The Boy's Love Affair with Bitter

wanderingspud — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 23:28:05 +0000

So, I’ll be fronting the beer concern under the title “Tango Bravo Brewery” and my lovely assistant Erik will be serve as the admin and extra hands… really just a conceptual thing for the time being, but I already have a huge following…

We held a poll on the Book, and as it turns out, I was correct about Ammo troops being big fans of beer… I already have two new recipes in the pipeline…

We have a Blonde in the back waiting for late spring/early summer, and we are also going for broke on the Mead… Goblet of Fire will have a second pressing churning by the end of next week…

So check us out on the Book…

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tango-Bravo-Brewery/141326632603383

Git gitting, hyah!

Status Check

wanderingspud — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 20:13:31 +0000

Okey Dokey

Plight

wanderingspud — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 05:46:55 +0000

http://luvmy2angels08.blogspot.com/2009/09/military-sucks.html

This is all 100% real… I couldn’t make this up if I tried…

IT’S HERE!!! IT’S HERE!!!

wanderingspud — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 20:10:04 +0000

IT’S FINALLY HERE!!!!!

Today, what will be remembered as a mere Thursday to many, is the day that I am magically returned to my former civilian glory.

I’m a free man ya’ll!

So crack a beer, annoy your neighbor, and do something completely inappropriate as we all celebrate the 27th of January.

Oh, and you should probably go check the driveway, see if it needs shoveling… never know when company will be stopping by…

Idaho Hockey Rundown

wanderingspud — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 19:52:22 +0000

Going to see the Steelies… wonder of wonders, it’s my first time at Qwest Arena…

“How could this be, Justin, you magnificent stallion?”, you may very well ask… how could I never have gone to see at least one game?..

Shut up, that’s why…

Not to be out done, I do know some things about my home team, and their affiliated Texas sponsors (to hell with the stars, go red wings)… I know that they have two Kelly Cups under their collective belts, rivaled only by Toledo… I know that we’ve sent sixteen players to the NHL, although that’s not such an accomplishment since that’s what the coastal leagues are there for…

I know that we stand a luke warm snowballs chance of repeating in the play offs this year, unless we pull it together in this next series, and that will likely not happen as we have put up a pretty weak effort so far this year… I wouldn’t be surprised to see us trading places with Victoria after the next two or three games… and I’m pretty sure that would be our worst performance since joining the ECHL…

So there… that is what I know… maybe the new coach will pull it together for the next season… if there is a next season for him…

Cheers–

Coming Up On The Inside

wanderingspud — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 23:55:44 +0000

The inevitable march toward Civility continues…

The bottles for the Mead are being prepped and sanitized. It’s slow going seeing as it’s just me doing all the work. But I suppose I should do some kind of work around here.

No news on the next beer. I’ve been biding my time, seeing what I will have to do when the last Active Duty check is all spent and it becomes time to live within my new means. Maybe I’ll foreclose on the mortgage. Maybe I’ll play piano at the local cat house to make ends meet. Stay tuned for all the action!

Looks like Boise State will be playing another big one this year; September 3rd in Atlanta, the Georgia Bulldogs. Already thinking of methods to get to that game. Might have to call in some of favors from my Florida peeps…

That is all…

A month went by…

wanderingspud — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 23:26:07 +0000

The Dubel IPA has been bottled… it needed a little extra pasteurization, which I think has inspired me to come up with a name…

“The Mess Double India Pale Ale”

It lives up to its name… before pasteurizing, three quarters of every bottle was foam… and the heavy hopping combined with no filtration leaves what looks like a miniature wet pile of leaves at the bottom of every glass…

We are very pleased with the results, but next year, we filter… Derek compared the potable to a famous brew called Pliny the Elder…

Also, no VD Porter this year… I figure the year is almost up any how, and I’d rather try something different…

So, thinking about a Stout with heavy coffee notes and lots of chocolate… something extremely heavy… think Mitch’s Mud with a pair of big boy pants on… We’ll call it “Mythological Mitch”… expect notes and news sometime in January, after the surgery…

Otherwise, nothing new to report… you may now resume your regularly scheduled day…

The End is Near

wanderingspud — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 23:52:50 +0000

Brewer’s Update: Held off on bottling the Mead… figured it could benefit from a month or two more in the fermenter…

Added one ounce of Cascade to the Double IPA for dry hopping…

Still looking for a good filtering method… oh, and the Vet’s Day Porter will be late this year… no good opportunities to brew while I’m working on getting out…

Today is the tenth… I have a medical appointment on Friday, a financial briefing on Monday…

On Wednesday, I sign the final papers for my discharge… 71 days later, and I will be a civilian…

You have all been warned… so chain down anything that you don’t want damaged, and keep a weather eye out for a dude with a beard a funny looking hat… cause it’s probably me… and I’m probably looking for a party…

The Mostly Update

wanderingspud — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 22:36:36 +0000

Hi there!

Brewing News is as follows. The Mead gets bottled in two weeks, and then a long rest before unveiling. Think early May.

New on deck is a Double IPA. 5 ounces of pellet hops (Chinook, Columbus, Centennial and two ounces of Cascade) makes this very hoppy, bitter and floral. The recipe included over 15 lbs of malt, so the flavor will be very heavy. Also looking for a new filtering method to give this brew a little extra clarity after bottle aging.

Looking at new equipment, I finally broke down and bought a wort chiller. This little wonder can take a wort at 180 degrees down to 90 in about twenty minutes. Should speed production up plenty.

Next in the line up will be the always popular Veteran’s Day Porter. I’ll be adding a third 8 gallon fermenter for this, as I will also be putting up a farewell brew for Tim Ewt (he’s a friend from the bomb dump).

So I should also get a couple of bottles of something quick and easy, probably a Stout or Amber.

I have plenty of time and space for brewing this winter, so if anyone has any requests, let ‘er rip…

Cheers–
tb

Tango Bravo Brewery

wanderingspud — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 03:14:21 +0000

This is Derek.

Strangely enough, I’ve never introduced any of you to Derek… which I find peculiar because for all intensive purposes, Derek is my brother, with only the trivial formality of blood relation standing in the against column.

At any rate, the tangle o’ mess Derek is holding up is a vine of fresh from the farm hops. We put together a strange concoction of Dark Amber malt, fresh and pellet hops (Simcoe and Cascade, I think) and a Belgian Abbey yeast.

Derek calls this “Hoptimus Prime”. I’m not gonna argue with him.

The Mead is currently bubbling and gurgling away. Thinking that bottling will take place around Halloween, aging will take anywhere from six months to a year. Yeah, yeah… that sounds like a long time, but trust me… old mead is good mead…

In the mean time, I’m buying up some more material and gear and putting up two more beers before mid October. If you happen to be around, gimme a call and stop by. We can drink beer while beer is being made, and talk about beer…