Wee Stovies

Brewing Season

Kevin Nichols — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:42:11 +0000

I never thought when I started brewing again that I would be a seasonal brewer. As it turns out we keep our house about 10 degrees higher in the summertime than is really best for making wine and mead. So I now have to wait until the fall when we keep the house cool. I’m sure I am keeping with a more traditional way of brewing – keeping with the seasons and using fresh ingredients.

That said, I now have a wine in production. Simple: a Welch’s 100% Grape Juice concentrate wine. This is a quick – some call it “jug” – wine that will be ready 30 days from last Friday. It feels good to get back to the art of brewing. I spent extra time making this batch as close to the recommended original gravity as possible. The wine needed to have some of the concentrate and sugar removed and fresh water added to bring the O.G. into the 1.090 range. This should produce a nice 12-14% abv wine. I’m looking forward to the results.

Apfelwein is next on the schedule. After that, I have a “to do” list of wines ranging from Banana to Apple-Jalapeño. I think it is going to be a good season…

A wee Circumnavigation is Planned

Kevin Nichols — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:02:28 +0000

I have been working through Outside Magazine’s award-winning The Shape of Your Life program. I have tried it in the past with fits and starts but never finished. This year I have been able to keep a regular schedule and have done all the cardio and most of the weight workouts.

The beauty of this program is that at the end of five months you take a month off. But, they recommend an active month; one in which you enjoy a goal you have placed before you. For me, I wanted to do something with the kayak. Today, after a morning at the beach on Jekyll, I decided that my wish to paddle around the island would be a good enough reward as any for completing the workout plan.

Now I must plan for a weekend in July and find a friend willing to accompany me on this adventure. The Jekyll trip is a safe bet because you are never far from land and can beach when necessary should any unforeseen problems arise. It is also within easy driving distance from our house.

I have not yet checked the tides but that will be a factor in deciding where to launch and when. I would prefer somewhere near the Jekyll Club Hotel as my partner and I could enjoy a well-deserved post-paddle libation.

I will post as the plans come together. I also plan to bring a camera to document the launch, landing, and interesting sites along the paddle.

See you on the water!

The Precious Sound of Silence

Kevin Nichols — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 21:50:59 +0000

Al Mohler’s blog this week reminded me that as a parent silence can be golden. Too often I find myself wanting to fill every waking hour of my children’s lives with activity. We get ourselves on schedules, keep those schedules, and then feel we have accomplished something. But I find that the times that I walk by my boy’s room and my 3 year old is sitting on the floor looking through a book – just looking through it – give me a great sense of peace. Those are the moments where he is doing his own imagining or thinking his own narrative to the book.

We say The Lord’s Prayer each night at the close of family worship. A few weeks back, Callum – our 3-year old – didn’t speak the words (which he knows by rote). I said to him, “you didn’t say the prayer”. He said to me, “Daddy, I was saying it behind my eyes.” Precious silence indeed.

‘Tis the season for a Saison

Kevin Nichols — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 19:04:19 +0000

After a hot hour of grass cutting downtown, I stopped by True Vine to pick up a beer for later today.

True Vine is a clean and crisp wine gourmet shop in Old Town Brunswick. Brian Green was a warm and friendly host as I browsed his large craft beer selection. Though I have not checked all the new local brew outlets, True Vine has a good selection. Seeing almost all the Unibroue selections in 4-packs is definitely a plus.

I decided upon a Belgian farmhouse style called La Merle made by Northern Coast Brewery in Ft. Bragg, CA. I’ll write more once I have tasted it.

Wee Stovies: My “all in one” blog

Kevin Nichols — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 18:54:29 +0000

Stovies are a Scottish staple. It is usually made on a Monday using potatoes, onions, and the meat leftover from the Sunday roast. Really, any leftover meat and “veg” would constitute Stovies.

This blog is an attempt to take all my halted blogging into one place. As the name may suggest, this will be a place for all my random interests and thoughts to come together. Most posts will be short but in the spirit of the blog title, I hope to have a “Sunday Roast” from time to time – a post with a little more substance worthy of discussion.

Being a Christian, a husband, a father of 3 under 4, a Calvinist, a Presbyterian, a Homebrewer, a kayaker, an amateur genealogist, and a classical music fan will all play a part in the postings on this site.