GO BANANA! (5/30/09)

Adventures in Homebrewing.....

The first three batches (January 2009):

Baking bottles for the first batch.

Sweatshirts to keep the light out. IPA on the left. Amber on the right.

The first three brews. From left to right: Amber in bottles, IPA in the jug, Beantown Ale in the bucket.

Maple Porter (March 2009):

What happens when you put too much high gravity wort in a bucket: fermentation through the airlock.

Maple Porter during primary fermentation.

Maple Porter before transfer to secondary fermenter.

Syphoning Maple Porter into secondary fermenter.

Maple Porter Trub.

Orange Berry Wheat #2 aka OBW2 (March 2009):

OBW2 before transfer to secondary fermenter.

OBW2 during transfer to secondary fermenter.

OBW2 in secondary fermenter. This beer was eventually submitted to the Sam Adams Longshot Homebrew Competition.

Saturation Point an Ultra/Double/Imperial IPA (April-May 2009):


Saturation Point at week 3 of fermentation, with floating dry hop addition.

Pasta w/Ricotta & Spinach (5/19/09)

This would be a Rachael Ray recipe, from her book "Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats: A Year of Deliciously Different Dinners". Five in a row are ricotta pastas. So far my favorite is the sausage & pea one, but this was pretty damned good as well......


Spinach, onions, garlic, salt, pepper, nutmeg, crushed red pepper & white wine.


Ricotta cheese, paremesan/romano cheese & butter.

Dry Rubs for the Steaks (5/17/09)

For dry rub #1: dried chipotles, black peppercorns, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, mustard seeds, salt, chili powder, brown sugar, garlic flakes, onion flakes & oregano.
For dry rub #2: espresso powder, salt, brown sugar, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, cumin, coriander & cocoa powder.

Steaks w/Dry Rub, Mashed Sweet Potatoes & Corn on the Cob (5/18/09)

For the corn: mixed some butter with some chili powder, cumin, paprika & garlic powder.
For the mashed sweet potatoes: milk, butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon & cayenne pepper.