Drinking Beer while Brewing Beer

It's like eating while watching the Food network. It's like playing touch football during the halftime of a football game. It's like having sex while watching porn.

Is there ANYTHING better than drinking beer while brewing beer? Right now I'm heating up the water for the specialty grains while disinfecting the fermentor. Which means I'm really just sitting here listening to Walton & Johnson podcasts and about to crack open...

Beer Log: Right now 11:51AM
State: Waiting on the water to heat up.

Great Lakes Eliot Ness
I picked up a six pack of this while in Buffalo. I tore through about 4 of them while I was in Buffalo prompting my mother to think I'm an alcoholic. I had a few left so I brought them along with me back to Houston. Nice to see that they have some great beer in my old hometown and birthplace: Cleveland, Ohio. Nice malt and delicate toastiness on the nose. Copper color with strong white head in my cupped pilsner glass. Damn I needed that. Moderate to strong malt with just enough grassy hops to balance. Moderate carbonation and whatnot. Finish has a sweetness to it, almost cloying. The bottle says it's an amber lager but if the brothas told me it was an American Brown Ale I would believe it. I just really enjoy this sweet amber lager, though not as crisp as I figured out. But I like the gentle bitterness and toastiness. 4 stars. CLEVELAND ROCKS!






I think the challenge with drinking beer while brewing beer is not to get plastered as you'll be sitting around for a while, but you can't exactly leave the house for a few holes at the golf course as you'll burn your house down. I'm looking through our kegerator and we have hardly any new beers that we have more than one bottle of. In other words, I can't just go drinking all these beers we brought from the ATL and Buffalo and Maryland while the wife is not here. We actually have some GB Blonde Bock and a sixpack to boot. I haven't reviewed this one since I was back in the ATL for some recruiting.

Gordon Biersch Blonde Bock
Pours a tinged straw color in my NORTH CAROLINA 2009 NCAA BASKETBALL NATIONAL CHAMPION mug. I last had this beer in a sampler, but on its own I imagine it will be a little better. Strong poofy white head. Has a kind of Munich malt smell and German noble hop thing going on. Think of those random green bottle German beers (link) you get at the liquor store, just without the long plane ride to the states. Taste has a nice syrupy sweetness to it characteristic of a bock. Totally messes with your head considering the light color. Low carbonation a lightly hopped. Seems like they have it down. High 3 Star. Fantastic purity law beer.


I just got off the phone with the wife about Oktoberfest, and it turns I actually drank the last of the Eliot Ness. She hadn't tried it yet so I kind of screwed up there. As such I'm slugging down a can of Fat Tire right out of the can along with my Enchiladas from Sylvia's. I'm telling, I go into WITHDRAWAL if I do not have some good Mexican or Tex-Mex at least once a week. If your town doesn't have at least 10% illegal immigrants, your Mexican/Tex-Mex food is probably not up to snuff. I'm doing a full 5 gallon boil on the stovetop, so it is taking FOREVER for this thing to reach a boil. And it will take forever again after I add the extract. So I'm sitting here listening to 2 Live Stews podcasts and watching UFC Wired.

Just added the hops, got a little boil over, so the beer won't be as hoppy. But then again it's for the wife so it should be all good. I may slap in the other hops a couple minutes early to get it going. How about some Zon.

Boulevard Zon
Coming out of Kansas City. Banana yeast nose. Quick dissapearing fizzy white head on a cloudy yellow beer. Strong yeast flavor like my old Belgian witbier homebrew before it fermented out. Beer is much more pleasant than I remember. Nice poofiness to its body and whatnot. Dammit I hate boilover. Low 3 Stars.

Well, I'm still cleaning up the Zon I just spilled on the carpet. Backed right into while watching UFC 101 for the 20th time. I poured myself some Anchor Bock with it's roastiness and whatnot in my Carolina mug. It's 3:30PM and I'm out of ice and the lowest I can get the temperature is 82 deg F on the wort. The OG is 1044. Tastes super sweet and moderate hops on the wort. Already added a gallon of 42 deg F wort. I have not freezer or anything for temperature control, so I'm just going to live with 82 deg F and pitch the yeast. Whatever happens happens.

Ok. I need another drink...some Oskar Blues Mama's Little Yella Pils should do the trick.

This is some BULL SHYT. I made ENTIRELY too much money to be sitting her trying to cool down my wort with a bunch of ice in the kitchen sink whatnot. Dammit I was hoping to hit my IPA as well today, but screw that. I'm pitching yeast at 82 deg F like an idiot. I've got to get some better equipment going. Mama's pils is much better out of the can btw. This is terrible. Will let you know how it turns out.

UPDATE: 6AM this morning

The beer is fermenting up a storm right now. Temperature is down to 75 deg F. I do expect the Golden Ale to be a little fruitier than normal, but that's okay. I may try to get my IPA going tomorrow morning. We'll see.