I have begun the process of reorganizing my website, in particular the photo-galleries which I am going to expand into hiking and travel pictures, among other photography. Also in the near future I am going to add a home-brew recipe webpage, with my recipes and the how they turned out.

Name: Bradinator Brews Dutch Lager presented by Barons Beer Kits

Origin: Calgary, Canada

Style:  Dutch Lager

Appearance:  Like most of the home made beers I have brewed it is cloudy as I only do a two stage brew. Pours a medium, very fizzy cola-like head which dissipates slightly and lasts the entire drink.

Taste:  It is a very bready tasting lager, due to the additional grains steeped in the beer in its early stages of development. There overall beer is mildy bitter, start to finish though there are some short-lived hints of sweetness that I could not identify. 

Mouth Feel:  It is a very foamy, strongly carbonated lager probably caused by too much primer sugar in the bottling stage. As the beer is also made with RO water (3 PMM of mineral) it is a very refreshing drink.

Final Thoughts (3 out of 5):  I would like to say the beer was consistent throughout all the bottles, but that is a lie. Some of the ones bottled skunked, most likely due to improper cleaning. Also because I used a measuring spoon to prime the bottles, some are more and some less carbonated then others. Over all this is probably one of the better batches I have made.

Name: G. Schneider & Sohn Aventinus

Origin: Kelheim, Germany

Style: Wheat Ale/Dopplebock

Appearance:  It is a light brown, nearly rust color. The ale is cloudy and pours a long lasting, medium sized head of foam. 

Taste: It smells strongly of herbs, spices and something that reminds me of incense. A very bold tasting ale, with strong flavors of herbs and spices. There is a twang of incense like taste hidden in the beer as well. It finishes with a spicy (maybe cinnamon or nutmeg), dark chocolate flavor. 

Mouth Feel: A very soft and creamy ale. It is very easy to drink.

Final Thoughts (2 out of 5): The strong herb like flavors and its richness make this beer overwhelming for my palette. The chocolatey after taste was enjoyable as well as it was easy on the mouth to drink. Over all I found this beer difficult to enjoy thoroughly.

Have you seen these in the grocery store? They are touted as an apple that tastes like a grape. Sound pretty delicious doesn’t it? Well let me save you $2. They aren’t.

As soon as I opened its package the smell was overwhelming and undeniable: Artifical grape flavouring. Here I thought I was buying a genetic freak and instead got an artificially grape flavoured apple. So what does artificial grape flavoured apple taste like? Well it does not taste like grapes thats for sure! I would have to say my Grapple tasted more like an apple then anything else, though it did have a hint of purple freezie pop as well. Even two hours later I can still smell the articial grape flavouring on my fingers.

Needless to say I am massively dissappointed and somewhat disgusted in this crappy, stinky grapple. A real apple would have been much, much more enjoyable.

Generally I do not watch sports on TV with the exception of the following, the Grey Cup, the Super Bowl, the Hockey Play-offs (if my home team is in them), and the Stanley Cup. Major League Baseball never made that list. In my opinion Baseball is about as exciting to watch on TV as golf, bowling or poker. What makes it more difficult to watch fully is that fact that it can take over four hours for a game. That is a lot of time spent sitting in from of a TV.

Last night I may have had a change of heart. I stumbled onto the 7th Inning of the final game in the Baseball World Classic where Japan and Korea were battling for the Championship. The final Innings of the game (it went to 10) were so close that I could not turn it off and watched it into the wee hours of the night. The winning play made by Ichiro was enough to make me shout out loud.

Even though Korea felt like the underdog (I usually cheer for the underdogs if I do not care for either team) it is pretty obvious that Japan was my favorite. The reasons are obvious: I am a Japanophile, I used to live in Japan and I knew some of the players by name.

With that said, next year I may add the Baseball Classic on my “Must watch” sporting events list.

Not that it is really related to most of the things I post about (seeing as it is work related) but I passed my VCP certification exam this morning. I am pretty happy with that and even happier with my overall mark which was higher then expected.

I approached this exam a lot differently then I did my previous. Instead of my standard “Balls to the Walls” study approach, I took a much, much more half-assed plan of attack. Typically studying for an exam of any sort requires an hour of solid book time four times a week minimum. For my VCP I spent maybe half that amount of time, three times a week daily. I also had regular ESX access so I could research questions I had about material on the spot when needed. On the final few day I crammed for about 6 hours (the first time ever) and did about another two hours of reading in the morning.

The course, a requirement to take the exam, was helpful though I would not account it for my passing. Re-reading the manuals provided during the course did help me remember some critical questions on this exam.

Really glad its over — Now I can focus on the other aspects of my life without this exam looming over me.