Russian Imperial Stout

Yesterday I brewed my second batch of beer. This is Russian Imperial Stout kit from The Beverage People. The people at the Beverage People were very helpful. I told them I would be traveling to Bangladesh and that the kit would set in a container for three months so they traded out the liquid yeast (it would go bad) for a dried yeast. The dried yeast was designed for wine but they recommended it because of the high alcohol content of the beer. This is going to make a beer similar to an Old Rasputan from North Coast brewing. Dark, complex and a big punch. The brewing went without a hitch this time. The foam of this beer is lush and has a great color. Check out this pic:

I was able to cool the wort down quicker this time after trying some new techniques. This time I set the wort in a chilled bath and ran water through the wort chiller. I also periodically stirred the wort as gently as possible so as not to introduce any oxygen while it was still hot. It took about 30 minutes to get 25 quarts of wort from boiling to 75 degrees. Not too bad.

Then I transferred the wort to the primary fermenter, pulling a little bit out to test the specific gravity (and taste it...hehe). It was at 1.095! To explain what this means, the specific gravity is comparing the specific gravity of the wort to that of water. The higher the number, the more sugar in the wort. The 1.095 converts to a final alcohol content of about 13%. This happens as the yeast converts the sugars into alcohol over the next few weeks. Yeast is so cool!

There is already a good deal of action in the carboy as you can see from the pics I took today. I am super excited about this batch and I hope I am not building it up too much. Luckily I still have some of the first batch to sip on while I watch the yeast work its magic.

Whiskey Night Results!

Last night I invited some of the guys over for a whiskey/scotch tasting. Mark came up with the idea of all of us purchasing a nice bottle on our way back into the country and then getting together to share them. There were seven of us and 10 bottles. Seemed like a good idea at the time! Here is the lineup:

1st row from left to right: Ardbeg 10year, The Balviene Golden Cask 14 year, Highland Park 1990, Glenfidich Rich Oak 14 year, Glengoyne 10 year, The Balviene Double Wood 12 year
2nd row from left to right: Johnnie Walker Black Label, Glenlivet 12 year, The Glenfiddich 12 year, Dewars 12 year.

This is a shot of the boys checking out the bottles. If I would have covered up the bottles and asked what you thought they were looking at...

The whole group moving on the the second discussing the finer flavors that were experienced on the last. The looks are sober but they would not stay that way for long! We quickly realized 10 bottles was way too much... but we weren't stopping yet!

This was a great night and the conversation was magic. College reminiscing, loss of our scotch virginity, Rob making verbal love to Siri and of course the constant barrage of witty banter. We will be repeating this event in the future with more guys and less bottles! After getting through 8 bottles we ranked our favorites and tallied. The top three were then blind tasted to pick the winner. The top three from first to third were: The Belviene Golden Cask, The Glenfiddich Rich Oak and the Highland Park 1990.

Looking over our tasting notes is pure comedy! there is a general degrading of sophistication of prose and neatness of handwriting as the evening wore on. Here are a few choice tidbits from the evening:

Balviene Golden Cask: "Frisky"

Glenfiddich Rich Oak: "Makes me want to swallow"

Glengoyne: "Nice Back", "Reckless beginnings, bitter end"

Ardbeg: "Punch in the teeth" "Peat train"

Highland Park: "Smooth, building to a crescendo"

Black Label: "I just drank this and I can't remember it"

Balviene Doublewood: "Sugary and playful, but may bite when provoked. Homeostatic and predictable, which is fun"

Dewars: "Bitey"

In conclusion: if you want a smooth drinking, subtle but interesting scotch go with the Glenfiddich Rich Oak. If you want something more complex, something that will make you stand up and take notice but is not harsh buy the Balviene Golden Cask. If you want good bang for the buck the your best bet is the Balviene Double Wood (5th place behind the 4th place Ardbeg) not as smooth as its big brother but just as interesting.

Amed

We left Ubud and traveled to Amed which is a small fishing village on the north side of the island. The drive was about 3 hours and very windy. Everyone seemed relieved to finally be out of the car. We stayed at the Hidden Paradise Cottages. The rooms were OK. They are older buildings made from brick and painted over. That and the tinted windows reminded me of late 70's American subdivisions, not really a good thing. So we spent lots of time at the pool and the snorkeling was pretty amazing right offshore. I don't want it to sound like I didn't have a good time, Ahmed was a very cool place and the HPC were just not up to the same level as our amazing places in other parts. Here are some pics:

 One of the last pictures with Geo in wings, that's right Geo learned to swim solo in this very pool.

This is the result of Lola wearing goggles all day. She had this bad habit of pushing her goggles into her her face to create a vacuum so that her goggles were sealed. All marks were gone quickly but it looked so bad for a bit.

Walking down the beach to dinner.

Enjoying my best purchase in Bali, my 22 ounce Bin Tang beer cozy. Never drinking ever warming beer again, that is my mission!

Rented a scooter and did as the Balinese. We got the whole family on it and explored the local area. There is something magic about a two wheeled vehicle. You are in it, not insulated from it. Your field of view is where ever you turn your head. And the best? The intimacy of it all. My wife is right behind me arms wrapped around me. It is like the intimacy of the bench seat in the huge early American cars. Slide on over baby. Only difference is that you are not carrying around all that pointless Detroit steel. Just the bare minimum of material and displacement to get to where you need to go. The gas mileage you ask? Well lets just say that it doesn't even matter. I could not have emptied the tank during the short time we were here.

 Drinks out on our scooter excursion. Lola slamming a banana smoothy.

That was it, back to Dhaka and our home sweet home!

Ubud

We rented a house on the north end of Ubud, a nice place called the Paper Lotus. To get to it we drove throught the main street in Ubud. We passed the Monkey Forest and were in traffic for a half hour driving past all the shops and restaurants. It became obvious that Ubud has become a very touristy spot. It does not seem as if much remains of the traditional arts except for the antique shops. Lots of western style clothing shops and jewelry and restaurants with international food and free wifi. WE finally arrived at our house which turned out to be the best place that we had stayed yet. Here it is:

We found a very cool coffee shop close to the monkey forests called "Coffee and Silver" it had a great style and good food too but not very Balinese...

We did a bicycle tour that bused us up to a coffee plantation for coffee, breakfast overlooking a volcano, bike downhill for 25 kilometers, and then lunch. There was lots of cool vistas that I did not photoducment... riding through rice paddies etc. George brought his camera so the following pics are courtesy of George Gibbs.

The kids were in love with the helmets!

 Jessica receiving some services from the tour's pit crew.

 Me and my machine... I've had better.

I took a little bike ride on my own to check out the local architecture. I could not find my original destination but here are some pics to give you a feel.

Next stop is the Elephant Safari Park Lodge to see elephants. Lola got to ride one and she was so excited she agreed to go all by herself. Afterward she kept talking about "her" elephant, Ramona, and now she wants to be a zoo keeper.

 After the ride Lola and Geo feed "her" elephant.

We spent went out to a restaurant called Clear for New Years Eve. They are probably better know for their blended drinks (think hippy grooviness like Ginger Mint lemongrass smoothy stuff). The most telling think I could say is that they don't even serve alcohol there... I know! Luckily we stopped and grabbed some brew from the local Circle K before going. Here is the group shot courtesy of Robyn's camera and the hostess as our photographer:

Happy new year! Next stop is Amed.

Nusa Lembongan

We left our home in Sanur on Christmas Eve Eve and took a ferry out to Nusa Lembongan. It is a small island east off the southern tip of Bali. We used Scoot Fast Cruise, which was nicely run and not too expensive. It was another example of the great dichotomy of travel. We arrived in a cove that was full of floating water slides and large party boats. Luckily they were just there for the day, you know to get sunburned and drink beer. After getting off the ferry we were shuttled in the back of a small truck up and over the hill to the next cove over. A fun ride that the kids loved. Took me back to the days as kids when we used to ride in the back of pickups all summer. Here we are in the shuttle (Photo courtesy of George Gibbs)

We stayed at the Waka Nusa Hotel which we booked through Agoda. Cool overall experience. Once you leave the road it is all sand paths through the huts to the office. We were greeted with cold towels and fresh watermelon juice. Here is a picture of our room:

There is an air of going back in time (no TV's annoying alarm clocks, telephones or internet) and yet it was comfortable (hot water, AC, and electricity). Of course, no one would come here for to stay in their room all day! So here are some pictures of the real reasons to come here: White sand beaches, clear water and nice views.

Waka Nusa was a great place to stay. They have free boat rides out to good snorkeling, free kayak rental, free bikes and a great complimentary breakfast. This is the only picture I have of the pool which does not really do it just justice... but I am looking good! (Photo courtesy of George Gibbs)

We found a favorite local restaurant and ate there a lot because the food was good, the Bin Tang was cheap and the view was great! Here a few pictures:

I love this picture in the restaurant. Notice the sand floor, perfect for letting the kids play so we could focus on the beer and the view. (Photo courtesy of George Gibbs)

Thanks Robyn for getting this fabulous family portrait! Also at our favorite hangout. Love it when the kids are so tired from the day that they pass out at diner.

We had our Christmas morning here in front of the Christmas tree the Hotel had up. It is such a weird feeling to have Christmas on a beach in perfect weather but we made due...

Kids with presents and the parents with coffee.

The hit was the fake mustaches...

What beach Christmas is complete without a Santa sand sculpture? For the next couple of days it was "Dad, can you make Santa and Miss Claus again?" (Photo courtesy of Robyn Gibbs)

Jessica arranged for me to go surfing Christmas day. I rented a short longboard and went out to a break called "Playground". It is a reef break which I was very nervous about but the swell was mellow and I actually got up. I road some white water and actually caught one wave. Surfed until my arms felt like they would fall off (not very long) and my ribs hurt. Good day! Sadly it was time to move on, I would have liked to have spent more time here though. Next stop, Ubud.

Day at Deus Ex Machina

Deus Ex Machina

Temple of Enthusiasm

I found out about Deus from a motorcycle blog called Bike Exif. At the Temple of Enthusiasm Deus restores old motorcycles, shapes surfboards, makes bicycles, has a bar and restaurant, art gallery and generally the coolest place ever. Here are a couple of shots of the overall view inside the store.

 This is the cafe and bar area

 One side of the art gallery

A nice area for the ladies to chill and the kids to run around.

The front parking area with a bunch of Deus bikes.

Surfboard Rack on a Deus bike.

 Cool bike mural and used surfboards for sale.

 Detail shots inside the store.

Wood surfboards...

This board is too wild. The clear part is only 1/4 of an inch thick. It is thicker at the rails and nose though...

At the back of the compound are the shops. I love the mixture of traditional wood carved doors and the new Husqy outside and new tools inside.

Here is a look where the magic happens.