So at some point toward the end of last week (or maybe over the weekend) was the two year anniversary of the first post on this site.  I knew that the occasion was at the end of July, but since I often am not aware of what the date is, a few days went by before I realized that I missed it.  After that I was excited to look back at the post I did one year ago to see what has changed since then.

The answer is that quite a lot has changed while at the same time very little has been done toward the five goals I wrote in that post.  I was slightly bummed at first, but as I thought about it there is not much that I would change.

Made some new friends

I mean how can I be at all upset that in the last year I landed a job at one of the top beer places to be found anywhere?  They thankfully gave me a shot and started me out working a day or two a week and now I am there seemingly more than not and am working full time hours each week.  I have had access to so many great beers, met numerous brewers and brewery reps, helped out some good people, streamlined operations a bit, and have really had a blast with it all.

My second home

So yes I have tweaked my grading system (a few times) as I set out to do last year and have to a lesser degree focused on beer and food pairing, though mostly on a personal level.  I have not brewed in some time which is a big hindrance to evolving my methods and skills as I wanted to.  Admittedly I do miss it and will get back to it at some point, but I cannot say exactly when with so many other things going on.

If only for the sake of writing it down (since I did it last year) I should mention the number of beers reviews on this site after another year has gone by.  I am not into counting that high this morning to get an exact number, but I do know that there are well over 200 reviews on this site now and if I include the shorter evaluations (B Notes) the number is actually closer to 300.  Not bad for something that started out as a beer journal for me.

Coming soon to a computer near you

Maybe I have not done guest posts for others (though I owe The Wife at least a few) and I have not stepped up with many more videos, but I have kind of combined the two into one.  I had the opportunity to shoot a pilot for a beer based web show with a good friend (who happens to be my boss at Redlight) and am pretty excited to see what it looks like once the editing is done.  Doing that is a big deal for me and makes up for falling short on those other things.

With the constant immersion in the world of beer now I actually feel that becoming a Certified Cicerone is an attainable goal sometime in the next year.  There is no way I would have thought that way back when I did my first personal beer review.

Somewhere in there I decided it was also a good idea to start my own company and get my license to practice Architecture in New York State (on top of my Florida license) to be able to do some work with/for an old friend.  Let’s just say that some weeks are pretty damn busy, but with how busy The Wife is with all of her projects I am just trying to keep up.

Many beers yet to enjoy

With all of my rambling and reminiscing done for today I can say that still, more than a year and a half later, I do not regret leaving my office life in the rear view.  Cheers to that!

Once again I must thank The Wife and Cousin Adam for passing along a few things to add to the list this week.  I am not sure what my personal record is for news stories in one post, but I might just have to start setting a limit for myself pretty soon.

Much to get to this morning . . .

• Food trucks are certainly the it thing in the culinary world of larger cities and they have even gained some traction here in Orlando.  Could alcohol soon become a mainstay on may of their menus?
• Though I would love to be hitting all of the breweries they are, I am glad the two of them are doing all the leg work for me (sorry for the bad pun) in highlighting some sustainable brewing practices.
• It is very interesting to read how they might have been brewing beer in France some 2,500 years ago, but I do not think I will be germinating my own grains on the kitchen floor anytime soon.
• I would not have guessed that Pizza Hut would be the first to step up and serve beer by the drink after the local ordinance passed.
• There are so many days where all I want to have a are a few really flavorful and sessionable beers, so I am always happy to read about brewers brewing in the lower range of alcohol by volume.
• There is really no chance that I will get to Japan anytime soon (though I would love the opportunity), but hopefully I will start to see more and more Japanese craft beers find their way to the United States soon.
• I am guilty of hesitation when asked if a particular brown ale is any good.  That is not because it isn’t, but because it is a brown ale and there are not a lot of mind blowing examples that I have tried.  Always nice, but not particularly memorable.  His choice of double browns are of a different species though.
• A printed map or smartphone app or craft beer spots would be very handy and much appreciated for my next trip to Central New York.  The side note here is that I am wondering why they are choosing to do a beer festival on a Thursday (today).
• In the news that probably is only of interest to me category is a mention of wheat from the area I grew up being used to make Brooklyn Brewery’s High Line Wheat.
• Things like this happen quite often, but that doesn’t mean that hearing about this one doesn’t bum me out a little.
• A little Cigar City Brewing update here is really only to help me remember that I really want to get my hands on some White Chocolate Cream Ale.  I have no idea what to expect with that one.
• It seems that it is narrowed down to two locations, but my guess is going to be that they end up in Roanoke.  I am not sure why, but that is what I am going with.  There is a list of other brewery news in this one too.

Closer to picking a new location? (via http://beernews.org/)

Though I may have mentioned that I am not going to brew beer again until I am able to brew all grain batches, I never said anything about brewing . . . . drumroll please . . . . cider!  I have no immediate plans to make/brew any cider, but the thought intrigues me.

Now I would likely want to grab a few smaller carboys (because I really do not need five gallons of cider), but I could actually just go ahead and use the equipment that I already have.  I plan on talking to a few friends about the process (Mr. Melton for example), but watching a few videos is a good way to start.  Here is one such video . . .

Cheers!

The time I first saw the episode of Good Eats where Alton goes through the beer brewing process was at least a few years before I actually tried my hand at a batch, but I do remember it as some early inspiration.  Since he was able to really simplify the process, it was a classic example of the “If he can do that why can’t I?” scenario.  Now my eventual first batch did not go nearly as well as I had hoped, but it did nothing to discourage me from trying again.

Like so many of the other topics on his show, there easily could have been hours and hours dedicated to just that one subject.  Even as boiled down as it is (sorry for the pun), there is definitely enough information there to get a person to go out and fill in the gaps on their own if they decide to pursue brewing as a hobby.

So since I have recently mentioned that episode to a few who have asked why I decided to start brewing at home, I went out and found it to help refresh my memory.  Fortunately I did not have to look that hard.  With that, here is part one that shows pretty much everything leading up to the actually brewing.  It is long enough to watch, so I figure part two can wait for another day.

Enjoy . . .

Though I am pretty content keeping the scale of my brewing small and at home there are always those brief moments of dreaming about the what ifs.  In case any of you have those same dreams (and do not already know about the education opportunities), I present you with some brief Saturday evening entertainment.

Enjoy . . .