"Shotgun Wedding"

...that was the name I gave to the New Belgium Saison clone at my wedding last week. It went quickly and was hands down the favorite of the crowd, due to all that orange peel, cardamom and coriander! Definitely wish I had brewed more of it, though I'm sure I'll brew it again once relocated to Dallas with an all-grain setup. I named the Fat Tire Amber clone "26 x 2.95" for all those bike nerds that attended. That clone definitely had some off-flavors, but was still enjoyable. Matt said we had an airlock malfunction with that one, apparently because the Better Bottles aren't rigid enough to prevent airlock water from getting sucked into the fermenter when they're moved. It's definitely the small things that can make or break a beer.

Bride, Brewer & Beers

The beer was very successful, so a big thanks to Matt Lockaby for the brewing equipment, brewing help, and showing up to set up the dispensing! I need to also thank a good & crazy friend of mine, Charles Locke. He piloted our post-ceremony bicycle rickshaw ride!

Look at the creepster in the car taking pictures of us!

That rickshaw ride was great. Charles and I used to work for Happy Rickshaw together and wrench side by side over at Charlottesville Community Bikes. Well, the Rickshaw fleet in Charlottesville was slowing down and was eventually sold to a group in Delaware, so Charles ended up buying a bike shop (Syklo) from Ken Margolius. Charles closed doors about a year later, and instead joined Will Canup in a local bike rickshawing venture. Oh, hey, Will, are you going to be back in town soon so we can do another beer tasting with my sick new glassware?! (Check out Will's blog from Italy: romestrong)

So needless to say, I've been busy. I'm hoping to actually start working on the Rockfish F-1 BMX in a meaningful way before the end of the year. I've been giving it some serious thought, and I've determined I need a Sachs 3x7 hub on the back. Yep, that's three gears internally and seven externally. Unfortunately, they're going for top dollar on eBay these days...

Currently drinking a Saranac Summer Ale out of a new Lenox Brandy glass!

Wedding Beer

If you haven't heard, I'm getting hitched in June. And for such a festive occasion, it's only proper for there to be copious amounts of beer on premise. I have a friend in town that can help me pull off three batches of homebrew, all New Belgium clones. Matt's great at brewing. He really knows his stuff. He'll be helping me brew my first all-grain batches with his equipment, introducing me to liquid yeast, and lending me kegging setups. It'll be nice not to bottle 15 gallons of beer. The recipes and ingredients will be from Austin Homebrew Supply. Check out the beers on Beer Advocate:

10 gallons of New Belgium's Fat Tire Amber Ale

5 gallons of New Belgium's Farmhouse Ale

Oh, and I had two bottles of our Belgian Tripel last night. At 9% ABV, I could have spaced them apart a wee bit more...

My Wonder Woman

I think both Rachel and I enjoyed a low key Valentine's day. Our wedding date is about four months out, and we still have plenty to do. That's taking up most of our free time right now. Rachel's been doing quite a bit of work, and I'm not slacking off either. She is my Wonder Woman. Check out the bike we built together two years ago: 3-speed Sachs torpedo hub w/coaster brake, Sturmey dynamo front hub, double butted spokes... and custom Wonder Woman sexiness. Rachel has given the bike quite a beating in two years, with some componentry improvements since these maiden ride photos. Campagnolo Nuovo Record pedals, front v-brakes, christophe toeclips with snazzy leather covers, new comfy specialized saddle...

Sunday, we took a hydrometer reading and a graduated-cylinder taste of our Belgian Tripel. It's time to bottle, but it'll have to wait for the weekend. 8.7% ABV suckas. I've finally conquered my lower-than-intended ABV problem. Tasted very floral and alcoholic. We'll see what it tastes like when chilled and carbonated. More on that in three weeks.

The Dortmunder... well some bottles are turning up with some pretty bad off flavors...