Red Earth Brewers

As I headed to the Red Earth Brewers club meeting, I seat belted my beer in for safety reasons. When I was pouring it, there was quite the mess. 

The current theory is that my pumpkin may have over carbonated the beer with its sugars. Still, the flavor profile was spot on.

We weren't the best at snacks this time but there was plenty of beer to try. Some of it was commercial and some were home crafted. We then had elections for our board. The member at large had 4 candidates. 

I can't remember who won, even though I stuck around for the announcement.

I gave this buddy a bottle to enjoy. I also asked about my next plans to brew. I've got cider plans and I wanted to make a lager. The lager will most definitely have to wait, as a fridge is necessary. I'll be making the cider this week because I hope it will be ready in time for a beer festival. 

The meeting was great and I look forward to next month!

St. Patrick's Day shenanigans

I am pleased to announce that the yeast is currently feasting! Soon there will be beer.

St. Patrick's Day fell on a Thursday, which was the perfect excuse to wear tons of green and run 3.5 miles. I managed a 13 minute mile!

Afterwards, I had the beer club meeting to get to. Where I failed to take photos but other people did. I also failed to bring beer but I brought a snack. I left with a hop plant to put in the backyard. It's in a cup of water and soon I will plant it in the backyard.

A good time was had by all! I'm trying to recap all the various events from the last two weeks. It's been busy around here! Interesting fact, it's almost all beer related. Haha!

Mashed In

Clearly, I will need to practice my selfie skills. I still refuse to buy a selfie stick though. I had the distinct pleasure of participating in Mashed In. It's a home brewers showcase in Oklahoma City. You may not be aware but liquor laws are out of date in Oklahoma. 

Please read up on that from the Thirsty Beagle blog. I had brewed this beer on February 7th, leaving me no time to get it bottled and ready for the festival. Fortunately, I am in a very active home brewers club with tons of assistance. In this case, I have borrowed a keg, a fridge, a picnic tap and at the festival, I had to borrow a bucket too. (#brewerfail) 

I also lost this cup right at the end of the festival. On my brew day, I had discovered that my purchasing was off and there wasn't enough liquid malt extract. I pursued to make the beer anyways and we measured it at 3% abv, which is lower than the recipe predicted. 

All problems aside, I dubbed the beer Blonde Moment in honor the hiccups I found along the way. It received good comments. It's also important to note that this was my third attempt at brewing beer. So I'm headed in the right direction.

Special thanks to all those who helped me. I will be pouring the rest of the keg at the Food Bank's fundraiser for hungry kids at the Cowboy Museum on March 10th. If you like to drink beer, brewing 5 gallon batches is totally feasible. I do it in my little kitchen with my gas range. 

Christmas with Red Earth Brewers

I'm a little behind on blogging but I fully intend to catch up! I have my recent Paris trip to recap. But first, the Red Earth Brewers had a fantastic Christmas party at Anthem Brewing. 

There was tons of food!

There was tons of beer! This is a given since the club is all about brewing beer at home. 

I was cold but should have taken the hoodie off. It made the collar stand out too much. 

We did a dirty Santa gift exchange and I didn't follow the rules because I forgot to look. The price range was $10 to $15. I put $20 on a Starbucks gift card and threw it in with all the other gifts. I realized at the beginning of the game that another person did the same thing. I couldn't distinguish mine from the other. In true selfish fashion, at my turn I picked up a card which I hoped was mine. Another girl came up to me and said she was planning to steal it. I pointed out that she didn't need to because there was another card in the pile. When it was her turn, she took the other card and showed it to me. Sure enough, it was the card I had bought. Now I was concerned that I spent $20 on Starbucks but I got less. I immediately loaded it onto my gold card and came to the blessed conclusion that this card also had $20. I got what I put in and felt like a true lucky dirty Santa. 

Everyone that came had a great time. 

I stayed out too late but I had fun too. Do you brew beer? Or do you drink beer? Feel free to comment and provide your email address to ensure I respond. Too many of us bloggers are no-reply and it's difficult or impossible to find each other. Stay tuned to some Paris recaps. 

Red Earth Brewers club meeting, October

We had fantastic weather last night and our presentations were held outside of Roughtail Brewing at the picnic tables. 

Fortunately, the presentations were short because loud planes started to fly over. 

Everyone brought beer to share and sample. We also had some people bring snacks. My beer had good reviews from everyone and we drank two bottles of it. 

Empty cans, waiting for beer. 

Me and the new club president. It's great that there are so many women who brew beer!

I walked 2 miles before the club meeting and are a burger and fries. I think that soaked up some of that beer. Happy Friday friends!

What beer means to me...

Many years ago, I went through a dark time. A time when my husband went to grad school in a different state for two miserable years. I grew a lot during that time. I learned that I am a strong person. At times, it would be difficult for me to get out and socialize.

I was living in Denver and on the weekends my only conversations were with the cats. This was because all my friends moved away around the same time as well. After I graduated my grad program, I needed to find something to occupy my social time. If I didn't, I found myself wallowing in depression. Cats are sweet but that wasn't enough.

I went to meetup.com and found Pedals and Pints. I'd go biking with them regularly. I started to go to beer dinners at a couple of the chain breweries. I went on beer brewery tours. I made friends and did my best to have fun. 

This blog was originally started during this time. The blog was a great source of therapy then too. I didn't have any followers and I didn't participate in blog hops. None of that mattered because I was able to express my feeling and emotions. 

So beer has a special place in my heart. Now I drink beer for the enjoyment and craft. I look forward to my first batch of craft beer. I am also thankful for all the seasoned Brewers in Red Earth Brewers in Oklahoma City. They've been a great support in getting me prepared.

Red Earth Brewers - March

The brownies were a success! So chocolatey, rich, and chewy. Ok, so it was a mess to cut and eat but still delicious. I got the recipe from recipeforperfection.com (another blogger that isn't linked. I'm on the phone tonight!)

Please visit the Red Earth Brewers on Facebook. 

I learned four important pieces of information tonight from the meeting. 

1 - the primary fermentation is in a air tight sealed bucket and takes about three weeks. Bonus, I can use those three weekends to build up my pink bottle collection. 

2 - I can name my beer. Even though I'm using an extract kit, it's still my beer and can have my label. My head is spinning with name ideas and I'm so excited to learn that there is a special competition category for extract kits. 

3 - it's really not that hard to learn how to be a beer judge. I need to read up on becoming.org. There is 3 tests but locally it's not required. I might think about that though. Having that certification would look pretty sweet on a business card. 

4 - I met Beth, brewer and red coyote runner. She hosts delicious home made dinners after the pack pint run as a fundraiser for a friend who will run the New York marathon. She even brings craft beer. That's pretty sweet and I'll be joining her next week, weather permitting. 

It rained buckets today when we ran out mile. The go girl half is Sunday and because of the rain, I didn't want to run far. Nobody argued and we all got a good outdoor shower.