and not a drop to drink. Or, in other words, I feel like writing in here - but I have nothing to write about.


Been an interesting week in a couple of other ways, though, none of which are fit for public discussion. (And it's not as scandalous as that might make it sound.) But either way, sitting around on a Saturday night with a couple of good beers... life is good. :-) I opened a bottle of Victory V-Twelve (click the link) tonight, and I guess I didn't let it cool enough or something - once I got the cork out, it then proceeded to go all the hell over the place... so from a 750ml bottle, all I got was a tulip glass worth (link). Kind of disappointing, but meh. Not too worried about it. After this, though, is a Norwegian beer I picked up a month or so ago from a distributor almost out in the middle of nowhere. It's labeled as a "Double Extreme Imperial Wheat Stout," and I have no idea what to expect from this - but I'm assuming it should be pretty good. Past that, well, I have nothing planned, but I could always put something else in the fridge. I know of a place where I can get some pretty good stuff around here, and he hasn't steered me wrong yet. I have all the ingredients to make myself a brown porter (think Sam Smith Taddy Porter), and I can do it - I just need to actually devote the 4ish hours (since I've been lazy and need to really clean all my equipment) to actually brew it up. I'm looking forward to this one, though - it should be a very tasty little beer. Kitchen-sink style, too - I had 4 ounces of this grain, and 6 ounces of that grain, and 12 ounces of the other grain - and a fraction of an ounce of this hop, and a fraction of an ounce of that hop, etc. I posted on a message board I'm part of, and they suggested I go with a brown porter. It'll be a nice change of pace for me - normally I make lighter beers, or spiced beers, or belgian/german-inspired beers. (I'm counting my self-described American Imperial Krystal Weizen in that category - basically, it was supposed to be a wheat beer, but it's too strong and clear to be a proper wheat beer, and it's fermented with an American Wheat yeast strain.) Either way, I'm looking forward to this one. And I figure I should open my barleywine one of these days - I bottled it in late November, and I've been letting it age ever since. It's approximately 10.5% alcohol, and I'm thinking about entering it into a competition later in the year - around May or so. We'll see what happens.

Also, thinking about maybe ordering another kit or two. The patersbier I made last year went over pretty well, and given the yeast strain used for that one, it almost doesn't make sense for me to do a stronger beer or two on top of it. (The yeast strain is derived specifically for high-alcohol beers.) So between the brown porter, maybe something after the brown porter (but I doubt it - I'd almost have to do an imperial porter or a stout), the patersbier and whatever I decide to follow that up with, a wheat beer and my Imperial Wheat beer I mentioned above... looks like my brewing is spoken for for the next little while. :-)


I really need to get up to date on my labels, though. I need to do a label for my barleywine, maybe one for the dunkelweizen that I did for the super bowl party I went to last week. I think that's about it for the labels for right now, but I do need to figure out what to call these beers first... Anyone have any suggestions on how to take a good picture of a kitchen sink? If so, I think I have an idea for what to do for my brown porter...


And since I just realized that I haven't posted any recipes in here to date, I might as well start now - with one of my favorites, and one that's become something of a legend amongst my friends. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's the summer barbecue soup recipe - aka the "hot dog soup" recipe...

Hot Dog Soup

1 package Hot Dogs
1 package Hot Sausage
1 green pepper
1 potato
Carrots
1 can of beans
1 small can of tomato sauce
1 can of kernel corn
Garlic powder
Salt
Pepper
Italian seasoning
Bbq sauce
1 bottle of beer
Soy sauce (optional)


Combine all ingredients except for corn in slow cooker, season liberally, cook on low for 6-8 hours/high for 3-4 hours. Drain liquid from corn, add to slow cooker, add seasoning as necessary, cook on low for another 45 minutes.


Sometimes, I throw in a bit of curry powder or red pepper flakes - but that's optional. I recommend Premio Hot Italian Sausage, and I forget exactly what they're called, but Boars Head does some sort of skinless (I think) hot dog that just tastes better than anything else I've found. Cut the sausage and hot dogs up before you add them, and if you can, do this soup on low. If you do it on high, it's still good, but the veggies are a bit harder...


Alright, enough rambling - I have a bit of iSketch to play, and a stout to finish off. If anyone has any other suggestions, either for topics or beers or anything else, by all means, please let me know...