Been awhile since I’ve posted…Here’s what’s been happenin’

However, I think about posting a great deal.  When I sit down to bang something out, I find my desire waning.  :)  I have no idea what that is all about, but hey…I’ve been busy.  :)

To begin with, I mentioned that I entered my Crazy Hamish Scotch Ale into a homebrewing competition.  It’s the first competition I’ve entered, and it’s the 3rd batch of homebrew I’ve ever made.  The competition featured about 20 different beers; many people submitted two or 3 different beers.  Most of the brewers brought kegs with various dispensing hardware.  I was one of 3 brewers that actually brought bottles.  :)  There was an entire group to my right that represented the Modesto Mashers Homebrewing Club.  They had a 6-tap dispensing setup, which really intimidated me.  Some of these guys brew every weekend…this also intimidated me.  However…

My brew won 2nd place.  (1st Runner Up is what the trophy says.)  Whether that sounds impressive or not, I was pretty darn happy about it for several reasons:

1. I got a LOT of positive comments from tasters.  This was not a structured tasting event. Every one of the 650 people could taste and vote on their favorite brews. But I had a lot of people coming back several times to try my brew. In addition, many people said that my beer was the best beer at the event. For the record, this event had well over 200 beers available from commercial brewers.  I was very happy with the public reaction to my beer.
2. I got some really positive comments from many of the other brewers there. This is also impressive, to my mind, since these people know their beers better than the average beer-drinker. What’s more I had 3 official beer judges (from other official events) tell me that this beer was amazing, and only needed age to make it the best. One of them suggested that I submit this beer to the AHA (American Homebrewer’s Association). This part made me very happy.
3. There were some really impressive beers at the homebrewing tables. In particular, there was a clone of Stone’s Ruination IPA that was MUCH better than the original. (I voted for that one…it really was tasty.) There was an Abbey Ale, which was a Belgian style brew that was very tasty. My beer beat all of them out except one.  And I didn’t get a chance to try that one, but I was told that it wasn’t bad, but didn’t have a ton of flavor.  I really wish I could have tried it, as I’m sure that guy earned his trophy.
4. This was only my 3rd batch ever, as I mentioned.  It was my first competition ever. And it’s the best darn beer I’ve ever made.  I’ve been asked to make more of the Crazy Hamish, and I’m definitely inclined to do so.  It was seriously tasty.

This is my trophy:

In other news:

The verdict is in on my accident, and I won’t go into the details, but we’re primarily at fault for not yielding to the guy who came around the corner and hit us.  Never mind the fact that there’s only about 100 feet between the driveway we exited and the intersection where the guy turned onto our street.  Never mind the fact that he was going around 45 miles per hour around this blind intersection.  Never mind the fact that I looked both ways before I turned, and when I started the turn, no one was there.  Never mind all of that.  It’s my fault.  If you are exiting a driveway, be careful, people.  It is your responsibility to yield to all traffic, especially the traffic that isn’t on your road, and might be behind a building or something.  That traffic is especially tricky, because there is really no way for you to know it’s there…you just have to yield to it.  I’m still working out how the HECK I can yield to traffic that doesn’t exist on my road yet…I must lack some sort of prescience that everyone else has.

We’re getting $4,300 for our Honda Civic.  I’m pleased with this number, given that the car was 11 years old and had 127,000 miles on it. This, plus what money we have, is allowing us to buy a Nissan Maxima that is about 4-5 years old or so.  Was owned by my father-in-law, who took very good care of it.  I’m very pleased with the way it’s all turning out, aside from the insurance increases that this accident will cause us.  (Remember, it’s my fault that I didn’t yield to traffic that is not yet on my road.)  The Lord has blessed us in how He has caused all of this to work out.

Anyway, hope you all are doing well.