New Blog - Check It Out!

Please check out my new blog: BiteSize Brews: http://bitesizebrews.com/

Red Razzleberry Stout

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! My present to my mom is home brewing at home while she is out playing golf. She isn't a fan of the smell and I'm not a fan of golf. So this works out well.

I've started working on my 4th of July brews for the family reunion. I'm doing a Red, White and Blue theme. Today is Red Razzleberry Stout, adapted from Aaron's Above the Rest Homebrewing website.

Ingredients:

• 7 lbs of liquid amber malt extract
• 1 lb of crystal mat (120L)
• 1/4 lb of H.B. Britsh chocolate malt
• 1/4 lb of black patent malt
• 4 lbs of organic frozen raspberries (donated by my Aunt Kirstie)
• 1 tsp of irish moss
• 1 tsp of gypsum
• 2 oz of Northern Brewer hops
• 1 package of Irish Ale yeast

Directions:

1. Steep grains for 30 minutes in 3 gallons of water at 155 degrees F.
2. Remove grains, add gypsum.
3. Add liquid malt and bring to boil.
4. Add 1.5 oz of Northern Hops for 55 minutes.
5. At 30 minute mark - add irish moss.
6. Add .5 oz of Northern Hops for last 5 minutes.
7. Chill wort. Add raspberries and yeast.
8. Ferment 5-7 days.
9. Move to secondary and ferment for an additional 5-7 days.
10. Bottle / keg and enjoy.

Know another get raspberry or stout recipe?

Jiving at Jive

Two weeks ago I went to a happy hour event at Jive, a software company based here in Portland, Oregon. Not only do they have a great product and a sweet office. They also have their own custom pint glasses. Needless to say, I kinda wanted one...

Last week I emailed a friend who works there and offered a trade. One Jive pint glass for one home brewed beer (Blueberry Pale Ale - I'll post the recipe soon). He agreed and we met for lunch this week to make the switch.

Aren't they cute? Does your company do custom pint glasses? Let me know!

BiteSize's Brews

I really like this new blog name. (Thanks Lauren for suggesting it.)

Why Bite Size?

It's been my nickname since freshman year of high school. Long story short, one of the senior guys over heard my dad calling me "Pint Size" after water polo practice one day and thought my dad said "Bite Size." Thus the name has stuck ever since. It also helps that I come from a family of giants and yet am pretty short. Plus, it's already my Twitter name, bite4size.

Why Brews?
This one should be pretty obvious. It's a blog about beer or "brews".

What do you think of my new name?

"The Time Has Come"

the Walrus said, "To talk of many things"

Of blogs-- and beers -- and stating facts--

Of fermentation-- and dreams--

And why my blog is out of date---

And whether it shall change."

(Adapted from Lewis Carrol's The Walrus and The Carpenter)

Yes, the time has come for my blog to change. Something I've been meaning to do for awhile, but funny how time can get away from you. But like Madonna has taught us time and time again, we need to re-invent ourselves (and our blogs). Mine has got from a college update blog, to a transitioning into the real world blog and now to a beer blog.

Yup, I finally thought of a theme for my blog. Beer! It seems so obvious now that I've finally set my mind to it. Why didn't I think of this earlier? I know what you are thinking, "Ah, there are so many beer blogs out there, especially in Portland." But I've got some great reasons behind this one:

1. I love beer (duh!)
2. I love brewing beer (and I keep OCD notes about it).
3. I love talking about beer (as most of you know).
4. I'm a girl (not many girl's know as much as I do on this topic).
5. I'm young (not many YOUNG, WOMAN home brew).
6. I live in Portland, OR (the beer capital of the world).
7. I love traveling (thus more breweries to try).
8. I love hearing the stories behind different beers and breweries (good content).
9. I can't commit to blogging as much as I want to (and this will keep me focused).
10. I love social media (thus I can promote, share, talk about more breweries).

So what does this mean for you? Suggest a new name, links, breweries, times to meet up for beers, etc. And I'll happily oblige. I'll also be slowly updating my blog to meet my new theme.

Two Things You Should Know About Me

I was supposed to be in a class webinar for my Master's course - however I can't seem to log on. Therefore, I'm writing this blog post.

Two Things You Should Know About Me:
1. If I say someone is in my family and they live in Oregon, they aren't really blood relatives.
My mom, dad and I moved to Oregon when I was a baby, my little brother was born here. However, none of my extended family lives outside of New England. To make up for this, I have been blessed with a lot of "family" out here. We go to the Carey family reunion every year for 4th of July. I have many Aunties and Uncles from both my "mom's side" or my "dad's side." I also have a tendency to call my friend's parents "mom" or "dad". Maybe I'm old school (way old school - tribal style), but I really do believe it takes a community to raise a child and I owe these people a lot and it's a term of endearment for me. I would like to point out I love my real parents very much as well as my family out on the East Coast. I just wish I could see them more.

2. Everyone is my best friend.
When I was little, my mom told me it wasn't nice to call friends "best friends" because it made other people feel bad. The way my brain processed that is, well then, everyone can be my best friend. Apparently this confuses a lot of people in my adult life when they attempt to keep track of all my best friends. My advice to them is, you'd be amazed how awesome it is when all your friends are the best ones.

Just two random things about me. Now, tell me two things about you.

10 Years Ago...

10 years ago today, I broke my leg. Broke might be an understatement, I shattered my femur while skiing on Spring Break. Last Saturday, while my mom and I were skiing (yes, I still ski) I realized it has been a DECADE since that day. Crazy! In honor of this special day I thought I would do a trip down memory lane of all the things I've accomplished even with my titanium rod and four pins:

1. Learned how to walk again (very important).
2. Learned how to rely on my family and friends for everything (humbling).
3. Played varsity water polo in high school (major goal in rehab).
4. Swam competitively for my university (definitely was the slowest kid).
5. Completed 3 Nike Women Half Marathon's (and I got the Tiffany Co. bling to prove it!) See above photo. You can kinda see my scar too...
   
6. Enjoying telling stories of how I got my scar "I got bit by a shark," "I got knifed," and "so-and-so hates me".
7. Going off in airports (sometimes) and having to explain to people "no I can't take off my leg."
8. Still skiing, wakeboarding, hiking, camping and traveling.
9. Being able to do stupid things ("I can't break my leg again", "I'm bulletproof", "I'm 1/2 robot", etc.)
10. I now have the perfect excuse as to why I'm so short compared to the rest of my family!

Here's to a couple more decades of health and happiness. I can't wait until all my friends are 60 and catching up to my bionic-ness!

Where were you 10 years ago?