Monthly Archives: March 2013

Will Walk for an IPA or Two or Three

My daughter Lisa is prepping for the Avon Walk in Houston on April 20 & 21, 2013. It is 26 miles on day one and the strong and fit walk another 13 on day two. We have been walking together four or five times this past week. Today we decided to do a triple digit day – it wound up being 11 miles out at Lake Houston Wilderness Park. The park is a bit of wilderness heaven that is relatively unknown. Eleven miles is about 5 more than our previous best distance…..but it turned out to be a great walk, trek, hike and challenge. The park is amazing and filled with wildlife. While walking we saw 2 coyotes, a bald eagle soaring overhead and a wild sow with 8+ piglets crossing the road in front of us. I carried several cameras on this walk but only captured images of the sow and piglets.

Here is mom....look closely and you can see she has been nursing the mob following behind her.

Here is mom….look closely and you can see she has been nursing the mob following behind her.

Unfortunately I missed the line of little ones following mom...not familiar with the continous shooting function on the Nikon J1....I know now!

Unfortunately I missed the line of little ones following mom…not familiar with the continuous shooting function on the Nikon J1….I know now!

The walk was scenic and fortunately devoid of mosquitoes – a real blessing. Just past the 5 mile mark on the Ameritrail Loop was a little lake ringed by Cypress trees – the photo doesn’t do it justice. At the turnaround area we discovered a guy in a little “boat” with a trolling motor casting for ??????? fish of some sort.

Beautiful reflections across the water. The Cypress trees were just awesome....click to view larger!

Beautiful reflections across the water. The Cypress trees were just awesome….click to view larger!

Tiny boat but probbaly perfect for that part of the lake.

Tiny boat but probably perfect for that part of the lake.

We were thirsty upon returning home……brief stop at the Kingwood Town Center Farmers Market – fresh sourdough and some grass-fed Beef

T-bone steaks. Yum – and the piece de resistance was the trio of IPA’s during the dinner prep, grilling and dining.

The Celebration form Sierra Nevada was my favorite the other two were dang good!

The Celebration from Sierra Nevada was my favorite the other two were danged good!

http://www.houstontx.gov/parks/ourparks/lakehoustonpark.html

Lisa is getting close to her fundraising goal so if you are inclined to help her out click the link below.

http://info.avonfoundation.org/site/TR/Walk/Houston?px=6400511&pg=personal&fr_id=2180

Drink Local & Drink Responsibly

TTFN

Bishop

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Session Beer Is Conditioning

My session beer is conditioning and my wife has asked my several times, “When will it be ready?” I take that as a very positive comment. She has sampled it on several of the steps…Primary fermenter to the secondary and again when I bottled it.  I have been attempting to capture the step by step process to share here but work got in the way. I am really trying to keep that nuisance of work impacting my hobbies but it does pay the bills!

I think I mentioned a while back that this was a SMaSH recipe. Single Malt and Single Hops. It was intended to beer and not too hoppy. Based on my wife’s feedback it meets the  minimal hops criteria and it is light in color…..she usually equates flavor with color but her education on better beers is opening her eyes a little.

I started off with the guys down at the Backyard Homebrewing and Education Center. Laid back bunch of folks and passionate about beer – puts them near the top of my list! If you are a local – check them out. I used to go down to Defalcos on the southwest side of Houston. They are a good bunch of folks too but too far away.

I left the beer in the secondary an additional week – mostly because I was lazy and busy….any excuse will do! That is not necessarily a bad thing. The beer is beautifully clear……a color that my wife likes and very easy to drink…..based on the samples and needs another few days hun! We can drink it his weekend, March 9-10.

The single malt extract is being weighed out.

The single malt extract is being weighed out.

Nice selection of grain along the wall..... next batch will be all grain. I think I have said that before.

Nice selection of grain along the wall….. next batch will be all grain. I think I have said that before.

Something to make the visit to the store worth the effort!

Something to make the visit to the store worth the effort!

Nice color....for my wife....final gravity down to 1.011...Perfect!

Nice color….for my wife….final gravity down to 1.011…Perfect!

Drink Local, Drink Responsibly –

TTFN

Bishop