Christmas, New Years, 3 More Cases of Beer, and a Few Goodies from the Beer Garden

Christmas was a lot of fun, and very relaxing this year.  I had a great time hanging out with Theresa and her family during Christmas Eve and Christmas! :)  Although I didn't make it up to Rochester around Christmas, it was pretty nice to not have to worry about traveling all over the place during the holidays.  Got some awesome new gear this year.  I added the four Saranac pint glasses from Theresa and the three Stone glasses that I ordered to my glassware collection.  Also got a couple new scarves, a new Saranac t-shirt, the Tenacious D Complete Masterworks DVD, a pack of Omaha Steaks Filets, and lots of other goodies.  All-in-all, it was another great Christmas with Theresa!

The week after Christmas, I worked from home.  There was definitely work to do, but the pace was pretty relaxed and I was able to spend another week of quality time at home with Theresa and Abby. :)

Abby and I at the park before the snow we got a week ago melted.

Last Thursday was bottling day for the two clones (my Ruination clone, and the Ubu clone that I did with my buddy Keith).  When all was said and done, the Ruination was pretty much right on the money with the final gravity and yielded about 2 cases (one in 22oz bottles, the other in 12oz bottles) plus a 4-pack of 12oz bottles.  I also had enough to draw a little out into a tasting glass and taste the Ruination in its uncarbonated form.  It tasted about what I expected - pretty much exactly what an IPA should taste like.  I am very excited to taste the finished product and to see how it ages.  I think this one should age very well and mellow out a little with age.  The 2oz of Centennial hops that were used during dry-hopping really came through in the taste.  The Ubu ale came out pretty successful too - the FG was a little off but I think the finished product will still taste like a solid English ale.  This one yielded 3 bottles shy of 2 full cases (one case fro me and one for Keith).  After getting through these two clones, I know am out of empty beer bottles and have a little over three and half cases of home-brewed beer (2+ of Ruination, 1 of Ubu, and about a half case of Tripel) conditioning in my second bedroom.

My Ruination clone in the fermenter before I transferred it over to the bottling bucket.  Definitely had a lot of sediment with this one.

Bottling bucket and empty bottles ready to be filled.

Now, onto New Years!  This was the best New Years I've ever had!  Theresa and I had a really nice dinner at the Moshulu in Philly followed by an awesome fireworks display at Penns Landing (which could be seen from the Moshulu).  The dinner was awesome - the two best dishes in mind were the tuna tar tare that Theresa had as an appetizer and the diver scallops that we both had for an entree.  This was the first time Theresa and I had done anything like this for New Years.  It was really special to be able to just relax with Theresa and have an awesome night out just the two of us! :-)

Penns Landing fireworks on New Years Eve, as viewed from the Moshulu.

With New Years marking the end of the holiday season, I am now shifting gears and enjoying one last day off (today is the day that IBM gives off as a holiday for New Years) before heading back into the normal work routine.  I have mostly just been relaxing the last couple days and I decided to run down to Pinocchio's Beer Garden and pick up a mix-a-six pack and a 22oz-er.  My favorites from this beer run has been Stone's Lucky Bastard and Left Hand's Black Jack Porter.  

Some goodies from the Beer Garden: Acme Pale Ale, Lake Placid's Ubu Ale, Stone's Oak Aged Arrogant Bastard, Left Hand's Black Jack Porter, Victory's Hop Devil, Pilsner Urquell, and Stone's Lucky Bastard.

Song of the Day: "Tribute" by Tenacious D
Beer of the Day: Lucky Bastard by Stone Brewery