Well.... It's been almost a year since I last posted here. I have to admit, I forgot about this place and never would have thought about it again if it wasn't for a recent email with a more experienced brewer and general great guy, esheppy. You can find him and his way more informative and entertaining blogs here... http://blog.ericshepard.com/

So what's happened? Well.... I got another year older.
The Tigers lost the World Series. No wait, the Tigers got SWEPT in the World Series!
The NHL went on strike/lock out, which made me realize I am actually a pretty big hockey fan. As much as other people tried to pull people together to try and punish the Billionaires and Millionaires by not attending or watching any NHL when the lock out ended, as well as not purchasing any new NHL paraphernalia, I couldn't resist. I needed a hockey fix! I needed my Oilers!
The Patriots lost the AFC championship to the eventual Super Bowl winning Ravens, which almost made me puke.
Oh and I played Australian Rules Football in Toronto. Yep. I did. There's a league in Ontario. It's no where near the pro calibre that the actual AFL is, but it is a lot of fun and I'm glad I did it. The sad part is it also made me realize how much of a difference age and working for a living plays against kids who go to college and build muscle by eating a large pizza. So 2012 is probably going to be my only year of playing, and I will be a fan/spectator from here on out.

As an aside, typing all that made me realize how far apart my pro sport team affiliations are. Not that I didn't already, but typing it is making my mind run on what to do to correct it, and I'm not sure I can. I tried to go all Boston/Massachusetts teams a few years back. It didn't work. I hate the Red Sox. Don't care about Boston College and would never think of being a Bruins fan. I do have a soft spot for Detroit, mostly because our local US TV stations back home were from there, it's why I'm a Tigers fan actually. Problem is I'd have to give up on my Patriots, and that will never happen. So I guess I'll remain a fan of the teams I am a fan of and maybe hope one or two of them relocate to a city with a team I already like! ;)

Anyways. I have the new Mr Beer Aztec Cerveza in the little brown keg. Nothing exciting. Just the usual boil water, add HME, pour in LBK and let sit. I have to bottle it tomorrow.
I have a can of Mr Beer Octoberfest in my cupboard waiting to brew. Problem is I've made it three times and have come to terms with the fact that I don't like it. Apparently I am not a malty beer fan. This is where the email with esheppy comes in. I sent him a question of how to make the Octoberfest more hoppy so I might enjoy it. He has sent back a couple of suggestion. I'm going to rack my brain to come up with something with these suggestions, and will post my final recipe when I do it.

So that's it for now. Feel free to comment, and thanks for visiting. Cheers!