Breaking

OK, so the plan was to quit drinking for 4 weeks, but after this week I think I earned a beer:

I was supposed to study all day on Sunday for my Economics final (which was tonight.) Sunday morning I woke up and soon discovered my body had been invaded by DeathFlu 2006. I spent the next 12 hours getting everything possible out of my body, then feeling the effects of dehydration as I struggled for the strength to open a NyQuil while my body proceeded to cramp up on me. Obviously, not a lot of studying done on Sunday.

I took Monday off and got in some studying, but I was still shaky and weak.

Had class last night.

Took the final tonight. Harder than he said it would be. More questions. Topics we barely covered.

Yeah, I think I earned my first taste at a 80 shilling ale that I bottled on 4th of July weekend. It's good.

Sounds like you earned that beer. Good luck with that virus, it sounds terrible. I caught something that sounds similar earlier this year.

Why on earth does crap happen right before mid-terms and finals? I had to work until midnight before both my mid-terms and finals, when I'm usually off by 8.

After looking at your avatar, I think I just earned a beer too. I'm going to go get some 90-shilling, and wish it was as good as I imagine your 80 is.

The Happy Mug said:

Sounds like you earned that beer. Good luck with that virus, it sounds terrible. I caught something that sounds similar earlier this year.

Why on earth does crap happen right before mid-terms and finals? I had to work until midnight before both my mid-terms and finals, when I'm usually off by 8.

After looking at your avatar, I think I just earned a beer too. I'm going to go get some 90-shilling, and wish it was as good as I imagine your 80 is.

Click to expand...

Mine is worrying me.

When I racked to bottling bucket, I made the n008 mistake of not getting the priming sugar boiling, so I had to get that started. Result is that I poured in at the end. I stirred, but still...

I bottles on the 8th and this is numero 2 (numero 1 was tried a week later - completely flat). It's extremely carbonated (in a good way) which makes me worry that the first couple of bottles are going to still be completely flat.

The beer itself is good. Nicely hoppy, pleasantly malty. I'm starting to think that extract mixes all taste too similar, regardless of specialty grains, yeast and hops. There's a familiar taste to them all that I'm going to attribute to the extract. Be it liquid (which is more noticeable) or dry, they all taste too similar and look too similar. They're good, but I think I can do better. AG needs to start happening.

You know what goes great with this beer? Bingers.

Bingers? You've piqued my interest.

No 90-shilling at the LQ. I've got Negra Modelo instead. I'm not sure why, but it's not too bad. For "Dark Ale," I can see right through it. It's really an amber.

I'll trade a store-bought beer for a less-than-perfect homebrew any day of the week.