tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82138129965570398302024-02-08T05:17:22.807-07:00HogbackBrewingThe ramblings of a brewing enginerd dad._jds_http://www.blogger.com/profile/18153888532444436119noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213812996557039830.post-80638184358747147262012-12-15T22:21:00.000-07:002012-12-15T22:23:19.936-07:00Damniato MemoriaeDecember 15, 2012. I've logged back into my blog thing that I haven't used since I don't know when, because I have some stuff to get off my chest, and it's too long to write on Facebook. Facebook is a hard place to be today, because of (a) people trying to show how massively well intentioned their grief is, (b) people wanting to debate guns and gun control, and (c) people wanting to talk about god or the lack thereof.
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Too soon, everybody. Way too soon. Let's give the people of Newtown and their loved ones some breathing room to mourn, and to bury their honored dead. Everybody who's trying to play politics at this point is building their platform on other people's dead children, and it's fucking despicable. Well, it's the third most despicable thing about Newtown. I don't have to talk about the most despicable thing, and I'll explain why not in a minute.
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The second most despicable thing in Newtown CT tonight is the media. I read a quote attributed to Morgan Freeman (although that's unproven as of now) that most everybody who's got a Facebook account probably also read today. Whether Freeman said it or not, there's a nugget of truth there. Jack the Ripper, Jim Jones, David Koresh, Manson, Klebold, Harris. Every one of these names is famous (infamous), because somebody wrote them down, and the media repeated them, over, and over, and over again until they were burned into out societal psyche. The victims' names will be forgotten by society at large, but the killers' will live on forever. Isn't that exactly backwards?
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The Romans and some other cultures had a practice that we in the Western world should emulate: Damniato Memoriae, the damnation of memory. Those found guilty of heinous acts had their names removed from public edifices, their statues and busts smashed, and every possible reminder of their existence removed. Why should we let mass murderers keep their name, their identity, their infamy? If we have to name them, why not name them nil, nihil, void, blank?
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We should erase their names and photographs from every record. Let their birth certificates be destroyed, their school yearbooks blacked out, their names be stricken from every news item. Delete their twitter feeds, user accounts, online photo albums, Facebook walls, and anything else containing their name or image. Let those who knew them never mention their names again. Deny them the fame their final, desperate, despicable and nihilistic acts inherently cry out for. Let the media go home, turn out the lights, and allow those most closely affected to grieve.
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You, reader, can be a part of that denial as well. Turn off your tv. Deny the 24 hour news cycle access to your mind. Turn it off, let the facts come out as they will. When the time is right, lets have those discussions and political debates, but lets all agree to never, ever name the killer again. Let his name sink into ignominy and nothingness, not infamy. That's still a kind of fame.
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12/15/12, Littleton, CO
_jds_http://www.blogger.com/profile/18153888532444436119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213812996557039830.post-40185264675833346722010-08-12T14:43:00.000-06:002010-08-12T14:43:53.436-06:00A run, and two dumpers."Turn Joe Into a Runner" project, updated: Week 5 of C25k is complete, with a slow 20 minute jog. I know it doesn't sound like much, but for me, it is. I'm honestly kind of proud of myself, even though I was admittedly dogging it a bit on the run.<br />
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"Make Tasty Beer" project, updated: I'm bummed. earlier this year, I made two batches of beer with washed Cry Havoc yeast. Either I fermented WAY too warm, or the yeast was off, because both beers (a blonde ale and a 90 shilling-type ale) turned out amazingly estery.<br />
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Hpoing to recover the beers, I kegged them and let them condition for four months in the basement. Nope, still nasty.<br />
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I think it's time to dump 'em and move on. Sigh. <br />
I need the keg space anyhow. Time to brew my Oktoberfest Ale and start thinking about holiday beer._jds_http://www.blogger.com/profile/18153888532444436119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213812996557039830.post-57534833609385481432010-08-02T16:25:00.000-06:002010-08-02T16:25:50.584-06:00Just an update...Well, the "turning Joe into a runner" campaign is going well, and I'm nearly halfway through the C25K program. One of the best things I've found is <a href="http://web.me.com/iestynx/Couch_to_5K/Podcast/Podcast.html">Letsyn's C25K Podcasts</a>. They contain audio cues for when the walk vs. run intervals change, so I'm not looking at my watch the whole time I'm running. Instead, I load the week's intervals into a sound mixer (I like <a href="http://audacity.sourceforge.net/">Audacity</a>), layer in whatever music I want to use for my run, and write it out as an MP3 track I can play on my crackberry. Easy, peasy.<br />
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Brewing update? No news is no news. It's hard to get weekend time in the summer, what with kiddo's schedule and something to do seemingly every weekend. Fall is coming. I need to start an Oktoberfest soon._jds_http://www.blogger.com/profile/18153888532444436119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213812996557039830.post-60196859591117248782010-07-20T08:03:00.000-06:002010-07-20T08:03:44.204-06:00WowWhat a beautiful morning!<br />
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It's been hot in Denver lately, with daily highs approaching the century mark. I've been running (well, OK -- lumbering, then) in the mornings. As I progress through the C25K program, the intervals start getting longer. Today was day 2 of week 2, or W2D2 in C25K parlance. I went around 2 miles (including warmup and warm-down walks of five or seven minutes per), with 90 second intervals followed by 120 second recovery periods. My overall pace (per RunKeeper) was 15:38, including the warmups. <br />
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Today's "run" felt really good. In previous days, I'd been getting winded, and often getting a small stitch in my side during the last interval. Not today! I felt like I was barely breathing hard at all.<br />
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Getting up early to run has me feeling pretty good lately. Why didn't I start running again sooner?_jds_http://www.blogger.com/profile/18153888532444436119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213812996557039830.post-13894101036124102852010-07-13T08:37:00.002-06:002010-07-14T11:50:24.517-06:00Hello, Readers!<br />
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It's been a long time, but I'm going to dive back into this blog a bit.<br />
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I've learned something important. Dudes with desk jobs and a hobby of making beer need to find something active to do. I'm currently a tub of goo. :sadbanana:<br />
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So, to combat the tub-of-goo problem, and in advance of my upcoming "big 40" day, I've started a running program. I'm following the <a href="http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml">"couch-to-5k</a>" training program over at coolrunning.com, which has transformed a lot of tubs of goo into runners. I've done it before, and now it's time to do it again.<br />
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So far, I've done the first two workouts of the program, and I feel pretty good. When I was a younger guy, I was pretty active, and it feels good to be out there again. Hopefully, I'll be in shape enough that ski season won't kick my ass like it did last year.<br />
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As for beer content: The <a href="http://www.drydockbrewing.com/Default.aspx">Dry Dock Brewing</a> <a href="http://www.drydockbrewing.com/Recipes/ApricotBlondeAllGrainRecipe/tabid/837/Default.aspx">Apricot Blonde</a> recipe makes a damn fine blonde ale, and I'm not a fruit-beer drinker. Also, I have my tickets for the <a href="http://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/">GABF</a>, and I'm volunteering as a greeter for the Friday session too. See you all there!_jds_http://www.blogger.com/profile/18153888532444436119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213812996557039830.post-75949465626042732802009-01-06T08:48:00.000-07:002010-07-13T08:54:11.284-06:00Another KISS-centric Brewing GadgetSo there you are, trying to light your burner on a windy morning. You've got your trusty fireplace lighter, the kind with a trigger and a long handle for the flame. You press the button. Click!<br /><br />Nothing.<br /><br />Again, Click... Nothing.<br /><br />Click Click Click.. aha! Flame!<br /><br />Then, the wind gusts, and your trusty lighter goes out. Foul language commences.<br /><br />You try again Click. Click. Click. Clickclickclick WHOOMP!<br /><br />After you brush the singed ash that used to be your eyebrows off your face, you wonder if there isn't a better way to light your burner. There is.<br /><br />Did you ever notice that welders and metalworkers<img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y59/SunneofKornne/net/Blogphotos/p_striker.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 415px;" border="0" alt="" /> never use a match or lighter to light an oxy torch? They figured out the better solution years ago -- the lowly torch striker. Flint, steel, and a handy holder that makes showers of sparks wherever you want them. I switched over to a torch striker for lighting my burner a while ago, and it works perfectly. Fast, Cheap, Effective -- The KISS-centric brewer's mantra is satisfied.<br /><br />So, stop by your local Home Depot / Lowe's / Welding supplier, and pick up a torch striker and some spare flints. For the cost of that crummy fireplace lighter that goes out in the wind, you get a never-fail way to light your burner. Afterward, stop by the drugstore.<br /><br />I hear Rogaine works on eyebrows, too._jds_http://www.blogger.com/profile/18153888532444436119noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213812996557039830.post-66127207297401759912009-01-05T08:44:00.000-07:002009-01-05T11:59:21.189-07:00KISS'ing ten gallonsYesterday, I finally got together with a neighbor who's been wanting to learn to brew beer, and we made a ten-gallon batch of beer. It was my first time brewing ten gallons, and I thought I'd share a few things I learned.<br /><br />The recipe was a big-ish IPA, with 17 lb of 2-row, 5 lb of dark Munich malt, and 3 lb of Crystal 40, with 2 lb of raw sugar to help dry it out. Target OG was 1.070.<br /><br />I converted a 60 Quart Igloo cooler for mashing the night before, so I was breaking in a new mashtun as well as brewing a large batch. I used a nipple through the bulkhead, fudged it a bit to fit the existing gasket, and built a collection manifold out of <del>PVC</del> CPVC with lots of little holes in the bottom.<br /><br />IT was a cold morning yesterday, with the outside temperature about 20 degrees when we got underway. The cold meant we had to be aware of a few extra things. First, hoses freeze in cold weather, so hoses have to be unhooked and drained after each use. Second, spills and over-run freezes on cold concrete, so you have to take care not to make an ice slick in your workspace.<br /><br />At any rate, the kettle and burner, shown here, worked perfectly in the cold. You can also see the end of the new mash tun, and a grain sack with the entire grainbill in it.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/bk_store/images/photo_object/photos/2/1/2105250/img00103-feed.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/bk_store/images/photo_object/photos/2/1/2105250/img00103-feed.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Everything went great, and we collected about 13 gallons of preboil runnings, which made for a very full boil kettle. <br /><br />In the cold, with the boil going as vigorously as possible, we boiled down to about 11.5 gallons. Hop absorption ate up nearly another half gallon, with nearly seven ounces of leaf hops.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/bk_store/images/photo_object/photos/2/1/2106634/img00104-feed.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/bk_store/images/photo_object/photos/2/1/2106634/img00104-feed.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Chilling took longer than I wanted, since I was using a 25 foot immersion chiller. We managed to get under 170F in just a few minutes, but it took nearly 45 minutes to get down to pitching temperature. I forsee a new gadget (counterflow chiller) in the KISS rig, if I continue to brew ten gallon batches.<br /><br />Overall the day went smoothly, and we may have a new brewer in our midst, if my neighbor stays hooked. I was really pleased with the CPVC manifold on the cooler -- I recirculated lass than a half-gallon of runnings before the wort cleared, and it was crystal clear, as in "read the newspaper through the tubing" clear. Beautiful color on the beer, too. Incidentally, the OG into the fermenters was 1.072, for a brewhouse efficiency of about 78 percent, which is very acceptable for a batch sparger like myself.<br /><br />So, all three of you readers. Fear not the ten gallon brewday. It's not twice as much work as a five gallon brew, but you get twice the beer._jds_http://www.blogger.com/profile/18153888532444436119noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213812996557039830.post-35360773826287603852009-01-02T09:32:00.000-07:002009-01-02T09:43:45.878-07:00Summing up the holidays...Well, that's it. The holidays are officially over. Instead of giving a huge listing of what I've been up to, I'll attempt to sum up:<br /><br />Work: Conference Papers, Company Christmas Party, year-end reports and accounting.<br /><br />Travel: Travel to Company party, five-day adventure including unplanned drive from Seattle to <br />Boise, thanks to a winter storm that Alaska Airlines and Seatac weren't prepared for.<br /><br />Family and Friends: Christmas at home, Boxing day with my family, day after with in-laws, day after with friends, interspersed with a day or two of work and New Year's Eve at home with some friends.<br /><br />Is it any wonder I haven't updated my blog?<br /><br />For 2009, I have resolved to knit less. That's a resolution I think I can keep.<br /><br />So, how about the brewing front? I have plans afoot. <br /><br />I'm finishing up conversion of a second half-barrel keg for use as a hot liquor tank, and a larger cooler so I can make the occasional ten gallon batch of beer. I'll christen it on Sunday (probably) with ten gallons of "leftover hops" IPA to split with my neighbor, who wants to learn to brew. Given that he works for a major Colorado brewery, I think getting more into craft beer is an admirable pursuit.<br /><br />The IPA will have a mix of hops, including Columbus, Sterling, Willamette, and Sorachi Ace. We'll ferment half with S-05 yeast for its neutral profile, and half with WLP-862 (Cry Havoc) at low ale temperatures for a hybrid beer. It's my first run at Cry Havoc, so I'm excited to see how it turns out. Here's a shot of the starter, whirling away on the stir plate.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/bk_store/images/photo_object/photos/2/0/2073680/img00102-feed.jpg"><img style="float:center; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/bk_store/images/photo_object/photos/2/0/2073680/img00102-feed.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>_jds_http://www.blogger.com/profile/18153888532444436119noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213812996557039830.post-3050802605133441832008-12-12T07:51:00.000-07:002008-12-12T08:20:49.031-07:00The KISS-Centric BrewerThere are 10 types of brewer in the world. Those who understand binary, and those who don't.<br /><br />OK, it's an old joke, but it illustrates one of the major differences in philosophy I see among home brewers -- For some brewers, half of the fun is in building brewing gadgetry. I've seen a lot of brewers expend considerable effort, time, and skill in building some truly amazing brewing rigs, up to and including nearly automated systems driven by PLC controllers or homebuilt microprocessor systems. While I think it's a very cool and admirable hobby, I tend to try to go the other way, and strive to keep my brewing rig and brewday as simple as possible. The KISS principle applies, in my brewhouse.<br /><br />Wait. What? Yes, I'm an engineer. I like to tinker. However, my experience shows me that the more complicated a system is, the more time you have to spend babysitting it. With all the pressures of family life, the time I can spend on my hobby is limited. I'd rather use the time to make the beer, instead of fixing the stuff to make the beer. It's a personal choice. I really like the automated style of brew systems, and I may even build one in the future, but for now, the KISS principle applies.<br /><br />What's that mean? Well, I definitely believe that there are certain gadgets that are fast, cheap, and effective. I love those gadgets. They either make the brewday faster and easier, or provide enough of a quality improvement that they are worth the extra time, trouble, and storage space. I have no desire to write code as part of my brewing process. I'd rather write recipes.<br /><br />As this nascent blog evolves, I'll add some information on my favorite KISS brewing gadgets. The driving mantra for my brew stuff right now is this: Fast, Cheap, Effective. I want all three from any gadget I throw at my beer.<br /><br />So, here's my first KISS-centric brewing gadget. It has to do with aerating cool wort. Most brewers know the importance of oxygenation to improve yeast reproduction and make tasty beer. Lots of people shake their carboys to aerate. others inject a stream of pure oxygen through a diffusion stone. I like this gadget:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y59/SunneofKornne/DSCN0589-a.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 640px; height: 480px;" src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y59/SunneofKornne/DSCN0589-a.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Once my wort is cool, I whip it up with a sanitized wire whisk until it's frothy on top. The kettle you see in the photograph is a holdover from my extract brewing days. I don't use it anymore, but the whip still has a place in my brewhouse. It's fast, cheap, and effective - The perfect KISS-centric brewing gadget._jds_http://www.blogger.com/profile/18153888532444436119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213812996557039830.post-53391044555401557092008-12-08T11:33:00.000-07:002008-12-08T11:45:36.955-07:00Frozen Balls, and youBeing the typical suburban handyman, I like to do around-the-house chores myself. For example, I drain and winterize my sprinkler system, instead of paying somebody $40 to do a half-hour job . This involves shutting off several valves, opening others, and draining the water out of the sprinkler lines. For those of you from warmer climates, we do this so things don't freeze and break over the winter.<br /><br />Anyhow, a couple of years ago, I did the usual winterizing schtick. However, in the process, I neglected to re-open a particular valve on the vacuum breaker after I closed it. This mistake trapped water inside the valve, which froze and broke over the winter. Whoops.<br /><br />What does this have to do with brewing?<br /><br />Well, a while back, a poster on <a href="http://www.omebrewtalk.com/">Homebrew Talk</a> remarked that he'd had an infection that he traced back to the same problem. He'd drained his boiler through a similar valve, then stored the kettle with the valve shut. The wort trapped inside the valve got a nasty case of "teh funk", and caused him troubles in a batch of beer.<br /><br />So, just a reminder to my brewing friends: When you clean up, make sure to wash your valves out, and store them at least halfway open, so you don't get funky balls. At least all I had to do was buy some new stuff at the hardware store and sweat a couple of pipe joints. That's less painful that having to say sayonara to a ruined batch of beer and five hours of weekend brewing._jds_http://www.blogger.com/profile/18153888532444436119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213812996557039830.post-5354881817612980132008-12-05T10:23:00.000-07:002008-12-05T10:39:58.146-07:00In the Naked CityLike any home brewer, I've daydreamed about operating my own brewery / pub, and spending every day working and playing with beer and brewing. One of the regulars over at <a href="http://www.homebrewtalk.com/">http://www.homebrewtalk.com</a> recently did just that. The fruit of his labors is the <a href="http://www.nakedcitybrewing.com/">Naked City Brewery and Taphouse</a> in the Greenwood neighborhood in Seattle, just north of downtown around 85<sup>th</sup> street and Greenwood Avenue N.<br /> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Since I was in Seattle last week, I just had to stop by and get a look at the fruits of his and his business partner's hard work. I called a work buddy who lives nearby, and gave him directions to meet me there.<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The neighborhood is kind of an eclectic mixture of ethnic eateries, bars, art galleries, and the usual businesses you encounter at the urban/suburban border, although it tends more to the urban side of the scale.<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The taphouse itself is still obviously very new. The bar is beautifully built, large enough to seat crowds, and the bartender was of the multiply-pierced urban hipster variety. She obviously had great knowledge and enthusiasm for beer, and we spent a pleasant few minutes pouring over the beer list.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y59/SunneofKornne/net/Blogphotos/IMG00068.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 246px;" src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y59/SunneofKornne/net/Blogphotos/IMG00068.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> <style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --></style><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">And what a list it was. Please forgive the photo quality, but I did manage to grab a shot of the draft list, which included a lot of PNW regional specialties, as well as Naked City's own Dubbel, which is not currently brewed onsite, until the brewery is up and running. The dubbel was a great abbey-style Belgian ale, with plenty of abbey character, wonderful malt profile, and the stern kick of a well-brewed dubbel. Belgian styles seem to be a particular favorite here, as shown by the very well-stocked list of Belgian styles of bottled and tap beer. Everything from the lighter wits and saisons to the strongest trippels was represented.<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I originally arrived about 7:30 on a Monday evening, and the bar was fairly empty. However, by 8:30 or 9 PM, the taphouse had filled in nicely and was full of lots of people, all of them having actual conversations, and not paying any attention to the TV's above the bar. My friend Steve and I spent a fair bit of the time we were there chatting with the younger Don's wife, who already had some fun stories about building the taphouse. All in all, it was a really enjoyable visit, and Naked City Brewing is now on my “must visit” list for those times I get to Seattle.</p>_jds_http://www.blogger.com/profile/18153888532444436119noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213812996557039830.post-14206229007967361442008-12-04T08:52:00.000-07:002008-12-04T09:06:35.864-07:00Hogback? Brewing?<a style="" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y59/SunneofKornne/net/Blogphotos/dak04m.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y59/SunneofKornne/net/Blogphotos/dak04m.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>So, why the name?<br /><br />I live on the far Southwest side of the Denver Metro area, near a really cool geological formation called the Morrison Hogback. It's a knife-thin ridge, several hundred feet tall, and not many more thick, that stands about a mile East of the foothills of the Front Range. If you've ever driven West into the mountains from Denver, the first roadcut you pass through bores through the Morrison Hogback.<br /><br />It's got some nice hiking trails, plenty of cool stuff like dinosaur footprints, petroglyphs, fossils, and killer views of Denver on one side, and Red Rocks ampitheater on the other.<br /><br />"Brewing" is for my primary hobby (as of now), brewing beer. I like to drink it too. I started brewing with a college buddy in about 1994. I took a few years off thanks to apartment living, family, work, and such, but roared back into it with a vengance not too long ago. There will be much more about beer and brewing in the days to come.<br /><br />So, that's it for now. Welcome aboard, and I hope to see somebody look at this someday.<br /><br />-Joe_jds_http://www.blogger.com/profile/18153888532444436119noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213812996557039830.post-40143960490713348102008-12-03T08:13:00.000-07:002008-12-04T08:37:47.713-07:00First Post!Hello, World!_jds_http://www.blogger.com/profile/18153888532444436119noreply@blogger.com0