Man-Brew-Afternoon-Day

Historically, we have had ManNight, at night and Brew Day, during the afternoon.  Last weekend we mixed it all up and made one huge 12 hour event: Man-Brew-Afternoon-Day.

The prerequisites for ManNight are A. Zoe is out of the country and B. We can all get together.  "A." was easily achieved thanks to the Isle of Wight Festival.  "B.", however, proved a bit of a challenge as a hectic weekend messed up schedules.  Even though the Backyard Brewing Society was short on members, we welcomed a new associate and still managed to have a damn good time.  Oh, the prerequisites for Brew Day?  Easy, empty kegs.

This years theme was "Old Man Florida".  For inspiration, most of us looked to our fathers.  Before long, I imagine we will just start looking in the mirror.

On the brewing front, I brewed a Fuggle IPA, mostly because I way over bought Fuggle hops by accident last week.  Drew did his first decotion mash, where he heated up part of his mash in order to raise the overall mash temperature.  Typically, we mash at one temperature.  The picture below shows the two distinct temperatures of the grain.  The darker grain is much hotter than the lighter.

The week before last also happened to be my birthday.  In honor, Drew's wife made what is now my favorite cake: The Steak.  After all, how else can you wish someone Happy Beef Day?

It must be obvious I like my steak medium rare. The cake itself was red velvet.  We don't typically eat a lot of cake, but we sure ate this one.  Absolutely fabulous.

Food ranged from our usual fatty, to fresh salsa, guacamole and on the meat front, boston butts and a brisket.

This was my first long smoke on the Saffire.  The minimal use of fuel continues to amaze me.  Using the minion method, I consumed just over half of a 6 pound back of lump for a 10 hour cook.  The temperature gauge, once locked in at 250, stayed put until I was done.

The food was great and three days later, I have just about exhausted what few leftovers I had.

Although we typically fry something for ManNight, we went the relative healthy route and had a shrimp boil instead.

This may begin to occupy a spot in our usual lineup.  The preparation was easy, as I knocked most of it out ahead of time.  Just a little heat, some boiling water, a little more Old Bay and pow, great finger food.

So, as we completely expected, Man-Brew-Afternoon-Day was a success.

We had great beer, great food and the laughs and good times only possible with a great group of friends.