So I stumbled across this cool little project while binging on Tasting Nitch's YouTube videos (If you don't know who she is, check her out! You won't regret it.). #FABQ stands for "Frequently Asked Beer Questions." It's a set of questions that *most* beer enthusiasts get asked at one point or another. The challenge is to make a video answering the questions, then tag 5 friends to do the same. It sounded like a fun way for all of you to get to know me a little better, so I decided to participate, but I'm bending the rules a little because videos just don't mix with my introverted self. So now that you know the game, here we go!
1. How did you get into beer geeking?/ Why beer?
When the hubby and I first moved to Galveston in 2009, we discovered a store called Spec's that carried more types of beer than I even knew existed. Hubby made it his mission to try a new beer every time we went shopping there. I was resistant to it at first, but finally came to realize that not all beer tastes like piss (thank you, Shiner!). A few years later, we moved to California, and the rest is history!
2. What's your favorite beer?
This is not an easy one to answer. It's like asking someone what their favorite book or movie is. It's like asking a mother which child is their favorite (OK, that might be a little extreme). When I get asked this question, I usually just say that I can't pick one, but I lean towards stouts and sours.
3. If you have one beer forever, what would it be?
Again, a hard one to answer, but if I absolutely had to pick one, I guess it would be Shiner Bock. Because it was the brew that opened my eyes to the beauty of craft beer, it holds a special place in my heart.
4. How can you drink so much? How do you stay healthy?
I actually don't drink all that much? I don't drink every day, and usually don't have more than 2 beers at a time. I have gained some weight since I started this hobby, but I don't know if it's because of the beer or if it's because I've just crossed 30 and my metabolism is slowing down and hormones are weird. It's probably both, but mostly the beer. To keep it in check, I walk a lot, kayak occasionally, and have just started training to run my first 5k (pray for me!).
5. Are you an alcoholic?
I actually wrote a small piece about this when I started my blog last year because I was getting some, ahem, "concerning looks" when I would express my passion with beer and brewing (read it here). I am definitely not an alcoholic. I'll give the answer I gave to a friend who is a recovering alcoholic and asked if I could stop drinking when I wanted: Yes, but I don't want to. I don't drink to get drunk, I drink to experience the flavors and appreciate the art of brewing. If I had to stop, I would be sad, but I wouldn't need help to do it. Besides, the great thing about being a homebrewer is that I could learn to make non-alcoholic beer! (Always looking for that silver lining)
6. What's your favorite ingredient?
This is a question I don't think I've ever been asked, actually. I think I'd have to steal Nitch's answer and say yeast. Because without yeast, beer would not exist. We'd all just be drinking sweet wort. Yeast is the real hero here!
7. Do you brew?
Um, duh! Why else would I be here writing this?
8. What was your first beer?
Ready to cringe? My 1st beer was Smirnoff Ice. Yeah, I know, it's not technically beer, it's a malt beverage, but did you think I knew that back then? No. A friend asked if I wanted a beer, I said if it tastes the way it smells, no (referencing Budweiser). He said, "You'll probably like this one." and handed me the Smirnoff.
9. Who in the beer world do you look up to?
I'd have to say Ashley Routson, aka The Beer Wench. I discovered her book, The Beer Wench's Guide To Beer, when I was working at B&N, and was immediately smitten. At a time when I was questioning whether or not I, as a woman, could actually make a name for myself in the beer industry, Ashley was the proof that I was looking for. She no longer works in beer, but I still admire her so much.
Well, that's it! I really enjoyed answering these, so I hope you enjoyed reading the responses. To see who I tagged, visit my Instagram page and check out the related post. And if you feel like participating, let me know so I can read your answers
Have a great weekend! 🍻
Friday, July 28, 2017
Sunday, July 9, 2017
Why Is the Floor Sticky?
About a month ago, I experienced my biggest homebrew disaster to date. It started like any other bottling day: I took a final gravity reading, boiled the priming sugar, prepared the bottles, and racked New Texican into the bottling bucket. I had to prop up the bucket just a little so my transfer tubing would reach the bottom, so I put it on top of a case of empty bottles, something I've done many times before. Racking went fine, and I moved the tubing from the auto-siphon in the carboy to the spigot on the bucket. I stood back up and was about to ask my husband to lift the bucket onto the counter (he's my muscle). Instead, what came out of my mouth, was "Oh no, no, nononono, shit!" as I watched a tsunami of beer flow across my dining room floor. It happened too fast for me to catch the bucket, and yet, it seemed like it fell in slow motion. I stood there in shock for a split second before both of us ran and grabbed every towel in the house to start sopping up the beer. I cried, I laughed, I bitched, I mopped (and mopped and mopped), and I bitched some more.
Losing the batch hurt, especially since I had such high hopes for it. Like every other brewing fail I've had, though, this tragedy taught me a few things:
1. I should probably buy some longer tubing. If my tubing was longer, I wouldn't have had to prop up the bucket.
2. Make sure the box I use to prop up the bucket is actually full. You see, the box I thought was full of bottles was actually missing a couple, and the empty part of the box crushed under the weight of the full bucket.
2.5. Better yet, don't use a cardboard box full of glass to support a 5-gallon bucket full of precious beer.
3. Putting a lid on the bucket would probably be wise. A lid wouldn't have stopped the bucket from falling, but it probably would have minimized the amount of beer that ended up on the floor.
4. Our kitchen/dining room needs better flooring than wood laminate, preferably something waterproof. I cringe whenever think about what it might look like underneath those floorboards.
5. I know A LOT of cuss words!
The good thing about being a brewer is that I can always make more. So worry not, my friends, I do have plans to revisit New Texican in the future. In the meantime, I have a couple other brews in the works. The moral of today's story: Mistakes=learning, learning=better beer
Love, peace, and hoppiness,
🍻Angelica🍻
 |
| BEFORE |
 |
| AFTER |
Losing the batch hurt, especially since I had such high hopes for it. Like every other brewing fail I've had, though, this tragedy taught me a few things:
1. I should probably buy some longer tubing. If my tubing was longer, I wouldn't have had to prop up the bucket.
2. Make sure the box I use to prop up the bucket is actually full. You see, the box I thought was full of bottles was actually missing a couple, and the empty part of the box crushed under the weight of the full bucket.
2.5. Better yet, don't use a cardboard box full of glass to support a 5-gallon bucket full of precious beer.
3. Putting a lid on the bucket would probably be wise. A lid wouldn't have stopped the bucket from falling, but it probably would have minimized the amount of beer that ended up on the floor.
4. Our kitchen/dining room needs better flooring than wood laminate, preferably something waterproof. I cringe whenever think about what it might look like underneath those floorboards.
5. I know A LOT of cuss words!
The good thing about being a brewer is that I can always make more. So worry not, my friends, I do have plans to revisit New Texican in the future. In the meantime, I have a couple other brews in the works. The moral of today's story: Mistakes=learning, learning=better beer
Love, peace, and hoppiness,
🍻Angelica🍻
Wednesday, May 10, 2017
New Texican
Hey everybody! It's been a little crazy this week, but I finally made some time to sit down and write about the awesome brew day I had on Saturday. Why was it awesome? Well, not only was it Big Brew Day (read as: homebrewers all over the country celebrating the art of homebrewing), but it was also the very first time I got to brew at our new home! I was just going to brew a basic American Brown Ale using a kit from MoreBeer (seriously love those guys!). However, special occasions call for special beer, and so New Texican Brown Ale was born!
You're probably wondering, "WTF is a New Texican?" Well it's a word I made up to describe where I'm from. I am a native and proud New Mexican (yes, it's a state). I was born and raised in a little town called Española located in the northern part of the state. I LOVE New Mexico, but an interesting thing happened when my husband and I moved to Galveston, Texas back in 2009. I felt connected to Galveston and to Texas, like I belonged here. I even have a doppelganger here, according to several random strangers I've met through awkward conversations ("Oh hey, how are you?! I haven't seen you since high school." *confused look* "Didn't you go to Ball High?" "No . . ." "Oh sorry, haha, you look exactly like a girl I went to school with.") When we got transferred to California, I spent most of those 3 years homesick for Galveston. When we found out we were coming back, I almost cried because we were going home. "I thought New Mexico was your home?" Well, they both are. Thus the term, New Texican (seriously, if people can have dual citizenship, why can't we have dual state residency?)
I wanted this beer to reflect both of my homes, so I tweaked the recipe kit a little. To represent my New Mexican side, I chose to add some red chile powder. Now, unless you're a New Mexican or have spent some time in the state, that would seem like a weird choice. Ask any New Mexican, though, and they'll tell you we put that shit on everything! Now don't start gagging. When I say chile, I'm not talking about the mix of spices, meat, and beans. I'm talking about chile peppers grown in New Mexico, dried and ground into powder. It's pure deliciousness and there's nothing more New Mexican than our chile! (Fun fact: New Mexico's official state question is "Red or Green?", referring to whether a person wants red or green chile with their meal.) To represent my Texas side, I chose to add honey from Gulf Coast Honey Bee Farms. I needed something sweet to balance out the spice of the chile. Their hives are located in Galveston county, and what better way to capture the essence of a place than through the bees that fly all around it? A secondary reason for this choice is my husband's obsession with honey. Every time I say I'm ready to brew another batch, I get, "Can we put honey in it?" So this time it was a win-win!
Brew day went great! We chose a shady spot near the garage, so much better than getting baked in the sun next to a busy swimming pool. I bought a drinking water hose to fill my brew pot from the spigot outside, so much better than lugging a bunch of gallon size water jugs down the stairs. We only had one neighbor ask, "Whatcha cookin?", and cleanup was a breeze! I had enough space to hose down all the bigger pieces of equipment and give them a light scrub, so much better than kneeling down by the tub and scrubbing away at a giant pot. The initial sample tasted great, just a hint of spice. I'm so excited for the final result, and to debut my new logo on the labels for this brew. The logo is also a play on the New Texican theme, but that's the only hint I'm giving!
Head over to my Instagram page, @drunkenborrachobrewing, if you wanna check out pics and videos from our Big Brew Day. To my fellow homebrewers, drop me a line and let me know what kind of brewing activities you did to celebrate the weekend!
Cheers!
-Angelica
You're probably wondering, "WTF is a New Texican?" Well it's a word I made up to describe where I'm from. I am a native and proud New Mexican (yes, it's a state). I was born and raised in a little town called Española located in the northern part of the state. I LOVE New Mexico, but an interesting thing happened when my husband and I moved to Galveston, Texas back in 2009. I felt connected to Galveston and to Texas, like I belonged here. I even have a doppelganger here, according to several random strangers I've met through awkward conversations ("Oh hey, how are you?! I haven't seen you since high school." *confused look* "Didn't you go to Ball High?" "No . . ." "Oh sorry, haha, you look exactly like a girl I went to school with.") When we got transferred to California, I spent most of those 3 years homesick for Galveston. When we found out we were coming back, I almost cried because we were going home. "I thought New Mexico was your home?" Well, they both are. Thus the term, New Texican (seriously, if people can have dual citizenship, why can't we have dual state residency?)
I wanted this beer to reflect both of my homes, so I tweaked the recipe kit a little. To represent my New Mexican side, I chose to add some red chile powder. Now, unless you're a New Mexican or have spent some time in the state, that would seem like a weird choice. Ask any New Mexican, though, and they'll tell you we put that shit on everything! Now don't start gagging. When I say chile, I'm not talking about the mix of spices, meat, and beans. I'm talking about chile peppers grown in New Mexico, dried and ground into powder. It's pure deliciousness and there's nothing more New Mexican than our chile! (Fun fact: New Mexico's official state question is "Red or Green?", referring to whether a person wants red or green chile with their meal.) To represent my Texas side, I chose to add honey from Gulf Coast Honey Bee Farms. I needed something sweet to balance out the spice of the chile. Their hives are located in Galveston county, and what better way to capture the essence of a place than through the bees that fly all around it? A secondary reason for this choice is my husband's obsession with honey. Every time I say I'm ready to brew another batch, I get, "Can we put honey in it?" So this time it was a win-win!
Brew day went great! We chose a shady spot near the garage, so much better than getting baked in the sun next to a busy swimming pool. I bought a drinking water hose to fill my brew pot from the spigot outside, so much better than lugging a bunch of gallon size water jugs down the stairs. We only had one neighbor ask, "Whatcha cookin?", and cleanup was a breeze! I had enough space to hose down all the bigger pieces of equipment and give them a light scrub, so much better than kneeling down by the tub and scrubbing away at a giant pot. The initial sample tasted great, just a hint of spice. I'm so excited for the final result, and to debut my new logo on the labels for this brew. The logo is also a play on the New Texican theme, but that's the only hint I'm giving!
Head over to my Instagram page, @drunkenborrachobrewing, if you wanna check out pics and videos from our Big Brew Day. To my fellow homebrewers, drop me a line and let me know what kind of brewing activities you did to celebrate the weekend!
Cheers!
-Angelica
Friday, March 24, 2017
Happy Birthday to DBB!
A couple days ago (March 22nd) marked the 1st birthday of this blog, so naturally I've been reflecting on the events of the past year, and what a crazy one it's been!
Brewing and blog-wise, I wasn't as active this year as I wanted to be. My goals were to post something at least once per month and to brew just as often. I wanted to upgrade to a 3-tier all-grain system, add a few more carboys to accommodate my increase in brew days, explore barrel-aging, move from bottling to kegging, and find a job in the beer industry. Adulting got in the way of all the fun, and almost none of these things happened. I did buy one extra carboy and switched to all-grain in the form of Brew-In-A-Bag, which is better than nothing! It just so happened that the year I decided to get serious about my brewing, life threw us a few curveballs. If you know me personally, or have read my other posts, you know what those curveballs are, so I won't discuss them here.
We did manage to close out the last 12 months on a high note, though, and finally bought a house a little over a week ago! It's in a great neighborhood, has a big yard for our doggies, and plenty of space. Best of all, it has a HUGE garage with a nice shelved area that I've already claimed for my brewery space (we aren't completely moved in yet, so pics will come later).
Needless to say, I am so excited about what's to come in Drunken Borracho's 2nd year! All the goals I didn't reach this year seem much more possible now, and I'm itching to crank out our first batch at the new place. If all goes according to plan, it will be my first entry to a homebrewing competition taking place in May (freaking out just a little!).
Of course, this blog would just be a journal if it wasn't for those of you who take the time to read it, so THANK YOU for joining me on this journey. I hope you all decide to stick around for a while.
Cheers!
Brewing and blog-wise, I wasn't as active this year as I wanted to be. My goals were to post something at least once per month and to brew just as often. I wanted to upgrade to a 3-tier all-grain system, add a few more carboys to accommodate my increase in brew days, explore barrel-aging, move from bottling to kegging, and find a job in the beer industry. Adulting got in the way of all the fun, and almost none of these things happened. I did buy one extra carboy and switched to all-grain in the form of Brew-In-A-Bag, which is better than nothing! It just so happened that the year I decided to get serious about my brewing, life threw us a few curveballs. If you know me personally, or have read my other posts, you know what those curveballs are, so I won't discuss them here.
We did manage to close out the last 12 months on a high note, though, and finally bought a house a little over a week ago! It's in a great neighborhood, has a big yard for our doggies, and plenty of space. Best of all, it has a HUGE garage with a nice shelved area that I've already claimed for my brewery space (we aren't completely moved in yet, so pics will come later).
Needless to say, I am so excited about what's to come in Drunken Borracho's 2nd year! All the goals I didn't reach this year seem much more possible now, and I'm itching to crank out our first batch at the new place. If all goes according to plan, it will be my first entry to a homebrewing competition taking place in May (freaking out just a little!).
Of course, this blog would just be a journal if it wasn't for those of you who take the time to read it, so THANK YOU for joining me on this journey. I hope you all decide to stick around for a while.
Cheers!
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