Archive for December, 2009
Big Rock Brewery Tour 2009
Posted by bradinator in Beer on December 18, 2009
I got the opportunity to take sometime of work and visit the Big Rock Brewery, a local micro-brewery that is quite famous in Alberta.
I think they may ferment beer in this
The brewery itself came off as a little disorganized, but I imagine it just appears that way because everyone seemed to know exactly what they needed to do.
My friend commented that this factory was incredibly clean. It seemed that people were constantly cleaning down equipment all over the plants.
Hairnets and safety goggles are mandatory on the tour.
Yeast slurry... Maybe for reusing yeast? I forgot to ask why they collect it.
Not all of that wort belongs to Big Rock, they rent some of it to smaller companies
I learned a few neat things about beer, such as Big Rock does not practice pasteurization and instead uses a filtration process to clean the additional yeast from their beers. They also use carbonation in the bottles to force out all possible air; This does not mean the beers are forced carbonated as they are infact naturally carbonated, the additional CO2 is just used to prevent oxidization from happening.
Did I mention the Brewery smelled heavenly?
That is a lot of hops. They smell like yum.
This brew kettle is just a little larger then mine
That is a lot of cider
We got to keep these 4oz beer glasses
The tour finishes with a walk through the packaging and shipping facility and back to the restaurant where we can sample basically as much beer as we can hold. I made sure to try the three beers I have never had before from Big Rock, just so I could add them to the list: McNally’s Reserve, Big Rock Lime and McNally’s Winter Spice. I should note the McNally’s Reserve is not available in bottles and I have yet to see it at a bar, but it was divine: I would compare it to drinking liquid velvet.
Too bad I drove because I would have loved to have tried the rest of them.
Routine of the Day – You have 20 Minutes Round #3
Posted by bradinator in Fitness, Routines on December 17, 2009
Poor old training vest. So neglected this month.
Warm Up – 4:15
3 Rounds for Time —
- 10 Pullups
- 20 T-Bar Pushups
- 30 Squats
- 40 Chinnies
Routine of the Day - You have 20 minutes to finish the following exercises
- 100 Pullups
- 150 Backpack Pushups
- 200 Overhead Squats w/ 25lbs barbell
- 150 Alternating Lunges
Use as few sets per exercise as possible and record the score
- Pullups – 6
- Backback Pushups – 7
- Overhead Squats – 9
- Alternation Lunges – 7
Finished with only 9 seconds to spare, done with the 12lbs training vest. To be honest by the half-way point I did not think I would complete this time challenged routine.
Beer Review – Big Rock Brewery XO Lager
Posted by bradinator in Beer, Beer Tasting on December 17, 2009
Name: Xo Lager
Origin: Canada, Alberta
Style: Lager (5.0%)
Appearance: A very pale, very clear yellow lager. Produces a small, short lived head. This lager is noticeably ‘clean’ looking.
Taste: Some grassy notes in the aroma, though overall not a very strong smelling beer. The taste is clean and somewhat grainy. Very subtle notes of floral/hopping, but hard to define. Finishes with a short somewhat bitter aftertaste.
Mouth Feel: Sharpness is there, but overall this is a very clean, very refreshing beer. The short aftertaste makes it quite quaffable.
Final Thoughts (2.5 out of 5): This lager reminds me strongly of the lagers I sampled during my stay in the Germany. Simple, clean and very drinkable, if anyone is looking for a local brew that would rival some of those from the breweries in Germany this is it.
I should note that Big Rock’s Brewmaster is from Germany and worked at Lowenbrau previously according to the tour guide. If this is true, which I imagine it is I bet this lager is influenced greatly by the beers over there.
Routine of the Day – Squats and Faux-Muscle Ups
Posted by bradinator in Fitness, Routines on December 15, 2009
This is the first routine with the sequence rings so I figured I should take it easy. I don’t know what is going to be sore after this routine, but I do know one thing for sure: These rings make everything much more challenging.
Warm Up -
For Time: 5:04
3 Rounds of —
- 30 Pushup
- 30 Mountain Climbers
- 30 Situps
- 10 Pullups
Routine of the Day –
For Time: 12:15
4 Rounds of —
- 50 Squats w/ 25lbs barbell
- 20 Ring Pullups
- 20 Ring Dips
I felt my time was quite good, so I gave myself a BONUS round of the above which I finished at 16:18.
Rep Out –
100 Janda Situps for time
And here you have it – The Dungeon
Posted by bradinator in Exercise, Fitness on December 15, 2009
Today I got my Sequence rings. Possibly the final piece of exercise equipment I will ever need. I decided to post my home-gym, in all its poor-man glory (とても びんおう）.
This is where I do nearly all of my routines. It has everything I need and was developed with as little effort and cost as I could do. I know its cliche, but this is the Dungeon.
Routine of the Day – You have 20 Minutes Round #2
Posted by bradinator in Fitness, Routines on December 14, 2009
Warm Up For Time — (5:04)
- 10 Pullups
- 20 Knuckle Pushups
- 30 Chair Dips
- 40 Squats
Routine of the Day — You have 20 Minutes to finish the following in as few sets as possible per exercise
- 100 Box Jumps @ 20″
- 150 Burpees
- 150 Parallel Bar Dips
- 100 Knees-to-Elbows
Box Jumps – Finished in 5 Rounds
Burpees – Finished in 8 Rounds (Actually I failed by miscounting… I was under by 10)
Parallel Bar Dips – Finished in 7 Rounds
Knees-to-Elbows – Finished in 5 Rounds
This was a good one! Except for miscounting my Burpees I finished with just under 2 minutes to go, which I used to rep out decline pushups (50). I think if I had been able to do simple addition early in the morning I would have finished all the exercises successfully.
The Brewers Itch
Posted by bradinator in Beer, Home Brewing on December 14, 2009
I got it bad and its all over my body. Gross! Anyway I decided to make up another batch this afternoon, but nothing overly complicated. This session would be a Extract with Specialty grains. The recipe as follows:
Bradinator’s Frigid Irish Lass (Stout)
Extract Profile -
- 3.3 lbs of Coopers Real Ale LME
- 500 g of Brewers grade Corn Syrup
Grain Profile -
- 250 g of Chocolate Malt
- 500 g of Crystal Malt (60L/Dark)
Steeped in 80-90C water for 30 minutes
Hops Profile -
- Mount Hood @ 60 minutes
- UK First Gold @ 60 minutes
Misc -
- 1/2 tsp Irish Moss @ 10 minutes
- 1/2 tsp Yeast Nutrient @ Cold Break
The steps
1) Bring 2 gallons of water to boil in your brewpot. During this time steep your grains in 80C water for 20-30 minutes
2) At boil remove from heat and combine the grain tea and extracts. Return to heat.
3) At boil again pitch your hops.
4) Maintain a slow rolling boil for 60 minutes. Add the Irish moss at 10 minutes before finish.
5) Remove from heat and cool
- I used a very poor method for getting my cold break. I tried taking advantage of the frigid -28c weather and placing it into the snow again BUT stupidly I moved the fermentor first added cooled water and then placed outside. I believe keeping it in the steel pot would have worked better, as the plastic fermenter did a very good job retaining its heat. I did not reach cold break for almost an hour. Lesson learned.
6) Pitch yeast at cold break and move into a dark, warm room.
Measure OG was 1.040, very close to the Beersmith perdicted 1.041.
I also took the time to take a gravity reading from my first partial mash attempt and actually moved it to a secondary, something I rarely do. Surprisingly enough the gravity reading was quite good, a solid 1.010. I took a small sample taste and have to admit that it wasn’t bad. You can really taste the oatmeal though which is a good sign I did not achieve a very good mash efficiency. I will probably give it another 2 weeks in the secondary and bottle over the Christmas holidays.
This will be the last brew for a bit. I do have one more extract kit left and lots of grain, but unless I get some amazing recipe I will probably just leave it until mid-February. I just don’t have enough bottles for 4-batches!
Someone once asked me if the juice was worth the squeeze, I told him I don't know but the beer is well worth the effort.