Batch #122 - Homebrewers Ball STOUT

The Roaring Fork HAMs Homebrewers Club brewed 12 batches of beer and served it at our annual Homebrewers Ball in May 2012, this year for the Sopris Barracudas Swim Club.  The Club is a non-profit made up of many parents supporting their kids to engage in competitive swimming with other Clubs around the Rocky Mountain region.  This Stout is my contribution to the Swim Team's fundraiser, and it was a success for them.

Diana Nyad is a world champion distance swimmer, whose exploits you can view at:
http://diananyad.com/
http://www.facebook.com/DianaNyad

She hopes to fulfill a longstanding fream to swim from Cuba to Florida during Summer of 2012.  I dedicate this Batch to honor Diana's dedication to her dream.

Go Diana!

Batch #119: Pumpkin Ale

I have brewed pumpkin ales for some time now, and my fellow homebrewers at the Roaring Fork HAMs Homebrewers Club have voted this one my best to date.  I used to brew this with pumpkin pie spices in the boil, like cinnamon, cloves, allspice and nutmeg, and back in 2009, I made a batch that was half spiced, and the other half not.  The latter was the Club's overwhelming choice.  This year, using one of the large pumpkins raised in my backyard with heirloom seed harvested from 2009's crop, I roasted the pumpkin most of the way to soft in my oven, then finished roasting it on my charcoal grille, adding a bit of smoky flavor.  The flesh of the roasted pumpkin was then separated from the skin and frozen, to be used at my liesure for beer brewing and other culinary adventures, until the 2012 pumpkin crop is ready to harvest.

Cheers!