This is our family’s fourth time attending the frenetic Calgary Reads Big Book Sale in the 7 years living in Calgary and I think it will need to become an annual tradition. I met my family there after work. They spent the day downtown already for the Children’s Festival. I have to be very careful … [Read more…]
How could I not make a beer called chocolate hazelnut porter? From the Brewing Classic Styles: Grain Bill: 11.5 lbs Canadian 2-Row (1.5-2.1°L)1.5 lbs Munich (6-10°L)1 lb Crystal Light (40°L)1 lb Crystal Medium (75°L)0.75 lb Chocolate Malt (450-500°L)0.5 lb Black Malt [black patent] (500-600°L) Hops: 2 oz East Kent Goldings (3.4%) 2 oz Willamette (4.7%) … [Read more…]
The great Edmonton Oiler years in the last half of the 1980s were the milieu in which I developed a keen interest in watching hockey. From grades 5-9, I faithfully memorized the players names, numbers and stats. In junior high, several of us would surround the newspaper in the library and check the scores from … [Read more…]
I remember hearing in a podcast of Thomas Hopko (Speaking the Truth in Love) about how at one point in history, bishops were expected to have memorized the entire catalog of Psalms (all 150 of them) in order to be ordained as a bishop. In fact it may have been just to enter the priesthood. … [Read more…]
I just love this song by Frazey Ford. Are these right? I tried to find the lyrics to this song, but they are nowhere online, so I submitted these to a lyrics site in hopes someone would jump in to correct me. Who are the one-eyed? (pretty sure this is wrong) Aha! For Something else … [Read more…]
A few days ago, a childhood friend of mine shared this video to Facebook. He grew up in the same church as I did and about 3 or 4 years ago he abandoned his faith to become an agnostic. Following the video are some comments between him and one of our high school classmates who, … [Read more…]
Every year. Every year since I’ve met my wife*, I have made the trek north to Smithers, Hazelton, Kispiox, etc., BC to visit her mom, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, friends. It’s a very long drive. Interestingly, it’s essentially the same distance from Edmonton as it currently is from Calgary: 1,150 kms. While it would only … [Read more…]
This is my first real collaboration with another brewer. I was contacted by my brewing mentor a week ago to see if I would like to come brew 4 batches of beer to help use up 50 lbs of left over grain and some aging hops. I supplied the yeast and my brewing equipment so … [Read more…]
The debate between those who believe in God and those who do not has often devolved into shouting matches or insults. What I have always appreciated about Randal Rauser is that he is as interested in listening as he is at being understood. I was introduced to Dr. Rauser has been a regular fixture at … [Read more…]
When I read that Russian River brewmaster had shared his recipe for Pliny the Elder, I had to try! Pliny is consistently a top rated beer (currently #7 overall at BeerAdvocate). Picked up the recipe from Brewing Classic Styles, a must for home brewers. It becomes readily apparent that this is a robust brew considering … [Read more…]