Ummm, its the End of the February???

Right, so haven't updated in awhile.  Seems like I was just posting about brewing the Banana Bread Ale yesterday.  Then I realized that I just bottled it on Saturday after one week in a primary fermenter and two weeks in a secondary.  So here's an update on the highlights of the last few weeks:

A lot of Theresa's cousins and aunts and uncles from out of town were in town a couple weeks ago for the weekend.  It was great to see all of them again.  Friday night, we went out for dinner with her cousins to Iron Hill.  It was a lot of fun to hang out with her cousins!  The weekend was a great opportunity to see a lot of her family that aren't often in town. :-)

About two weeks ago, I finally picked up a 6 gal. glass carboy for fermenting beer.  I have been meaning to do this for awhile now and finally got around to getting one.  I debuted the carboy as a secondary fermenter for the Banana Bread Ale, after a one-week primary fermentation.  Fast forward two weeks.  I bottled up the Banana Bread Ale this past Saturday, and the secondary seemed to do a great job.  The flavor conditioned nicely and the color came out beautiful.  The secondary did a lot to clarify the beer.  The one downfall is that the banana hasn't come out much in the flavor - but the other flavors did nicely - the vanilla and cinnamon came out very well balanced.  We'll see how it tastes in a couple weeks after bottle conditioning.

On the video game front, I picked up NHL 2011 a week or so ago.  I have been meaning to pick up a solid hockey game for awhile now, and I must say, NHL 2011 is a lot of fun.  I especially like the Be-a-Pro mode, where you can create your own character.  The storyline starts with your character as a player in the junior leagues just before you get drafted into the NHL.  Rather than controlling a team through seasons in dynasty mode, you follow and control only your character.  If you do well, you earn better contracts and other honors.  If you don't do well, you get sent down to the minors until you start performing better.

This past weekend, I also borrowed Mass Effect from my buddy Jim.  I have been meaning to pick up Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, but just haven't had a lull in other games to give it the attention it deserves.  Finally started playing it, and it is an awesome game so far.  The game play mechanics are smooth and the storyline is solid.  I can't wait to see how the storyline advances.  I have heard a ton of praise for the Mass Effect series, so I'm holding it to a high standard.  So far, so good.

Another highlight from the weekend was dinner and a movie with Theresa on Friday. :-)  Went out and saw Cedar Rapids.  If you get a chance to see this movie at a theater near you, definitely do it.  Cedar Rapids is one of the funnier movies, I've seen in a long time.  John C. Reilly was absolutely hysterical!  It isn't as widely distributed as a lot of other, more mainstream movies, but is definitely worth going to see if you get a chance.  After the movie, Theresa and I went to Rock Bottom in King of Prussia, where I had a burger that pretty much sounds like a heart attack. :-)

Theresa giving the thumbs up behind my 2A.M. burger (a cheeseburger with a hash brown and a fried egg :) ).

This next picture isn't really relevant to any particular event, but Abby is pretty much the cutest dog in the world, so here's a completely off-topic bulldog picture. :-)

Loungin' pup! :)

That's all for now - hopefully the next post will come a little quicker than this one.

Song of the Day: "Modern Wolf Hair" by Chiodos
Beer of the Day: Midas Touch by Dogfish Head Brewery