Beer Brewing

This past Christmas I received a mini, 1 gallon beer brewing kit from Serena Martindale (Rowan's mom).  Though for full disclosure, we've done most of the brewing and drinking together.  With incredibly easy steps and fast turnaround, we almost immediately fell in love and brewing is almost a weekly occurrence now.  In fact, I just added it up and combining everything since starting and including beer in progress, we've brewed 32 gallons of beer!  Before anyone does too much math on how much beer we drink though, keep in mind that each 1 gallon batch produces between 9 and 10 bottles of beer (a loss of 1 or 2 bottles off the ideal).

A wonderful part of brewing is the aroma produced during the boil.  Hearty grains, thick malts, and floral hops all combine and impart a lingering headiness that lasts for hours.

After 1 or 2 weeks in the fermentor(s), the beer is bottled and a small bit is sampled.  At this point, it's already usually delicious. While it is also warm and flat, if the beer already tastes good, then you know it's going to be amazing.  Perhaps surprisingly, we've never had a bad/off/skunked batch yet.

One of the great side-effects of brewing, is that most kits include some grains that are steeped while the water is being bought to a boil.  Using these grains we have made some of the best bread we've had the delight to eat.  Also thanks to another gift from Serena, a bread machine.  Each loaf is unique in texture, flavour, and colour.

Borrowing some equipment from Mark and Maria, we were able to brew up a 5 gallon batch of Hefeweizen.  This was awesome because it gave use a default option to enjoy when we low on other beer.  You tend to go through a batch of 9-10 bottles before you know it, but when you have a stash of something else, it really helps prolong the enjoyment.

Brewing has also given us an excellent reason to use a handmade, leather bound note book that we picked up in Italy.  Taking notes to track progress, learn from mistakes, and experiment is part of the brewing fun.

The brewing habit picked up quickly again after we moved to Austin, TX.  Though cooling down the wort (post-boil liquid that will ferment and become beer) is much more difficult when then tap water is tepid instead of cold.

With approval from our cats, we recently expanded our brewing capacity from 3 x 1 gallon batches to 6 x 1 gallon batches.  One day, we might expand to 5 gallon batches, but the 1 gallon size is so easy that we haven't had the desire to yet.

Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool festival!

This weekend, Jason, Ed, Jean, and I went to the Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool festival (one of the biggest festivals in the USA for all things fiber related)! There was sheep shearing demonstrations, sheep hearding demos, llamas and alpacas on parade, an assortment of delicious foods to sample (as well as a hefty done of wine and sweets), and of course, anything you could possibly need for spinning, weaving, felting, or knitting! Here are a few quick snaps from my phone, I'm sure Ed has a lot better stuff (he was taking photos while I was elbows deep in alpaca fleece... we all have our priorities!)

The fall colours on the Hudson river valley were amazing! It sounds like we hit the peak week!

There were tons of beautiful fleeces from all sorts of wooly animals (mostly sheep, llama and alpacas, but there was also goat and bunny fiber!) I got a little overwhelmed and dropped some money on a stunning charcoal baby alpaca fleece (not pictured, I'm silly) and then took it to someone who would wash and card it for me, since I don't have the hardware.

 

I grabbed my friend Natalie a Shark (T)Sock kit! Lisa makes awesome stuff (check it out), and was almost as excited to see me as I was to see her :D

 

 

I also saw the brilliant Jennifer of Holiday Yarns! I suck because I didn't get a picture, but I snagged some beautiful yarn from here (Her stuff can be acquired here)
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I also bought a little bag of merino! It was soft like butter!

 

 

 Mmmmmm merino! Just kidding, it was maple cotton candy (no corn syrup, yay!)!

 

No Rowan, don't eat the fiber!!!!!

 We petted some curly baby goats

 

 And some sheep

 

 

And some llamas and alpacas! 

 

All in all, a great time was had by all (although the crazy knitter in me wanted to go for a second day) ;) 

Insert silly music

Jason vs. the Giant Chert nodule!

This is a time lapse video of hammering the beejeezuz out of a chert nodule so we could collect some pieces (I think this music is appropriate). Chert is really hard and so getting pieces of the nodule out of the outcrop was quite an undertaking! Jason is a star field assistant! Sorry for the shaky camera, I was laughing too hard.

Venetian Dinner Day 2

After our excellent Venitian dinner last night, we decided to stay on the island again this evening! 

We started with a classic Venitian dish, Spaghetti al Nero di sepia (spaghetti with cuttlefish cooked in ink)! Even though I am allergic to cephalopods (minor allergic reaction), we wanted to try it! I stayed away from the cuttlefish, but both of us really enjoyed the delicious sauce! It is much better than it looks ;)

 

For our second course we had a Gaffero (?) Pizza... Soft mozzarella slices, fresh basil, olives and sweet cherry tomatoes! So tasty, we forgot to snag a photo before we started!

Of course we had some lovely local wine! Tonight, a red and a white!

To finish? Tiramasu... Why not? (As our waitress said). Definitely a great choice if you're on a good Venetian restaurant (but not a cafe.... No sir... we got multi-coloured sprinkles on our dolce!)

Dinner in Venice

Tonight we stayed late in the beautiful city of Venice! We decided to splurge a little and go for some Venitian cuisine!

The dinner started with some delicious carpaccio (very thinly sliced steak with cheese). This dish seemed to be the Italian version of sushi, and it was excellent!

The prima was a delicious venetian style gnocchi (creamy mushroom sauce and potato dumplings). This was really fantastic, best gnocchi I have ever had! We paired this with the house wine, a Veneto white.

The secondo was the catch of the day, cooked in true Venetian style! The fish was a flounder (turbot) and we were shown the fish before it was prepared, after it was baked, and then finally as a beautiful fillet on your plate. 

The waiter filleting our fish for us!

The fish was baked with olives, potatoes, cherry tomatoes, and some magical delicious sauce!

After this we decided to stay late and get a caffé (for Jason, espresso), a Moscato (for me), and the best Tiramasu I have ever had!

 

We even got serenaded by a guy with an accordion (he actually started with "when the moon hits your eye like a big piiiizzza pie, that's amoreeeeee")

A great evening in a quiet corner of Venice right next to the canal with some amazing food! Definitely worth the splurge!  

Agritur Masi Brenta

The last 3 nights we stayed in the Agritur Masi Brenta. Here are some reasons why we thought it was the best B&B in Italy!

 1) Stunning mountain location!

2) Vineyards all around, and in the evening you can sip their delicious vino de la casa!

3) Awesome breakfast spread (from which you can make a lunch!)
4) Don't want to go out for dinner? They will make you dinner! You can also get a bottle or crafe of wine left in your room.
5) Beautiful, renovated rooms with amazing views!
6) Great English!
7) Cute little farm with donkeys, goats, and sheep.

8) In the fall, they harvest and grind the maize using traditional tools.
9) They gave us a beautiful handmade pillow cover!
10) The dad collects the fossils he finds around the grounds and he had a nice collection of ammonites in the front room (and the maize macine is made of lithiotid limestone!)
11) Beautiful patio/garden with a view of Rovereto.

12) Stunning views in all directions!

13) A sweet hiking trail through the mountain steeped in WWI history!
14) Elevator (great when you're on the top floor!)
15) Only 5 minutes from town but still a lovely getaway!

16) Have I mentioned the mountain views?