Homebrew #3 - Eh, It's Better Than the Last One

My third homebrew

Over a month ago, I brewed my third batch of beer and was hoping for better beer than before.  After letting it ferment for two-and-a-half weeks, I then bottled it and waited. So, how was/is it?

Well, the good news is that it is drinkable - always a plus when it comes to beer (and especially homebrew!).  The second good news is that it is more drinkable than my second batch - not only more drinkable, but more sessionable, too.  I think the decrease in malt made it lighter, thank God, so it is not as much of a challenge to drink it - not because of the alcohol content, but because it is so dense of a beer.

Another facet that was also an improvement from the second brew was that the head/foaminess was not as crazy - there was still a plentiful amount of foaminess, but at least not a super crazy amount.

However, while I did decrease the malt content, I did keep the hops content roughly the same, but am largely unable to notice the hops.  I am not sure if this is because my palate has become accustomed to very noticeable hops or if it really is just not so hoppy. Also, I am not particularly pleased with the overall taste, but that could, perhaps, be attributed to the yeast, which made it quite fruity - perhaps too much for my liking.

There was less head on this brew than the last one

This lack of hoppiness, despite how much hops I put in, may be attributed to one of three issues upon which I need to work for the future: keeping a secure fermenting process.  For the last two brews, let's just say the fermentation was not done in such an air-tight manner. So, I will be going back to how I fermented the first batch.

Another issue is the process I utilize to transfer the beer from the fermentation bucket to the bottling bucket....

Anyways, I'm glad it's more drinkable than my previous batch and I am looking forward to trying to improve the process - and, of course, the product :)

My First Press Pass?

Proudly displaying my first-ever press pass

Two weeks ago, I attended a comics convention with a press pass - my first ever!  I am very grateful that I was able to attend the 2014 Long Beach Comic Expo on account of it.  I did not simply attend - I ended up publishing a handful of posts about it.

Upon reflection, I wondered why - having been blogging for nearly nine years now - I had not applied for press passes in the past. I also wondered - having lived in New York City - why I had not tried to attend events on a press pass there.

While I am not quite sure the answers to these questions at this time, I did realize that I had attended an event in New York City that specifically invited bloggers seven years ago. I enjoyed the special access event and I still wonder why I had not tried to gain access to other such events.  Perhaps it was my focus then on my new marriage and working on rabbinical school (and focussing my efforts on training to become a rabbi).  Ah well.

The impetus for me to look into getting a press pass now - in addition to my having begun my new [impersonal] blog - was hearing that my brother-in-law had gotten a press pass for Comic-Con.  I could not believe it - the hardest comics convention to get into and he did - as a photographer! (The post-script is that he may actually go as an EMT.)

Anyways, I realized, if he can get in as a photographer, I should be able to get in as a blogger to some comics convention, so I applied to the Long Beach Comic Expo and was thrilled to get a press pass! Following on the heels of that success, I then applied for a press pass for WonderCon.  That was, however, not successful, but I attended it anyway - and wrote a post about it (and another one) - I figure the more I write about such events, the more likely it is that I could get access to them in the future.

However, I don't want to paint myself into a corner, only getting press passes to comics conventions - it is still a new thing to me.  Moreover, I find myself kind of an outsider to them - my interest in them is not on account of growing up with comics, but rather the Star Wars material.  Also, I tremendously enjoy the geek culture and approach (perhaps I'm a wannabe geek?).

Nevertheless, I would like to get into other such events/shows, etc. just not exclusively into comics conventions.  We'll see what the future brings - I am embracing my identity as a blogger and we'll see what comes of it :)