2011 in Review

Looking over this last year, I definitely kept slowing down as the year went on, sort of reflecting my busy schedule. Something had to give. Admittedly, I didn’t do as many fruit wine fermentations this fall, and I accidently missed all the apples from the homestead that I used last year. 2011 was a year of procrastination for me.

But it was also a learning year. I made a switch from bottling my cider in wine bottles as a still drink to bottling in champagne bottles as a carbonated drink because it really did taste better.  I also got my hands on 16 gallons of good cider apple’s juice, which has natural tannin, so I’m excited to see how that turns out. I expanded into fermentation of other stuff, such as making my own yogurt, and I took a class on distilling.

It was also a year of exposure for me. I’ve been giving away my cider now to friends and family. I’ve been participating in a wine group. Probably most exciting of all was serving my cider to the public at the MashFest last summer. This exposure has also brought in an invitation to be paid to teach twice a year how to make cider at a brew supply store.

I’ve been blogging now for two years. To date, I have posted 412 times counting this post, and I have gotten over 23,000 views. This year, even though I cut down on the number of postings I write, the number of people viewing my website went from about 20 a day in 2010 to about 50 a day in 2011, and I also picked up 15 followers. Thanks!

What are people reading about? Well, the favorite is still pears in alcohol.

My best viewership for a single day was originally set in 2010 when I talked about some Washington State liquor store initiatives. That record for best viewership in a single day was broken when I wrote about the newest Washington State liquor store initiatives. Go figure – politics draw readers instead of chasing them away.

Here are the all-time top 10 most viewed posts I have written (this does not include homepage hits and scrolling through my blog though multiple posts):

1. Pears in Alcohol. This had more than twice the amount of hits than the number #2 posting. I still think the hits are because of USA Pears, whom I linked to, but I’m not complaining!
2. The 2010 write up on the Washington State Liquor Initiatives 110 & 1105.
3. It looks like some people want to read about me on the About the Candle Wine Project.
4. Cider Review: JK Scrumpy Farmhouse Organic Hard Cider
5. Making Wine with Whey
6. Cold Crashing Explained
7. My Eco-Lawn
8. My (pathetic) Apple Grinder that I retired after just a few grindings.
9. My (wonderful) Italian Apple Grinder that I will probably cry over when it breaks down on me.
10. Building an Apple Press

While I do try to specialize in cider, I do tend to wander and research and write about other things that inspire me, and this top ten kind of shows me that it’s okay not to be focused on one thing. People will read what I write, or not. As long as I’m inspired is the important thing, because then people wouldn’t read a thing. So here is to hoping I am inspired to write a bit more in 2012, and maybe actually start tackling getting my winemaker’s license.

Further reading: 2010 in Review

Book Review: A History of the World in 6 Glasses

I almost got a minor in British history, so I am able, depending on the author, to sit down and read a history book. I picked up A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage because it was on a library recommendation table. This book covers three alcohols: beer, wine, distilled spirits, and then moves into three non-alcohols: coffee, tea, and soda pop, and how they all shaped the world. Examples include:

• While beer and wine were probably discovered at the same time, beer was the dominate drink at first because pottery had not yet been invented, which was needed for winemaking.
• Wine took over as the dominate beverage with the Greeks, who would drink it watered down so that they could have free flowing thought without fighting.
• Rum production helped lead to the American Revolution, as the colonists were buying molasses from the French colonies in the Caribbean, so the British started the Molasses Tax.
• Coffee was the anti-alcohol, though it was at first met with a lot of resistance as being just as evil.
• Bricks of tea was used as currency in ancient China, and China only sold tea originally to the British in exchange for silver, as they were uninterested in European goods. This lead to the Opium War.
• Soda pop was an industrial revolution experiment, and the creator of Coca-Cola, John Pemberton, chose to put his medicinal concoction originally in wine but made the switch to in soda water instead of alcohol because the City of Atlanta, where he was, had a two year Prohibition in 1886.

I find this a fascinating read that is written not too dryly. However, I sometimes feel like Standage did a lot of research on one aspect of a topic, formed a good thesis, and gave it lots of support, only to kind of rush the conclusion and/or decide to stop researching. For example, he goes from how coffee houses started the French Revolution, but wraps up with to just two paragraphs on coffee today. It was a bit awkward.

Overall, though, I found this to be a fascinating read, and I would recommend this book to any history buffs.

Redneck Wine Glass

Normally, I don’t do holiday bazaars. Actually, I’m a bit of a Grinch who prefers Thanksgiving to Christmas. Christmas is 1) a lot of work to put up decorations only to take them back down 2) expensive for having to buy the decorations, and 3) a pain to shop for presents for people in a society that buys all the time, leaving nothing for gifts. Holiday bazaars are an extension of that, where half of everything there is Christmas related, and the other half just seems cheap. Somewhere in there is maybe 5% interesting and useful, like soap, but admittedly, I have a hard time wading through all that other stuff just to find the 5%.

But I did go to a bazaar, and I actually saw something that is cheap, but interesting and useful. Whimsical is probably the better word. Perkins Woodworks, who also does recycled art, was selling “wineglasses” made out of jars. Actually, I don’t really think I know any wine drinker who would drink out of one of these, but I could totally see someone serving cider in one. Also, I do know of breweries that will sell beer in jars, so maybe they would like these, too.

I figured that they were made from using epoxy glue to attach a jar to a candle stick holder, so they won’t exactly be dishwasher friendly. I started looking in stores for candle stick holders, and after five stores, I finally found something that might work, though I’m a little nervous that it doesn’t have much of a lip to act as a base. I started trying out different jars, and found that ones that are straight up and down look better, though I did have one little jar that looked cute, like a brandy sniffer. I also realized that all the jars I had are pint jars, and the original was smaller.

Redneck Brandy Sniffer?

Gift Ideas

I feel a little guilty about not putting out there some Christmas present ideas, so here is a list that might inspire you:

• A bottle of wine, beer, cider, mead etc or some homemade liqueur
• Fruit
• A book on beer, wine, cider, cheese, etc
• WineMaker Magazine or Brew Your Own Magazine subscription
• Gift certificates to make wine or beer in a shop
• Kits to get started in wine or beer making at home
• Classes to learn how to make wine, beer,  cheese, kombocha, etc
• Memberships to groups and clubs
• Knit a Winecozy
• Wine and Beer Gadgets

2011 Holiday Ale Festival

This past Saturday, my husband Butle, cousin, two friends and I went to the 16^th Annual Holiday Ale Festival held at Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland, OR. This was the third time I had attended. We got there shortly after noon, and left the crowded tent at 3pm. It was strange to walk outside and regain the ability to hear things. Getting there that early allowed us to pretty much never stand in line until about the final hour before we left, and even then the lines were not too bad. I did have a coworker who said he walked by at about 2pm and decided it looked too crowded and did not go in.

The Holiday Ale Festival serves up a lot of dark beers, and this year it cost $25 with a mug and eight 4-ounce samples (same price as last year, but with two less tastes). Between the five of us, we got to sample quite a bit as one of us would go get a sample and then pour into other people’s mugs. All in all, we still each probably drank the same amount, and we all felt like even though we wanted to try more, eight samples was almost too much for safety, which is something I had sort of come to the conclusion of at the Oregon Brewer’s Fest. Though, since there was five of us, we probably tasted more individual beers than I have been able to with just myself and my husband going.

Here are some of my notes, in order of tasting. Mind you, most of these beers were just made for this event and are nearly impossible to find otherwise.

• Bison Brewing Co, Berkeley, CA. Barry White’s Voice in a Barrel. Dry Foreign Style Stout. 7% ABV, 15 IBU. It is described as their chocolate stout aged in Bourbon barrels. It was a good beer. To me, it had a nose like a sour, which Burtle said was the Bourbon. The dominate taste to me was espresso, though not as intense as Fort George Brewery’s Kentucky Girl Stout. We had to wonder if they were giving us straight espresso and not beer in that.
• Gilgamesh Brewing, Turner, OR. Chocolate Mint Stout. 6% ABV, 1 IBU. Time and time again, I have just not been impressed with putting mint in beer. This one smelled good of peppermint and chocolate, but the taste was horrible.
• Alameda Brewing Co, Portland, OR. Papa Noel’s Moonlight Reserve. Olde Ale, 8.2%, 30 IBU. This was a nice malty beer, but the longer I drank it, the more the IBU got to me.
• Widmer Brothers Brewing Co, Portland, OR. Peppermint Paddy Porter. 7.6% ABV, 25 IBU. This was a really malty beer that came off a little burnt to me. Neither my cousin nor I could detect the mint, though Burtle thought the mint was still too strong.
• Breakside Brewery, Portland, OR. Cranberry Biere de Table. Session beer, 3.3%, 6 IBU. Burtle commented that you couldn’t taste the cranberry, but then again, we have had some beers in the summer where the cranberry was too much. This was a nice light (tad watery) beer that would be a great pairing with Thanksgiving last week. It would compliment turkey and other food without competing with it. A good, “wash it all down” beer.
• Oakshire Brewing, Eugene, OR. The Nutcracker – Gingerbread Imperial Porter. 8% ABV, 30 IBU.  My notes start getting sparse from here on out, and for this beer, I simply said, “toasted and burned.” However, one of our friends really liked it.
• The Commons Brewery, Portland, OR. Little Brother. Belgian Dark Strong Ale, 8.7% ABV, 24 IBU. I liked this one better than the previous beer, noting caramel or toffee.
• Fort George Brewery, Astoria, OR. Kentucky Girl Stout. Bourbon Barrel Aged Coffee Stout, 8.5% ABV, 48 IBU. This is the before mentioned coffee beer that left you wondering if you had been served up just coffee.
• Buckman Botanical Brewery, Portland, OR. Fruit Cake. Herb/Spice beer, 6.5% ABV, 69 IBU. I was curious about this one, but was going to leave it for last due to the IBU. However, a friend got it, and I got a little bit of fruit notes and toffee. However, the friend commented that he did not rinse his glass out after having Fort George, so he thought the toffee favor was really coming from that.
• Bison Brewing Co had one that I do not have any information on, other than it had some tangerine in it. I found it very drinkable and wanted to swap with Burtle what I was drinking, but he wouldn’t let me.

We actually sampled another five beers, but my notes are sparse that they aren’t worth reviewing.

Going with other people like that was very nice because we got to try a larger variety of beers without being completely drunk. It was also cheaper for all of us, as we were not purchasing extra tickets. Really, going with friends is the best way to go.

Store Review: The Beer Junction

My husband and I were up in the Seattle area for Thanksgiving. Before we left for home, we asked if any of our Seattlite friends wanted to hang out, and one of my husband’s college roommates, who is now my lawyer, took us up on the offer. So we drove out to West Seattle, but we got there a little bit early. Walking around, we spotted a bottle shop and decided to go in.

What we found was The Beer Junction. The Beer Junction is probably the best bottle shop we have encountered in the Seattle area. The shop was well organized by beer style, which we like, and isn’t just some hodge podge of bottles thrown in the shop. We also felt like it was a very good selection of beer, and we found out from our friend that they are actually moving shop locations so that they can grow bigger.

We told ourselves before going in that we weren’t going to buy anything, but we ended up walking out with three bottles of beer. Admittedly, Full Throttle Bottle has a better selection of cider, and they also have a good selection of wine for the non-beer drinker, but their beer selection wasn’t as impressive as the Beer Junction’s.

 

We kind of feel like this is a little gem hidden off the beaten path and nestled into west Seattle.