Archive for December, 2009
Beer Review – Wild Rose Brewery presents Cherry Porter
Posted by bradinator in Beer, Beer Tasting on December 24, 2009
Name: Wild Rose Brewery presents Cherry Porter
Origin: Canada, Alberta
Style: Porter (Fruit Porter 6.5%)
Appearance: Black and thick, with just the slightest hint of red to it when held to the light. This beer makes a huge head when poured, but it fizzles away into a thin, yet long lasting foam top.
Taste: The aroma of cherries supersedes most others making them nearly impossible for my nose to distinguish. As for flavour, this porter swims in it. It begins sweet, with obvious notes of cherry and chocolate. It finishes with a semi-bitter aftertaste which also is very dark chocolate-like.
Mouth Feel: This is a soft, foamy porter. It is easy feeling in the mouth and going down, though it is quite filling to drink.
Final Thoughts (3.5 out of 5): Wild Rose Brewery is the other major micro-brewery in Calgary and just like Big Rock they produce some very great beers. Actually it would be dishonest if I did not state I feel that though Big Rock produces fine beers, they do not produce the refined quality that Wild Rose is able to create. I should note this is one of Wild Roses seasonal beers and as far as I can tell, only comes in 1L swing tops (which are also fantastic for home brewing!).
Routine of the Day – I should be resting
Posted by bradinator in Fitness, Routines on December 23, 2009
Usually I take Wednesdays off, but this close to Christmas break, I figured I may as well get all my routines done with.
Warm Up for Time – 4:15
- 10 Pullups
- 20 Pushups
- 30 Squats
- 40 Crunches
Routine of the Day For Time - 13:40
- 100 Knees-to-Elbows
- 150 Pushups
- 200 Mountain Climbers (2-count)
- 150 Jumping Jacks
- 100 Squat Thrusts
Finished the routine by practicing some simple gymnastic holds, such as the Lever and L-sit with the rings.
Routine of the Day – Blah, blah, Lunges
Posted by bradinator in Fitness, Routines on December 22, 2009
Warm Up for Time – 3:50
- 10 Pullups
- 20 Pushups
- 30 Squats
- 40 Crunches
Routine for Time – 13:20
- 20 Burpees
- 20 Pushups
- 30 Lunges
- 20 Pullups
- 20 Hop Squats
- 30 Lunges
- 20 Decline Pushups
- 20 Box Jumps 20″
- 30 Lunges
- 20 Side-to-side Pushups
- 20 Side-to-side Lunges
- 30 Lunges
Completed with 20lbs training vest.
Routine of the Day – Triple Decker
Posted by bradinator in Fitness, Routines on December 21, 2009
Routine #1 – Building the Burpee
3 Rounds for Time – 4:57 (new record)
- 20 Pushups
- 20 Squat Thrusts
- 20 Squats
- 20 Jumping Jacks
- 20 Burpees
Routine #2 – The Shoulder Punisher
3 Rounds for Time – 8:28
- 5 Handstand Pushups
- 10 Thrusters @ 95lbs
- 15 Ring Dips
- 20 Push Press @ 95lbs
Routine #3 – Half of Cindy
Complete as many rounds in 10 minutes of the following – Finished 12 rounds
- 5 Pullups (on the rings)
- 10 Pushups (on the deep bars)
- 15 Squats
Done with the 12lbs training vest.
Routine of the Day – Tabata Round #8
Posted by bradinator in Fitness, Routines on December 21, 2009
It’s been a couple weeks since my last Tabata drill. Can’t say I am very impressed with the overall results, though to be honest with the holidays so close my heart really was not into it.
Pullups 23 16 12 10 9 8 7 7 Total: 92 Best: 7
Squats 29 25 23 23 22 22 21 22 Total: 187 Best: 21
Pushups 40 25 24 23 20 19 17 15 Total: 183 Best: 15
Mt Climb 29 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 Total: 204 Best:25
Dips 35 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 210 Total: 25 Best: 25
I did really well on the pullups, but everything else seems to have suffered a bit. The pushups being the worst of the bunch, though to be fair I just came off a pectoral minor strain…
Update on the Oatmeal Stout and Eurorail Ale
Posted by bradinator in Beer, Home Brewing on December 19, 2009
I took a couple of free hours this afternoon to bottle my disaster of a partial mash brew and move my Eurorail ale into a secondary.
This oatmeal stout has been a write off since I first turned on the stove. I swear this batch is cursed as I have now broken every single hydrometer I own since its initial creation (thats 4 for those interested). The mistakes did not stop today as I forgot to prime beer for bottling and rushed at the end to add 5-7 grams of dextrose straight into the bottles. I hate doing this because it leads to mismatched carbonation between each bottles and possible bottle bombs. I took the FG which read 1.009, placing this beer at around 5% ABV. I also took a small sample taste and was horrified with the current results. I can only hope that a few months in bottles will improve its flavour otherwise this beer may be destined for the toilet. If it does turn out I will forever dub this beer “Bradinator’s Train Wreck Oatmeal Stout” or “TWO Stout” for short.
The Eurorail ale on the other hand seems to be fairing much better. I do not like to use secondary fermenters, but due to the lack of a real lid (I make shifted a tin-foil top for the primary) I figured this brew would be safer in a properly covered fermenter. I also took a gravity reading which puts this ale at around 1.010 or about 3.5% ABV. Given another three weeks in the secondary this beer may reach 4% which is my desired ABV.
I did not touch the Irish Stout as I am going to leave this one in the primary for 3 weeks, then straight into bottles for another week of conditioning.
I still cannot believe I broke my last hydrometer. I should see if they have plastic ones.
Routine of the Day – Deck of Extra Pain
Posted by bradinator in Fitness, Routines on December 18, 2009
Oh man… This was 30 minutes of hell.
Warm Up -4:32
3 Rounds of 30 Pushups, 30 Situps, 30 Squats
Routine of the Day – The Deck of Pain for Time – 26:34
- Spades – Ring Dips
- Diamonds – Burpees + 3 (so drawing a 8 means you do 11 reps)
- Clubs – L-Pullups on the Rings
- Hearts – Side-to-side Pushups x 2 (so drawing 5 means you do 10 reps)
Face cards are 10, Aces are 11, the rest of the cards are self explanatory.
It’s been a long time since I did a routine that took over 20 minutes…