Advent Ale 2
September 23rd, 2007 by Marc
Racked the beer to the second fermentation bucket today.
It’s smelling gooood!
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September 23rd, 2007 by Marc
Racked the beer to the second fermentation bucket today.
It’s smelling gooood!
Category: coffee & beer | No Comments »
September 15th, 2007 by Marc
Yep, started my second-ever batch of beer today!
I’m calling it Advent Ale because of the allspice and nutmeg. (It’s a kit beer from MoreBeer.com but Advent Ale sounds lots better than Holiday Ale!)
Category: coffee & beer | 1 Comment »
February 21st, 2007 by Marc
Some wisdom from that came with my dose of caffeine today:
The Way I See It #182
“In my career I’ve found that ‘thinking outside the box’ works better if I know what’s ‘inside the box.’ In music (as in life) we need to understand our pertinent history…and moving on is so much easier once we know where we’ve been.”
– Dave Grusin, Award-winning composer and jazz musician.
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February 13th, 2007 by Marc
It hasn’t been two weeks yet but I couldn’t wait: I had my first Bombadil today.
I like! (Sofia opted to stick with her apple juice!)
Before I took my first sip, Caleb looked at it and said, “Dad, you won’t ever have to buy beer again! [pause] Unless this doesn’t taste any good…”
Fortunately it’s good!
Awards speech: I want to thank my wife, my family, Kennebec Home Brew, Pura Vida Coffee, and Guinness for helping make Bombadil Stout possible. ![]()
Category: coffee & beer | 2 Comments »
February 2nd, 2007 by Marc
It’s all bottled! 47 wonderful brown bottles of Bombadil.
Yep, I’m naming my first brew in honor of Tom Bombadil. In our world of practicality and order, Bombadil doesn’t seem to fit. And is often left out of most adaptations of the Lord of the Rings.
Evil seems to have no hold on him. Not even a little pull. (Even Gandalf feared the Ring.) But if it weren’t for him, the Fellowship would’ve finished before it even began. And if it weren’t for his gift of daggers, Merry might not have been able to wound the Witch King, allowing him to be destroyed.
So “Bombadil” is the name. His colors of blue and yellow are a serendipitous fit with my love of Sweden!
I’ll be able to uncap a bottle in a couple of weeks!
[Click on the picture at the top for a slideshow of the entire homebrew adventure to date.]
Category: coffee & beer | 5 Comments »
January 28th, 2007 by Marc
Today was supposed to be my bottling day. But fortunately, I have a laid back homebrew store guy. I called him today and said I was wiped. He said this was a hobby and the beer could wait for a few more days.
I like laid back homebrew guys that know more than I do!
The bottling will happen at some point this week.
Still want to work on a great name for this Guinness-like Pura Vida coffee stout…
Category: coffee & beer | 2 Comments »
January 14th, 2007 by Marc

The journey continues! Today I siphoned my brew from the first bucket to the second for the next couple weeks of fermentation.
This one is to round out the flavors.
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January 6th, 2007 by Marc
Yep, that’s me. To celebrate my 35th birthday today, I boiled the wort for a coffee stout.
Could you help me with a name?
It’s an Irish Stout (like Guiness) and I used Pura Vida’s Cafe Kilaminjaro for a post-boil flavoring.
Should be ready to drink in early February!!!
Category: coffee & beer | 7 Comments »
December 28th, 2006 by Marc
I’ve been wanting to do this for over a decade. Now I have no excuse. For Christmas, my amazing wife bought me Homebrewing for Dummies and The Homebrewers’ Recipe Guide.
Better still, she corralled my family to give me money for my birthday (on January 6th) so I could purchase the equipment!
Java Stout, here I come!
If you have any advice to a newbie like me, feel free to comment below.
Category: books, coffee & beer | 4 Comments »
November 17th, 2006 by Marc

I just love having a Starbucks Duetto Visa.
We just got another free half pound of coffee, this time their new “Pike’s Place Blend.” Just becuase they knew it was our third anniversary of having the card.
Isn’t that so cool.
Who’d of thought I’d be blogging about a Visa!?
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