ALERAISERS

So…I guess I havent been too naughty this year…

Hope every one had a safe and merry Christmas.

–High Gravity

So, I read a very uplifting article the other day and just had to share.  The article was written about a recent study done by a six-member team led by psychologist Charles Holahan of the University of Texas at Austin.  They found that:

“… over a 20-year period, mortality rates were highest for those who were not current drinkers, regardless of whether they used to be alcoholics, second highest for heavy drinkers and lowest for moderate drinkers.”

Their finding, which I think hits the nail on the head, was that:

“… One important reason is that alcohol lubricates so many social interactions, and social interactions are vital for maintaining mental and physical health. As I pointed out last year, nondrinkers show greater signs of depression than those who allow themselves to join the party”

This means your prescription for good health this week is to go have that beer (or 12) after work and drink to your health!  Wassail!

You can read the full article here:  http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2014332,00.html#ixzz12GBsdyhu

Day is done…
Gone the sun
From the lake…
From the hills…
From the sky.
All is well…
Safely rest
God is nigh.

Fading light….
Dims the sight
And a star….
Gems the sky….
Gleaming bright
From afar….
Drawing nigh
Falls the night.

- Taps, by Major General Daniel Butterfield

EABF went down this past Saturday in East Atlanta Village. It was a beer-centric good time with good food, good music, and great beer. Of course…there’s pretty much nothing that could go wrong with a Saturday involving those three. Here are some photos from the event(Thanks to Joe.)

So as much as I am an anti-social-networking-website person(whatever happened to having a pint at the local pub), I understand their position of permanence in our ever more digital lives.  While I wouldn’t hold my breath for the ALERAISERS Facebook/MySpace pages, we have created an ALERAISERS Twitter account, to allow you to follow our posts via your Twitter accounts.  You can follow us on Twitter twitter.com/aleraisers, and all of our new posts should show up in the form of a Tweet. SO all of you Twitter addicts can now rest easy.

Tweet ya' 'nuther 'n

Greetings,

All the pictures have been uploaded!  But more than that, we have swapped out the gallery engine behind the scenes.  This change should provide the pictures to you much quicker and easier.  So even if you have seen the gallery before, please check it out again and let us know in the comment section how it’s working!  You can find the gallery in the upper right corner of our page.

Also, be sure to notice the box of links in the right column that will take you straight to the Beer of the Week reviews!

Finally, be sure to give us some feedback on how we’re doing in the comments section below every post or at our email addresses: highgravity@aleraisers.com and/or hops@aleraisers.com

Ive been been growing my own hops for a few years now mostly with mediocre success.  Dont get me wrong…its not very hard to get a rhizome to send a thousand little green shoots up out of the ground, but it takes quite a bit of work and/or maintenance in order to get a decent yield.  The first year I grew them, I put them into the red clay of North East Georgia, added some manure and did very little else besides the occasional tobacco/cayenne/soap insect spray…actually I did no work, but a friend of mine took care of them for me.  In total, from 5 rhizomes, I had about 1 dried oz yield that year, which was a gallon bag stuffed full.  I dry hopped an amazing beer with it,  but poured the beer down the drain….well, because Im an idiot(too long of a story).  Last year, I transplanted the rhizomes to Lawrenceville where I live so that I could take care of them, but neglected them in lieu of maintaining my first garden that I planted along side my hops.

This year, I have decided, is going to be the year of Home Grown Hops…for me at least.  Ive done a lot of work in preparing their growing conditions, lined up a substantial water source, and maintained the early shoots to the best of my ability and plan to keep them well worked this year.  Ill keep  ALERAISERS up to date with their progress, but here are a few pics to get started.

You’ll notice in a few of the pics above(and in the one below) the asparagus-looking veggies on a plate with a steak.  Well…I had read somewhere that hops chutes were a delicacy, so I had to try it.  In searching for recipes, I also came across this article, that talks about the medicinal benefits/uses of hops going back to the Egyptians.  While I, nor my wife, got tingly feelings all over from eating them(that came from the Terrapin Hopsecutioner), they weren’t bad.  They tasted like mild asparagus. The crispy ends were yummy, but some of the more mature portions of the vines had the prickle-ies that would snag your lip.  I would reccommend if you’re going to try it, to make sure you use the youngest, most tender portions of the vine, and try steaming or blanching, and drizzling olive oil or butter on after.

Alrighty….as of last night Step 2 w/ modifications is complete. We have installed and tested all of our gas lines, valves, and after much deliberation, arm-wrestling, and heated discussion(pun intended) we tested the 210,000 BTU BURNERS in Hops’ Basement. Next, is heat shielding, and after testing the burners….thats gonna be important. Below is the Gallery Slide Show of the step 2 process photos…you can browse them manually by visiting the Gallery on the upper right of the page.

So….parts are starting to rolling in and we officially have two of the grandaddies of all burners….

Also got this cute little beast….

THE THERMINATOR

Update:  Save the waterproofing, Step 1 is offically completed!  We only had to deviate from the plans once at the end in order to mount up our wheels.  Overall we are extermley pleased with the stability and overall ‘beefy-ness’ of the cart.  Our block additions on the bottom for wheel mounts increased the height to just about chin level.  Any higher and you would probably need a stool to peek inside the pots…

Anyway, we also have an official Gallery page.  You can find it in the upper-right hand corner above the picture of High Gravity and me as youngins’ …