This may not sound much like brewing, beer drinking or an alcohol related post but please bear with me.

Two weeks ago …………….finally getting around to posting.

My wife is on a a quest, a mission, a wide area search for the perfect mirror to help create the perfect decor for her dining room. Our most recent foray across this broad this metropolitan area, home to nearly 5 million people, took us across a broad swathe of territory. The first leg was Kingwood to Friendswood, TX. No, the woodS aren’t close to each other. Only 50 miles, one hour and five minutes, barring any freeway shenanigans.

We struck out on the first stop. Internet photos on the website were, shall we say, misleading at best. The mirror was in perfect shape and size for my wife’s preferences. The wood frame was far from perfect…… yes, we could have spent many hours to clean and repair the damaged wood frame but decided to go to plan B and location B, the Cypress/Jersey Village area.

We took the 50 mile route to avoid crawling through the center of Houston. The homeowner wasn’t able to meet at our proposed time so we opted for lunch. The first Siri search put us at a smoke scented pub with two cars outside. Both were indicators of a poor choice. Then by happenstance we spotted “The Backyard Grill” just east off 290 on Jones Rd.

What an amazingly lucky choice. Great beer menu and the food was also very good! I had Odell’s – Rupture – A Fresh Grind Ale. It utilizes fresh ground whole hops. Beer Advocate rated it at 4.12 out of 5 and it hit my flavor profile nicely. Not overly bitter but very pleasant, pleasant( yes…pleasant twice) feel in the mouth and the aroma was also doubly pleasant. My wife went safe with a Blue Moon…….yes I know, not a real craft beer…… 40 plus choices for drafts on tap as well as a similar number of bottles and cans.

My grilled chicken, a half chicken, was seasoned perfectly and injected with 8th Wonder Rocket Fuel beer. One of the best, excepting my own grilled chicken, I have ever tasted. Moist and the seasoning rub was excellent. My wife had the Cypress burger, with sliced avocado on a great jalapeño butter bun.

https://www.thebackyardgrill.com/

Ok now, back to the mirror hunt. This “antique” mirror might have been barely of legal drinking age. I didn’t check the ID but maybe, barely 21 years old. We struck out on the mirror quest but we did drop a pin on the map for future dining and drinking outings. Now a short 33 mile drive back home.

On a Brewing note, I racked my SMaSH IPA over into the secondary…..yes I sampled the cylinder pulled for the gravity check, 1.056 to 1.012 – very nice and probably finished. I will dry hop with 2 ounces of Mosaic pellets for 5 days, then crash cool to 35 F, before bottling. I started with 12# of Marris Otter malt, 1 ounce of Mosaic at start of boil, 1.5 ounces at 40 minutes and 20 minutes later, 1.5 ounces at flame out. I added 1/2 tsp of Irish Moss at 30 minutes.

One another note, my first wine making effort is also ready to bottle. I have 4.5 gallons of wild Mustang grape wine begging to be bottled. I won’t back sweeten this batch. It is finished but I wouldn’t call it dry. It will still need to sit for about a year before drinking. FYI, wild Mustang grapes grow wild all over our area – often mistaken for Muscadines but they are distinctly different if you look at leaves. Also, Mustangs ripen at the end of June and Muscadines at the end of summer.

Drink Local and Drink Responsibly

Bishop