I know I have never kept as consistent with this blog as I'd like, even when I've specifically written about my planned schedule-keeping to force myself to write regularly. I brewed my last beer in Cleveland, OH in late March. The week before Memorial Day my wife and I moved across the county to Berkeley, CA. I brewed my first batch here in August. I haven't stopped enjoying new beers, but we had to get settled before I had the time and funds to brew again, and am just now finding the time to write here again.
I want to blog about every batch I brew, even if it's part of an overview post of what I had been up to but didn't have to time to write up. I know I can't keep to that regular updating schedule, but I'll try not to let months lapse again (but you and I both know they will). So what have I been brewing? Let's look back at my plans for 2014.
Back in February I planned to brew a pumpkin brown ale, a California Commons, and my Jalapeno Saison before moving west. I talked about rebrewing one of my IPAs from last summer, either the black IPA or double IPA, I expressed a desire for a rye pale ale for the end of summer, the pumpkin porter for the autumn, and perhaps the peanut butter porter again for the winter. From what I produced, I've very nearly kept to my plans! I did brew the Pumpkin Brown and California Commons in the winter back in Cleveland, as well as another batch of my The Dude Abides white Russian imperial milk stout with coffee before moving out to Berkeley. Bottles from all three of those survived our move out west, including giving some away to the friends and family we saw along the way. After moving into Berkeley, it took a few months to start brewing again, and my first brew was an excellent 2-gal batch of the Spicy Jalapeno Saison. I have a rye pale ale in bottles and will try it this weekend, and I just purchased the ingredients for the peanut butter porter, including powdered PB to try to avoid issues with oil in the final product affecting foam retention.
I've continued to drink new and interesting beers, and it's taken me a while but I've found good outlets in the East Bay for purchasing my needed supply. While I haven't quite found a replacement for Sav-On Beverage in Mentor, OH, or The Wine Spot in Cleveland Heights, I have stumbled upon some local places that sell good beer. The Berkeley Bowl (both locations), Safeway, and the local Ledger's Liquor have provided me with enough single bottle and bombers of beers I excitedly anticipate drinking that I'll call myself satisfied for now.
I've moved my beer reviews to a more timely platform since I haven't been able to keep up with regular updates and the reviews become more of a chore than I'd like. I joined the Untappd social network as @PhysicistAB. There I can give tweet-sized reviews of what I've just drank, and pursue all the badges the beer-based social network has to offer! (I've already achieved 8 in two weeks of membership.) Find me and we'll share drinking experiences!
So welcome back, and welcome anew, my precious readers. How was your summer? Drink anything interesting, rare, fun, or unfortunately bad?
Until next time friends, happy brewing!
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