Recent content by JonM

Turns out you can use your brewing burner for cooking food too. I used it to get a great sear on some scallops.

Trying an experimental brew. A while back I had a Mosaic IPA on tap and a Patersbier. I had to switch the keg line from one to the other so when I did that, the line was full of IPA. I poured a little of the Patersbier just to flush it out, so I had a little glass of a blend of each. I...

Three quarts of chicken stock. Yes, chicken. Simmered backs and feet for 24 hours with aromatics and a cup of caramelized onions. This is some rich flavorful stuff!

Another vote for Vienna lager. I just kicked my annual keg of Vienna lager and wish I had more. Since you have so much, why not experiment with maybe an all-Vienna barley wine? Years ago I made an all-Maris Otter barleywine. I used a ton of MO, like 18 lbs or something, and did a 3.5 hour...

After many weekends of crappy weather including the polar vortex, it's in the upper 40s here today, so I brewed an Oktoberfest-like lager. Nearly 1/3 each of Pilsner, Vienna and Munich plus a tiny bit of Melanoiden. I added a heap of Willamette as late addition hops so we'll see how that works...

An Army at Dawn. I know nothing about WWII in North Africa and this is a Pulitzer winning history of just that. And it’s part one of a three-part series. Should keep me busy for a while.

I’m brewing a lot too - it’s to lay in a supply for winter while the weather is still good. Got a fall favorite brewing right now - the Common Room ESB.

Pork butts were $0.99/lb so of course I grabbed one. At that price, a 7 lb pork butt was roughly the same price as the two-serving salmon fillet I grilled last night. Anyway, butt’s on the WSM and will be ready in plenty of time for Wisconsin vs. Iowa later tonight.

Fundraiser run today, but brewing a Hefeweizen tomorrow. Usually I make a Hefeweizen early in the summer but early fall works too.

My two pork butts were a hit at the party - when we got there the host told me that the earlier arrivals had all asked “Is Jon bringing smoked pork again?” The smoker is still set up and chickens were $0.79/lb this morning, so we’re having smoked chicken later.

Couple butts for a party at some friends’ house. Put them on at 6:00 last night, we leave at 2:00 this afternoon, so 20 hours should be more than enough. Now off to the bakery for fresh buns.

Edit: Jeez, they just played Thrill Kill Kult. And They Might Be Giants. Jesus and Mary Chain, Depeche Mode.

A local station does the Retro Brunch on Sundays and it’s like they found my tape collection from high school: Midnight Oil, Ramones, the Cure, New Order, Killing Joke, Belly, Pixies, XTC, Replacements, REM, etc.

I stepped up this starter (150 ml to 1L) about 13 hours ago. I’d say it’s active and pretty darn healthy.

Mosaic pale ale this morning and I just decided that I’ll do a Briess Pale Ale Malt/Willamette SMASH next weekend because why not?