News to Celebrate!

From Best of the Web:

We'll Drink to That

A new study shows that "drinking a moderate amount of alcohol--up to four drinks per day in men and two drinks per day in women--reduces the risk of death from any cause by roughly 18 percent," Reuters reports.

We drink moderately, and we suppose every little thing helps, but that still means there's an 82% chance we'll eventually die. Is there anything else we can do to increase our chances of immortality? Apparently a fifth drink isn't the answer: "Men who have more than four drinks per day . . . increase their risk of death," Reuters says. That means if you consistently drink five or more drinks a day, your risk of death will actually exceed 100%.

*end quote*

Does "any cause" include driving at Top Speed? Inquiring minds want to know!

Holiday Stout

Seasons Greetings!

Here's what's in the tank at my house right now:

5 pounds Munton's 2-row
5 pounds Munich
1 pound Special Roast
1 pound Special B
1/2 pound black patent malt
1/2 pound roast barley
1 pound flaked oats
16 ounces unsulphered molasses
2 ounces cinnamon sticks
1 pot of coffee, double strength

Mash at approximately 150 degrees for an hour, 1 quart/pound. Sparge with 3 gallons at 140 degrees plus.

The brew is for 60 minutes, with the cinnamon added 20 minutes before end of boil. The coffee is added immediately after end of boil. The molasses went in around boil also. Gypsum and Irish moss as usual.

There is only one hop addition, at boil:
1 ounce Amarillo 8%
1 ounce Willamette 4.6% (substitute Fuggles if necessary)
I'm using a lager yeast for this one, fermenting at 64 degrees.

This mash smelled great, very spicy. The first runnings tasted like molasses, and I hadn't added any yet! I usually do a cinnamon stout for the holidays, and this year I thought a few extra ingredients would be fun. The pound of Special B is more than I usually add to a recipe, and the Special Roast is a new addition too. The OG was around 1.077, which should yield a fairly high ABV. I'll keep you posted on that. Photos next week!

Vlog for dollars!

Brewing Up a Dream

Dec 19, 2006 - Wiley Publishing has launched a contest to promote the paperback release of Dogfish Head Brewery founder Sam Calagione's "Brewing Up a Business." That's 10,000 cool ones if you've got the video to prove it all night.

From ProBrewer

Ancient beer with amazing taste?

Here's a cool article in today's Telegraph that was pointed out by Chris Frey and Jeff Renner:

Beautiful beer lost in the vaults since 1869

By David Derbyshire, Consumer Affairs Editor

You need to know these things.

ST. LOUIS: Warm beer led to killing, police say

A spiffy kind of Oktoberfest

Next, my new Oktoberfest. I shrank down a 7 bbl recipe for this version, and am trying to decide whether or not to include ingredients that amount to 12 grams of certain grains. They're in the beer, but does it matter?