NHL and NHLPA try this CBA

Well, I have to say that today is not a good day.  Tonight the NHL will have another lockout, only 7 years after the last one.  This is so sad for all the fans.  I also cancelled my NHL Center Ice ticket, I've had it since 1999, 13 years.  13 years!!!

I think back to when I was a kid and lived for any game I could get on TV (or if I was lucky in person).  We had the Flyers as the local team growing up, so we were able to see most of those games.  I also had the Hockey News when it was a newspaper, yes showing my age.  I lived for every week!  Reading what was going on in hockey with each team and US colleges.  I didn't have Hockey Night in Canada, but I remember a picture of Don Cherry and Ron MacLean on the cover of one of the Hockey News doing some prediction, I think Don was wearing a wizard outfit or something like that and both were looking into a globe.  I remember wishing I had the ability to see that and get all that hockey coverage.

That dream and desire of the coverage and the game had me want to play more and more. My brother and I would play street hockey all the time.  We had the neighborhood kids play as well.  We even formed a team and played in a league for a few years.  I'd play any position I could just to play, but I did prefer net! :-) Then I was able to play ice hockey!  And when I did play ice hockey, I was at the rink every weekend, looking for any chance to play, didn't matter the time.  I would work the public skating to get ice time in, then I'd be asking all the guys coming in for the 11pm and later time frames if they needed a goalie.  I'd hang around as long as I could sometimes until 3am.  If I could play, I would play for as many hours as I could.  It was great!

How many of us have these stories?

Now that I am older and the media coverage of hockey (and all sports) has gotten so much bigger, I have been able to see so many more games.  I even had the ability to see the Cup raised in person!  I never thought I'd see that, but seeing Rod Brind'amour raise the Cup, a moment I will never forget! All of us dreamed of doing that, we did that everyday we played as a kid.  I have also been able to get Hockey Night in Canada down in the south!  Things were good, right?

So I get so frustrated when we have a second work stoppage in 7 years, I mean these guys can't agree on any CBA without a stoppage it seems.  The problem is with ALL of them this time..and maybe every time.

So owners and players, if the above doesn't make you want to play hockey, how about this.

What pisses me off the most is that both work stoppages are killing the growth of the game.  So (owners and Players) if you want to talk about getting money, think about this!  In the last stoppage you had the 2004 Cup champs of Tampa Bay.  Tampa Bay!!!  A southern city that is an expansion team that could grow and do wonderful things for the game in the south in the US!  The 2012 Champs are the LA Kings. LA!!!  One of the largest cities in the US and talk about media and celebrities that could help out there?

Now lets talk about the US TV deal that has always been really lacking.  You have NBC Sports which has been doing a really good job of covering hockey and make it the #1 sport they show.  When has the NHL had that?  ESPN always had baseball #1 and would cut hockey off to show baseball spring training.  The Lockout....well they might find something else more important.  If I was them, I would.

Players on average are doing better today, so NHLPA, you should be wanting to get on the ice, for more then just this reason.  Owners, you could be missing on a cash cow of riding LA, I would, as long as I could.

So here is what I propose:

- Money is split 50-50.
- For any team making a profit, the profit is split 50-50.
- For any team showing a loss, the loss is split 50-50.
- For the NHL outside of team revenue, it is split 50-50, profits and losses.
- Also all financial information will be disclosed on both sides and managed by a 3rd party (paid for 50-50) since neither of you can trust one another.

Having it all separated could get everyone a little more interested in profits as a whole.

If you say you are true partners, then this should work, you share the profits and losses.  That is what partners do, so are you partners?

And the tasting....

Well, I know it has been some time since I last blogged.  I actually haven't been sure how to describe the beer.  Overall it came out very drinkable, so that is good.  I did have several people say they liked it and thought it was really good.  Now here's the but, but I thought it was missing something.

I liked it, but really thought it was missing something.  The problem is I can't put my finger on what it is that it is missing.  So the problem begins as to what to change/tweak.  One person made a very good suggestion, that is to send 3 bottles into a beer contest to get feedback.  That is a good idea, but it all was enjoyed! :-)

So now comes the fun part.  When to try it again, and do I brew it the same or tweak it.  My gut tells me to tweak it, so I most likely will.  I just don't know what I will do though, so for now I will just have to think about what to do.

In the mean time, I did enhance my beer options recently.  I added a fridge in the garage to start lagering.  I have wanted to lager for sometime, so now is the time.  Tomorrow is the first brew, well sort of, that I will lager.

Squirrel!

To backup a few, I had a great big plan to brew 2 beers in one day on the 4th of July.  The first was my first lager then I was going to brew a Serra Nevada Pale Ale.  It sounded good and I'd had some recently. So I started to brew.  It was really hot, but a rain shower came through and it cooled things off a bit.  So it made the brewing go much better.

As I was brewing, everything was going so well, I cooled down the boil and was pouring into the bucket when, I looked in the brew kettle and saw the thermometer in pieces.  I was so pissed!  So I didn't know what to do, I I texted a friend of mine and tried his dad.  Both have more knowledge them on this and just thought they could help.  But really what was there to help with. I was not patient and just dumped the brew.

I spoke to my friend's dad and he said I should have been ok if I kept it, but it wasn't the end of the world, and he was right, I was just pissed I lost the brew.  On top of that I couldn't brew again because I didn't have a thermometer to use.  The only good thing in it all was that I did not use the yeast, so I was able to just buy another kit and use the same yeast.  Oh and yea a new thermometer too.

I did find out that the thermometer did have lead in the bottom of it, so in reality it was best to dump the brew.  For now I have a thermometer that clips to the side and is completely metal, it looks like a meat thermometer but longer.  That will do for now.  I will as some point get one of those gun/IR thermometers so i can get a very accurate reading without any mess.  But that is for the future.

So back to the lagering.  So tomorrow I get to lager and hopefully have success with it.  It does take some time, but I really think it will be worth it.  My goal is to always have a lager going and do ales when I can.  We'll see how it goes, but that is the plan.

So for now, sit back, enjoy a beer or 2.

And it's bottled...

Today was bottling day.  I have to say I was a bit nervous.  Not to bottle, but because I would be able to get to taste the brew from my measurements.  Bottling went fairly smooth, except for one incident, I tipped over bottle over for a second, and now I have 2 sample bottles.:-)  The first one was because there wasn't enough to fill it at the end.

The measurements came out as a kind of surprise, the beer (as it is called now, still no name) came out a little stronger than I was expecting.  It ended up being 6.8% alcohol by volume and 194 calories per bottle, for those counting calories.  I was expecting to be closer to the 6%, but the higher octane could explain the taste.  It had a really bitter taste.  It was hard to say whether that is from the higher alcohol content or that it just turned out to be a really bitter beer.  I just hope that after 4 weeks in the bottle the bite goes a way a little.  I can say it didn't taste as well as the day we brewed.

So now I wait....4 weeks, 4 weeks to be able to try it and see if this is something that could work or I have to tweak or worse, start over.  So in time we shall see what this comes of.  If anything it has been a great learning experience and the future batches will be better...I hope!  :-)

So for now, grab a brew and lets wait to see what happens.  Stay tuned!

Racking the brew

So yesterday was the day to rack the beer to secondary.  At first I thought I had done something wrong, but now that some time has passed, I think a lot of sediment got though to secondary.  More then I have ever had in the past.  So when it is time for bottling I will have to be careful to get out all the liquid and leave the sediment behind.

I have tried really hard to have a good clear bottle of beer.  It does make for a better presentation and you can drink all of it.  No wasting!  :-)

So far things still seem to be good.  The beer has bubbled all week, so we are making alcohol.  So, so far so good when it comes to the brew.

After talking with Kristen, the name of the brewery is still up in the air, but we thought it would be best to wait and taste the beer to give it a name.  Since it really doesn't fall under any style it is going to be tough to name before we taste.  So lets hope the tasting goes well.

So next is bottling...that is next weekend.  Lets hope that goes well and then.....we wait....

til then, sit back and enjoy a brew!

The Brew!

Ok, so yesterday I finally brewed my first recipe.  To start off with , I made my first mistake before I got started.  I realized it when I was on my way back home from getting my ice to chill down the brew.  As I was driving home it struck me....I didn't start the yeast starter!!!  This was not good!!  I bought a liquid yeast to do with this (I love a liquid yeast and how the beer turns out with it) and I totally forgot to do the starter.  I needed a couple of days to actually have the starter go.  I was having almost a panic attach because of this, but then I just said ah the hell with it and I'll just pitch it as it is.  I wasn't thrilled about it, but, I had no choice.  I told everyone I was doing this recipe this time so I couldn't change at the last minute. So once I came to that conclusion, I had already put my sheet together with all the instructions and a place for notes so I could write in what I wanted or needed to along the way.

I had to wait until 3pm, because Kristen wanted me to wait for some of her friends and I had one of the guys who worked with me coming over and of course my mentor brewer Kris was coming over.

All the ingredients were out and I organized them, so it was time and I was ready to go.  I knew once I started I would have all kinds of advice and peanut gallery help with this.  I wanted to have the DME and Candy Sugar dissolve before I turned on the burner, I was hearing "hey if you light it warm water dissolves things faster", but I just kept doing it the way I wanted, I stuck to my guns!

The brew went though fine, we hit no issues and I was able to stay on track pretty easily.  After I was done and taking readings, I realized...there is nothing to compare this too.  Was the reading high, low, just right....no one knows.  So I offered anyone and everyone to tasted the hoppy sugar water and I was surprised it tasted really good.  I also liked the color (yes should have taken a picture) so I was pleased with the brew so far.

I was asked what type of beer this was I am making, but I didn't know how to explain it.  It was really a blend of all the beers (that I had brewed) I liked and the parts of those beers I liked.  Mostly they were Belgian beers, but it wasn't really a Belgian beer.  Then I thought back to my number 1 problem...what is the name of my brewery?  Then what do I name the beer?  2 questions I have to solve and I only have 6 weeks to do it!  I guess it is time to get input.  I've already asked Kristen and she doesn't seem interested in helping, so I'll have to ask others.  Stay tuned!

I can say the fermentation process is happening, so that is good!  I will have to see how things are when I move to secondary and I will be really interested in the bottling time.  That way I will be able to taste and check all the readings.  The taste will be interesting.

So until next time....as the saying goes...relax and drink a home brew!

The beer store visit

Well, as you or if you read my last post.  I finally came up with a beer recipe.  So this weekend I went to go and get my ingredients to make my beer.  Let me tell you it was wild.  I have so much to learn about so many things when it comes to beer.  I also found out that Saturday morning when they open is a REALLY crazy time there.

So when I walked in, one of the guys working there asked if he could help.  I told him I was looking to do my own recipe and was trying to run through my list of what I needed.  He walked me back to the back of the store to show me where they had everything separably and I can just get what I needed myself.  OK, so when I put the recipe together I did it by other recipe's of beer I brewed, I didn't know it was just all raw ingredients and I had to crack the grains and measure the hops.  Like I said, a lot to learn.  Lucky for me there was a guy that showed up who has been brewing for about 15 years and he has been to the store a bunch, so much people think he works there.  So he was a huge help and showed me a ton of things.  I was grateful because if he wasn't there I could still be there a day later!  :-)

So I cracked my grains and got my hops, everything was measured, I picked up the other items that I needed and I was ready to go.  Now time to check out.  Then I get asked, how much grains and what kind....uh I was trying to explain, but I wasn't ready for that, no one told me how this was done.  And of course there was a huge line behind me, so I was totally nervous.  Well we figured it out pretty quickly and I was able to get out of there without too much pain.  Then I was off to my next stop to finish up my shopping.

I did also pick up another kit, an IPA.  I have wanted to try one and see how I could do making my own.  I have enjoyed the IPA's...as well as many other beers.  Sorry Squirrel!!  :-)

OK, so now I have all the ingredients, it is picking a date to do the brew.  I thought of March 17th, St. Patty's Day, why not to try my first recipe.  Maybe we can solve Number 1 and name the beer too!

For now, as the saying goes, relax and enjoy a home brew!

The first recipe and Number 1

Well, it has almost been a year of brewing and I have finally put together my first recipe for my first beer.  I can honestly say, I have no idea how this will turn out, but that is the fun of it, it is also nerve racking as all hell.

I came up with this recipe based on beers I have already brewed and really liked.  I just hope I pulled all the parts that I liked out of each beer.  Mostly I pulled from Belgian beers, which I was surprised to find I liked  the most.  I have all the ingredients I need or I should say the list, not the actual ingredients.  I will get those the next time I hit the beer store.

How this came about was the last time I went to the beer store I was struggling to find beer to brew (I know a real surprise). Or something I hadn't brewed that sounded good (this was more where I was going).  I should note that this is only for Ales, I haven't started Lagering yet.  Lagering will come soon (I hope!).  That will bring a new set of challanges and fun, which I am looking forward to.  Sorry Squirrel! 

So I do hope this turns out to be a good beer for a few reasons, or for that matter any recipe I do turns out good.  The reason is I thought about entering a beer competition and see how it would fare.  I am getting ahead of myself, I do have to actually brew THIS beer and see if it is drinkable.  Then see what others think of it, before anything else can happen.  So lets keep things in perspective.  (this is me talking to myself) It would also be cool to have my own beer, so when people visit they can have something they never had before.  It would allow for some interesting conversation and would be just neat in general.

I do have to work on 2 things though.  Number 1 a brewery name and then number 2 a name for the beer.  I was wondering do I do a theme (which would be smart) or just do random names that I like (which would make sense since it is a hobby).  The hard part about coming up with these, is I am not that creative, so coming up with names is not something I have ever been good at.  Something that just came to mind was "Coast 2 Coast Brewery"  since my wife and I are from different coasts.  I could change it to "Koast 2 Koast Brewery" so short would be "K2K" for the 2 of us.  Or should I do something along the lines of Hockey, or some other random thing.

Well for now, I have a little time to bat around some ideas for a Brewery name.  I need to work on the beer recipes and have some that turn out drinkable, that people will really like, otherwise this is all a waste of time.

I'll report back on how the beer tastes in several months when it is ready.  Hopefully something good.  For now, enjoy a cold one and any ideas for Number 1 would be great!

Having a Molson with Molson

A couple nights a week I get to enjoy an evening with my pup, Molson (yes it is all about the beer), this is because my wife works out with a trainer 2 nights a week after work.  So Molson and I get to enjoy the evenings together.  They usually start with a walk around the neighborhood to get him out and moving, then when we get home, he likes to play ball so we do that outside.  I usually have to get him to stop and come in to eat and drink some water, but then he is ready to go again, this will go on for a good portion of the evening.

I find it fun and relaxing.  It is amazing having a dog, they are always happy to see you and love to have fun.  Molson definitely is a dog to make you smile.  It is always so nice when you've had a rough day to come home and see him so excited, it just puts you in such a good mood.

This is not to say that Kristen isn't happy to see me or I her.  She is definitely someone who does not bring me stress, she usually is the one to keep me up and happy.  She also keeps me grounded and is such a great partner and wife for me. I am lucky she thinks I'm still a catch!  Still not sure how I fooled her.  :-)  So I am not saying that she doesn't give me happiness, she most definitely does.  Molson just adds to it and makes sure that when we are both having a bad day we can small and forget about all that happened at work.

So back to my day with Molson, while he is running in the yard finding the ball I just threw, I get to enjoy a cold brew and this week it was a Molson Canadian.  Very fitting that I was able to enjoy a Molson with Molson, but Molson was not allowed to have any Molson.  :-)

So enjoy, smile and enjoy a Molson or 2!

The lost one....

Well tonight I had an experience I had not had before.  I am out of town on a business trip and was able to find a Dogfish Head Ale House.  It was by far the best place we had found all week.  There are only, I think 4, and they are all around the DC area.  The food was great, the best food we had all week.  The real fun was the beer.  I had more Dogfish Head beer then I had before.  So many kinds and it was tough to choose.  I will say the ones I thought were the best, they did not have available, but that was ok.  I did have a beer that was unique.  It had something from all 7 continents in the world, it was called Pangaea.  I was surprised how well it tasted and easy drinking it was.  It was not real bitter, or heavy in alcohol taste.

In all our fun tonight, we did have one casualty.  We did have to lose one beer to finish the Pangaea, as it came in a 750 ml bottle.  A pint of beer was lost in that, but it was agreed that we should enjoy the Pangaea and deal with the lost one, then to waste such a unique beer.

If you are ever near a Dogfish Head Ale House, you should check it out.  The food is fantastic and the beer is even better.

For now....Cheers!

A little hockey

So my blog does have hockey in the title, but I haven't had a post about it yet.  Kind of sad I know, but I haven't been able to keep up with the blog with the timing of some of the events.

An example of one such event is the Winter Classic this year.  I think the alumni game really stole the show with Bernie Parent stealing the weekend.  I tell you it was amazing that he put the pads back on and got out there.  At 66 to get on the ice, not many do, but to play net?  It was awesome.  I felt like a kid again!  The 50 some thousand that were there were shouting BERNIE!  BERNIE!!  It had me remember when I was a kid and my Dad took us to a Flyers game at the old Spectrum and they had an old-timers game before it and Bernie came out and the roof came off for him.  It was so cool!  The Winter Classic weekend took me back to that time and it was great!

It was really great to read some of the articles and interviews that happened during that game and the weekend in general.  I did read the article that Kerry Fraser posted on his site on TSN.ca.  To read his article and know that he had his son and son-in-law ref the game with him and hear the conversations he had with all of the greats that day, was just something else.  It was cool to get that perspective on the game and from ice level.

Another person who I was really happy to see out there that day was Mark Howe.  He just got inducted to that Hockey Hall of Fame this year.  I think he is one of the classiest guys out there in hockey.  His skills were just unreal and he carried the Flyers for so many years.  Why I think he is so classy is that he is the son of Mr. Hockey, Gordie Howe, and when the first public conf call came out with all 4 that got inducted this year, each reporter asked a player how they thought of the honer? What does if feel like to be a Hall of Famer, etc.  When it came to Mark, he was asked (First question!) "How does your Dad feel about this?"  Really, they guy gets into the Hall of Fame and you ask how is Dad felt about it? Of course Mark, just took it in stride and answered the question.   Never a hint of unhappiness or anything.  With all the pro athletes now-a-days, and the all about me attitude, it is nice to know some things more then just about themselves.

So that is my take on some hockey stuff for now.  So I raise my beer glass to the game and the Winter Classic!  (Yes it is all about the beer! :-) )