tony b

I really enjoy hanging out with the folks in our club. Craziest beer that I've run across was made by a guy in our club - Mountain Dew Ale. All the liquid used in making this beer was Mountain Dew! He poured it at one of our Festivals. Before we knew it, the line was 20 people deep! Crazy what folks go for sometimes!

Great looking burgers, MacKenzie (at least I didn't see any beets - LOL!!) We finally started seeing local corn a couple of days ago. Today was my first time to get some for dinner. Still a bit early, but better than supermarket, for sure! Cooked up extras for leftovers tomorrow and Monday. Dinner on the deck (kinda humid), plated a steak with melting potatoes (alternate cooking method - InstaPot), corn and baguette. Made a nice sauce of horseradish, grainy mustard & mayo. Tasty Tuscan Red, too. While it was nice to do the potatoes in the InstaPot versus firing up the oven to 500F for the "regular method," it was a bit more labor intensive - multiple steps using different settings on the cooker. Couldn't tell any difference in taste/texture. Will only use it again if I don't want to heat up the kitchen just for the potatoes.

Understand - life changes things. I've been brewing off/on since it became legal back in '79. Been brewing steadily for the last 12 years. Same story here in Iowa, took a long time for some of the good beers to start showing up in our market and it took some legislation to make it happen as well. But, as I like to tell folks, I like to brew "the weird shit!" Tomorrow I'm pouring my Matcha Green Tea Double IPA at our "happy hour" at a local brewery. My beer club's annual Festival is in 3 weeks and my 2 beers for that are a Red Rye IPA and a Hoppy Wheat, both made with Zappa hops (a new strain, named after Frank), so both beers are named after Mothers of Invention albums - Chunga's Revenge and Weasels Ripped My Flesh.

Nice press. Has cider making all over it! When I retired a few years back, I brought in my contractor to build me a brewing room in my basement, so I don't have to haul anything up/down stairs anymore to brew or clean. As I get older, I'll probably buy a scissor lift of some sort so I don't have to lift carboys of wort anymore. Even though I've shifted to all plastic because of the weight of the glass ones, they can still get a bit heavy when full.

A regular pizza parlor!

Got any pics of your handywork with all those toys in your shop?

Can't wait to see what you're up to these days. Glad to have you back and posting again!

Yep, happened a few upgrades ago. It was just too much hassle to re-link them all. Sorry to hear that you sold your brew stand. I'm surprised that you didn't try to upgrade it with a nice March pump so you wouldn't have to lift heavy kettles of wort.

Thanks for the tips, Tekobo. I'm hoping this recent stint of super hot/humid weather will stimulate a growth spurt. If not, I'll definitely give your tips a try - what do I have to lose at this late stage.

How long you been brewing? There are several of us on this Forum that are homebrewers.

@Jon B. - I just packaged up a box for ckreef. I'll take it to the Post Office on Monday. No way am I going near the place on a Friday afternoon - not unless I want to wait in line for an hour! You'll have to give me the dates of when you'll be here next year, so I can try (finally) for us to meet up! If next summer is anything like this one, it could be a juggle.

I am a big proponent of Powdered Brewers Wash (PBW) to soak/clean the grates, rotisserie gear, etc. Works great, cuts through greasy gunk easily, just rinse off with a wet sponge, towel, etc. Easy Peasy.

Browse the Forum and then ask questions of the members. And in the end, call Dennis!

@DennisLinkletter - just got my shipment of coffee charcoal. Inside the box was a card promoting your website - www.KomodoCharcoal.com. But when I tried to go there, I got an error message saying the page could not be reached. Any ideas on what's up?? @ckreef - I just took delivery on 10 boxes. Would be happy to share one for "the cause" of this experiment. PM me if you're interested.

WOW! That's killing me right now. My stomach is rumbling after seeing those pics!

I'm having a terrible year for tomatoes. Plants were stunted due to all the rain and cooler weather we had in May. Most of the plants are barely over 2 ft tall and only a couple have started producing fruits.

Thanks, all. I did save one piece for lunch today.

Very nice pies!

If you really want a very high temp sear on a steak, take your upper grate, flip it upside down and place it on top of the charcoal basket handles - that's the "sear grate" configuration. There's a substantial difference in temperatures between the sear grate and the dome thermometer of several hundred degrees! So you don't need to crank up the dome temperature much beyond 400F to get a good sear on the sear grate. Another tip, flip the steaks about every 15 seconds, turn 90 degrees after the first 2 passes if you want the "classic cross-hatched" grill marks without overcooking the steaks.

Very nice, MacKenzie. Last night's dinner was a Korean BBQ Chicken pizza. Slathered the chicken breasts with gochujang and seasonings and roasted indirect @ 350F, along with an ear of corn (direct). Ramped up the KK to 400F in the dome and heat soaked the pizza stone for an hour. Par-baked the crust. Then sauced with a mix of tomato paste, gochujang, and honey. On goes the chopped chicken, cut off corn, and mozz. Sprinkle of sesame seeds on the outer crust. Back on the stone until the cheese is nice and melty. Topped off with some kimchi and green onions. Another lovely night on the deck to eat outside.

Of course you would, Bruce - you always need another "trophy" in the collection.

MacKenzie, your photography skills are amazing!! Those are magazine quality pictures.

Wasn't shocked at all - both of those charcoals are amazing (IMHO), especially the Marabu. Wish you'd have tossed in their Brazilian Eucalyptus lump - that's been my fav so far from their Premium line.