Sparging my first all-grain batch last weekend. Boiling the wort, same batch. Jonah labels a Scotch Ale.
 Happy 2011! Seems like every year holds major changes for us, and 2010 was no exception, so we’ve included some highlights. As you may remember from last year’s letter, Berck joined the ranks of the unemployed. While he waited for the flying industry to improve, in February we decided to purchase a 1973 Honda CB 350 as a hobby project. Unfortunately, we had to wait a month between purchasing the bike we dubbed Yoshiko (Japanese for, among other things, “little, pretty, green girl”) and actually getting to ride it, since we really wanted to take a motorcycle safety course…
The beers I’ve made so far (and still not actually tasted), have all utilized malt extracts. This is somewhat limiting in terms of the kinds of beers I can make, but quick and easy because someone else has taken malted grain and mashed it for me. The goal with this beer making is to make seriously good beer on the cheap. Soon, I plan to attempt a clone of one of the best beers in the world. Doing so involves making beer directly from malted grain. Which means mashing said grain, as there are no extracts available made from specialty…
…so they got oven mitts. Ben got everyone anti-snoring nasal strips.