Lands End->Fire on the Mountain

 
     Sometimes you gotta grab life by the hand and shake the hell out of it.  The first time I felt the power of a fourteen dog team in the woods of Northern Michigan, I understood that power and strength are no match for the greater forces at work.  With the snow hook planted deep, a hitch fashioned for quick release, and a steady mind,I prepared myself for the future and its consequences.  Lunging forward towards wild, these beasts "pop" the first brake, pulling myself and the sled tightly against my fastened hitch.  I found myself too far in to go back, so I sprung out at the hitch undoing her safety loop ready to two-step back to the wooden sled. I would not be on time for departure though, even though I was completely focused and present.  Maple the lead dog led his running partner Oz clear into the known.  I chased, jumped, grabbed on, slipped, let go.  I learned two things that day; you can't catch fourteen dogs that are working as one, and you can never let go of leading life with your hands on the wheel.
       So I decided to apply at the Co-Op in Burlington.  Red Oak was a myth, I did enjoy interviewing though.  The guys that worked there were very nice, but I guess that type of brewery is not where I'm meant to be.  The day I found out Red Oak was out, I was one week into my first home brew.  I've since drank and shared just about all of that batch.  I think it came out so good for my first time brewing beers!  Three important qualities I was searching for in "Burlington Brown" were 1. Head Retention 2.  Carbonation(natural) 3.  Taste(bitterness).  They passed, and though top of the keg versus bottom are somewhat distinguishable, I enjoyed making it the whole way through.  I can only drink two, I tried three but fell asleep.  Pretty powerful at 7.5%ABV, It's gonna be sad to see her go!
       Those beers and a 3 lb.box of fresh picked strawberries from my future mother-in-law, are all that reside in my new home's fridge.  Well, there is some out of date dairy from work that I'm experimenting with.  Tut and Ketza have found their favorite corners, squirrel outposts, and puke spots in the house and have settled in nicely.  I've painted, caulked, touched up, patched, and cleaned this rental home.  All the skills I learned working for Sedona Homes LLC in Michigan got my engines revved for some grout work and window blind cleaning.
       I'm close to my job, got a bike from my bro, and got a great beer review from my Dad, who tried his one of two beers for the year last night.
  Music, Family, Love. Three most important folks.  Love is blind, Love is distant, love is close, love is divine.  When ever possible you should love someone.  At the simplest level you should treat everyone with as much respect as you think you deserve.  When I meet close minded people I am intrigued by their commitment.  I myself lack that commitment in some areas of my life, and wish I could use an expression to analyze, evaluate, and regurgitate the appropriate response.  I feel it is time for us home brewers, beer lovers, hopsters, and us self proclaimed adults to be that change.  I'm gonna start by hooking Tut and Ketza up and running them around the block on my neeewwww bike.  The weather for now holds low in humidity and lows in the high 50's. It's the perfect temperature to ferment some water- logged wort.
       Erin has met some great new people, our garden is blooming, our love is strengthening.  On this day I don't miss Alaska, for Alaska is right here in my heart, and has taught me how to be a man of the new interior's frontier. I end with a poem, the first of many I promised in earlier posts.  Wait, that wasn't the poem, neither is this, I'll just end with a toast.  Toast!

Summer delivered us a pardon,
A tree branch lends a hand.
The roots beneath begin to harden,
We have the mountains, oceans, and sand.
But nothing will beat our first garden.

4,000 miles from Home.

In the midst of my fraternal retreat, I was able to visit the Orlando Brewing Company in, you guessed it, Orlando, Florida. My brother PJ, his wife Jaime, and myself headed down today to sample an all organic selection of beer. It is true, organic tastes better. There were 12 beers that we sampled in all, and I must say they were all unique and very tasty. The brewery has a choir practice, which consisted of a 5 piece set of stringed instruments, a drum, and a mouth harp. There was no singing, but you could pick out a few familiar tunes as the crowd watched a few pet dogs wrestle in front of the bar. Good beer, good music, good dogs, and good company. These are MY elements, and when all four align, you know you've done something right.
So as I plan my winter, I have to look at what I've already accomplished. I have been to Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennesee, North carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. 17 more states are on the menu, and 34 more breweries. I am nearly a third of the way threw my first winters' travels, and am confronted with my next decision. I have thought long and hard about it, those who know me know that this isn't something I usually do, and am happy to announce to the world that I will be traveling north and east this winter, all the way to Maine, and then head back to Michigan in mid March as I plan for my summer. I originally was heading out west and was going to drive up to Alaska for my Summer season, but now that I am here I feel very strong that a westward trip is most essential for the Winter of 2011.
So now I am planning my trip through the some of the oldest breweries and pubs in America, and my "beerdar" has to be fine tuned for the belgian brews and the lagers. I enjoy dark beer, hoppy beer, and creative beer. Well, now that I've written that, you could say that I just love beer in general.
"APWATW" wouldn't be possible if things went smoothly and were planned out to a tee. When you travel, it is what you do when things go wrong that defines an experience. My stories include dog sledding at 50 below in Alaska all the way to playing my first punk rock show in the attic of a mansion's gatehouse.
So now I encourage those of you East of Ohio and north of Florida to recommend some breweries that you enjoy, and I will consider them for my book. Until next post, Yukon Ho!

JWP