Beer Bottle Symphony Orchestra

Australia's Victoria Bitter has launched a great video for it's products.



Did they really need to waste that beer at the end?

Pinot Rerack and Figrigio Wine

The specific gravity finally dropped below .01 and I made the first re-rack of the pinot. There was a 2 inch layer of sediment on the bottom and probably a half gallon of left over wine from moving from an 8 gallon to a 6 gallon carboy.

If you notice another bottle in the original picture, that is a fig wine I try to make every year from Uncle Phillip's fig tree. This year I got behind on the batch and was getting ready to dump it in the compost pile. Instead I re-racked the Fig wine into the Pinot's original carboy. I am going to keep it on the same racking schedule as the Pinot. So if all goes well we will have a Figrigio to try, or at least a Figrigio to dump in the compost pile.

So we have a batch of Pinot looking good, and a second batch of Figrigio to speculate about.

BenderBrau: Life size beer brewing bender robot.

People say I have too much time on my hands, check out this very cool homebrewing project.

The Bender Brewing Project

I did not build this, but I wish I did.

Gingerman in Austin

I am taking one of my just recently turned legal drinking age employees to the Gingerman this wednesday. Need to make sure he understands what good beer tastes like.

Feel free to come join us from some darts and pints, especially if you are buying a round or three!

Wedneasday, Jan 9th, sometime after 7.

Louisiana Trip

Back in Louisiana with Chantal for her friend's baby shower, and I am back to Marcello's to see what's in stock. Marcellos is the only place in Lafayette that has a good selection of spirits, wine and beer. they have just recently added homebrew supplies to the inventory. The list for this trip is as follows:

Delerium Noel - Belgium
Delerium Nocturnum - Belgium
Abita Bock
Sam Adams White Ale
Skull Splitter Orkney Ale - Scotland
Harviestoun Special Reserve - Scotland (Aged in single malt casks)
Uerige Dopplestick - German
Eisenbahn Dourada Golden Ale - Brazil
Eisenbahn Vigorosa Unfiltered Wheat Doublebock - Brazil
Eisenbahn SAPA South American Pale Ale - Brazil
Konig Ludwig Weissbier Hefe Weizen - Germany

I was excited to find the other flavors of the Delerium line.

Park's Pinot Grigio

A friend of mine just recently announced his engagement and wedding plans in November. As a gift I am making him a batch of wine for his wedding. His fiance asked for a Pinot and that is what I will try to deliver.

Jan 2, 2008. Combined grape juices, bentonite and water in an 8 gallon carboy. SG 1.085. Yeast started to ferment within 24 hours. Check in 5 - 7 days and rerack to 6 gallon carboy.

Jan 8, strong bubble for last seven days, clouded up after the first two. Rerack Jan 9th.

Happy New Beer and Year

Farewell 2007, Clean slate in 2008.

This time of year we should reflect on the past year and make plans for the new one. I decided to reflect on the beers I put away for long term storage and wait with anticipation to open them in the future.

Chimay Grand Reserve (2007) I like to put away at least two bottles, then open one on new years the following)
Fuller Limited Edition
Shiner 98 Bavarian Amber
Bourbon Casks Winter Ale
Velvet
Westmalle Tripel
Sisyphus 2007 Barley Wine
Ayinger Celebrator Doppel Bock
Corsendonk
Ommegang Rare VOS

And of course to all of the beers I drank this past year, farewell, I will miss you.