Homebrew: Majic Fresh-Hop Apricot Pale Ale 2011

Posted on February 29, 2012 | 3 Comments
Sterling hop cones, developing bitter loveliness in mid-August

Sterling hop cones, developing bitter loveliness in mid-August

2011 saw our first real hop harvest. Gifted a Sterling hop rhizome from a friend, we’d lovingly tended it in the garden. Planted pretty much in the middle of the back yarden, our Sterling produced its first hops in 2010. About a dozen cones. Not much… but it’s a start.

Then in summer 2011, our Sterling blasted out hop vines, and soon they strained their supports with hundreds, of resiny, heady wee pale green hop cones. Of the 3 lbs. of fresh Sterling hops we harvested in October 2011, 4 oz. went from garden to brew pot in less than 20 minutes. The wort boiled while I picked hops, aiming to have the vines cleaned off in time to add the wet hops for aroma, near the end of the boil.

After all, we’d had so much fun brewing our 2009 Majic Pale Apricot Ale Homebrew, we had decided it was time to brew it again, only as a wet-hop (or fresh-hop) version.

The official beer

Our 2009 Magic Hat #9 clone had been a great success. We had a feeling the fresh, grassy notes of fresh hops would be fun in this apricot pale ale. Here are the notes, recipe and stats from the actual Magic Hat #9 and our 2009 homebrew clone brew.

The Recipe

We worked with our modified version of the clone recipe “Magic Bolo #9.1″ in Charlie Papazian’s Microbrewed Adventures: A Lupulin Filled Journey to the Heart and Flavor of the World’s Great Craft Beers.

Ingredients

All ingredients from Home Fermenter Center, Eugene, OR

  • 1 lb. Crystal Malt (put in grain sock)
  • 5 lbs. light dried malt extract
  • @60 minute boil, 1 oz. Cascades hops
  • @30 minute boil, 1/2 oz. Cascades hops
  • @15 minute 1/2 tsp. Irish moss
  • @10 minute aroma/boil, 3 oz. fresh Sterling hops
  • @2 minute aroma/boil, 1 oz. fresh Sterling hops
  • Wyeast British Ale Yeast 1098
  • @ secondary 1-1/4 oz. apricot essence
  • @ bottling: 1-1/4c. dried malt extract

Approximate Target Values

  • Target Original Gravity: 1.047 (12B)
  • Approx. Final Gravity: 1.012 (3B)
  • IBU: Approx. 18
  • Approx. Color: 9 SRM (18 EBC)
  • Alcohol: % by Volume: 4.6%

Our Brew Stats

  • Brew Date: Sun., Sept. 4, 2011
  • Initial Gravity Reading (O.G.): 1.060
  • Bottling Date: Tues., Sept. 20, 2011
  • Final Gravity Reading (F.G.): 1.014
  • Alcohol: 6%
  • Bottling Counts:
    • 12 oz.: 29
    • Flip-top: 4
    • 22 oz.: 8

Brewing & Fermentation

Place crushed grains in 2 gallons of 150-160ºF water and let steep for 30 minutes. Strain out and sparge with ~2 quarts hot water. Bring to a boil, while adding malt extract and 60-minute hops.

Clean/sanitize carboy and other equipment during this time. Add 1 gallon cold water to sanitized carboy. At 30 minute mark, add 30-minute hops. At 45 minute mark, add Irish moss. At 50 minute mark, add 10-minute fresh hops. At 58 minute mark, add 2-minute fresh hops.

Remove from heat and cool wort to 90-100ºF.

Strain wort into carboy, sparging through hops. Add cold water until total amount of liquid in carboy is 5 gallons. Shake to aerate. Take a sample for initial gravity reading.

When wort temperature is between 68-76ºF, pitch yeast. Cap carboy and set in a warm, quiet place.

Ferment at approx. 72 degrees F for 16 days.

Bottle with DME solution and apricot essence. Age at least 10 days.

Notes

9/4/11: A great brew. Picked hops from our no-spray organic garden during the 60-minute boil time. Overall, our first true hop harvest (other than last year’s 12 cones) yielded 3.0 lbs. After the 4 oz. for this recipe and the drying of the remaining hops, total yield was 2-3/4 oz.

9/5/11: This brew had some challenges: I was using dried Cascades that had come from a fellow Cascade Brewers Society member. They were in good shape, vacuum-sealed, but were from 2009. I decided to increase hop amounts and do 2 additions of boiling hops, one at 60 minutes and one at 30 minutes. Since the fresh hops were to be used more for aroma than bittering, I did 2 additions of fresh Sterling hops at the final 10-minute and 2-minute marks.

9/20/11: Bottled this solo so Jodie wouldn’t need to try to do all the bending and floor sitting—seemed like that’d be way too much hardship for her being 7 month’s pregnant! Beer had nice mellow orange color, good hop haziness. Apricot, malt and hop flavors balance well, and I expect the apricot to mellow a bit with time. The grassiness and tang of the fresh hops come through well, and there is a nice, lingering bitter finish. Am entering this beer in the Cascade Brewers Society October 2011 club-only competition, as we can enter any style as long as it uses fresh hops. [Update: the beer won 3rd place.]

9/21/11: Easy fermentation. Since fermentation period was still in Oregon’s summer, temperature varied some, 74-78ºF.

Last call

This was our first fresh-hop beer, and it won’t be the last. When fresh hops are right outside your kitchen door, brewing a wet-hop beer is just another bit of autumn brewing fun. Wet-hop or not, Majic has also earned its spot as a beer we’ll be brewing regularly.

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Homebrew: Majic Pale Apricot Ale 2009

Posted on February 29, 2012 | Leave a comment


Oh Magic Hat #9, your hoppy apricotiness seduces me every time. First slipped some by East Coast friends who’d brought some out West (sadly, Magic Hat doesn’t distribute out here yet), Jodie and I were enthralled by this fun, easy-drinking beer.

So much so, that for 2009 Jodie asked for a Magic Hat #9 homebrew clone as her birthday gift. I was quite happy to oblige (and again in 2011, when we brewed a wet-hop version).

The official beer

Magic Hat describes #9 as “a sort of dry, crisp, refreshing, not-quite pale ale.”

  • Yeast: English Ale
  • Hops: Cascade, Apollo
  • Malts: Pale, Crystal
  • ABV: 5.1
  • Gravity: 11.80 Plato
  • Bitterness: 20
  • SRM: 9.0

For me, the fun of this beer is all about the hint of apricot.  The key is that this isn’t a “fruity beer.” Too much apricot would be cloying at best, or at worst would probably be declared the “apripolitan” or some other lame-arse Sex-in-the-City-style beer cocktail crappiness.

Instead, there’s just enough apricot to balance out the hoppiness and add a sweet refreshing quality to the beer.

And that’s what we were going for.

The Recipe

We worked with the clone recipe “Magic Bolo #9.1″ in Charlie Papazian’s Microbrewed Adventures: A Lupulin Filled Journey to the Heart and Flavor of the World’s Great Craft Beers, with a few slight modifications.

Ingredients

All ingredients from Home Fermenter Center, Eugene, OR

  • 1 lb. Crystal Malt (put in grain sock)
  • 5 lbs. light dried malt extract
  • @60 minute boil, 1/3 oz. Zeus hops
  • @15 minute 1/2 tsp. Irish moss
  • @5 minute aroma/boil, 1/4 oz. Cascade hops 5% alpha (1.3 HBU/35 MBU)
  • @1 minute aroma/boil,1/2 American Tettnanger hops
  • Wyeast British Ale Yeast 1098
  • @ secondary 1-1/4 oz. apricot essence
  • @ bottling: 1-1/4c. dried malt extract

Approximate Target Values

  • Target Original Gravity: 1.047 (12B)
  • Approx. Final Gravity: 1.012 (3B)
  • IBU: Approx. 18
  • Approx. Color: 9 SRM (18 EBC)
  • Alcohol: % by Volume: 4.6%

Our Brew Stats

  • Brew Date: Apr. 24, 2009
  • Initial Gravity Reading (O.G.): 1.050 @ 73ºF
  • Secondary Fermentation Date: May 10, 2009
  • Bottling Date: May 25, 2009
  • Final Gravity Reading (F.G.): 1.014 @68ºF %-2
  • Alcohol: 3.5% [looking back now, this seems low; probably closer to 4%]

Brewing & Fermentation

Place crushed grains in 2 gallons of 150-160ºF water and let steep for 30 minutes. Strain out and sparge with ~2 quarts hot water. Bring to a boil, while adding malt extract and 60-minute hops.

Clean/sanitize carboy and other equipment during this time. Add 1 gallon cold water to sanitized carboy. At 45 minute mark, add Irish moss. At 50 minute mark, add Cascade hops. At 1 minute mark, add aroma American Tettnanger hops.

Remove from heat and cool wort to 90-100ºF.

Strain wort into carboy, sparging through hops. Add cold water until total amount of liquid in carboy is 5 gallons. Shake to aerate. Take a sample for initial gravity reading.

When wort temperature is between 68-76ºF, pitch yeast. Cap carboy and set in a warm, quiet place.

Ferment at approx. 72 degrees F for 3-30 days.

Rack to secondary fermenter and add apricot essence. Cellar one week.

Bottle with DME solution. Age one month.

Notes

4/24/09: Recipe calls for Warrior hops, but they weren’t available. Zeus is comparable in terms of bittering. Potential alcohol 6.5%? Surely not. The 1098 yeast has a very apply cider scent.

5/10/09: Added apricot. Good fermentation, lovely color.

5/25/09: Bottle day! Beautiful pale gold, almost pilsnerish.

4/2/11: Typing up notes as best I can from the handwritten ones in book. Apparently we didn’t track the bottling counts or open day on this one, probably due to all the hecticness of wedding planning.

Last call

This beer was a hit with Jodie for her birthday, and has been one of my favorite beers ever brewed. The hoppiness and refreshing hint of apricot were there, and made for excellent spring and summer sipping.

In fact, we loved this beer so much that in 2011, with hops from our garden, we brewed it again, but as a fresh-hop beer: See the 2011 Fresh-Hop Majic Pale Apricot Ale

Photo: rdpeyton

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Eugene beer events Saturday, Feb. 25

Posted on February 24, 2012 | Leave a comment

Want a taste of the Good Life?

Mountain Resuce Pale Ale from Good Life BrewingThe volcanos of the Cascades apparently no longer erupt with lava but with breweries. That’s the only conclusion I can draw, anyway, given how many breweries keep popping up in Bend, right in the ol’ shadow of the mountains to the east.

At The Bier Stein this Saturday from 5-8 p.m., meet the brewer and taste beers from the up-and-coming Good Life Brewing from, you guessed it, Bend! Good Life will be pouring free samples of 3 brews:

  • Descender IPA
  • Mountain Rescue Pale Ale
  • Pass Stout

The Stein also will have 22-oz. bottles of the newly released Mountain Rescue Pale ale for sale.

Sample Oregon farmhouse ales

Logsdon Farmhouse Ales

With a traditional farmhouse brewery located in Hood River County, Logsdon Farmhouse Ales is truly going back to the land to bring you interesting beers. From 4-6 p.m. on Sat., Feb. 25, meet the brewer and taste Logsdon Farmhouse beers at the 16 Tons Taphouse, 265 E 13th., Eugene. More info

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Posted in Eugene, Oregon & Pacific Northwest, Food and Drink

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Homemade champagne vinegar

Posted on February 22, 2012 | 2 Comments
Homemade champagne vinegar

Homemade champagne vinegar - raw and unfiltered in a stoppered bottle. If you prefer your vinegar clearer, you can pour it through a coffee filter.

DIY vinegar

After our wedding in 2009, we had a few bottles of bubbly left over. Some were enjoyed. Some were forgotten.

The forgotten ones weren’t stored properly, so the wine wasn’t exactly the most appetizing to drink. Then it hit me: wine vinegar costs a ridiculous amount of money. I have 3 bottles of champagne… so why not make my own homemade champagne vinegar?

DIY vinegar is about as easy as it gets—and you save heaps of money over the over-priced wine vinegars in the grocery store. Here’s how.

Making homemade vinegar

Making vinegar is pretty simple. You need…

  • An alcoholic beverage (such as beer, champagne or wine)
  • A large glass or ceramic container (such as a pickling crock or quart mason jar), that can be covered with a breathable barrier (such as cheesecloth)
  • A “vinegar mother” (we’ll get to that)

The majority of vinegar-making is waiting. Vinegar is made by the bacteria Acetobacter, which eats alcohol and turns it into acetic acid, or vinegar. The process can take 2-6 months.

Put the booze in the container, and add the mother. Speaking of…

Getting vinegar mother

A “vinegar mother” is the term commonly used to describe a mass of Acetobacter. “A weird blob” is another commonly used phrase, as vinegar mother often has a weird, floppy-blobby-slimy look to it. Not always, but often.

Here’s how to get vinegar mother:

  • Buy a bottle of Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar (this is what I did). Available at many health/natural food stores and supermarkets, Bragg ACV is raw, unfiltered and unpasteurized, so it contains the mother (typical store-bought vinegars are pasteurized, so the Acetobacter has all been killed).
  • Buy vinegar mother online. Leeners and The Cellar Homebrew are 2 online sources for purchasing vinegar mother and other supplies.
  • Ask a vinegar-maker. If you know someone or know someone who knows someone who makes vinegar, ask them if you can have some of their vinegar mother.

Cover the container so there’s airflow, but insects or dust won’t get in.

Wait. Check the vinegar occasionally and a give a taste. You’ll know when it tastes like vinegar.

Once the vinegar is ready, you have some options. You can filter the vinegar to remove the mother and clarify it (so far, I haven’t bothered with this step). You can also pasteurize the vinegar if you want. Regardless, vinegar is shelf-stable as-is and will keep a long, long time.

Uses

We’re using our pale-orange champagne vinegar in salad dressings and as dips for bread. The flavor is bright and fun, and we’ll be making more homemade vinegar for ourselves and as gifts.

A quick note on canning: we won’t be using this vinegar for canning, unless we can verify its acidity.

More info on homemade vinegar

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Travel fantasy stories: new Rucksack Press blog

Posted on February 15, 2012 | Leave a comment

Road trip! Travel fantasy stories from Rucksack Press »

When it comes to globetrotting, you can always do with a good book. After all, when you’re riding a rickety bus around windy mountain roads for 10 hours, a good book can at least keep your mind off whether or not you’ll go from a slow ride to a fast drop.

And as you may know from my various novel-in-a-month endeavors (2005, 2008, 2011), I’m working on some travel fantasy stories.

More details are on my new publishing site, Rucksack Press. I also recently launched a news and stories blog, and here’s the first post:

What is the Rucksack Universe? »

Now, back to editing and rewriting…

Photo: grabka dot org

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Falling Sky opens. Is it Eugene’s best brewpub?

Posted on February 7, 2012 | 1 Comment

Falling Sky - Let It Pour. Credit: Falling Sky.

When life gives you rain… brew beer

Falling Sky, Eugene’s newest brewery and brewpub, makes me want to go out for a beer more often. It’s comfortable, airy and family-friendly. The fries are excellent. And there’s no feckin’ TV or blaring music to make me want to split my head open with a maul.

Plus, Falling Sky is right in downtown Eugene, tucked into Oak Alley behind the Falling Sky Brewing Fermentation Supply Shop on 13th (same ownership, they simply renamed Valley Vintner & Brewer).

This could easily be Eugene’s best brewpub.

The ever-bolstered downtown Eugene brew scene

High ceilings and light colors make the pub feel airy, welcoming and friendly. Credit: Falling Sky

High ceilings and light colors make the pub feel airy, welcoming and friendly

Here in rainy ol’ Western Oregon, we in Eugene have far more pouring than mere water. The last 10 years have brought a new flurry of brewing and microbrew goodness to Eugene, from local juggernaut Ninkasi and the diverse craft of Oakshire, to the ever-packed Bier Stein and the connoisseur selection in 16 Tons.

And, to be sure, we have brewpubs. Steelhead and McMenamins High Street have long held down the fort in downtown Eugene, but they needed company. When Rogue’s Eugene City Brewery came along, it further bolstered downtown’s brewpub scene. Hop Valley is fab (even typing their name has me fondly remembering their mac-n-cheese), but their I-5/Gateway location isn’t exactly stumbling distance for the Eugene dweller.

The new Falling Sky Brewing is something different.

Eugene’s best brewpub?

Copper-clad brewing equipment soon will be concocting Falling Sky beers. Credit: Falling Sky

Copper-clad brewing equipment soon will be concocting Falling Sky beers

The light yellows, light blues and natural wood finishes give the place a convivial, welcoming air. The long, picnic-style communal tables make it easy to do your own thing, talk with friends or get to know the folks sitting next to you. A cabinet is marked “Kids Games”. Behind a large inside wall/window, the steel and copper-clad brewing equipment gleam. Come summer, I want to claim an outside table as a second home.

Yes, I like this place.

On my first visit to Falling Sky, with a friend and fellow dad on a recent Saturday afternoon, we silently fist-pumped at all the wee kids and families about the place. This was our kind of pub: the kids could play, and we could have a beer.

His burger satisfied; my fries came out wafting of potatoes, and crunched just right. We talked for ages, about the problems of the world, about being fathers, about the books we were working on.

This was definitely our kind of pub.

But is it Eugene’s best brewpub?

The verdict awaits the beer

Falling Sky Brewing, Eugene, Oregon. Credit: Falling Sky

No business startup is without its hiccups. For Falling Sky, the hiccup has been its brewing equipment. Kinks in the brewing system have meant Falling Sky isn’t serving their house beers yet (though some will be available at the upcoming KLCC Microbrew Fest). Instead, a diverse list of guest taps is pouring; when I was there, beers from Corvallis to California were filling up pint glasses.

And for now, that will keep the jury out on whether or not Falling Sky may, in fact, be the best brewpub in Eugene. The food and atmosphere are amazing… but until we can properly sample Falling Sky beers, we’ll just have to keep coming back to see when what’s pouring at Falling Sky, is Falling Sky.

More about Falling Sky in the news

Connect with Eugene’s newest brewery & brewpub

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Posted in Eugene, Oregon & Pacific Northwest, Food and Drink

Eugene craft beer: 2012 KLCC Microbrew Festival Tickets on sale now

Posted on January 31, 2012 | Leave a comment

57 breweries serve up over 120 craft beers at the KLCC Microbrew Festival Eugene

KLCC Microbrew Fest
Since 2002, Eugene radio station KLCC 89.7 FM has put on a microbrew tasting festival to benefit the station. In addition to the brewfest, you can also enjoy live music and a music sale of donated records and CDs. Not only can you sample beer from 57 breweries all over the U.S., if you brew your own beer you can also enter the KLCC Microbrew Festival Homebrew Competition.

Sample craft beers from Oregon, Washington, California, Utah, Hawaii & more

  • 2 Towns Ciderhouse, Corvallis, OR: The Incider, The Bad Apple
  • 10 Barrel, Bend, OR: Apocalypse IPA, Pub Beer – New Release
  • 21st Amendment, San Francisco, CA: Bitter American, Backin Black
  • Block 15, Corvallis, OR: River Mudd, Coffee Bean Stout, Six Hop Wonder, Triple IPA
  • Blue Moon, Denver, CO: Belgian White Ale, Blue Moon Seasonal, Blue Moon Limited Release
  • Boston Beer, Boston MA, Samuel Adams Alpine Spring Lager, Samuel Adams Boston Lager, Samuel Adams Blackberry Wit
  • Bridgeport, Portland, OR: Dark Rain, Hop Czar
  • Buckman, Portland, OR: Le Petit Mort Black Saison, Ginger, Chamomellow
  • Calapooia, Corvallis, OR: Chili Beer, rIPArian IPA
  • Caldera, Ashland, OR: Export Lager, I.P.A.
  • Cascade Lakes, Redmond, OR: Cyclops IPA, 20″ Brown, Special brew TBA
  • Crispin Cider, Colfax, CA: Crispin Cider Original, Fox Barrel Blackberry Pear
  • Deschutes, Bend, OR: Hop Henge Experimental IPA, Chainbreaker White IPA
  • Double Mountain, Hood River, OR: Vaporizer, IRA (India Red Ale), Goliathon
  • Eel River, Fortuna, CA: Organic IPA, Organic Porter, , Elysian, Seattle, WA: Idiot Sauvin IPA, Dragonstooth Stout
  • Falling Sky, Eugene, OR: TBA, TBA
  • Fire Mountain, Carlton, OR: Steam Fire Stout, Bogart NW IPA
  • Firestone-Walker, Paso Robles, CA: Union Jack IPA, Velvet Merlin
  • Flat Tail, Corvallis, OR: Mustache Rye’d Red, Tailgater Kolsch
  • Fort George Brewery, Astoria, OR: Spank Stout Pepper Stout, Red Tide Imperial Red
  • Full Sail, Hood River, OR: Brewer’s Share Barney’s ESB, LTD 4, Top Sail Bourbon Aged Imperial Porter, (served Saturday night only)
  • , Gilgamesh, Turner, OR: Vader Cascadian Dark, Mamba
  • GoodLife, Bend, OR: Descender IPA, Mountain Rescue Dry Hopped Pale Ale
  • Green Flash, San Diego, CA: Imperial IPA, Double Stout
  • Hop Valley, Springfield, OR: Alpha Centauri, Golden Road, Dry Irish Stout, Oakeroo
  • Hopworks Urban, Portland, OR: Organic Hopworks IPA, Secession CDA
  • InBev, St. Louis, MO: Stella Artois, Hoegaarden Belgium Wit Bier, Shock Top TBA
  • Kona Brewing Co., Kailua Kona, HI: Longboard Lager, Koko Brown
  • Lagunitas, Petaluma, CA: A Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’, Hairy Eyeball Ale
  • Laughing Dog, Sand Point, ID: Laughing Dog IPA, Dogzilla
  • Laurelwood, Portland, OR: Workhorse IPA, Cascadian Pilsner Collaboration Ale
  • Lost Coast, Eureka, CA: Great White, Tangerine Wheat, Downtown Brown
  • Mad River, Blue Lake, CA: Steelhead Double IPA, Jamaica Red Ale
  • Maui Brewing, Lahaina,, HI: TBA, TBA
  • McMenamin’s High Street, Eugene, OR: Epicenter IPA, Purple Haze
  • Mendocino, Ukiah, CA: Eye of the Hawk, Red Tail
  • Mountain Meadows Mead, Westwood, CA: Dry – Sierra Nectar, Medium – Moonlight Magic Mead, Sweet – Honeymoon Nectar
  • New Belgium, Fort Collins, CO: Dig, Lips of Faith TBA, Trip TBA
  • Ninkasi, Eugene, OR: Sterling Pils, Renewale Porter, Transcendentale, , Oakshire, Eugene, OR: Watershed IPA, Overcast Espresso Stour, Very Ill Tempered Gnome
  • Pelican, Pacific City, OR: Rip Tide Red Ale, Nestucca ESB, Tsunami Stout
  • Phat Matt’s, Redmond, OR: Phat Snowman, Phat Matt’s Red Ale, Phat Matt’s IPA
  • Pyramid, Portland, OR: Outburst Imperial IPA, Discord Dark IPA
  • Redhook, Woodinville, WA: Nut Brown, Pilsner
  • Rogue Ales, Newport, OR: Chatoe Dirtoir, Chatoe Good Chit
  • Seven Brides, Silverton, OR: TBA, TBA
  • Sierra Nevada, Chico, CA: Ruthless Rye IPA, Torpedo Extra IPA
  • Steelhead, Eugene, OR: 21st Anniversary Imperial Rye IPA, Break Action Porter
  • Stone, Escondido, CA: Sublimely Self-Righteous Black IPA, Cali-Belgique IPA
  • Tieton Cider Works, Tieton, WA: Wild Washington Cider, Tieton Cherry Cider, Tieton Apricot Cider
  • Track Town Ales, Eugene, OR: Track Town Brown, Triple Jump Ale, New Beer TBA
  • Trumer Brauerei, Berkeley, CA: Trumer Pils
  • Uinta, Salt Lake City, UT: Dubhe Imperial Black IPA, Wyld Organic Pale Ale
  • Vermont Hard Cider, Middlebury, VT: Woodcuck Hard Cider – Amber, Woodcuck Hard Cider – Granny Smith
  • Wakonda, Florence, OR: Beachcomber Cream Ale, Seven Devils IPA
  • Widmer Brothers, Portland, OR: Rotator IPA Series – Spiced IPA, W’12 Dark Saison, Kellerbier

Homebrew Competition

Homebrewers can submit their own homebrewed beer and compete for awards and prizes. Deadline to enter is Feb 3. Download contest details and entry form (PDF)

Music Sale

  • Thousands of records and CDs available
  • Donate your LPs and CDs to KLCC through Wed, Feb 8, at 136 W 8th Ave, Eugene, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. M-F

Come to the KLCC Eugene Microbrew Festival

  • When: Friday, Feb. 10, 5-11 p.m. (Live music from Karen Lovely starts at 7:30 p.m.) and Saturday, Feb. 11, 1-11 p.m. (Live music from the Ty Curtis Band starts at 7:30 p.m.)
  • Where: Lane Events Center Exhibit Hall, 796 W. 13th Ave., Eugene, OR
  • Cost:
    • Advance: $10 (purchase tickets now, available through Feb. 9), includes souvenir glass, 3 complimentary beer tickets, and separate entrance
    • At the door: $12, includes souvenir glass and 1 complimentary beer ticket
  • Must be 21 or over
  • You can also sign up to be a volunteer. Volunteers work a 4-hour shift, get free admission and receive some beer tickets Sign up to be a volunteer
  • More information online

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Revision & release for 2011 & 2012: Good, bad & get ready

Posted on January 23, 2012 | 3 Comments

2012 Theme: Revision & Release

Inspired by Chris Guillebeau’s annual review and the 2011: THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE AWESOME review from {r}evolution apparel, I realized I should step up and do one too.

Sometimes a few months can feel like its very own year. The last half of 2011 certainly felt that way for me. And now, with 2012 underway, January alternates between flying fast, and ticking long and slow. Still, 2011 was packed with good and bad, and I know 2012 will be too. Here’s what I’m also working to be ready for…

2011

The good

The bad

  • Part of being an expectant dad is you can’t get individual health insurance. Turns out your unborn child is too much of a risk. We had to take on the extra cost of being in our state’s high-risk insurance pool in order for me to have health insurance coverage while my wife was pregnant. Welcome to the USA.
  • I often still feel too closed-up when blogging and sharing ideas, projects and plans with my readers. My default has too often been to clam up, instead of singing out. That will most likely always be a work in progress, but I’m trying, dang it, I’m trying.
  • Stumbled a lot on various things for my business. There are contacts I’m making now, that I probably could’ve made months ago. There are things I probably could’ve put in place ages ago, but didn’t. At least they’re in play and underway now.
  • Realized that I really, really suck at writing short stories. My structure and understanding of the “why” of the story need a lot of work.

2012

The get ready

  • Saw the other night that Antsaint ranked tops in Google for “craft beer writing” and “craft beer writer”. Wow. (‘Course, this stuff changes all the time. But still.)
  • Writing a freebie story for Rucksack Press and getting the word out for travel fantasy stories coming 2012.
  • Talking with more people for copywriting, email marketing and social media projects. There’s nothing like working with awesome people, and I’m glad to be working with more of them.
  • Looking hard at a Kickstarter campaign to fund costs on my first books. Working hard to earn the trust and interest to make that happen with my readers.
  • Publish 2 books. Now that I’ve had some time to get distance from my novel and short story collection, it’s time to come back to both projects. My theme for 2012 will be “a year of revision and release”. I plan to get at least 2 books to market this year: my novel, and a short-story collection.
  • Be a bad-ass dad. As I type this, my wee son is strapped to my chest in a Moby Wrap. The whole baby-wearing thing? I dig.

Excited to find out

It’s going to be an interesting year. There is so much happening, and I have no idea what all is going to happen. But as Steve Jobs once said, “I’m really excited to find out.”

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Posted in Eugene, Oregon & Pacific Northwest, Food and Drink, Journal, Writing & Editing

Eugene Food: 3rd Annual Fun with Fermentation Festival

Posted on January 12, 2012 | Leave a comment
Kombucha samples and starter kits at the Eugene Fun with Fermentation Festival

Kombucha samples and starter kits at the Eugene Fun with Fermentation Festival

Beer. Kombucha. Yogurt. Sauerkraut. We know them as yummy. They are also the products of fermentation. And on Saturday, you can learn more about fermented foods and beverages, from local sources to how to make your own, at the third annual Eugene Fun with Fermentation Festival.

Brought to you by The Willamette Valley Sustainable Foods Alliance, the festival happens Sat. Jan. 14, 2012, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the WOW hall, 291 W. 8th, Eugene, Oregon. The event is a fundraiser for Food for Lane County and WVSFA.

Admission is on a sliding scale of $10-20 per person, or $5 with 2 cans of food. Children 12 and under are free.

Sample Fermented Food Goodness from 25+ Eugene ARea Food Businesses

Over 25 local businesses are expected to participate in the festival. Local natural foods businesses will showcase, demonstrate, and provide free samples of locally produced cheeses, chocolates, coffees, wines, beers, kombuchas, breads, tempeh, pickles, and many other local fermented delicacies. Local food carts Devour and Viva Vegetarian Grill will be serving their menus as well, which will highlight fermented ingredients.

Demos and workshops show you how you can put the power of fermentation to work in your kitchen

The event has an educational focus, centered on discovering the many ways that fermentation is practiced with many foods. The stage demonstration schedule features local blogger Jennifer Burns Levin, Nutritional Therapist Yaakov Levine, Eight…Nine Tempeh, Falling Sky Brewery, and OSU Master Food Preservers. There will also be a kids zone, raffle prizes, and beer/wine bottle sales downstairs.

About the Willamette Valley Sustainable Foods Alliance

The Willamette Valley Sustainable Foods Alliance is a regional trade association comprised of companies that promote natural food businesses through relationships, education, and sustainable business practices. The alliance endeavors to nurture new and existing businesses by sharing best practices and acting as mentors, educate the community about the health benefits of natural and organic foods, and foster a network to assist in regional sourcing of ingredients and raw materials. WVSFA works with the city and county on issues affecting the viability of natural foods businesses, and to foster and develop access to distribution channels. For more information, please visit www.wvsfalliance.org

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Posted in Eugene, Oregon & Pacific Northwest, Food and Drink

Eugene food, wine & craft beer: Cheese Wars III

Posted on January 5, 2012 | 2 Comments

Eugene food, craft beer and wine: Cheese Wars III - Ninkasi Brewing vs. Brooks Winery

Ninkasi Brewing vs. Brooks Winery at 16 Tons

A Benefit for Greenhill Humane Society

Craft beer or wine—which pairs best with cheese? On Thurs., Jan. 5, 2012, 16 Tons hosts the third bout pitting a brewery against a winery, Cheese Wars III!

Held at The Supreme Bean at 29th & Willamette, Cheese Wars is a food-pairing showdown between two ancient beverages. The battleground? 5 courses, of rustic, gourmet cheese, many coming from local sources. Each cheese course will be paired with a beer and a wine. Eugene’s own Ninkasi founder and Brewmaster Jamie Floyd will choose and present the beers. Winemaker Chris Williams of Brooks Winery, in Amity, Oregon, will choose and present the wines.

Which pairings work best? Only you can decide.

Cheese Wars is a fantastic opportunity to learn about making and pairing beer, wine, and cheese. Tickets are limited for this fun, lively, sit-down affair. $25 includes all tasting and food (cheese and bread). Purchase tickets at 16 Tons, The Supreme Bean or online at BrownPaperTickets.com. There is a 5:30 p.m. session and an 8 p.m. session, each lasting approximately 2 hours.

100% of ticket sales donated to Greenhill Humane Society.

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Posted in Eugene, Oregon & Pacific Northwest, Food and Drink