Sunday, December 27, 2009

Best of 2009

Click here to see my 44 favorite photos of 2009.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Mmm...mead!

Isn't this gorgeous? This is a mead (fermented honey wine) that our friend Farmer brewed up last year and we bottled a few weeks ago. It is flavored with licorice root, lemon balm, and other desert herbs. It is already wonderfully complex and should only mellow and improve with several years of aging.

We did a small mead tasting at our Solstice party last night. We started with a bottle of Farmer's mead and progressed to a true treat - Matt's five-year-old saguaro mead (made with three GALLONS of saguaro juice). We polished off one of Matt's last remaining bottles and it was one of the best tasting liquids that has passed my lips in a long time. Thanks Matt and Farmer! See you next year with my offering.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Quote of the Day

"This is what being 'cool' is all about--not acting like so many other people that you blend in completely, yet at the same time not acting so differently that you seem like a freak or you get in trouble... The problem with being 'cool' though is that the balance point between conformity and freakdom is incredibly tiny, and when you try to straddle it you just wind up falling off into the surrounding area called called 'rationalization,' and rationalization is basically the essence of comedy." -BikeSnobNYC

Monday, December 7, 2009

Save the Gloo Factory!


I made these cookies for a benefit/beer tasting/birthday party this weekend. The Gloo Factory has been notified that the space it occupies is going on the auction block. It is hard for me to imagine a cause, event or group I have encountered in Tucson that has not benefited from the support of Dwight. He is one of the folks here in town that make this place special to us and so many others, we are grateful to him. Join us in supporting him!

Monday, November 23, 2009

Happy Monday

"How strange and wonderful is our home, our earth, with its swirling vaporous atmosphere, its flowing and frozen climbing creatures, the croaking things with wings that hang on rocks and soar through fog, the furry grass, the scaly seas...how utterly rich and wild...Yet some among us have the nerve, the insolence, the brass, the gall to whine about the limitations of our earthbound fate and yearn for some more perfect world beyond the sky. We are none of us good enough for the world we have." - Edward Abbey "Appalachian Wilderness"

Thursday, November 19, 2009

I heart Portland!

Here's some pics from our recent trip:


Mother Hips






Brewing beer in the rain.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Bike Tour photos are up!

For those of you who couldn't make it to our slideshow premiere, our photos are now up on the web here. Watch as a slideshow for best results. And we're still working on the brewery wrap-up. Stay tuned.

Mad Scientist


After returning from our brewery tour this summer, I have been brewing like mad. The top photo is me making my first mead. Mead is a fermented honey wine. It's even easier than making beer - mix 15lbs honey with 5 gallons of water, add yeast, and wait. This particular batch should be ready for the holidays...in 2010!

In the bottom photo, I am kegging our Mayan Mystery Porter. It has powdered baking chocolate along with other spices such as cinnamon, cayenne, black pepper, mace, etc. I will be unveiling it at the beer benefit party for the Gloo Factory in early Dec. I have also brewed an Imperial Vanilla Oatmeal Stout for Thanksgiving.

Monday, September 14, 2009

It's official!

We successfully completed our West Coast bike tour in the lovely town of Santa Barbara last Thursday. We will post some final thoughts in the near future but for now, here are some stats:
  • Total miles: 2107
  • #of days: 68
  • Average miles per day: 31
  • Longest day: 66 miles
  • Top speed: 46 mph
  • Flats: 2
  • Breweries visited: 28
  • Beers sampled: 97!

Stay tuned for a full brewery review. Cheers!

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

San Francisco

A big thank you to our PCT friend Justin who hosted us in the City by the Bay. We had a fantastic time from the moment we pedaled across the Golden Gate Bridge on a rare sunny and clear day until our departure four days later. We played around the Embarcadero, loitered in Golden Gate Park, checked out the famous Beat hangout of City Lights Books, visited three different breweries, went to a Giants game and rode the Critical Mass ride. All in all a fantastic taste of iconic San Francisco. We are clocking some internet time in Santa Cruz before pedaling south to Monterey.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

SF Critical Mass

When you have just ridden 1600 miles from Seattle to San Francisco and learn that one of the country's largest critical mass rides is happening that night, you just kinda have to ride it.










The ride started at rush hour on a Friday evening in the heart of downtown and twisted around the city, circling Union Square and doing a full U-turn in front of Giant's Stadium... on a game night! Too much fun!

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Highway 1

As difficult as it was to tear ourselves away from the hospitality of our friends in Eureka we were happy to get back on the bikes and explore the Northern California coastline. We attempted an alternate route near the Lost Coast but the unrelenting 6 mile climb had me throwing in the towel. The regular route was not a bad runner up since it followed the Avenue of the Giants through California's iconic redwood trees. The Mendocino Coast is spectacular and rugged. Ft Bragg awarded us with brewery #16 in our tour. We were excited to have a couple campsites away from the state parks. We stayed in a beautiful spot in the Point Reyes National Seashore accessible only by foot/bikes and another just across from San Francisco in the Golden Gate Recreation Area. We are enjoying the city and staying with our friend Justin (PCT 08).