Learn To Homebrew Day

So, as we all know, or should know, The American Homebrewers Association's Learn To Homebrew day was November 2nd this year, 2013. People all over the country had set up events or even just something as simple as inviting their friends over for a lesson. Breweries, homebrew shops, etc etc etc. Just who ever wanted to share the love of homebrew.



For those of you who were not able to go out or had no events in your area, this year The Craft Beer Nation set up a hangout to briefly talk about homebrewing, the ingredients, and things you might need to get started. You can watch that video here. The Beer Fairy - Ashley, and I showed up to talk about all that. I hope we answered most basic questions but if you are watching you and you have further question, feel free to ask here, Twitter, or on Google+.



For Learn To Homebrew Day I figured I would make a new beer for Christmas. One I have been wanting to do and trying to figure out for a few years. Eggnog is one of my favorite drinks and I am disappointed that without making it yourself you can only get it at one time of the year. So, hopefully, finally I am able to get this Eggnog Milk Stout to work. The only way I thought to accomplish it was to use Lactose, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, and Vanilla Bean... maybe I will add some Vanilla when I keg it. I guess it depends the character I want/get.



The brewday went off without a hitch. Honestly, a very simple brew. One hop addition for bittering, simple mash, and a 60 minute boil. I considered doing it for 90 minutes but I didn't. I came in a few points low but that could be because I was aiming for 1.088 I think... I'd have to look at my notes instead of thinking off the top of my head. I added all my spices and lactose at the 5 minute remaining mark because it was suggested to me that any earlier and I would lose the aromatic quality of my spices. Not what I want to do at all!



So yea, once it ferments out I will take my first sips and report back how it taste. I hope I hit the mark and can finally have another form of eggnog!



Cheers!

The Craft Beer Nation Bottle Opener

Not too long ago I was contacted by a company that sells customized bottle openers, along with a complete collection of other items. Seriously, just about anything you can think of to put a custom design on, you can find. If not, I bet you could talk to someone there and they may be able to find a way to make it happen.

When they asked me what design I would like to place on it, at first I was thinking an L's Ales logo... but I have nothing of the sort made up haha So I decided to go with the next, most obvious design... No, not the New Belgium logo... but that would have been awesome. The logo of a community I moderate for on Google Plus, Craft Beer Nation... You remember Google Plus, right? Everyone seems to think it is dead but I just think they never took the time to look.



So first off, I am not saying I expected it to take a great amount of time to get my bottle opener to me, but when I was looking at their order numbers, and considering the type of stuff they already had coming through the pipeline, I thought it would be a little bit of time before I received my product... NOPE! They showed up really fast. I don't know how long it took to produce them, but I was very excited to see them once they arrived. They claim a 7 business day turn around on the site, but I am not sure it even took that long.

The style I received was the Surfer Style Powder Coated Steel Bottle Opener that you can place your own order, with your own design at this link. The specifications are also laid out as so.

Ships In 7 Days
Size 7" x 1 1/2"
Imprint Size 1 1/8" x 3 1/2"
Imprint Method Printed or Laser
Max Imprint Colors 2

You are getting a pretty decently sized opener and I noticed mine had a little weight to it. It is not a flimsy little piece of metal. The coating on this thing is pretty solid around all of the edges, too. I noticed one point on both openers that were slightly exposed but I feel that may be a holding point or something for the machines that it runs through. It is on the inner corner of the "decapping" edge, so I expect that area to see some wear anyway.

I decided to put one of the openers through a series of test just to see how well it will hold up. I have never done anything like this before so trying to decide what to do lead to a little bit of a problem. Obviously I am going to open numerous beer bottles with it. That is just a given. I also decided to throw it through the dishwasher. Why? I don't know. I thought it might show some sort of wear. I don't think I have ever put a bottle opener into a dishwasher before but I needed something to test. It came out just as it went in. I only ran it through once, but like I said, I probably never would have done that anyway.



After many successive bottle openings, and even taking it over to a party, (where I used it on twist top caps), the only major signs of wear are exactly where I was expecting them. On the lip where the cap comes into contact with. It is not that much of a degredation, but it is there. I tried to do some fancy flair opening with this as well and all I was able to uncover from that is I suck at flair bartending. The opener still worked and I could totally grab bottles with the end that I usually use to twirl it around my finger tips.

The printing on the opener I thought was pretty fantastic, too. Very smooth and you can see the quality in the design that was printed. No bleeding colors, just very crisp lines. No smudging, no blurry imaging. Crisp and clear just as the design I gave them. A very high quality job.



I would definitely check this company out for any of your custom order needs. I am really happy with my opener and I hope my Sierra Beer Camp voting campaign contest winner will be happy with his as well.

Cheers!