Beer!

[Ryan Ruck]

I forgot to mention, there is a new TV show on called Brew Dogs. It follows the two guys who started Brew Dog as they go to different craft brewers and undertake different brewing projects. It is on Esquire Network.

http://tv.esquire.com/shows/brew-dogs

So far two episodes have aired. I'm actually watching the first right now as I type this.

[American Patriot]

Colorado 6th grader's beer-making experiment headed for Space Station

By Colleen O'Connor
The Denver PostPosted: 10/07/2013 12:01:00 AM MDT | Updated: 106 min. ago


Michal Bodzianowski, 11, a student at STEM School and Academy, holds up a fluid mixture enclosure for his adviser Sharon Combs to inspect. Michal's prize-winning entry — "What Are the Effects of Creation of Beer in Microgravity and Is It Possible?" — will launch into space in December. (Erin Hull, The Denver Post)





Eleven-year-old Michal Bodzianowski is too young to drink the stuff, but the Highlands Ranch sixth-grader will be the first person to experiment with making beer in space. "My dad posted this joke on Facebook, that this is the world's first microbrewery in space," Michal said. "Then he had to explain it to me."


Michal, who avidly reads Popular Science magazine to "find out what's trending now in the science world," is more likely to know about the spacecraft landing systems than Colorado's latest craft beers.


But when his class at Douglas County's STEM School and Academy entered a national science competition — with the hope of getting their
Blog: Colorado Classroom

Colorado Classroom covers local and state education issues affecting K-12 and higher education students in the state of Colorado.




microgravity experiment flown to the International Space Station — beer came to mind.

Michal's prize-winning entry — "What Are the Effects of Creation of Beer in Microgravity and Is It Possible?" — will launch into space in December.
The competition is part of the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program, launched in 2010 by the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education to spark interest in a new generation of students for careers in science, technology, engineering and math — known as STEM.


Michal is the first Colorado student to win the competition.


Since the start of the spaceflight experiments program, more than 17,500 students from 60 communities have been immersed in real-life science, from designing experiments for spaceflights to going through a NASA flight-safety review.


The 11 experiments that won the competition this year included entries from two fifth-graders, a middle-school team, one seventh-grader — and sixth-grader Michal.
Beer, he wrote in his design proposal, is "an important factor in future civilization as an emergency backup hydration and medical source."


In space, if a project exploded, wounded people and polluted most of the water, he theorized, "the fermentation process could be used to make beer, which can then be used as a disinfectant and a clean drinking source."


Along with the other sixth-grade and eighth-grade students from his school, he worked on his proposal while the school worked to raise the $21,500 that winning would cost.
The sum includes launch costs and expenses for Nanorocks, the commercial firm that flies these educational payloads to the International Space Station and has two platforms on its U.S. National Laboratory.


Sharon Combs, a teacher who worked closely with the students, felt the experience made science relevant to them.


"It was an opportunity for them to experience science as real life, doing lab experiments with the intricacies demanded by NASA," she said.


Michal's experiment, when launched, will be in a silicon tube about 6 inches long. Clasps on the tube will segregate hops, malted barley, yeast and water.


Colleen O'Connor: 303-954-1083, coconnor@denverpost.com or twitter.com/coconnordp



17,500

Number of students to participate in the space experiments program
1
Michal, above, is the first Colorado student to win the competition

[Ryan Ruck]

I know it's been a while since I posted a beer review but that's only because I've cut back on my beer intake to shed a couple pounds I've picked up (damn you metabolism!).

Decided to have one tonight since I'm coming off of working 2 weeks straight.

Tonight is a local brew, another one of the Quaff Brothers beers - Badonknafunk

Here's what Quaff Brothers describe it as:

Badonkafunk is an American style Wild Ale aged in Sazerac Rye Barrels tweaked with a cultivated wild yeast strain from the Rivertown house itself. This gnarly new beer is offered in both draft and 22oz bottles.

Badonkafunk is an American Wild Ale (not a Lambic or Gueuze) that was aged in Sazerac Rye whiskey barrels. The base beer was a lightly hopped Pale Ale that then got a heavy handed dose of Brettanomyces (wild yeast). The bouquet flourishes with notes of dried apricots, ginger, caramel apple, rum cake and toasted oak. On the palate, the mouth feel is lightly sleek with copper tones. It has a long finale that is bone-dry, refreshing and just flat out super funky (that’s a good thing).

Poured a hazy copper-gold into a snifter with only a little head which settled down quickly and only left a trace behind. The smell I get is sour oak. Taste is a lot like the smell with a hint of vanilla. The sour note is interesting. It isn't overbearing but it adds a nice twist to the oaky vanilla. Crisp. It doesn't give an ABV but if I had to guess, I'd say somewhere in the 7%-8% range. Was definitely worth giving a try!

[Ryan Ruck]

Decided to open up another of Southern Tier's offerings I had recently picked up - Warlock



Warlock is Pumking's darker, evil twin.

Poured black into a snifter. Head was fairly thin tan and receded quickly. Nose is almost identical to Pumking. Besides the visual, the taste is where Warlock differs from Pumking. Though Warlock has similar pumpkin notes, there is a slightly more noticeable bitterness and a maltier flavor. The body is also a bit heavier. I like it almost as much as Pumking.

[American Patriot]

Ryan... I have no problems with my beer intake... or weight.

/grin

/snicker.

Think I will go have a couple in a bit. LOL

Sorry dude.

[Ryan Ruck]

Tonight's beer is Alesmith's Wee Heavy.

Spotted this when I was at Jungle Jim's and decided to grab a bottle after I had seen it featured on Brew Dogs.



Poured into a tulip glass since I don't have the thistle style recommended for Scotch Ales. The pour was a very, very dark and thick brown with a big dark tan head. The head took a while to dissipate and when it did still left plenty behind. The smell is malt, sweet plum and grape, some chocolate too. Taste is definitely chocolate with a slight bitter note and a touch of coffee. Very strong alcohol taste which is not surprising given that it's 10%. The body isn't nearly as heavy as it appears to be. A very solid, drinkable beer!

[American Patriot]

Wee Heavy?

Sounds... a wee heavy lol

[Ryan Ruck]

I've been waiting on tonight's beer to hit store shelves since earlier this year. It's Dogfish's newest release, American Beauty, which is a collaboration with The Grateful Dead.



Poured into a snifter. Copper colored with a big, off-white, very persistent head. In fact, the head never really goes away! Aroma of sweet hops, a little melon. Taste is a pine, melon, and sweet honey. A little bitterness though it isn't real bitter like most American Strong Ales I've had. Body is otherwise crisp and mostly thin. This one's interesting and I like it!

Not sure why this only rates a 70% on RateBeer as it tastes as good as some others I've seen rated higher, except maybe craft beer hipsters knocking Dogfish since they've become so successful and high profile.

[Ryan Ruck]

The other night my internet was down so I didn't get a chance to post about it but, I sampled a new brew.

It was the second Game Of Thrones beer from Ommegang - Take The Black Stout.



Poured a deep black into a stout glass. Great big brown head that is very persistent. Be prepared to drink through it if you're going to drink this one cold, it doesn't go away! Nose is heavy on the spice like a Belgian. Taste is roasted malt, the same Belgian spice on the nose, a little bitterness, and a bit of licorice. Pretty tasty and the artwork on the bottle is cool!

[Ryan Ruck]

And tonight's beer is a collaboration beer between Stone, 10 Barrel, and Bluejacket - Suede.



Poured a deep red-brown into a shaker. Sizable brown head that, interestingly, seemed to lighten as it thinned. Scent is malt, alcohol, and a barely noticeable bit of honey. Taste is sweet honey and some bitter roasted coffee. Body is smooth and moderate. Very tasty collaboration!

[American Patriot]

Wait wait... the WHOLE INTERNET WAS DOWN? I missed it?

[Ryan Ruck]

LOL

Nah, just TWC doing some system work the other night. Had my internet down for like 2 hours. It sucked...

[American Patriot]

No, what sucks is when we would go over to our house there was no internet. We'd taken the modem and router out and stored it while the house was being shown. LOL

So we'd go over with our tablets and after sitting in the hot tub or whatever we'd want to look something up... and couldn't. I found someone else's open network near by sometimes, but it's not always up or very strong - so that wasn't reliable.

We moved back in a few days ago and we'll do Thanksgiving this year, have Internet back and then a few days after Turkey day (and clean up) we'll go ahead and put it back on the market but keep internet up!

And to keep from hijacking the thread, WE WILL DRINK BEER!

[Ryan Ruck]

You've got a Samsung Note don't you? You should be able to turn it into a mobile hot spot with an app and data plan.

We're getting Samsung Galaxy S3s for work phone and we're supposed to be using those as mobile hot spots.

[American Patriot]

Umm... no, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 isn't a phone. Can't do that. I do have a Blackberry and that can be turned into a hotspot for money. I'm opposed to spending more money on Wifi connections when I'm already paying for one. lol

I just had taken the gear out of the house to protect it from people who might see it and take it. It's back in and I'm not worried about it now

I think you can tether it to a phone - but not make it into a hotspot without a connection already, right?

[American Patriot]

Yeah, here's something on it... oh and BEER!!!!!!!!!!

http://devicehelp.optusbusiness.com....wi-fi-hotspot/

[Ryan Ruck]

Ah, okay. Friend at work has the Note 3 which is a phone. Didn't realize the big Note doesn't have phone function.

Admittedly, I don't know much about the Samsung line since work provides my phone.

[American Patriot]

It's really just a big tablet computer. To the best of my knowledge there's no phone function (and I likely wouldn't use it as one)... though it works very well for Skype. Beer. Daughter and I have used it for Skyping to play around and test it. (beer). Since there isn't any kind of phone connect (that I'm aware) I suppose it works find when you're on a wifi connection. *BEER!*

[Ryan Ruck]

Tonight I opened up a bomber of Stone's 17th Anniversary Götterdämmerung IPA. (Yeah, I copy/pasted it with those accent marks. )



Poured into a shaker glass a slightly translucent, deep gold with a large white head that receded quickly to a thin topping. Nose is citrus and grassy hops. Taste is notable hop bitterness, considering it rates 102 IBUs, but not to the point of undrinkability. It is in your face though! The bitterness is mellowed a little by the alcohol which rates 9.5%. Along with the bitterness, there is also sweet citrus in there. The body is a bit dry and crisp. A nicely done bitter IPA by Stone. This is definitely one for you fans of the more bitter brews!

[American Patriot]

I am not really a big IPA fan... and it's early here - but I think I need a beer already.