It’s been ages since I’ve posted pictures, so this one is overdue.

First up are some photos that I call “Goldilocks and the Three Beers”.

The first one is too small (only one ounce). The last one is too big (an Imperial pint). The middle is just right (6 ounces). Not for Goldilocks, but for my pregnant wife. In all seriousness, she doesn’t actually drink while pregnant except for a sip here and there and maybe an ounce or two of wine every couple of months. And we only let Will drink a few sips, too. In fact, here is the aftermath:

I, of course, went on to finish the rest, being the noble and chivalrous gentleman that I am. By the way, the glasses were filled with Hump’s Itsy Bitsy Brown.

Will prefers to just play with the beer, which is perfectly fine. He likes the idea of drinking beer much more than the act itself (at least for now…).

The next photos are of “the cellar.”

If you’re curious about exactly what’s on tap at the moment, look no further than the draft menu:

And if you looked closely, you’ll see the special stuff in the bottom of the fridge. It’s not actually all special in those drawers, but it’s all aging. The bottles are mostly just 1-2 years old now, but I do have a Chimay Grand Reserve from 2001, too.

Now on to my latest project: a hop-filter manifold for my kettle. This allows me to simply open the valve on the bottom of the pot and drain every last drip into the fermentor without worrying about trub and hop matter. The pipes around the perimeter of the pot are all touching the bottom and have 5/32 inch holes drilled into them. They suck the sweet wort out of the pot and filter out hops. They’re around the edges of the pot because most of the trub piles up in the center (at least it does after you whirlpool the cooled wort really well and wait a few minutes). Also, using whole leaf or plug hops will further remove trub since the hop leaves will act as a filter much like the grain husks act as a filter while lautering the mash.

And finally, I leave you with the latest beer label I’ve drawn. This label is for my favorite homebrew from 2008, my Most Worthy Ale. The beer’s name gave me the idea for what the label should be: