7.01.2009

Fresh brew grain bread

Jake at 7/01/2009

6.21.2009

The beer brewing is going pretty well; the IPA turned out nicely. I'm bottling a Red Ale and maybe a wheat beer this week, a week after that maybe an American Pale Ale if I clear enough bottles, and after that a german hard cider. Then the brown ale that I'm brewing on Wed. That should build up a pretty healthy pipeline. After that, who knows. Maybe I'll get started on a porter or a stout to let it age for a long time before fall rolls around.

A. and I booked our tickets for our bar trip. We're flying into Amsterdam and out of London; staying in Europe for 22 or 23 days. We want to hit Greece and maybe France; flights through Easy Jet are pretty cheap, and it looks like we have somewhere to stay in London. Should be a good trip.

Jake at 6/21/2009

6.18.2009

I made beer

Jake at 6/18/2009

6.15.2009

Jake at 6/15/2009

6.07.2009

Well, we're pretty well settled into Denver. The apartment actually looks like an apartment, and I've already hosted a number of houseguests. The bar courses are going into full swing this week. We just had a few courses the past couple of weeks, but now it's a 5 day week from here on in for some time. The classes are fine, though since they're being recorded we can't ask any questions, so we're just talked at for three hours every morning. I've been getting a fair amount of kayaking in; I figure that as water levels go down, studying will go up, and the water tends to run out once July comes around anyway, which is really when I need to start putting my head down.

In other news, I wish people would quit stealing my stuff. Annie and I went down to the Santa Fe district for First Friday, when all of the galleries open up their new collections. While we were there, someone unbolted my bike seat and seatpost. They brought tools. Jerks. They've both been replaced, through the generouisity of friends and dropping some cash at REI.

I've been brewing some beer lately; I have both an IPA and a Red Ale in primary fermenters. I'm going to bottle the IPA later this week, and a couple of weeks after that it should be ready to drink (though technically it's beer as I type this). Brewing is quite a bit of fun; it's like cooking with a little bigger focus on procedure and chemistry. It's nice getting somewhat immersed in something new and trying to get a handle on, if not master, the technique. Next up is probably going to be a Gumball Head wheat beer clone. We'll see how it goes. It's helpful that there is a pretty well stocked homebrew store not far from REI.

That's most of the major news. I've been meeting some new friends in Denver and trying to reconnect with some of the old ones. A. and I have gotten into watching Friday Night Lights, and saw Terminator last night. So far, she's studying more than I am, though I'm ok with that so far. We've picked up and rehabbed furniture, and broke down and bought a new bed after the first one was too marshmallow-ey. So far, the apartment is working out great, and now it's time for cocktails.

Jake at 6/07/2009

5.25.2009

What's that you ask for? A tour of the new apartment? I suppose. We actually got freaked out about the new apartment, since I tried to use my key in the wrong house, which had a trashy yard and, perhaps, a puppy farm. Then I found the right one. Horray! Flowers! High ceilings! A porch! The only other hiccup was getting ticketed when the landlord erroneously told me to move my car because of street sweeping, and I moved it to the far side of the street the one day out of the month it was illegal to do so. She let me knock the cost of the ticket off of rent. Awesome.



Jake at 5/25/2009

The drive out to Denver was fairly uneventful; A. and I were lucky enough to stay in North Platte, Nebraska. They had steaks there. And bears.




Jake at 5/25/2009

Well, the Notre Dame Law class of 2009 has graduated. Grad weekend was fun; A's family and I met each other for the first time, we got to see the President give a fantastic speech, and we don't have to go to law school anymore. We had a very pretty weekend, which was full of packing and festivities. My uncle sent a batch of beer brewing equipment with my parents that I had a bit of a time cramming into my car, but it eventually all came together. Never mind the fact that my car was riding about 1" off of its back axle due to all of the stuff crammed into it.

Commencement was great, and of course Obama's speech was fantastic. I think 4 protesters ended up getting thrown out. My favorite moment of the whole thing was when the second protester started yelling, and was shouted down by chants of "We Are ND." It was fantastic.





Jake at 5/25/2009

5.18.2009

If you're not rolling down your windows to get more stuff in your car,
you don't know what real packing is like.

Jake at 5/18/2009

5.14.2009

Wrigley.

Jake at 5/14/2009