spa… and there are mysterious deaths happening… like someone being nearly steamed to death by chlorine gas in the sauna… split in half by a pec machine (that one’s particularly odd) and others… and the police are baffled… there’s a theory that it’s this super advanced (80’s) computer system that operates the machinery, but that doesn’t hold water… so a paranormal expert is brought in… because the place may be haunted. Throw in a story of betrayal and alleged man-whoring… and you’ve got yourself a flick. Now… the movie sounds ridiculous… and it really is… but it’s the best kind of ridiculous. PLEASE watch this with your friends! The deaths are super campy (and a little confusing at times), the acting is right on par with what you’re looking for in a good laugh scare, it’ll just be a good time with your friends… and it’s so confusing & contradictory of its own rules that you can easily just shut the brain down & enjoy it. There’s really no mystery to be solved. I feel like me telling you that now will save you trying to put the pieces together… because the writers didn’t both with it either.

  

Next up was “The Apple” which is a 1980 musical from Cannon Pictures starring… well, again not really people that you’d really recognize in anything. Now… as you know, musicals are not necessarily my thing (even though I have a Musical Movie List from years ago) but… this movie… well, I’ll be honest… it’s not as horrible as I thought it was based on the preview. It might actually be even worse. Okay, anyway… the story is about a young man & woman who go on a VERY popular singing contest in the far distant future of 1994 where the world is… well, very colorful… and you know, it’s a lot like 2015 in Back to the Future clothing wise… and they don’t win the contest (due to some rigging) but are invited to party with the winning band & Mr. Boogaloo (who looks like Ming from Flash Gordon but apparently runs the music industry & therefore the world?). What follows is a big psychedelic kind of retelling of the Garden of Eden story (hence “the Apple”) and just incredibly outrageous outfits and musical dance numbers and… it’s definitely an interesting watch. If you like musicals and can get through the music… then by all means check it out. Spoiler alert: Mr. Topps / God arrives at the end… and he’s played by Joss Ackland with a magnificent blond wig. Who’s Joss Ackland you ask? Well… you may know him as the bald antagonist Denomolis from “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey” or I think I can give you the image in two words from “Lethal Weapon 2”… DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY!!! Now picture that man with hair in the fashion of John Schneider from Dukes of Hazzard… and rolling up in a heavenly gold Rolls Royce… f**king roll credits.

 

Anyway, busy weekend coming up with Learn to Homebrew Day (we’re not hosting this time), a new brewing of a Belgian Quad, a baby shower for Izzy’s sister, and most importantly… The California State Homebrew Competition at Anchor Brewing on Sunday!!! So yeah, I’ll fill you in on the activities soon… until then, have a great weekend everybody!!!

Game of Thrones Pitch

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

Tuesday night, I watched a movie on my own… because I know that I like some kinds of movies that Izzy doesn’t particularly care for (raunchy comedies, horror flicks, panda porn, etc) but it’s okay… because she probably watches a bunch of movies that I’d never really care to see. Nothing really comes to mind but… I’m sure they’re out there. This edition was the sequel to the surprisingly funny 2010 original, “Hot Tub Time Machine 2” starring Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, Craig Duke, Adam Scott (and not John Cusack like the original) and also directed by Steve Pink from the original. If you haven’t seen the original, check my review from a while back, but essentially it’s about high school buddies 20 years later feeling really down in the dumps… and after a drunken night of debauchery at a ski resort to rekindle their hopes for life, they end up back in 1985 as their teenage selves with a chance to “redo” this trip where they feel their lives fell apart. God, when I put it like that, the movie sounds really f**king depressing… but I assure you that it isn’t. Long story short, they change things so that when they go back to 2010 in their alternate future, they’re all super rich& married to the loves of their lives… or at least really hot chicks. The sequel takes place a few years later… and somebody shoots Lou (Corddry) in the dick… and they have to use the (insert title) go back and find out who shot him… and hopefully save him. Okay, that’s the premise. The execution… not nearly as good as the original unfortunately. The original had a lot of fun at the expense of the 80’s movie clichés… and there are definitely some stabs at tech, reality shows, dance crazes, celebrity & stuff like that… but for the most part, the jokes are about just the morose & unsavory side of comedy… so basically just dick, fart & butt sex jokes. There are a few parts that made me laugh a little bit (mostly Craig Robinson’s singing career) but yeah, you can probably pass on this one. Sorry guys…

 

Wednesday night, Izzy & I have been eating better & walking/hiking more… and now we’re back to going to the gym, trying out the free 30 day trial for the Planet Fitness by her house. It was my first time really going to a gym in a few years… and I don’t know if I’m just getting old… or if I was fighting something off from work… but I was REALLY wiped after about 30 minutes. Usually I was going to the YMCA and going for a solid hour or two doing weights, elliptical, and pickup basketball but… yeah, not Wednesday night. I’ve gotta get back into shape… but I really like this Planet Fitness location. It’s clean, has lots of machines, cost effective, and even stuff like massaging chairs (I didn’t care for it), massage beds, and some sort of light therapy thing that I might have to try on another visit. It was good fun… and I was super switzy afterwards, so a good time… and we did it again Friday night. Boom!

 

Saturday, we went to have a great barbecue with Big Ben’s family and while we were there, we started watching Season 5 of “Game of Thrones” and we stopped… with the end credits of the finale ten hours later. So over the 10-11 hours, we tried a wide variety of homebrew, professional brews & some wonderful sausages and gumbo off the grill. It was fantastic to hang out with them & just enjoy a Saturday afternoon… really lazy by our standards but a sh*t ton of fun… hope to do it again soon!

 

Also, our hops are still growing...

 

Sunday morning, we started a new brew of a Maple Porter, so basically one of our favorite types of beer (porter) with a little additional sweetness & flavor provided by maple syrup. It was a pretty standard extract recipe with about two pounds of specialty grains but we got some great color out of it, the smell was amazing (like brownies meets pancakes) and in about a month we’ll have something amazing to try for Labor Day weekend. Here are some pictures…

 

While we were waiting for the wort to chill, we FINALLY bottled our Cyser that we started back in February. Remember that? We took the Costco apple juice & Costco honey to make wine? Yup… it’s finally ready to be bottled (probably ready for a while but what’s some more time in the fermenter?). The cyser came out crystal clear and a beautiful orangeish-gold color… and the taste started understandably dry as the sugars fully attenuated to produce the alcohol (about 11% ABV) but it does have a wonderful sweet honey finish that only slightly lingers, just enough to savor before the next sip. Obviously we really like it… now we have to decide whether to share it or not. Here are some pictures…

 

 

That’ll do it for this past weekend… pretty low key… but it’ll pick up this next week with my cousin Alicia’s visit starting on Wednesday for a week… so yeah, stay tuned. Have a great week everybody!!!

Brewing Up Some Fun

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

Saturday, we did a Costco run and a lot of cleaning up around the apartment to make it hospitable… and we stopped by Izzy’s house to see how her pets are doing… but more importantly, see how our hops are growing…

 

but after running around the bay area, we ended up at Izzy’s Aunt’s place for a barbecue… and it was pretty fantastic. Great food, great peeps, and a few hours by the fire pit getting that camp smell all over us… good times…

 

Sunday was a busy brewday which started out with us brewing another batch of Dunkelweizen like we did a month ago. This batch is for an SFHG competition and the first batch was pretty fantastic to style… but it was also kegged… and nearly gone now due to deliciousness. We brewed the same recipe, the same way, the only difference this time around… is we’re using the FastFerment fermenter!!! We got the replacement part & it’s working just fine… so we’ll see how it does…

 

 The next morning, already foaming like crazy...

We also tried a new method of taking stickers off bottles… so now we can use most beer bottles for our own use with some cleaning. For example, we get a 12 pack of Anchor Porter… and now instead of recycling them, we can take the labels off & use them for our own brews. Heck, even label them ourselves if we so choose…

 

We also FINALLY bottled our barrel-aged Scotch Ale which had been sitting in our whiskey barrel for the past three months… it’s delicious…

 

We then immediately filled the barrel with our Chocolate Porter for a 3^rd round… and possibly the last one using the barrel that won’t be a sour ale… I’m interested to see how it turns out… but we’ve got a few months at least until it’s ready…

 

So yeah, busy little weekend… but nothing compared to the rest of this week, hence the quick update. More fun stuff coming soon though… have a great day everybody!!!