Brewing Up a Party

This last Saturday was really a red letter day. We served the first
brew that we kegged, our orange pale ale. It was an important party
for us, it was a validation of our hobby and the hardwork that we put
into it, and so it was really important that as many of our friends as
possible make it there to share in our day.

It was lucky, because more people showed up than I thought would, I
was worried that more of them would have to work. Matt's brother, and
his SO, and Bobby, Jake, Sean, Tim, Jamie, and Cymeron +1 were all
there from almost the beginning of the evening. Chris eventually came
over, though he talked about maybe only stopping by before going to
see the Fast and the Furious, and.. sadly I would have been pretty
upset with him if he hadn't come at all, and I was kinda worried he
wouldn't. Later on in the evening Matt got out his guitar when we came
to the conclusion that his daughter's guitar was just a toy and could
not be tuned to make music.

I had no idea that Justin knew how to play the guitar, it was awesome,
he and Matt and I passed it back and forth, and Matt taught me some
new chord progressions. I'm going to see if one of them can teach me
how to play Fare Thee Well, one of my favorite songs written by a
friend of ours who is VERY good.

We had hamburgers, and some sausage, and hot dogs, and I got some lamb
loin to share with everyone who intends to participate with our next
brew. There was some trouble getting the coals lit, it is a new grill
for Matt, but he got it up and burning in no time. We used some wood
chips to smoke some of the meat, and later those wood chips were used
to put into the secondary fermentation of the brew we have out in the
garage that is aging right now. We're going to bottle it next weekend,
and I want to see if I can't get the ingredients to brew while we
bottle, though.. I don't think that will happen. Maybe the week after
that.

I left the party for a little bit to exchange books with Jamie, and to
play a little bit of Street Fighter IV with Tim, who really tore me
apart. I won a couple of rounds, but for the most part, he really
displayed that skill is better than button mashing. One of the few
fighting games I ever played that I couldn't just kick ass with one
button or with button mashing. I like that game so much, I think I'm
going to buy it.

And as for the Orange Pale Ale.. the reason for being there that
night? Well, it was exceptional. Incredibly delicious. Some people
said it needed less orange, most loved it how it was. Chris took some
home to someone who said they would buy it if it were available in
stores. Jamie was like, "I kindof want less orange.. buuut.. then the
bitterness that I really like about it might not be there." So, I
think the recipe needs some tweaking. MOst importantly, I think that
it needs to be done as an all grain brew, maybe even our second all
grain brew. I think next time Matt and I should use fewer oranges and
more hops.