Update(Finally)

Ok, so I’m a bit of a slacker when it comes to my blog, but I have a been busy little home brewer, and a slightly less busy runner. Since my last post I have brewed the following:

2.5 gallons of Stout, 5 gallons of IPA(a delicious Two-Hearted Ale clone!), 5.25 gallons of Cherry Wheat, 3 gallons of Kölsch(BIAB), 3 gallons of Chocolate Imperial Stout(BIAB), and 2.5 gallons of Apfelwein.

Those two BIAB batches were my first all-grain batches, and I think they’re going to turn out pretty well. I already tried the Kölsch, and while it’s not my favorite style, I think the beer turned out to be pretty good. I paid very close attention to my fermentation temp, keeping it at 60° for three weeks before a two week lagering phase. The chocolate imperial stout was a bit trickier. I overshot my mash temp slightly, so it didn’t attenuate down as low as I thought it would. I also racked onto vodka-soaked cacao nibs after three weeks, so hopefully that gives me the flavor I’m looking for. I’m a big fan of Widmer Brothers’ Chocolate Imperial Stout, and while I wasn’t trying to clone their beer, I was trying to come up with something tasty. Here’s my recipe(if you’re curious):

BIAB Chocolate RIS

9 lbs 12.0 oz Maris Otter (Crisp) (4.0 SRM) Grain 1 91.5 % 8.0 oz Roasted Barley (Briess) (300.0 SRM) Grain 2 4.7 % 3.0 oz Chocolate Wheat (Weyermann) (415.0 SRM) Grain 3 1.8 % 2.0 oz Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 4 1.2 % 1.5 oz Chocolate Malt (Thomas Fawcett) (250.0 SRM) Grain 5 0.9 % 0.75 oz Centennial [10.90 %] – Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 43.1 IBUs 0.90 oz Willamette [5.20 %] – Boil 20.0 min Hop 7 14.9 IBUs 0.50 oz Cascade [7.80 %] – Boil 10.0 min Hop 8 7.5 IBUs 0.50 oz Willamette [5.20 %] – Boil 2.0 min Hop 9 1.2 IBUs 1.0 pkg London Ale Yeast (Wyeast Labs #1028) [124.21 ml] Yeast 10 – 4.00 oz Cacao Nibs (Secondary 7.0 days) Flavor 11

I ended up getting about 70% efficiency on this batch(my Kölsch came in closer to 77%), so I think the larger grain bill, combined with the higher initial mash temp may have had something to do with that. Hopefully I’ll get the efficiency back up on the next batch, which will probably be an ESB(mmm). I also got a keg for Father’s day, but I haven’t had a chance to fill it yet. Everything I’ve brewed to this point has been bottled, and I’ll probably bottle the Apple wine, too, since it needs time to age(and I don’t have a regulator yet).

As for my running, I’m still struggling to get my endurance back post-surgery, but I have started racing again. I’ve run a couple of 5ks(my son Alex also ran his first 1 mile race!), and I’m planning to run another next month, a 10k in September, and a half marathon in October. I’m not going for PRs(my last 5k was 7 minutes slower than my PR), but I’m just trying to get back into the swing of things.

That’s pretty much it. I promise I won’t go another 6 months without a blog post. Maybe I’ll post about next months brew session. Have a good night, everyone!

still not where I want to be, but I’ll get back there eventually

My shiny new 2.5 gallon corny keg from Adventures in Homebrewing. I just need to get a regulator and some lines, and I’ll be ready to go. I have a paintball tank, so I’m planning to naturally carb the keg, and use CO2 for serving.

Alex finishing strong in his 1 mile race. He finished in 8:55. He was so excited!

Happy “Brew” Year(and a running update, too)

Happy New Year, everyone! I decided to kick the year off with a brew day. Last year, I brewed my first batch of beer on New Year’s Day 2013(a Mr. Beer West Coast Pale Ale). This year, I brewed a recipe of my own design(using Beersmith), a “Leftover” Pale Ale, using grains and hops I had on hand. Here are the ingredients(for a 2.5 gallon batch):

4.0 oz	Caramel Malt – 80L 6-Row (Briess) (80.0 SRM)	Grain	1	8.3 %
4.0 oz	Carapils (Briess) (1.5 SRM)	Grain	2	8.3 %
10.0 oz	DME Golden Light (Briess) (4.0 SRM)	Dry Extract	3	20.8 %
0.38 oz	Cascade [7.00 %] – Boil 60.0 min	Hop	4	23.3 IBUs
1 lbs 14.0 oz	DME Golden Light (Briess) [Boil for 15 min](4.0 SRM)	Dry Extract	5	62.5 %
0.20 oz	Willamette [5.00 %] – Boil 15.0 min	Hop	6	4.4 IBUs
0.30 oz	Citra [14.00 %] – Boil 10.0 min	Hop	7	13.5 IBUs
0.20 oz	Citra [14.00 %] – Boil 2.0 min	Hop	8	2.1 IBUs
0.6 pkg	Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml]	Yeast	9	–
0.50 oz	Citra [14.00 %] – Dry Hop 14.0 Days	Hop	10	0.0 IBUs
0.20 oz	Liberty [4.30 %] – Dry Hop 14.0 Days	Hop	11	0.0 IBUs

I did have to order the Citra hops, yeast, and a little more DME, but I had everything else on hand. The brew day went very smoothly. I did the late extract addition to keep the beer from getting too dark, and to aid with hop utilization. And It’s so much easier cooling down 2.5 gallons of wort! I think I went from boiling to around 64° in 17 minutes! It’s fermenting at 65° right now, and I’ll add the dry hops once primary fermentation is done(and maybe drop the temp another 2-3 degrees). This should be a tasty beer!

I’m really looking forward to this beer. It smelled amazing, especially after I tossed in the citra hops!

As for running, things are getting better. I ran 3.25 miles this morning, which would have been unthinkable a month ago. If I continue to progress over the next few weeks, I’ll probably target a race next month. I won’t be looking for a PR(or anything close), but I think it could be good to help me reset my training paces post injury. Have a wonderful day, everyone!

Injury update and another brew day(make that two!)

I ran on 10/17. It was only .5 miles, but it was my first run post surgery! I’ve managed to build up to 1.25 miles after a couple of weeks, but my knee and ankle still need to get stronger before I can add on any substantial distance. I’m hoping to get in a short race(run at an easy pace) by the end of the year, or early in 2014.

As for my brewing, I’ve actually brewed a couple of times recently. I brewed a 5 gallon batch of Caribou Slobber on 10/18. I definitely feel like I’ve got my brew day timing down a little better. I bought a submersible pump, and used it to circulate ice cold water through my wort chiller. This worked really well. I used the faucet to get the temp down to 100° F, and then I hooked up the pump, and circulated ice water to get down to pitching temp. I was able to get the wort down to 66°F in less time than it took me to get to 75°F last time.

I also made a yeast starter this time. I used Wyeast 1332(Northwest Ale strain), the recommended liquid yeast strain for the beer. I made a stir plate using a usb-powered computer fan, a magnet harvested from an old hard drive, and a plastic container purchased on Amazon. I prepared the starter on Tuesday, let it ferment until Thursday morning, and then cold crashed it in the fridge to drop the yeast out of suspension. It worked beautifully.  It’s been fermenting away for just over two weeks. I transferred to secondary on Halloween(probably unnecessary), and I’m planning to bottle next weekend(I might hold off until Veterans Day).

I also brewed a Mr. Beer batch yesterday(11/2) because it was National Learn to home brew day. I brew their Columbus’ Cascading Ale, which is a can of Bewitched Amber Ale, a smooth LME softpack, and a 1/2 ounce each of Columbus and Cascade hops. I brewed that one yesterday, and it already has a nice head of krausen on it, and it smells great.

With these two batches, I’ll have plenty of beer to last the rest of the year(and well into 2014, hopefully). Have an awesome day, everyone!

Sanitizing everything before preparing my starter

My starter spinning away on the stir plate. I still can’t believe how easy it was to make on of these!

I love the way the wort smells during the boil. Especially after I add in the hops!

I filled this cooler with ice water and used a pump to circulate that water through my wort chiller. It worked like a charm!

I used a blow-off hose for the first few days. It turns out I didn’t need it, but better safe than sorry!

My first 5 gallon brew day!

I actually did this on Friday, but I was too tired to post it. This took about 4 hours from start to finish, mainly because I had to wait for all of that water to come to a boil after steeping the specialty grains, and it took longer than expected to cool everything down(even with my wort chiller). The day went very smoothly, though. I think it helps that I read tons of books in preparation, and watched dozens of videos.

The recipe I chose was the Liberty Cream Ale from Midwest supplies, the same place I bought my equipment kit. I actually didn’t buy the ingredients for this batch from Midwest, but it is their recipe. I bought the LME(liquid malt extract) from Brew Camp while I was visiting my family in Illinois in August. And I bought the specialty grains, hops and yeast from Maltose Express in Monroe, CT, after going to their malt extract brewing class a couple of weeks ago.

As for the brew session, I think I learned a couple of valuable lessons for next time. First, I should start heating up the water for the main boil right away, even before I start steeping the grains. I used a smaller pot to steep 8 oz of Carapils, and I heated another 5.5 gallons in my large brewpot. after steeping grains for 30 minutes, and adding that water to the main pot, it still took another 40 minutes to come to a boil. I did a full volume boil, so I was heating up 6.25 gallons, with the extra volume for evaporation losses during the boil. The second area I need to improve is my cooling. I made a copper immersion wort chiller, and it worked fairly well. No leaks(I tested it twice before brew day), but it is fairly short(20 feet), so it took much longer to cool than I anticipated. Next time, I’m going to cool the wort to around 120°F, and then use a submersible pump to circulate ice water through the coils. I’m hoping that will get me down below 80°F a little faster.

Other than those two issues, everything went well, and cleanup was a breeze. I’m planning to rack to a secondary next weekend, and then I’ll probably bottle on the 27th or 28th! I still have some Mr. Beer Blue Patriot and Bohemian Bronze in bottles, but I’m really looking forward to this! Have a great day, everyone! Here are a few pics

Heating the big pot while steeping the Carapils for 30 minutes at 155°

Bottling bucket full of sanitizer(I used Starsan) and fermenting bucket. I might wait until I’m cooling the wort to make half of the sanitizer next time. I can use some of the runoff from the chiller(after it cools a little bit)

I have Beersmith on my Kindle, so I used the timer to keep track of the steep and the boil. And of course I had to have a homebrew, Mr. Beer Blue Patriot

I needed 6 lbs of Gold LME, and I had two 3.3 lb containers, so I measured out 6 lbs in a pitcher. It was nice because it was easy to pour, and I was able to rinse with hot water to get all of the LME out of the pitcher

The wort smelled AMAZING after it came to a boil. I added .625 oz of Cascade at 60 minutes, 1 tsp of Irish moss at 15 minutes, and 1 oz of Cascade at 2 minutes left in the boil.

The temperature dropped really quickly at first, but then it slowed to a CRAWL! The tap water was in the upper 70s, so that didn’t help

Even with a wort chiller, I still ended up using an ice bath for about 10 minutes!

Nice and cozy in my fermentation chiller. I’ going to try to ferment at around 65-67°F.

What I’ve been up to

It’s been a while since I posted a blog, so I though I would let everyone know how I’m doing. I’ve been walking completely unassisted for the last 4 weeks(no walking boot or crutches), and I only have 3 physical therapy sessions left. After that, I might be shifting to a home therapy regimen. I think running is still a long way off at this point, but it’s starting to seem like a possibility again. Alex has actually done three races during my recovery(the most recent being last Saturday), and Jenna actually did one, too!

Alex and Jenna at the Georgetown Days Kids K

Alex at the Newtown Road Race kids run. He was tired at the end(it was humid!), but he had a lot of fun.

In addition to watching my kids participate in my favorite hobby(can you tell I’m a little jealous?), I’ve also kept myself busy with one of my other hobbies. Namely this one:

Yep. That’s a beer. More importantly, THAT is a beer brewed by me! My brother gave me a Mr. Beer kit for Christmas, and that was the result. 2.13 gallons of West Coast Pale Ale. And I’ve brewed 4 more batches since then, most recently the Bohemian Bronze, which I’m really looking forward to. I didn’t think I would get into brewing as much as I have, but it’s a lot of fun. My Father’s Day gift was a new 5 gallon equipment kit from Midwest Supplies, and I’m going to brew my first 5 gallon batch tomorrow. I would have done it sooner, but I had to wait to regain some strength in my ankle(a fermenter full of beer is NOT light!). I’m going to brew their Liberty Cream Ale, and I’ll post pics when I’m done brewing, and I’ll try to post a review in a couple of months after I’ve tasted the beer. Have a great day, everyone! I’ll leave you with a few more pics!

My fermentation chiller. I can regulate the temperature of the fermenting beer very well with this. I actually built this about one week before my surgery

An inside view of the chiller. The fan in the upper right corner circulates cool air through the chamber. The cooling source is actually two frozen water bottles(usually 1/2 gallon or 1 gallon containers)

After my third batch, I started using glass bottles(in addition to the PET bottles that came with my Mr Beer kit). I like the glass bottles, but I might start using larger 22oz bottles, since bottling 50+ 12oz bottles would take hours!

My anniversary present. This stainless steel stock ot holds close to 9 gallons, more than enough to do a full volume boil(~6.25 gallons)

And finally, my wort chiller. I built this last weekend. It was really easy(I found tons of helpful youtube videos), and it will save a lot of time over trying to do an ice bath to cool the wort! I’ve leak tested it twice already. I can’t wait until brew day!

 

 

 

Hello again.

It’s been a REALLY long time since I posted anything on this blog, so here’s what I’ve been up to. I was running(a lot), getting ready for the NJ marathon and then this happened(WARNING:GROSS ANKLE SCAR PICS COMING UP!!!):

 

(you’ve been warned)

 

 

Torn posterior tibial tendon. Ouch. I noticed the problem in late January, but since I’m an idiot, I kept running. Finally after the 13.1 NY half on March 23rd(finished just over 1:45, 8 minutes slower than my PR), I knew I need to see a doctor. After the appointment, an x-ray, and an MRI I opted for surgery. I think is is my best shot at a full recovery. I had the surgery on May 17th, and I had my cast removed on June 27th. I’ll be in a walking boot for another month or so, but it sucks way less than that cast!

No more cast!

Physical therapy starts on Monday. I’m probably more terrified for this than I was for the actual surgery. I know it’s going to take some serious work, but I am going to run again. Hopefully marathons, but we’ll have to see. I deferred my entry for NJ to next May, but since my recovery timetable is 6-12 months, that could be too optimistic. I might shoot for the half marathon instead. Have an awesome weekend, everyone!

 

Catching up on posting…and another marathon! Mohawk Hudson River Marathon 10/07

It’s been a while since I posted on my blog(oops), so I’ll try to be a little better about it in the future. Between my last post and the marathon, I actually ran three other races. First there was a 5k in Hartford on 7/12. I ran it in 20:49, more than a minute slower than my PR(It was hot, and there was NO shade, though) Next up, a 5 miler in August on a course that was VERY short. It was a 7 minute PR(31:38), that probably would have been about 4.5 minutes on a full course. And my last tune up race was the New Haven 20k. I ran that one in 1:32:30, and I was happy, since I didn’t feel like that was an all-out effort. Here’s a pic from the end of the 20k:

I had a lot left in the tank at the end of this one. It felt good!

That brings us to the marathon. Where do I begin? I had a rough day. I finished in 3:47:09, a personal worst by about 3.5 minutes. One of my goals(besides a pr) was to do a better job with hydration, and to avoid another trip to the medical tent after the race. I think I went too far in the other direction, though. I had to take SIX BATHROOM BREAKS(maybe more, I think I stopped counting after six)! 5 in the first 15 miles! The other runners must have though I was trying to mark my territory or something. A guy actually came up to me after the race and said he’s never seen someone stop to go that many times(my shoe also came untied at around mile 11, something that’s never happened in these shoes before). And after each stop, I tried to rush to get back on pace, and THAT really killed me in the later miles. I was on pace for a 3:30 finish until around mile 18, when the cramping started. There was a massive downhill that really didn’t help with that either. I thought I could still salvage a PR until the start of mile 23. After I realized there was no chance of a PR, I just wanted to be done. It was a frustrating day, but still another marathon completed, so I can’t be too upset about it. I still feel like I was in sub 3:30 shape, though. Oh well. I’ve actually already signed up for my next full. I’m going back to the New Jersey marathon next May. I’m hoping better preparation, and more experience will lead to a huge PR. My next race will be the Colony Grill Hot Oil 5k on 11/11 in Fairfield(and Alex is doing the Kids run, too). I’m hoping for a new 5k PR (sub 19:41)to close out the year. If I don’t get it there, I’ll give it another shot in December, probably at the Christopher Martin run for Children in New Haven. If I do get it, I might go for the Ted Corbitt 15k in December instead. I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend! Here’s a pic from the race.

This was around mile 10. I was up to 3 or 4 bathroom breaks by this point, but I still felt good. And I probably heard some yell “Da Bears” at least 30 times during the race!

Connecticut Irish Festival 5k

I ran the Connecticut Irish Festival 5k in North Haven, CT on Saturday 6/23.  I knew from the start this wasn’t going to be a PR race, with temps in the low 80s. I haven’t run in anything like that since last August.  I came through the first mile in 6:24, but after a 6:36 2^nd mile, and a 6:33 3^rd mile, I knew I would be well off my best.  I was in no mood to really kick it in at the end, and I finished the last .13 miles in about 46 seconds. My official time was 20:22(20:19 on my Garmin). There were a couple of bright spots, though. My 5 year old son ran his first race, a 600m fun run, and he had a blast. I also managed to keep my 5k AG award streak going.  I won the M30-39 age group, my 3^rd AG win my last 4 5k races(I finished 3^rdin the other one, which was actually where I set my current PR of 19:41). I didn’t feel great today, but I’ll take it! I got a nice trophy, and a $25 gift card to The Sports Center of Connecticut in Shelton.  We actually used it today. I wanted to play mini-golf, but we ended up doing fun bowling, which was pretty cool , too. Have a great day, everyone!

Alex and Jenna before the Kids race. Jenna decided not to run, though

Alex is ready to start!

Look at that finishing kick!

A congratulatory hug from Jenna!

The start of my 5k. I swear I’m in this pic!

Nearing the finish

I won my AG again. I’ve won my AG 3 times in 5ks, and placed in 3 others. Someday, I want to get an award in a longer race!

a close up of the trophy

New Jersey Marathon

This was quite an experience! I ran the New Jersey Marathon in Long Branch, NJ on Sunday May 6th. This was my first marathon, so I’ve really been looking forward to it. I think I learned a lot from this one! At the start of the day, I thought 3:25 would be a good stretch goal, and the weather was great(54° at the start),  so the 7:53 first mile felt nice and easy. Mile 2 was 7:34, but I knew I should back off a little, and I did. I settled into a nice rhythm over the first half coming through the half mark at 1:41:42. The next 3.5 miles went by uneventfully, and I was feeling confident that I could do this. I had also been taking in fluids at every hydration stop, so I THOUGHT I was staying on top of that, too(I was wrong, REALLY wrong).  I noticed I was slowing down at mile 16(8:12), but I still felt good, so I thought it may have just been a lapse in concentration. But by the next mile, I knew that wasn’t the case. My legs were about to pack it in. I started having  really bad cramps, and my only option was to try to walk them out while massaging my legs. I managed to work them out enough to run, but they kept coming back, so my splits kept climbing. It was a little disheartening to see so many people passing me near the end of the race(three different pace groups passed me in the last 10k), but I was still very happy to complete my first marathon, and give myself a time to crush in my second(10/7, Hudson River Marathon ). My official time was 3:43:36, so there was a pretty big positive split(almost 22 minutes!). Other than having an ambitious goal for a first marathon, hydration was clearly my undoing. I think I did a horrible job in the days leading up to the race, and taking in fluids at every station  know if wasn’t going to make up for it. And it wasn’t just water. I took Gatorade at most aid stations, or water when I downed a GU packet(I took three of those during the race). I don’t know if I would have hit 3:25, but without those cramps I feel like I could have finished quite a bit faster today( close to 3:30 maybe). Things got pretty interesting after the race(this is when I discovered how dehydrated I really was). I found my wife and kids, walked around for a few minutes, and then went to the bathroom. When I came out, I found a nearby sign, and put my head down. When that wasn’t good enough, I tried to lay down on the ground but I just collapsed. The EMS people were there almost instantly, asking questions, helping me onto the back of a truck, and taking me to the tent. I actually need assistance walking from the back of their truck into the tent! Apparently I was REALLY dehydrated, so they gave me fluids intravenously, and  my blood sugar was low, so they gave me some glucose(and a banana). The Dr. was also concerned that my HR was too low so they hooked me up to an ECG.  All while my wife and kids looked on(my son thought this was all incredibly cool, he had a huge smile on his face the entire time!). After my IV bag was done, and I seemed to be ok, they let me go. They just told me to make sure I ate something right away(that was definitely NOT going to be a problem), and try to take it easy.  What an adventure. Hopefully , I never have to go through that again. If I do, I’ll have no one to blame but myself. I’m feeling much better, but I’m going to give myself a lot of time to recover, and then training for Hudson River will start in early June(I’m also running a 5k in about 6 weeks, and a couple of other races later this Summer). Have a great day, everyone! Sorry this race report was so long! Here are the pics!

And we’re underway!

I think this was during mile 25. I was definitely hurting at this point. I think I spotted the camera right after this shot.

Hello cameraman. My legs are about to explode, but I’ll pretend to be happy!

Less than a mile to go

My attempt to kick it in was met with more cramps. Ouch!

Both legs cramping at the same time. Pain. Lots of pain.

Danbury Half Marathon

I ran the Danbury Half Marathon on 4/1. This was my first chance to run a race in my current hometown. The weather was perfect, too. I think it was 44° at the start. At first, I was disappointed with my results, but after looking back on the race, I’m feeling a lot better about it. It was a very hilly course, I didn’t taper at all, and that was my third consecutive 50+ mile week. 1:34 was not going to happen. My Garmin battery was also dead(my daughter went into my bedroom and turned it on the night before), so I had to use an app on my phone(Cardiotrainer). I’m not used to carrying my phone in a race, so this threw me off a little bit. I accidentally paused the run at around 7.6 miles, so I only have accurate splits for the first 7 miles. That cost me some time, too. I didn’t realize I had slowed down when the app was paused. By the time I noticed, I had probably dropped about 40 seconds or so. And that was before I hit the hilliest part of the course! Luckily, they were shouting times at most of the mile markers, but the damage had been done. My goal for the day quickly went from 1:34, to 1:36, to just PR. I did manage to pick it up a little over the last 2 miles and finish in 1:37:10, a new PR by 1:33. My splits for the first 7 miles were 7:28,6:50,6:55,6:54,7:02,7:25,7:16. I wasn’t able to see my splits as I was running so I didn’t know how much I had sped up in miles 2-4. If I could have kept those miles at around 7:05-7:10, this would have been a much more enjoyable experience. As I was finishing, I heard someone yelling my name. I looked over, and there was fellow Dailymiler Chris, whose wife was also running the half! It was great meeting you, Chris! Take care, everyone! Less than weeks until the NJ Marathon(and less than one week until taper!)!

Smile!

I really HATED carrying that phone. My arm was sore for the rest of the day!

With Chris after the race. I had sweat in my eyes, but Megan snapped the pic anyway!