Delaware & DC.. months later

I know, I've been slacking. Most of you probably forgot that I even ran a blog. Anyways, I'll quickly cap on the rest of my trip from the last time I wrote about NYC. I'll also try to be better about updating the blog. I know, I say that all the time.

Dogfish Head Brewery

Delaware was awesome. I strongly suggest checking it out. Dogfish Head brewery was really fun to visit. A great tour. We stayed a few blocks away from the brew pub which allowed us to sample a large amount of beer. The beach was really nice there. Not too over crowded. I felt that all the locals were very nice to outside visitors. We quickly figured out that we were at more of the "adult" beach and that all the kids liked to go to Ocean City, MD which was a few miles down the road.

Bought those sunglasses just before the paddle boarding trip, Lost them 10 minutes after this picture was taken

Erin and I also tried out Stand Up Paddleboarding. It was an absolute blast. We wanted to go surfing but the waves were not cooperating with us. Overall the Delaware adventure was a ton of fun. Wouldn't mind making it back out there.

After Delaware we finished up our trip in DC. Love the town, hate the people. Everyone thought there shit didn't smell there. Oh well, we did get to meet up with my buddy Torey who took us around Virginia wine country. Had some amazing views and tried some pretty good wine.

Torey, Erin, and myself at one of the wineries

Didn't do a lot of beer-related items in DC, mostly sight seeing. Seeing the white house in person was probably my favorite thing. It was really cool to see it in person. We did do a segway tour, which was actually a lot of fun. We got to see a ton of stuff in a quick(er) amount of time.

Nerd Alert!!

For more pictures, here's a link to the Delaware pictures and here is the DC pictures.

As for brewing, I'll have an update here soon as I'm brewing a lot this weekend.

Prost!

-Ryan

From Minne-Apple to the Big Apple, Brewer in the City

Erin and I don't take a lot of days off from work, but typically when we do it's for a large trip. This year's trip was named "East Coast Invasion, Round 2". Last year we came out east for my buddy Bobby and Heathers wedding, then toured all around. This year we went Mid-Atlantic. NYC, Delaware, and finishing up in DC.

Washington Square Park, NYC

This is my first time to NYC and I didn't really know what to expect. Here's what I was told: 1. It's dirty. 2. It's expensive. 3. Watch yourself at all times 4. People are rude. I'd say everything outside of point 2 was wrong, in my point of view at least. The city was a lot cleaner for an island that is home to 2.6 million people, or so. I'd say it was cleaner then Minneapolis most of the time. The smells do get a bit "fresh" at times. Think of not-so-fresh seafood and warm temperatures, mixed with last nights garbage.

Heart of Chinatown, Freedom Tower being built in the background.

While it is expensive, there are ways to do NYC on a budget. I have to give Erin all the credit here. We rented an apartment in the Lower east side to get a real feel of what living in NYC is like. We also had a roommate, Mike, who helped manage the property along with other properties they own. Our cost: $105/night. This is very very cheap. We also only rode the subway. Public transportation is the shit out east. I love it. For $30/each we got a 7 day unlimited rides metro pass. The subway station was 1 block from our place. Everywhere else we walked. Needless to say while I'd consider myself in ok shape, my feet on the other hand are not used to putting on those kind of miles. I got a blister the 3 day we were there. I don't know the NYC women wear 3"+ inch shoes. F that. I'll take my DC skate shoes.

Our room. It's "snug" in size

8.5oz of Diet Coke. Cost: $2.50. The price we pay to use the bathroom.

Safety isn't an NYC thing, it's a (fill in any major city) thing. Crazy enough, I felt more safe in NYC then I do in parts of Minneapolis. I think maybe it's the fact that there is always people around, be it 2pm or 3am. Be smart and you're fine.


This leads me to my final point, the citizens of NYC are awesome. Their style of no-bullshit, get out of my way I have somewhere to go works perfect with me. I felt myself becoming an New Yorker when I started to get "Rage Walk" as our friend Kelly called it. Basically thing of rage driving, but walking. If you're going to walk slow then move the F to the right and walk single file. New Yorkers also have no issues at all telling you where anything is. They might not tell you the local watering holes, but they'll tell you how to get different places. They really are great people. I also love the mix of people there. It's so different from Minneapolis. There's everyone under the sun and tons of different languages being spoken all the time. It's what I think America is, but in a really small area. A mixing bowl of culture and believes all wrapped into one.

The worst type of people to get stuck behind... The Asian Tourist. Even my Asian friends know what I'm talking about.

 Ryan, what about the beer? This is a beer blog damnit. Yeah, one minute.

There, that will tie you over until I start talking about beer.

The food in NYC is amazing. There are SOOO many options and different styles that you can't go wrong. I had two food requirements: A good hotdog and good "foldable" aka thin crust pizza. I had both. For the hotdog we hit up Gray's Papaya. Great dog at a killer price. For pizza we hit up the famous Joe's Pizza. Anywhere that Kevin Bacon AND Ben Affleck have ate can't be wrong. Well, maybe it can, but this place is solid. Many thanks to Kelly, Berto, Meara, Nghi, and Bao for showing us some killer food spots.

Tasty Wiener! YAY!

Dim Sum with Berto, Kelly, and Erin. Probably the worst picture ever.

Foldable Pizza with Bao. Crazy Delicious.

Ahhh Cute. Meara and Erin.

Nghi and Erin

 I did require seeing some tourist stuff. Saw times square and promptly left. Yup. It's times square. It's like a non-gambling version of vegas. Saw Central park. Meh. Check out the High Line. Way cooler. Little Italy kinda sucks. People there were pretentious and fake. It's also full of tourists. Go to Boston, much better. Ok, enough with the negative. Here's some sweet places: Dumbo, chinatown, the village, union square (awesome for seeing the crazies), Brooklyn, tons of places. It's great. If you go, hit up the tourist stuff quick and fast, then jump on the subway and go explore. Every stop is an adventure and has tons of cool stuff to see and do.

Dumbo

Above is a video of a crazy dude in a bra rapping with a guy in a banana suit. I couldn't stop laughing.

Ok, let's talk beer.

First day we got in there Berto and Kelly told us to meet them at McSorley's. It's the oldest ale house in NYC and didn't allow women until they were forced to in 1970. They told us that it get's really packed in there, but at 2pm on a Friday we should be ok. They only offer two beers: Dark and Light. It's a beer that's brewed up state just for the bar. They also didn't ask me on a size, which was 2 smaller glasses. They also don't give a shit about the amount of head on the beer, so by the time you get the two beers it's about the amount of 1 pint glass. At $5 for 2 beers, I wasn't going to bitch. What we found out later from a local is that they are known for kicking people out who don't continue to drink or people who only ask for 1 beer when they're busy. They also gave a out-of-town couple some really nasty looks when they walked in and asked what beers they had. So, I did your homework for you. If you go there, Pick a color, order in rounds of 2, don't stop until you're ready to leave.

Might look like a lot of beer, but if Erin can lift 4 of them full you know they're small.

Many people are starting to know Brooklyn Brewery. We didn't really plan in advance to go there and figured we could just jump on a tour. Now they require you order tickets in advance. Needless to say we didn't go there, but I'm really not to bothered by that. I'm not a big fan of their beers. I haven't had one yet that I say "Damn, that's good." They are ok, but nothing great. Doesn't mean that I wouldn't go to their brewery, it just means I'm not gonna cry about it like a sally. Maybe next time.

Chelsea Brewing Company

We did hit up Chelsea Brewing Company. Not bad brews (better then Brooklyn Brewing, IMO) shitty overpriced food. Go there and get the sampler, but save your money for a street vender for food.

Legends Football Factory, Main Level

Legends Football Factory is an awesome place to watch Football (soccer, not american) and get a pint. Really fun atmosphere and a wonderful place to watch some of the Euro Cup.

Sampler Tray at Heartland Brewing

Before we left we hit up Heartland Brewing company. There are a few locations of this and they all brew in house, much like Granite City in Minneapolis. As some of you know, I really do not like Granite City. I think their beer is Ok at best and their food is overpriced slightly higher quality Applebees. Needless to say I went into this place thinking it was going to be just like that. I could not be more wrong. Place had great beers and good food. Pricing was on par for NYC. I'd highly recommend getting there sampler. Also go to the location off Union Square. Should be a little more chill/NYC/less tourists. They had a Czech Pilsner there that made me proud.

Hey Pal, Your Ferrari has some garbage stuck to it.

Ok, This is a lot of reading for you guys, and a lot of typing for me. Our next stop is Rehoboth Beach, DE. That's the home to this little brewery that makes "Off-centered Ale for Off-Centered People". Check in later for that entry as I'm typing out the current entry from there. Ok, I'm off to the brewhouse. (Side note, wrote this post in Delaware, didn't actually post it until we were in DC.)

Don't mess with fire station cat.

Prost!

Ryan

It's Growing!!

For those of you who actively follow my blog you'll know that last year a combo of squirrels and my lack of knowing how to plant hops correctly yielded in me killing off about 5 plants. This year Ted offered me up another 2 plants to try to kill grow. This spring Minnesota had a very odd weather pattern. It became extremely warm (70's) very early, then dropped off in temp again. This made trying to time the planting of the hops a bit hard for me. On one side I had people like Ted and Paul saying plant them. On the other side I had Erin saying wait. Due to some traveling plans I decided to wait. Once again I planted the hops in planters so that I could move the plants if I wanted to.

Much like last year I had the damn squirrels digging up my plants again. I guess they like to hide nuts in the planters. The Chinook plant didn't make it. The Cascade plant survived the first few attacks before I finally figured out how to stop them. I found a tighter opening chicken wire that I wrapped over the top of the planter. That managed to stop the digging.

After about a week of watering and a relocation of the planter the plant managed to hit the wire protection around it. I changed the wire setup and watched in anticipation of yet another round of attacks. Lucky for me there was nothing after 3 days. Yesterday I noticed that the plant was now starting to look for something to grow on. It's time to run the rope.

Most first year plants don't produce many cones, if any. Hopefully I'll get something out of this little guy. I'm not expecting a lot but it would be fun. Next year should be a lot more interesting. I'll keep you updated with pictures as time goes on.

Prost!

-Ryan

Honoring Mike Feltault

Yesterday another good man left our world, Mike Feltault. I knew Mike through Finnegan's beer events and other beer tasting festivals. You could always count on Mike being the man with the camera. He was a fun guy to be around and I always will remember his smile, which he always had.

I ask that you all raise a pint tonight in Mike's honor, even if you didn't know him.

Rest in peace Mike. You will be missed.

-Ryan

Happy St. Patrick's day

Happy St. Patricks day! A few things I'd like everyone to remember on this day:

1. Support your local craft beer if possible.
2. Don't drink and drive.

With the unseasonably warm temps we're having in Minneapolis today, Erin and I plan on taking our bikes out to some local pubs to enjoy a pint.

I'll leave you all with this video which was sent to me by cousin Mike. Enjoy!

Prost!

-Ryan

I caved in...

So, I did it, I joined twitter. As most of you know I'm not a big fan of social media. There's some things I really enjoy about it, but there's other things that just frustrate the hell outta me with them. So my choice to start a twitter account has 2 reasons.

1. People often say to me "Dude, let me know when you're going to brew again". Well, here's the problem. I often brew somewhat last minute. I don't feel like flooding people on my blog and I just don't really ever know who to email. Don't have or want twitter? No problem. Just let me know if you want me to email you if I'm going to brew.

2. I've been noticed with the news that you get quicker responses from companies when you blast them on social sites such as twitter. Now as ridiculous as that is, it's just the way the world is. For example (about to go in a rant) we bought a new couch. The day we got it, the way that the sectional is connects the two pieces of the couch broke. I contacted the company who we bought the couch from who they put in an order to replace the part from the manufacturer, Lay-z-boy. Lay-z-boy then informed me that it will take 2 to 3 weeks. Ok, I'm sorry but you gotta be shitting me. 2 to 3 weeks for a small piece of plastic? So it's been over 3 weeks. I call back asking about it. Oh, yeah, now they tell me it's actually 3 to 4 weeks. My thoughts, post this question to twitter, get instant part.

I'll try to keep the blog to more in-depth thoughts and writings, twitter for the more A-D-D style quick stuff. I'm also on facebook as most of you know, but I don't post on there a lot. So yes, I'm a product of the crap I normally don't care for... blog, facebook, and twitter.

So, feel free to follow me on twitter @ryansbeer

On a beer note, Haven't really done much. I need to brew again here soon.

Prost!

-Ryan

I drink ze beer from ze glass..

Happy Belated Birthday to me. 

I was not sharing that.

So I turned 30. It feels a little weird. I feel like I should be more responsible or something. So what do I do to counter that feeling? I drink ze beer from das boot. What's that you ask? Most Das Boot's are 2 liters in size, along with a whole game that you can google. Also R2 (aka Ryan J aka my sister-in-laws boyfriend) and I attempted to each eat a meter of sausage. We both lost. My buddy Tony finished the meter challenge, with a small help. Now I'm just getting hungry.

So in an attempt to update this a little more often I figured I'd throw out some updates. I tapped Bubba's brew, but it is not ready yet. Good beginning flavor but a *strong* sour note at the end. I really hope time will tame that out and that I didn't get wild yeast in there somehow. My What the Helle continues to lager in the second fridge.

I was given multiple gift cards to my favorite place, Midwest Supplies, so I'll need to find some more stuff to get :) For my fellow brewers, please be careful when moving your glass carboys. One of the employees at Midwest was seriously injured when he dropped one. Check out that story here.

I'll leave you all with these gems:

So much meat.

What the Helle is going on with Bubba's Brew?!?!

Let me begin with saying Happy Holidays and a Happy 2012 New Years!! Yeah, that's only 14 days late. So I've been meaning to update my blog for a while now, but things just keep coming up. Lame excuse. So, how about some updates then if you're too damn busy to update your blog, slacker.

Beer: What the Helle, my Munich style Helle (German for light) is coming along nicely. Being a lager beer, it takes a long time to ferment at colder temps. I had it in the basement for a month before racking it to my secondary fermentor. I then brought it to some warmer temps (i.e. my closet) for a few days so it could rest. This morning I put it in the 2nd fridge to start the lagering process. At this point the beer is done fermenting, but what the cold temps of the fridge does is allows the beer to age and drops out any leftover yeast or sediment from brewing. This style beer should be super clear in the glass. The beer that is the background to my blog is the Munch Helle, actually at Octoberfest in Munich, Germany when I went. It was there that I decided I wanted to start brewing all-grain style after talking with a buddy. I'm thinking the Helle should be done sometime around March.

Bubba's brew on the left, What the Helle on the right. 

Bubba's brew was an interesting beast. I made the yeast starter as I showed in the last post. Being that I've never worked with a Belgium yeast before I didn't really know what to expect. Christmas day after being out with the family the whole day and out of the house, I came back and opened the door to the office where I keep my ale beers when fermenting and there was a **VERY** strong brewhouse smell. Now, I love the smell of a brewery, but this my friends was a little too much. I was actually scared that my work clothes which I keep in the closet in the office would smell like a brewery. I know some of my coworkers wouldn't mind (Lee, Christian, Walski), but I don't think my boss would care too much for that. Lucky for me after another 24 hours the smell went away and my cloths did not smell like a brewery. After hanging out in that glass container for a little over 2 weeks, I pulled the gravity reading on it to see if it was done. Yes, it was very done. Final ABV: 7.8%. Wow. This is my strongest beer to date. Let's hope it tastes good. Its been sitting in the keg carbonating now for a week. I just moved it to the lower psi of CO2 and I'll start the aging process. Should be ready to brew just after my birthday (End of January).

Other Things: So, why not give an update of what I've done since brewing Bubba's Brew. The holidays were "classic" to say the least. Christmas Eve we go to my mom's, Christmas Day we go to Erin's parents, then Christmas Day Dinner we have with both families. I really enjoy that our two families really are one. Needless to say I wasn't at my house a lot, which is fine. I'm sure we all feel a little crazy around the holidays. With starting the new job I no longer have shutdown week like I did at my last job. Shutdown week was the week between Christmas and New Years which they gave that week off. Years past I've spent that time with my brother who would fly in from out of town. Due to travel issues he was not able to make it this year, which I guess was good being that I didn't have any time off. Instead I was very deep into my work project which involved digging deep into my brain for my Java programming skills that I did 10 years ago in college. It's amazing how quick you can pick some of that stuff back up again. New years eve we went to Green Bay to visit Erin's cousin and go to the New Years day Packer game. More about the game in a minute.

New Years Eve is when I meet Tim Ek. Ok, ready, prepare yourself.. Tim is Erin's cousin's fiance's sister's husband. Tim is a big time biker (peddle, not vroom vroom) and also runs a blog: http://timekchronicles.blogspot.com/ Tim just so happens to be sponsored by the bike company I've been watching for a while, Salsa Cycles. I've wanted to build a bike for a while, but never really pulled the trigger. He informed me that the frame I've been looking at for some time was no longer made, the Ala Carte. Well Tim, I found a frame on ebay, brand spankin new and I pulled the trigger. Along with his help I plan on getting back on the mountain bike more and a little less on the street bike. Don't worry Erin, I'll still ride the street bike with you. I'm sure I'll update this blog with the bike build info.

Sexy bike frame is Sexy

Some people might ask "Why the hell do you want to build a bike when you can just go out and buy one?". If you haven't figured out from my blog yet, there's some things I just like to do on my own. I've been building my own computers since I was 15. I've actually only had 2 computer cases my whole life, but I've ran more parts through them then I can count. Even with beer, I could go to the store and buy beer, which I do, but I still enjoy the fruits of my labor in brewing it myself. So, me wanting to build a bike from scratch shouldn't come to a surprise to anyone. If I had the space, funding, and time I'd build an old car ('68 Mustang Fastback or '43 Willys Jeep). 

Getting back on track, New Year eve was good times. The Packers game was wonderful (we won) and overall it was nice seeing the Green Bay people. I'd post pictures but I spent the last hour searching Erin's computer for them while she's sleeping with no luck. On a side note I did finally setup nightly backups for her laptop and realized that my nightly backups profile somehow was erased. Not good. Needless to say after 2 weekends of lots of travel, I was ready to relax and not leave the house. 

I still have yet to figure out my next brew, but I know Sophie's Stout is already half gone and the Wet Ted is cached. I'm guessing I'll do another Sophie's stout, but I'll need to figure out a few more ale's. Any suggestions?

I'll leave you all with this year's holiday card photo:

From my family to yours, Happy 2012. 

Prost!

Ryan