Day 24:

Hey guys, if anyone still wants to submit a Robomonk label design, can we get that finished up? I'm looking to apply the rest of the labels on before next weekend (probably Thursday), so if you guys miss the deadline it was all for naught.

Day 23

Moving to Ship Bottom for the summer! Possibly longer if I can sort out a better job for myself

Also, dinner tonight was pretty:


Grilled veal chop with port wine reduction and mashed potatoes.

Day 22:

Boo-yah

Day 21:

Bleeaarrggghhh

Day 20:

Printed out 1 of each label and put them on the bottles! I'll put up pics when I get around to it, but it was pretty simple.

Everything I've read from other homebrewers has told me that actual sticker labels don't serve our purpose well and are hard to get off, so I just used straight-up paper. Of course, when dealing with paper you still need an adhesive. Milk, surprisingly enough, is actually really good for this. It's due to the water-soluble proteins already in it. Think about an unwashed glass of milk - after you drink the contents, a sort of milk-haze still rings the glass, clinging on. This is the drying protein from the milk, and it will stay on there as long as you let it. What makes this perfect for labeling my bottles is the water-soluble properties - they'll wash right off, leaving our nice thick glass bottles ready for reuse.

Day 19:

Woo! I don't think I'm going to touch this further until I get a better image for the center, but I do think I'll put this on at least one bottle.

Edit: The Schrader version -

Day 18:

Mr. Christopher Errico has provided a stab at the robomonk label design, and I like it - makes it look less matte. Of course, the real test will be when a bottle is out of the fridge for a couple hours
and covered in condensation.

Also, I have my mock-up drawing of my latest center portrait - I'm aware it's poor, but it's something, and I haven't seen you come up with better



Just, uh, imagine that what he's wearing is like a monk's tunic or something

Day 17:

Drew up a picture of a robot monk destroying a city, mecha-godzilla style - it's no good, but I really want something complete for the first opened bottle. I have no idea what I'm doing, especially with figure drawing and perspective, so the Monk is very 2D, think heiroglyphicish. I'll post it when I get to a scanner. In other beer news, I checked up on the bottles today and they are carbonated! I'm very tempted to put one in the fridge to try it out, but I'm managing to hold off for now.

Today I also started cleaning my room! This'll be an ongoing process - I have a godawful amount of stuff (clothes, mainly) that need to be gotten rid of - but I'm going to try to use the extra space for some projects. These projects may even involve carpentry. Which, based on the table I made in 7th grade woodshop, may be a terrible idea! More on them if I ever get around to them.

Addendum:

Here's my potential template for Girliebrängue labels - I went through a few trials before I found a layout I like, but I think this one's alright. Admittedly, I'm clearly not a graphic designer, and I bet -hint hint- that anyone with any experience at all would be able to come up with something more desirable.

What I like - Strong lines, the primary color scheme, stylized portrait hole.
What I'd like - A more interesting way to blend it all, colors that aren't just applied with a fill tool, fancier but not effete, an actual design in the center

Days 12-16:

Ugh, I've been doing stuff, don't worry.

12: More work on the Girliebrangue label design - I'll post some prelims when I get home

13: Tuna Salad Croquette sandwiches- My normal Tuna Salad (canned tuna, olive oil, red onions (in this case it was shallots), celery, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper, mayo, mustard) combined with egg and panko bread crumbs - shaped into discs and pan-fried until golden. I used Martin's Hamburger Rolls for the bread, but I think these would be better served by a hearty kaiser roll. Pretty good! I shaped them too big and fried them too quickly so they weren't heated all the way through, but if I made them smaller I'd make more meals and they'd be pretty delicious.

14-16: Blooooooog

Day 11:

Work Work Work

Created an entire new syllabus for one of the computer classes that I inherited from another instructor. I hate teaching from powerpoints, and I prefer a much more open-ended approach to addressing the material.

Day 10:

Verdict: Iced coffee was delicious! Gotta try the condensed milk, or at least make a simple syrup to put that little bit of sugar I like in

Later: BBQ!

Day 9:

I'm brewing some homemade iced coffee.

1/3 c fresh grounds
1 1/2 c cold water

Let steep for 12 hours or overnight at room temperature. Mix 1-to-1 with water in a cup full of ice, milk/cream as desired. I really wish there was an actual coffee roaster around here, but for the time being I'm pretty happy with the beans from Surf City Coffee Shop/How You Brewin/Genuardis. If this turns out well, I'll probably increase the batch and just have it there in the fridge for as long as I like.

Also if it turns out well, I'll buy some condensed milk and try out something like thai iced tea.

Day 8:

Ditto

Day 7:

Took the Easter weekend off, if you don't mind. Nothing much today, just another music blog post.

Day 6:

Apfelwein! Basically the German version of our hard cider, except not so cloyingly sweet. $20 in ingredients for 2 cases of 8.5% abv beverage!

Should be ready in 4 weeks

~Pat

Day 5:

More beer stuff. Been teaching myself photoshop and gimp to try and guss up some fancy labels. I mainly want to finish up the brewery seal and write up some flavor text describing the beer. Whenever I finish up a product I'm happy with I'll post it here, but I couldn't tell you when that'll be.

Also: Breaking Bad is the best show that ever existed, you should watch all of it.

For example:

Day 4:

Last night I threw together a spreadsheet for the nascent brewing company started by me, Don, and Johnson. The Girliebrängue Brewing Co.'s first product, RoboMonk, was bottled on March 25th, and is a Belgian-style dubbel with about 6.8% abv. We're still looking for label designs, so if anyone's willing to give it a shot, there's a 22 oz. bottle of our brew in it for you!