It was one of my resolutions this year to enter my beer into a competition. As I’ve missed all the local beer competitions, I’ve had to mail my beer to Mount Vernon, Washington. More specifically, to Skagit River Brewery for the North Sound Winter Homebrew Competition. The deadline was the 25th and the competition is on December 7th. We’ll see how it goes. I entered a Standard Bitter and a Dry Stout. Wish me luck.
When you’ve been waiting three weeks to brew a batch of beer, you don’t care if it’s raining out or not. When beer needs to be brewed, it needs to be brewed. And so I did. Take a little crystal 10, peaked malt, flaked corn, and maris otter, add it to some pale LME, throw in some amarillo and irish moss, mix the results with some safale, and what do you get? I’m not sure. It’s not done fermenting yet. But when it does, I’ll be sure to let you know. I’m as curious as you are. Actually, I’d be willing to bet I’m way more curious than you are. 
Spent the morning at Bellows Air Force Base for an RSCDS gathering. We totally got rained on, but we got to eat Bubby burgers (new technology to be able to serve your burgers faster), home-made chow mein, pumpkin pie cupcake things (also home-made), hot dogs, Italian sausages, and a few other snack items. I was able to do some grilling, Leif played in the sand and pointed out the jelly fish, Holly hid from the rain whilst the kids did not, and Zenny was just plain cute, and Gavin wrapped himself up in a hammock to keep warm. It was a pleasant morning.
I’ve been in Hawaii for 13 years now, and I’ve only been to Oahu and Maui. Until now. As part of the CCLC (Community College Leadership Champions) group, I get to travel to outer islands for meetings. This month I went to Kauai. It was quite beautiful and slightly reminded me of Maui. The cottages where we stayed were right on the beach, spacious, and incredibly cozy. We spent two days at the Waimea Plantations located at the foot of Waimea canyon. The weather was perfect and the chickens were plenty. It was fun getting to know the other CCLC members. I think they will be a great group to work with this year.
We spent Friday as a group learning, reflecting, sharing, and being zen. It was both relaxing and mentally challenging. Luckily, we followed it all up with a party, in which we invited previous years CCLC members. This was exciting for me, not just because we got to let loose, unwind and enjoy the atmosphere, but because I got to showcase my beer. With the school flipping the bill for my baggage, I shipped a case of beer with me to Kauai. Half full of a freshly brewed stout, and half full of an Octoberfest-style beer. Both beers were very well received, even by the two members who are beer savvy.
On Saturday morning, I did something ridiculously cliche. I woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed, took a long jog on the beach, followed by dip in the ocean, followed by a dip in the pool, followed by a shower in a plantation house shower. Why can’t more days start like that?
After another day of CCLC activities, a small group of us ran off to check out Waimea Canyon before having to be a the airport. You wouldn’t think there could be such a large canyon on such a small island, but there it was in all it’s awesomeness.
I can now check Kauai off my list, though I’d very much like to go back.
Next up, Big Island.
I did something today I’ve never had to do before. I had to dump one of my brews. It was a cider actually. I made it before Zenny was born, so it’s not like it hasn’t had time to age. It was very sad. It was just no good. I was rewarded though. On sorting my empties and emptying my cider, I discovered a large bottle that I thought was cider, but was too dark and to red to be cider. I chilled it to try it and see what it was.
The last bottle of my Bourbon Scotch Ale!! OMG. What a treat. And look how crystal clear it is. This cheered me up immensely. I don’t feel nearly as bad for dumping the cider now.