My Own Private Beer Garden

My hops this year have really taken off. I have some planted on one side of my house, and I also have these planted on my deck in pots. They've already grown 9 or 10 feet, since April 1st. It makes for a nice little beer garden to complement my Nanobrewery. My son and I like to sit out here with the dog and have a couple of beers while we bullshit. (The dog abstains from drinking; he's more interested in chasing squirrels). My son and I built this pergola/arbor last Spring. We work well together; it only took us 6 hours to build it (while drinking some tasty Scottish Ale). We call it our "White Trash Tornado Shelter."


Nanobrewery update:
The Belgian Saison that I brewed last Sunday is still chugging-away in it's primary fermenter. It will need at least another 4 - 6 days there, before being transferred to the secondary. The American Brown that I brewed a month ago is delicious. It turned out to be a wonderful "session" beer. The Belgian Strong Dark Ale needs to be transferred to kegs and carbonated. I'll do that this weekend. The Oak-Aged Imperial Stout also needs to be transferred and carbonated. With the IPA and Imperial IPA, that will make for 5 decent beers on tap, (six, if I include my barleywine downstairs).

It's supposed to rain all of this weekend. If it does, I'm tempted to brew again. If I do, I will brew another Session Beer, since I'm top-heavy with heavy, heady beers. Next Saturday, May 8th, is the American Homebrewers Association's "Big Brew Day." I'm a registered Big Brew site. With my own equipment, I intend to brew two 10-gallon all-grain batches at the same time. I haven't done that before.


This week, I made reservations for our trip to Portland, Oregon in July. My wife and son will go with me, and our foster son will drive over from Spokane to meet us. We'll spend some time at the Oregon Brewer's Festival, which I haven't been to since year 2000. While I'm there, I'll also run in the the PCT50 trail race, on the Pacific Coast Trail. It includes the beautiful Mount Hood as part of it's 50-mile course. Check out some of the photos from the race web site.