And the Storm Rages On....

Just had our 3rd tornado, but they have all been east of here closer to Opelika. Winds are a bit heavy like my head (from having too much beer with the news) and I have officially lost power, but the ole laptop is fully charged and I have phone still. I can here transformers exploding all over the place, but I have plenty of beer and propane. Let TnDC continue..

Ivan was not invited to TnDC!!

Ivan just made landfall and is beating Gulf Shores to death (98mi/hr sustained), but I still have power and phone. So we will be doing a little _nDC all weekend and hopefully the LSU game will still be on. I hope to be able to do some blogging at least some "Our Tastes" stuff. Everyone hang in there and let's do some WnDC, TnDC, FnDC, etc...

Brew Batch #6

Extra Pale Ale was created tonight. It started out having an awfully light color but then again I have been brewing a lot of darker beers. As it boiled for a while it did darken up. This is the last batch of the unofficial summer so I will probably be brewing exclusively in AU for the remainder of the semester. Since we only have 2 weeks break this Christmas, I doubt I will have time to kick up a batch during the holidays BUT the "Winter Warmer" recipe is looking pretty good. Going to have to look into aeration and yeast starters to do that one.
OG 1.034+0.003@80F ( a little low, 1.045 is the usual but if it ferments down well should yield a nice brew)

The 1st Taste-Off

Tried some Sam Adams Pale Ale BrewMaster's Collection against some TnDC Orange & BREW American Pale Ale that I found hiding at my place this weekend and it was phenomenal. I picked up the SA Pale Ale at Dirk's Filet and Vine. I had never had any of the SA Pale Ale and since they use Kent Goldings and Fuggles hops I thought I would put'em in a little competition with each other. Boston Brewery first started brewing their Pale Ale in 1999 but my APA was ca. 9/19/2003, so it had almost aged for a year when I found it. I'll have to say with as little bias as possible that I would take my PA over theirs any day. Take a look for yourself

Temporary Schedule Change

Until further notice TnDC will become FnDC (FridayNightDrinkingClub), for probably the remainder of the semester. However, you can still count on the same festive nature and level of activities (if not more) as usual. Crazy thing about Pharmacy school, it keeps going on Friday mornings whether you are hung over or not. See hangover remedies I personally try to remember to take a B Complex before I go to bed. Cheers!

Brew Batch #5

And Irish Red Ale hit the bottles tonight!! Did them all in 12oz "Red Stripe" bottles with red caps. Got 48 of those with several mutts. I blue flip-top that Guantanamo Nate wanted me to try, naturally a clear one to watch how it settles, 2 12oz long-neck brown and a short-neck green. FG 1.002+0.002@ 75F to give it 4.2% alc. v/v. So all in all it has been a summer of 5 batches with 25 gallons (or Cong) of homebrew. I also suspended the Russian Imperial Stout until next June when I really have it down pat. This stuff has to condition for 6 months, I would hate to screw it up.

Almost Forgot...

On a completely different yet totally worth mentioning note, Star Wars III has been named Revenge of the Sith. Many will remember that the original ROTJ (Episode 6) was supposed to be named Revenge of the Jedi. But Lucas held on the violence. Was it all planned? The truth revealed it is. Anway don't forget to pick up your copy of the Original Trilogy due out sometime in Sept. So head on over to www.clockdown.com and download your egg-timer for Episode III.