Beer and Coding at One

Amid the void of recent posts, Beer and Coding quietly sneaked past the one year mark last week. And while my anniversary got completely lost in a calendar of meetings and deadlines, happenstance found me at the place responsible for my downward spiral into all thing beery for the momentous occasion; Ninkasi.

Just a few short years ago, I was positive Fat Tire was the be-all end-all of craft beer. Hell, I didn’t even know what “craft beer” was at the time; New Belgium made micros. Then, through one of  those friend-of-a-friend things, I got a chance to try a test batch of what we all know (and love) now as Total Domination. Talk about a game changer. From that first enamel-stripping sip, I knew there was no going back. My name is Kevin and I am a hops addict. For the next year I asked/begged/pleaded for Ninkasi IPA at every bar or restaurant I visited. Daddy needs his fix. Luckily, Eugene was just as much a Ninkasi junkie as I, and my requests were rarely denied. The rest is history: I drank more beer. I obsessed about it. I brewed it. I prattled endlessly about it. I bored my wife. I started a blog. Oh, and Ninkasi got bigger too.

On Saturday my wife and I escaped the heat in the shade of Ninkasi’s newly finished patio area, where we unknowingly celebrated Beer and Coding’s first anniversary. I enjoyed a sample tray containing Nuptiale Cream Ale, Quantum Pale, Tricerahops, Radiant and an unnamed dry-hopped IPA while my wife had a Believer. It’s hard to image that only a few years back, I would have been sipping my Fat Tire while my wife drank a Coors Light or Widmer Hef.

As you may have deduced from the introduction, the rest of this post will be a stereotypical, sappy gush-fest, looking back over the first year of Beer and Coding. Won’t you join me?

In The Beginning…

When I get into a hobby, I go deep. Craft beer was my new mistress and my wife was tired of hearing about her. My friends and coworkers probably felt the same way. Fortunately we have this thing called the Internet, and anyone with one of these computer thingies can blather on all day about whatever tickles their undercarriage without threat of recourse. That founding ideal, plus a clever pun for a title, and we have inception. Beer and Coding.

Initially, I wanted my blog to sound similar to the way I talk. Unfortunately, as I muddled through my early posts, I realized they had the cohesiveness of  a caffeine-addled squirrel that had taken one too many falls from the old oak tree. I now understand much better the confused look on my wife’s face after I have been talking for a few minutes. This was followed by a short stretch of posts where I dabbling in a more serious tone. But for me, serious writing is analogous to tedious writing and dabbling is best left for college dorms. I think I have finally found my “voice,” and at least the act of writing feels like it has better flow. The biggest variable at this point is use of imagery, which seems directly proportional to the hour at which I am writing. It is 9:07 p.m. if you are wondering. Now if only I could figure out a way to transcribe my thoughts faster, so I am not finishing this at midnight again. Moving along…

Want Beer, Will Review

One of the best things about this beer blogging shtick has been getting invited to beer events, or at least having a semi-plausible (by “wife standard”) reason to attend them. The Fresh Hop Festival, Holiday Ale Fest, KLCC Brewfest, Zwicklemania, Sasquatch and OBF are all recent notches on the bedpost. And I can’t even begin to count the tastings and bottle releases. I am glad I don’t live in Portland; the little life I have outside of beer would be completely gone.

Over the last year I have reviewed several beers, most of them purchased, but occasionally grafted. At first, I made it a point to review without using any “beer snob” terminology. I wanted to write reviews for people in my position – those who liked craft beer, but didn’t care about descriptions like “cloying” and “horse blanket”. I quickly realized that people aren’t in my boat for too long. The palate develops pretty quickly, and at the end of the day “horse blanket” is the best way to describe something that has a horse blanket taste. I still find the term “nose” pretentious, but have conceded to using “notes” and “hints”. See, I can grow as a person.

Beer and CODING

I’ll admit it, I’m still lagging on the coding front. Who would have thought that after writing code for eight hours, I wouldn’t be keen on doing it when I got home? I mean I think about beer all day and I still want one when I get home. Anyway, I do have a few coding projects in the works that I will get around to finishing at some point, but I will leave that for the Future section. Which brings us to…

The Future

When looking back, it’s always good to end looking forward. I’m sure there’s a pun in there somewhere, but it’s getting late.

In year two, expect more reviews and event reports; the bread and butter, or meat and potatoes for those of you with a more carnivorous leaning. As I’ve mentioned before, Eugene beer culture is growing rapidly and as it does, my posts will grow increasingly local. Of course, I’ll never turn down an opportunity to travel.

I am also picking back up my exploration of nanobrewing. I started with a primer back in February, but Mt. Tabor and Naked City were the only nanos that returned my call (or more accurately e-mails). Since then, my initial post has been referenced quite a bit around the interwebs and recently I have received e-mails from a couple prospective nanobrewers, asking for advice. Not being in the business of brewing myself (dare to dream), I am reminded of the old adage, “Those who can’t do, teach.” And teach I shall (attempt – Honesty Editor). In addition to the two aforementioned breweries, Hess Brewing, Healdsburg Beer Company and Beetje Brewing has all answered the calling. I am currently compiling their responses to some questions I asked, and the first article should be up soon. Thanks again guys! If any of you other nanobrewers want to pitch in, shoot me an e-mail.

On the coding side, the Beer Test is partially written using the Android SDK and I have also started a tasting notes app. All the parts are sitting in a SparkFun shopping cart to turn my Arduino into a temperature controller for a fermentation chamber. When I pull the trigger, you can follow along as I build my lagering freezer. And not one to look a gift segue in the mouth, I’ll use the opportunity to transition to homebrew.

My home brewing is getting a little out of control, more and more of the garage’s floorspace consumed by the hobby. I recently installed a conditioning fridge and yesterday picked up a new (used) wort chiller from a great guy named Adam who threw in 100+ bottles and about a pound of home-grown Cascade, Chinook and Magnum hops. Still going is the starter of wild yeast I cultured from the plum tree in my yard. I’m excited to brew a “Eugene” beer with my yeast and Adam’s hops. Anyone growing some barley they want to throw in?

Conclusion

Once again, I want to take the opportunity to thank the craft brew community, both brewers and bloggers. This is the most fun I have ever had learning. Remind me again why they don’t teach beer in school?

In typical PBS fashion, I am going to end with a serene montage. In this case, pictures from my trip to Ninkasi. Here’s looking at another great year!

Cheers!
Kevin