Moving Right Along

It's been a good while since I blogged and I'm going to be honest with you: It's not you, it's me. Okay, okay....so I've been having an affair on blogging with Diablo III.

Oh, Blogging. Don't be mad! I couldn't help myself. Diablo III is so beautiful! I never intended for anyone to get neglected, it just sorta, happened. It's not like you're the only one who has been neglected, Blogging. I've hardly touched World of Warcraft for a solid 2 weeks too.....

Ya, so Diablo III came out on the 15th. It immediately gobbled up my soul. I wasn't even excited for this game. I knew it was coming. I knew I was going to get it for free because I was on the Blizzard Annual Pass...I just wasn't excited. It'd been over a decade since Diablo II (I think) and my only exposure to that was brief. It just wasn't my thing back then. My, how times have changed.

Alas, my affair with Diablo III must be put on hold for a brief time. On Wednesday, my family and I will travel to Florida for a spell. We're going out there to visit my grandparents, whom I haven't seen for nearly a decade. I'm very excited about the trip. Not only does this mark the first "real" vacation I've had in a long, long time, but it will also be the first time my grandparents get to meet my wife and my daughter. Also, while I love California, something about me misses the hot, muggy weather associated with Florida's ridiculous daily humidity. It should be interesting to find out how my MS is going to respond to the heat, but it's an experiment that comes with tons of excitement.

While we are out there, we'll definitely take the time to go to Disney. I know we have one right here, but I don't think it'd be fair of me to deny the opportunity to go to Disney World to my wife and daughter. I'm pretty sure that place is like Mecca to them.

So, very little WoW has occurred. Insane Horde Posse ran right through Dragon Soul in its entirety again. I think we even one-shotted Deathwing. I wasn't drunk, but I wasn't overly attentive to this run, so I'm not entirely sure where all the loot (if any) got distributed.

On the homebrewing front, I think I've had a few adventures since last time I blogged. I moved the cinnamon stout from secondary into bottle conditioning on the 15th (I was trying to keep myself busy and awake for Diablo III!) Most of it went into 22 oz. bottles. There were a few 12 oz. bottles which have subsequently met their fates. The first bottle was a bit rough, but after a week the flavors settled down really nice so that the cinnamon is evident. It's a real nice beer.

The English Bitter has four 12 oz. bottles holding onto survival. They shouldn't make it through this warm day. I swore I didn't care for that style, but it is a fantastic thirst quencher. I guess I enjoyed it overall. It's a light beer, but it's gotten more and more tasty as time has gone by.

Next up, in secondary........Raspberry Harvest Wheat. I threw some banana in this one (barely any) and I think I've decided to bottle it before I go on vacation. (That would mean today...) It's still an extract brew, so the fruit addition is from a raspberry extract flavoring. I'm excited about it. I think it's going to go well.

I experienced my first "blow-off" with the Northern IPA I brewed. I had even constructed a make-shift blow-off tube, but apparently the fermentation process was too rigorous. The pressure basically caused the lid on the fermenter to raise and made a mess. I didn't lose much beer and the process seems to have slowed down. I'm excited for this. IPA-style beer is my thing. I hope this turns out well. I've actually decided to let this one sit on the yeast cake while I'm on vacation and move it to secondary afterwards. I haven't decided if I am going to dry-hop this beer or not. I want to, but not everyone enjoys the greenery the way that I do. I'm still tossing around a few ideas in my head. I just haven't completely decided what this beer's ultimate fate will be. At this point, I'm certain some kind of tom-foolery is going to take place in secondary...I'm just not certain what it's going to be. Any suggestions?

Vanilla? Caramel? Coffee? Chocolate? Typically chocolate is reserved for dark beers...I wonder what would happen if I added it to an IPA....

Anyhow! See you guys on the flip-side of the Florida trip. I'm sure lots of fabulous memories are going to be made.

:D

Deathwing Died, Cinnamon Stout, and a Vacation

Well folks, Insane Horde Posse did it.

In one single session the team moved all the way through Dragon Soul and through Madness of Deathwing. Freegrazer had joined another team before that completed the raid, but there is something much more special about doing it with the group of people you raid with regularly. Still though.....I was sad that Suhli was not present for it. It felt good and Suhli has done it, but I don't raid (at all now that my last team abandoned everyone that wasn't related to them.)

Good for the team. I'm glad to see that we've progressed, I'm sad to say I'm not sure how much longer I can completely ignore my "main" character for one that is convenient. >< I'm certain it will be fixed.

Next up? The stout I brewed.

I moved this over to secondary on 4/30/2012. On a whim I decided to break a cinnamon stick up and put it into it. Cinnamon sticks are strong. This should be interesting.

I didn't know what to expect, I guess I figured that the oils and tastes would be absorbed into the beer over time. (That doesn't even make sense....) The next morning, however, I found out differently. The yeast character that was still in the beer started eating away at the pieces of cinnamon stick. This batch had hardly any headroom after primary fermentation, so the yeast activity spilled over into the airlock. A bit even exploded from the airlock onto the wall (not much).

I was able to build myself an improvised blow-off tube and loop it down into another bucket so that the leakage collected somewhere other than our wall.

I bottled the English Tavern Bitter the same day. I tried a 22 oz. bottle on Sunday. It was very good. Exactly what I was expecting. I'd have to label this batch a success. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ahk1toXYMTA6dGlYR3l4NnJnek9UeWw0QklUWTRQeEE#gid=0

Here's a quick link to the beginning of the spreadsheet I started to document this stuff.

Aside from that, we've decided to take a trip out to Florida to visit my grandfather, possibly my wife's sister, and possibly my good friend Josh.

This will mark the first time I've gone out of the state for vacation for more than a day. I'm super excited about it...but if any you IHPers are reading........I wont be raiding June 5th.

Until next time.