How Beer Saved The World

Snowmageddon

When you grow up on the ass end of lake Erie you deal with snow from November through April. Not just snow, tons of snow, bitter cold, and wind. That's just how it is in Western New York. When you grow up in Central Texas you deal with brutal dry heat from June through October. If either place gets the opposite weather pattern rest assured that all hell will break loose. That is exactly what I woke up to this morning. 

A local news headline read "Two deadly crashes on I-35 overnight: Hundreds of crashes reported during storm" because of half of an inch of snow! I don't think that half of an inch counts as snow back home. This type of weather happens once every ten years in Texas so I understand when people do not no how to handle it. Yet why on earth so many of those who cannot safely control a vehicle in snow decided to take to the roads and play bumper cars this morning is beyond me.

Snow is no big deal to me, but I still don't like it. In fact it's a major part of why I moved south. The cold, wet, white misery is just no fun. Snow has a way of making everything less enjoyable to me. That said I'm not afraid of the stuff and have driven through some terrible snow related conditions. Back home three feet is the norm. Here in Austin half an inch is Snowmageddon! My wife even got the day off of work today. Everything here is shut down.

 

My Boston Terrier Bugatti in our back yard at 8:30 this morning.

Here is a link to a local Austin, TX news station with some stories about the "storm" just to give you an idea of what a big deal an accumulation of now is here. To contrast that here is another link to a local Buffalo, NY news station.

Here are some videos that I think capture the mood to keep you entertained while snowed in.

My advice no matter where you live is stay inside and enjoy a nice porter or abbey ale until it melts. If you enjoy snow then strap on your skis or snowboard and call me in April.

Cheers,

 - Jay



Still hunting

Like many recent grads I'm looking for work. I spent the afternoon driving around the greater Austin area handing in resumes and filling out job applications. I really want to start working again. I've got 2 1/2 years worth of drive stored up waiting to fuel a business.

I had two specific destinations on my employment hunt;  Austin Homebrew Supply and St. Patricks of Texas . St. Patricks of Texas sells commercial fermenting and brewing equipment mainly to wineries. Austin Homebrew Supply is exactly that. A homebrew supply store. They have a very large and impressive facility that I was not expecting. The place was huge. Really cool store. I was in full beer geek mode while I looked around. I couldn't leave a place like this empty handed but I didn't have much to spend so I picked up the latest copy of Zymurgy and a new book that caught my eye. Beer Captured by Tess and Mark Szamatulski. I'm particularly excited because there is a section entitled The marriage of food and beer. This section has several recipes but there is one I can't wait to try called Yeasted beer pizza crust. I've been loving my new pizza oven and this makes it even better. I'll bake one up and post how it went next week.

It is my goal to find a job that I enjoy rather than just collect a paycheck. I know the statement sounds idealistic and naive (especially in the current economy) but I assure you that it is neither. I am passionate about beer and I know that I will be an asset to whomever hires me. I'm aware that jobs are hard to come by now a days. I also know that I didn't walk away from an established and secure position to spend the next three years in college only to come out and head right back into something that I do not enjoy. This is my chance to start fresh and I'm going to capture it.

Cheers,
 - Jay

Anniversary

Rusty Z is one today. Knock one back for me.

I'm celebrating with my dogs, a bottle of Shiner Blonde, and the new Crowbar album. The page has been upgraded and updated for the second year. I've got some big plans. Stay tuned and stay thirsty.

Cheers,
 - Jay

House Bill 660

There is a lot of talk going on in the Texas brewing community about a proposed bill that would improve things for both consumers and producers of beer. The laws involving beer are different in Texas and New York. I'm still learning about what can and cannot be done. For example when I hosted a tasting back in NY I was only allowed to pour 2oz at a time up to four times for a total of 8oz. When I attended the Jester King grand opening patrons were allowed three full pints! That would never fly back in NY. I've got some researching to do because I'm very curious about this subject as it could (hopefully) become an issue that I will have to deal with professionally.

Here is a link to the bill

Cheers,
 - Jay