Last night’s was also Belgian themed but all the beer was from Washington breweries. We both liked the brews from the Elysian and Pike, no surprises there since we have been enjoying their brews for years. I got to try a some beer from a few breweries new to me. Both Snipes Mountain and Salmon Creek had some really good brews. The guys from Salmon Creek were dressed in camo and looked like they just gotten back from a hunting trip. A lot of the Saisons and Wits I tried tasted a bit off to me. Might not have been a good idea tasting them along side the darker Abbey and Sour styles. Also a few of the barrel aged brews tasted too strong of whiskey and completely overpowered the beer.

Afterwards we walked down the street to Georgetown Liquor Company for some non-beer calories. Pretty cool place, nice vibe. Not too many chances to order nachos when dinning with Sherry!

Sunday was a beautiful day so we headed out on the bike trail towards Woodinville. I finally got to try Armadillo BBQ who’s smell has been tempting me for so long on my bike rides home. I was very impressed. Definitely a better pit stop then Red Hook.

Spent a beautiful (if chilly) Saturday afternoon outside next to the brew kettle brewing this. As usually I tried a few new things this time. Last weekend I installed a spigot onto the bottom of my kettle. This made transfer to the fermenter easier but we did have some spillage when the hose slipped off. Also I used 4oz of Magnum hops, a hop I’ve never used before. I was a little worried about the hop shortage’s affect on the homebrewer but my store was still well stocked. The shortage seems to be affecting those who have to shop online for hops the most.

I made good use of the foul weather to make some beer. I haven’t brewed since last winter when I tried to master all grain brewing. This time I kept it simple and did a batch of brown ale using malt extract. I did mix things up a bit and went back to the five gallon batch size. Which means had to buy a five gallon used keg at the homebrew store and upgrade my beer fridge to one that fits the keg. My online research led me to a Sanyo compact refrigerator that seems to be perfect for homebrewers. There are even web sites detailing how to attach a tap on the top but I will leave that project for later. I used the BeerSmith software again which was really helpful to keep track of everything.

Tonight I’m making the last batch of the “Five Minute Bread” from the NY Times. We have had great results so far with this recipe. It is not all that different from actual French Bread recipes. The key step just seems to be time, letting the dough rise for 12-24 hours before baking.