Last post of the year...

As I sit here pondering what the next year will be, I also look in retrospect and see that this year had been a decent year for beer. Highlights do include some well earned gold medals, and of course all sorts of great brews. I pushed myself to learn more not only by using different malts and hops but also to learn new ways to mash. I know I am far from mastering the decoction mash but at least I can now say that I have attempted it and successfully made good beer in the process.

Now as the first brew of the year approaches, I am preparing to brew a double IPA. I will be using malts, and hops that I have never before used for an IPA and I will also be doing a stepped infusion mash.

In other news, I received a new tap handle for Christmas from my sister this year. Sadly, it was a Michelobe light or some such handle. But then with a bit of work with a sander I now have it ready to be repainted. I am thinking after repaint I will have my daughter do a bit of stenciling work on it so it will display the 10th Day Brewing name.

Enough of this for now...

Let's all raise a pint and toast to the new year. I hope that we all find the brews we seek and more in the months ahead...

Let me tell ya about life...

The past month to month and a half has been hectic to say the least. Although there has been much to keep me away from writing and even brewing during this time, I have not abandoned the work I strive to build my life on.

I have been fighting it for the past few years (well since I finished my senior year and earned my BBA), but it seems I will be returning to school again. It has been a scramble to put together the financial aid package that will allow me to get some official physics and chemistry added to the list of stuff I already study. Hopefully, this will put me in a better place to finally get some course work done at the Siebel institute in Chicago. Does this mean I am a super excited home brewer? Or might I finally be entering the ranks of burgeoning professional brewers?

And on that note I may even be building some teaching credentials in the future. Grand Rapids Community College may soon be adding a brewing program to their culinary arts program. I think it might be super cool to return to school no longer the student but now the teacher (or at the start at least as an adjunct professor).

Soon I will be looking toward the new year and making plans for upcoming brews again. With the holidays upon us and working out my current educational plans, brewing isn't necessarily at the forfront of what I need to do currently. But then, I may soon find that my stock pile in my cellar has dwindled to scary levels and I will need to begin filling the cellar again (of course I still have a kegerator to finish as well).

And now, I think its time for a pint...