Making Mead

Wine has been a part of human culture for about 6000 years.  In fact, the oldest discovered winery was found in Armenia and was dated to about 4100 BC.  This site came complete with Wine Press, Fermentation Vats, Jars, and cups.  Evidence of older wines exists in anchient  Greece, Mesopotamia, Egypt, and pretty much everywhere around the world people put wine into jars and forgot about it a little too long.

Mead, however, blows Wine out of the water.  The oldest archeological discovery of Mead was dated at 20,000 - 40,000 years ago.  There was a nomadic tribe in Northern Africa that was found to travel not only with their food and clothing but also Beehives and of course all those delicious natural yeasts.

Flash forward to ancient Egypt, and there are records of King Tut being a big fan of Mead.  The Greeks called it Ambrosia (The Nectar of the Gods) and of course, what would the Vikings be without their Horns full of Golden Delicious Honey Wine.

In appreciation of all of you coming back after 4 years.  I channeled my inner  Viking made Mead Today.  It's an amazingly beautiful colored Melomel (Mead with Fruits added), and I can't wait for the finished Product

Recipe:

• 5 Gallons Clean Water (I made my own today with a Water Distiller)
• 15lbs Wildflower Honey.
• 2 Navel Oranges Quartered
• 1 Cup Dried Cranberries
• 1/2 Cup Dried Raisins
• 1/2 lb Strawberries Sliced
• 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar (Light or Dark)
• 1 pkg Lalvin k1-116 Montrachet Wine Yeast
• Yeast Energizer
• Yeast Nutrient

Now for the Making!
	It All Starts with a Nice Clean Bucket
And Of Course the Honey (Sorry I forgot to take a pic before adding it to the water)
	Use a little warm water to get all the residue from the bottle (That stuff is expensive).
Here's what 15lbs of honey in 3 gallons of Water looks like. Now you have the stir the shit out of it to get everything nice and incorporated.
Next come the fruits
	I Used 2 of these lovelies cut into quarters
About of a Cup of Cranberries
	And Two boxes of these little guys. (The raisins add a TON of extra nutrients to your mead that the yeasts love.
Fruits in the pot with water and brown sugar, then on the stove
	...And Boiling
I reduced the mixture by about 3/4 to extracted all the flavor
	As an afterthought I decided to add about half a pound of Strawberries to a pot with a little bit of the green wort.
...And boiled them Down
Almost go time. Heres the last few steps
	I added the deliciously fruity goodness to the green wort.
Look at that OG. 1.125 meaning that by the time this bad boy is done is should clock in at about 12%ABV. Woot!
	Here is the color of the mead pre yeast addition. Golden Goodness
Now for the Yeast
Lalvin Montrachet wine Yeast. Ferments clean and has a decently high attenuation rate.
	I bloomed it in a bit of the green wort for about 15 minutes
Godspeed and goodluck little buddies. May the odds be ever in your favor.
	...And the finished bucket. Labled, sealed, and Airlocked. It'll take about a month for final product. After about 2 week I plan on racking it off the dead yeat cake, and feeding the remaining yeats. 1 month should be enough to get full attenuation, and then The aging. It should be ready about Christmas time. Happy Holidays to everyone at our house this year.

Like Tom Petty Said, "The Waiting is the hardest part". But like all good things in life, patience is rewarded. I'll be checking back in with you guys periodically for updates on this brew. This is actually the first thing I've brewed in over 2 years so I'm actually really excited to be back on the horse. Thank you to everyone who came back after 4 years. It's been a while, but we're back and for good. Happy Brewing all.

Why Arena Football Should Replace the NFL

I loves me some Football.  This is my favorite time of year for one reason and one reason alone.  I get to watch football for 44 straight weeks.  What's that you ask? Aren't there only 17 weeks in the regular NFL season, and then only 4 weeks of postseason.  That leaves us about 23 weeks short.  For me, NFL is only a warm up in my Football watching routine.  My real passion starts right after the Superbowl, when Arena Football starts. 

Arena Football for me encompasses the purest form of the sport.  There are no Multimillion dollar contracts, there are relatively few million dollar endorsement deals for AFL players.  They play for money surely, but the money is much more modest in The Arena Game.  The average salaries for AFL players is $40-$50k per year, with some star players making $80k, and a few franchise players making 100k.  The minimum salary for an AFL player is $31k per year which when compared to the $107k minimum NFL salary, tells me that these guys are playing more for the love of the game than for the giant payday.  This takes me back to the old school football days that my dad used to tell me about where players had day jobs in the off season.

Other than the pay there are several key differences in the game that make it, in my opinion more fun to watch.

1.  There is "almost" no such thing as out of bounds.
      - Generally Arena Football is played in Hockey or Basketball arenas and there is a set of Hockey style boards set up around the field.  What this means is that the clock cant be stopped by stepping out of bounds.  The only time a player is considered out of bounds is if he goes over the barrier, or  is tackled into the barrier.  This leads to a faster paced game.

2.  There is no such thing as Punting.
      -  You have to go for it on 4th down.  You either have to make your yardage, or kick a field goal.  There is no other option in Arena Football.

3.  Balls that rebound off the Goal Posts are LIVE!
     -  Lets say your kick sails just a bid wide and hits a pole.  In NFL Football, its no good and you move on.  In Arena Football, the ball is still in play, and can be ran in for a touch down by the first team to grab it.  This leads to higher scoring games.

4.  The field is only 50 yards long.
     -  Meaning that most compotent kickers, and QB's can score from almost anywhere on the field.

5.  The game is usually played in Basketball or Hockey Arenas which means that almost any city can have a team.  There is no need for a giant Mega Stadium

These are just a few of the differences that I love about the game.  It feels closer to Rugby to me, which I've stated before is my favorite sport.  I know that there are people out there who are reluctant to give Arena Football a try.  They like the game the way it is, they say.  However, with so many rule changes being put into the game, the NFL is being turned into a watered down version of itself.  I implore all of you reading this today, to go onto YouTube, and check out some AFL highlights, and then come February, check out Arena Football for yourself.

NFL Week 3 Thoughts and my Thursday Pick

What a week 3 it was.  Just a few highlights from my end

1.  Bruce Carter hist a pick 6 in the 4th quarter to get a Dallas win.  These guys just seem to pull miracles out of their asses

2.  Cincinatti scores with an old school trick play right out of high school foot ball. 

3.  Marshawn Lynch goes beats mode for a Seattle win

Overall a nice week for NFL fans.

My stats were good for this weekend, I picked winners 68.75% of the time, and if betting I would have lost about $230  my system is improving as the weeks go on, Cant wait to see this weeks numbers.

My Thursday pick

NYG @ WAS - WAS -5.19.  Vegas has WAS -3.15, and the Moneyline is

-195\+170.  My bet is for WAS to cover the spread.  Good luck to all.

NFL Week 3 Falcons Own Bucs, and The Rest of My Week 3 Picks

Well, so far I'm 100% picking the Thursday game.  I picked Atlanta, and they delivered.  On a positive note, I would like to thank the Minnesota Vikings for doing the right thing as it regards to Adrian Peterson.  Even though they had to be shamed into it, in the end they made what I feel was the right call.  Now without further ado here are the rest of my Wee 3 picks

			Winner	Spread	Vegas Spreads	Vegas Moneyline	My Bet
SD	@	BUF	BUF	1.75	BUF -2.5	-140\+120	BUF Spread
DAL	@	STL	STL	3.78	DAL -1	-125\+105	STL Spread
WAS	@	PHI	WAS	2.30	PHI -6	-270\+230	WAS Spread
HOU	@	NYG	NYG	1.26	HOU -1.5	-125\+105	HOU Spread
MIN	@	NO	NO	1.68	NO -10	-650\+475	MIN Spread
TEN	@	CIN	CIN	4.61	CIN -7	-310\+260	CIN Spread
BAL	@	CLE	BAL	0.34	BAL -1.5	-125\+105	BAL Spread
GB	@	DET	DET	3.37	DET -2.5	-140\+120	DET Spread
IND	@	JAX	JAX	1.08	IND -7	-300\+250	JAX Spread
OAK	@	NE	NE	5.69	NE -14	-1475\+850	OAK Spread
SF	@	ARI	ARI	4.17	SF -3	-150\+130	SF Spread
DEN	@	SEA	SEA	6.32	SEA -5	-240\+200	SEA Spread
KC	@	MIA	KC	0.45	MIA -4	-210\+180	MIA Spread
PIT	@	CAR	CAR	1.83	CAR -3	-170\+150	CAR Spread
CHI	@	NYJ	NYJ	4.40	NYJ -3	-145\+125	NYJ Spread

Adrian Peterson Thoughts plus NFL week 2 Recap and Thursday Pick

In the interest of fairness I would like to point out that the views expressed here are mine and mine alone.  The situation involving Adrian Peterson is still under investigation, and currently in legal proceedings so all events are alleged.  Again all opinions are mine.

There are a great many opinions floating around right now about what should be done about Adrian Peterson.  Obviously the Minnesota Vikings feel like allegedly beating small children with sticks is okay as long as the person doing it helps you win games.  I wonder how they would have dealt with the situation if it had been their place kicker indicted for beating a four year old.  It wasn't their place kicker though, it was the Vikings top scorer, and after an abysmal loss to the Patriots, I guess the leadership felt like they could look the other way.  What makes this case worse than the Ray Rice situation for me is that Adrian Peterson is currently under indictment, which means that there is enough evidence for this to go to a trial.  There are pictures and statements made by The child, and the child's mother, and doctors.

According to CBS news, in an article you can read here;  Peterson's son had wounds to the back, buttock, legs, defensive wounds on the hands, and wounds to his scrotum.  Petersons reactions to the situation made it worse.  According to the same article Peterson said, "To be honest with you, I feel very confident with my actions because I know my intent." He also described the incident as a 'normal whooping' in regards to the 'welps' on the child's buttocks, but that he felt bad immediately when he saw the injuries on the child's legs. Peterson estimated he 'swatted' his son '10 to 15' times, but he's not sure because he doesn't 'ever count how many pops I give my kids.'"

The worst part about this whole situation is that Adrian Peterson feels like there was nothing wrong with what he did.  He feels like allegedly beating a four year old with a stick is an acceptable form of childhood discipline.  Also the Minnesota Vikings apparently were only willing to show Peterson that there were consequences to his actions until they lost a game.  Ray Rice punched his wife, and got an indefinite suspension.  Adrian Peterson allegedly beat his son with a stick hitting him in the scrotum, and had to miss one game.  There is a disconnect somewhere.

NFL Week 2 Recap

What the crap happened man.

1.  Dallas trounces the Rams after an abysmal opener
2.  The missed out of bounds call in the San Diego game was the worst one since the Santonio Holmes call in Superbowl 43.
3. The friggin Browns pull one out over the Saints
4.  The Broncos cant cover the spread against KC WTF!!!!!!.

Weird week all around.  My percentages improved a bit this week.  I was at an even 50% for winners which is a 7% increase over last week, and I only lost $440 in the pen an paper betting.

I feel good about this week though.  For Thursday Tampa Bay is @ Atlanta.  Vegas has Atlanta as the favorite by -6.5.  My numbers say Atlanta -3.89.

My Thoughts on The Ray Rice Debacle, and My Week 2 NFL Picks

Seems like everyone and their grandmother is being accused of some form of domestic violence ever since the TMZ video of Ray Rice surfaced.  The only thing anyone can talk about in association with the NFL is domestic violence.  According to Sports Illustrated, 14 NFL players have been arrested or charged with some form of domestic violence in the past two years,  so why does this case seem to jump out at us so much more than the others?  My guess, is that unlike the other cases, the Ray Rice situation had viral video to go along with it.  In no way shape or form, does that make the other cases any less important, we've just latched on to Ray Rice because we were actually able to see the Money Mayweather style left hook he threw.  There has been no shortage of opinions on the events in question, so here's my two cents

What Ray Rice did was deplorable.  Domestic violence in any form is reprehensible and should be punished.  As far a legal action goes, his wife did not press charges, so the legal end of things is kind of murky.  Without a complaining witness, there is not much that law enforcement can do.  As far as the man loosing his job over what happened, I believe that is was the absolute right thing for the Ravens to do.  When Ray Rice decided to be an NFL player, he accepted the responsibility and visibility that goes along with it.  He has young men and children watching his every move, and so if the Ravens had not shown that there were consequences for his actions, these young men would have gotten the impression that Ray Rice's actions were acceptable.  Public figures have a responsibility to project a public image which is good an beneficial for those who watch and admire them.  That's my two cents.

With that said, I'm going to get down off my soap box, and get down to NFL week 2.

Last week pretty much burned mine, and most vegas book makers predictions to the ground.  So many upsets, so little time.  I think after compiling last weeks data though, this week should be a bit more solid.  My thursday prediction about the Ravens was right, so lets see how the rest do.

NFL Week 2

			Winner	Spread		Vegas Spreads	Vegas Moneyline	My Bet
PIT	@	BAL	BAL	5.78		BAL -2.5	-135\+120	BAL Spread
DET	@	CAR	DET	1.45		CAR -3	-160\+140	DET money
BUF	@	MIA	MIA	2.24		Buffalo PK	--	MIA Money
JAX	@	WAS	WAS	4.77		WAS -6	-250\+215	WAS Spread
DAL	@	TEN	TEN	4.32		TEN -3.5	-185\+165	TEN Spread
ARI	@	NYG	ARI	0.64		ARI -2.5	-135\+120	ARI Spread
NE	@	MIN	MIN	0.60		NE -6	-250\+215	MIN Spread
NO	@	CLE	CLE	3.30		NO -6	-250\+215	CLE Spread
ATL	@	CIN	CIN	2.82		CIN -5.5	-240\+205	CIN Spread
STL	@	TB	STL	1.55		TB -6	-250\+215	STL Spread
SEA	@	SD	SEA	0.09		SEA -6	-250\+215	SEA Spread
HOU	@	OAK	OAK	5.85		HOU -3	-160\+140	OAK Money
NYJ	@	GB	GB	3.62		GB -8	-345\+285	GB Spread
KC	@	DEN	DEN	2.15		DEN -12	-680\+515	DEN Spread
CHI	@	SF	SF	3.44		SF -6.5	-280\+240	SF Spread
PHI	@	IND	IND	5.46		IND -3	-160\+140	IND Spread

Homebrew and NFL= Awesome Combo

There's a good many NFL fans in my area that are feeling worried.  Tonight one of the biggest games of the season is happening.  In this area of southeastern Ohio where I live, no game other than the Stuperbowl tops Steelers V Ravens.  Both teams had weird weeks last Sunday, so tonight they both have something to prove.  For all of the Steelers and Ravens fans around here there is a simple phrase I would like to impart to all of you.  RDWHAHB.  In the brew community this stands for Relax, Don't Worry.  Have A Home Brew.  Over the past 5 years making my own beer and wine has become a big hobby for me and other than my first batch, which tasted like someone filtered a beer through week old dirty gym socks soaked in the worst possible cough medicine you've ever tasted, I've produced good results.  In light of the fact that I never watch football without a beer, I've decided to share my passion with you guys.

This is my Graff. 

A Graff is a style of beer where amounts of apple juice and or whole apples are added to the brew.  This is one of my favorite summer recipes.  It's crisp, and has a nice bite in the finish especially if you finish it with the right hops and spices.  This particular Graff was made with Bavarian Wheat malt, English Maris Otter Barley malt, Honey Malt, Australian Hallertau hops, Belgian candy sugar, The juice and pulp of Honey Crisp and Jazz apples, and lemon zest.

Needless to say, a metric fuck-ton of work went into making this batch of beer, but the end result was well worth the wait.  Why would I do this?  Why would I devote the time and energy involved in home brewing when I could go down the street and pick up something that is, in the end, cheaper and ready to drink when bought.  Two reasons, one for the sheer joy of enjoying something that I crafted with my own two hands, and two because what I brew beats the crap out of the piss water most brewer try to pass off as beer with a brick.

As you can see, I'm a fan of dark beers,

I think they have a bit more character than their lighter brothers, but I've brewed lighter ales that have all come out delicious.  Not to mention, check out the head on that mug.  Tell me that anything you get from the store short of Guinness gets that kind of nice thick lasting head.  I know the picture can be a bit misleading, but this brew is not actually as dark as it looks. 

Take a look at it with a little bit of light behind it.

This ale is more the color of good honey.  Needless to say I'll be knocking back more than one of these while I watch the game to see if my prediction comes true.  Baltimre -5.78.  I'll have the rest of my week 2 picks up in a few days, so for now just RDWHAHB, or whatever you have in the fridge.