Jay Gaulard Blog

Somerset Square in Glastonbury, CT

Thursday, June 19th, 2008

Last night was pretty fun. My brother, Jeff, came over and we went out to dinner.

Lately, you pretty much have to drag me out of my chair to get me to do anything. I have my head stuck staring at this horrible computer screen 24 hours a day. It really is unattractive. Jeff told me that I have to get out more often. I explained to him that it’s not like it used to be.

When I was younger, I had no responsibilities. I was also bored a lot. Now, I am always busy and running a business takes a lot out of me. There is no one else to handle things if something needs to get done. I mean, I have help, but the majority of things rest right on my shoulders. Good thing they are so muscular.

It was good to get out. I decided that we would go up to Applebees in Glastonbury, CT. We drove up there and when we passed by the restaurant, I realized it wasn’t an Applebees, but a Chilis. Jeff told me that he always goes to Chilis and would rather not go there. I really didn’t want to go there either. I made a left from Main Street onto Glastonbury Boulevard. Glastonbury Boulevard is really cool. It is tree lined and there is a lot going on. I basically just wanted to show him the road and then turn around to find somewhere to eat. We drove down the road a little and noticed a Houlihan’s on the left. We pulled in and parked.

Since the restaurant was so close to Somerset Square, I thought it would be nice to show Jeff where people do some shopping. So, we got out of the car and walked.

I gotta tell you, I really love sidewalks. I also have to tell you that it did feel a little foreign to me to be walking. I am so used to driving every little place I need to go that walking felt very out of the ordinary.

Right before we began our walk, I ran back to the car to grab the camera. I could see that Jeff was wondering what the heck I was doing. I mean, what in the world is there to take pictures of during a little 15 minute walk to no where? I explained to him that this is what blogging is all about. I told him that I searched for photos of the different things in different towns a lot before we moved here. I thought people would appreciate it if I posted some of my own. I think he got a kick out of the camera thing because he jumped on board.

Anyway, the photo above is of the tree lines and sidewalk I was talking about earlier.

Before we got to the enterance of Somerset Square, we passed the backside of a few restaurants. I didn’t think the photos would come out so blurry, but because it was getting dark, I guess that’s what happens. The photo are of Max Fish, Max Amore and some other one. Perhaps we will eat at one of these next time. I have heard good things.

We walked a bit more and made it to the enterance of Somerset Square. The lighting of this place was really cool and it felt like I was on vacation. We walked through a little bit and took a picture of Cold Stone Creamery. Jeff told me that I had to get a picture of that.

We did our thing and walked back to Houlihan’s, which I forgot to get a picture of. We went in a sat down to eat. When we did finally eat, I have to tell you, I was really very pleased. I mean, the food was really great. I could believe it. Even Jeff told me that his potato soup was the best he ever had.

I had my usual Guinness. He likes to drink sweeter drinks, and mentioned that he didn’t really like beer. He took a sip of the Guinness and I think he might have changed his mind.

What’s the moral of this long story? Try Guinness, you might like it.

Coopers Irish Stout Is In the House

Tuesday, May 20th, 2008

A few days ago, I took at look through Amazon and MakeBeer.net to see if the Coopers Irish Stout I have been waiting for was back in stock. It has been unavailable since before St. Patrick’s Day. I guess all the Irish scooped it up.

Guess what? I was in luck. A new shipment of ingredients had arrived from Australia. I quickly ordered the Irish Stout kit and it arrived today. This is just in the nick of time, because I am running really low on my existing batch of regular Stout.

I am pretty excited about this upcoming batch. The ingredients include some extra malt for some reason. It says that it gives the beer a better head retention and something else…I forget. Whatever…if it makes the beer better, I’m on board.

I mixed everything togther tonight and placed the jug downstairs near the boiler. It’s a warmer, constant temperature down there. The brew has to stay between 70 and 80 degrees.

Here, I took some pics…

It’s pretty hard to take pictures in the dark. I had to turn on the flash, which I hate to do.

This was going to be my favorite shot, but it came out a little blurry. I tried to clean it up in Photoshop.

Here is that familiar jug we have all gotten used to by this point.

I really hope this batch comes out good because I have been waiting for it for a long time.

The Good News and Bad News About My Coopers Stout

Sunday, March 9th, 2008

Well, the good news is that my bottle capper works great. I couldn’t resist and cracked a bottle open today. I heard the little, “sssst” that tells me the bottle was sealed. That’s good.

The bad news is that when I poured the bottle of beer into my glass, it had a “scent” to it. It kind of smelled like sulphur. Not much, but enough to make me give it a taste. The beer wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t like it was supposed to be. After I poured it, there was a head to it, but definitely not like the Lager from the previous batch. I poured the bottle down the drain. Now, mind you, I have only had this batch bottled for a week and a half.

UPDATE - I was just looking for someone else who experienced the sulphur smell in home brew so I could link to it and came across this forum. Apparently, they are saying, “It’s just the yeast…let it age out.” To think, I was going to come home today and dump 63 bottles of beer down the drain.

I’ll let the beer age out for a few more weeks and see what happens. I will be sure to update you.

Wolaver’s Oatmeal Stout

Sunday, March 9th, 2008

I have some good news and bad news about my current batch of beer. I will tell you about it in my next post. For this post, I would like to tell you about a beer I picked up today. Well, actually there are two types of beer, but this post is only about one.

This morning, we were sitting on the couch, when I said, “If we were to do something today, what would you want to do?” I really didn’t have anything in mind, I was just curious. I was happy sitting around all day. Well, to make a long story short, we ended up at Emmanuel’s Market Place in Stone Ridge again. I know I said before that I was getting a little tired of the Sushi up there, but the combination of the getting out of the house, Sushi, beer and bagels gets me every time. So there we were.

We did get a bunch of Sushi today. I thought it would be a good idea to mix things up, so we got a bunch of veggie Sushi, like a lot of rolls with avocado in them. I am excited for later. As usual, I grabbed some bagels. On the way to the bagel area, I passed fresh pasta. I have never (that I know of) eaten fresh pasta before. I asked Laura if she wanted to get some, when I remembered that I bought her that new KitchenAid mixer for her birthday. There is an attachment that goes with it that makes pasta. Now, you know that went on my to-do list. We voted against the fresh pasta for today.

What this post is really about is the new beer I got. I picked up a 6-pack of Wolaver’s Oatmeal Stout and wanted to tell you all about it.

Why am I buying beer? I’ll tell you about that later. Anyway, this one is pretty good. I cracked the bottle open and poured it in my trusted beer glass. It poured like a nice dark beer and tastes kind of like one too. I would say this beer is a very good one that might be appreciated by people who like dark beer, but a bit lighter than the rest. It has a “thinner” taste and doesn’t overpower you like that Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout I have had. This is a very drinkable beer and I would buy it again.

There you have it. Now, for my home brew story, please see above.

Today Certainly is Another Day

Friday, February 29th, 2008

Today was another busy day. I spent a good majority of the day organizing things online. I would tell you what they are, but I have this thing about telling people my secrets. Oh well. I will say that I find it simply amazing that I am able to wake up every morning of my life and work on the computer for at least eight hours straight. Mind you, those are the days I have nothing to do. Oh, I just love looking at the clock as it reads 3PM and realizing that I have been sitting here since 7AM.

As I get older, I find myself focusing on my “physical” self more than I used to. I always try to sit up straight in my chair, so I don’t get a bad posture, like I have been warned about when I was a kid. I also recognize that I need exercise these days. When I say need, I mean “need.” I mean, I am in good shape, but as anyone gets older, I think they become more aware of these things. I also feel my eyes going to hell. When I was a kid, I used to pride myself on not wearing glasses. Well, the years of staring at this monitor has taken its toll, I’m afraid. Last year, I bought computer glasses to help take the strain off my eyes. These days, I find myself having to focus a heck of a lot more. I can actually feel my eyes getting tired. People say that you should get up every so often to give your eyes a break. They say that you should look out the window every once in a while so your eyes can focus on something else, other than your computer screen. I do that, but I am just hoping that one day I will make enough money to pay someone to do my work for me as I sit in a chair behind them, telling them what to do.

So, what’s new in life…I guess it’s just day to day stuff. As I work, the cats take their turns using my lap as their bed. I am not working on adding any more websites to my portfolio…well, I had to pop a new one in there, I just couldn’t help myself. This is the year of marketing. I haven’t focused on that portion of the business all that much in the past few years, so it might be something I should do to boost the $$$. I believe I can do a very good job with that in the next ten months.

I also have been making beer, if you haven’t noticed. I think it’s a pretty rewarding thing to do. Paul came over to pick up ten bottles for a party he is having tomorrow. He is going to get back to me with the consensus. I hope he likes them.

Since I have been in college, I have been looking for the perfect place to live. Where we are living now isn’t perfect, by any meaning of the word. As my mother would say, we have decided to hate it. It’s painful to realize that, but it’s true. I have learned that it’s pretty useless looking on the internet for that perfect town. All it takes is one lousy picture of a town to ruin everything. On to the next perfect town with that one lousy picture, and so on. I think the only way I am going to make it is to get an “anchor” house somewhere up north, with another smaller home in the heat for weekends in the Winter. I have also learned that the perfect town may not even exist anymore. Back in the day, there was a quiet little main street somewhere in Indiana that you could walk up and down for the rest of your life. Now, you have to worry about tornadoes and the Wal-Mart they are putting up at the end of the block. You might think I’m kidding, but look around. The most pristine places are very unaffordable. So the quest goes on.

On Monday, Laura and I are making a trip to Washington, CT. We are going to have lunch at the Mayflower Inn. A few years ago, my mother got us a gift certificate for the Inn that we used for a perfect Valentine’s Day dinner. It was one of the nicest places on earth. We were thrilled with the little antique town, but it was kind of dark on our way in. We really want to see it during the day. You would be surprised what the Connecticut hills have to offer, for a price. I’ll let you know how it goes. YouTube certainly needs a video or two of Washington, CT.

It just started snowing. Laura proposed another walk in the snow. Who am I to say no? I have a feeling I will be putting my boots on at midnight again. I do want to say that I am getting a little tired of the snow. Every time I think the driveway will be clear for a few days, it snows. I admit that it keeps things exciting, but enough already. It’s been a snowy Winter. The next week looks warmer with the temperatures above freezing. Also, the sunset is much later now, so that January depression has lifted. Now, the sun is going down close to 6PM. In March, we set the clocks ahead, so that should be fun. I am going to try to really soak up the seasons this Spring, Summer and Fall. I think they are worth it.

Wow, what a post. This might actually be what blogs are for. I guess I have to write some real stuff when I am not busy buying things and writing about them. Hey look…it’s another cat on my lap. I think they are doing laps now. This one is Sexy Boo.

Coopers Stout Was Bottled

Thursday, February 28th, 2008

Brewing the Coopers Stout gave my an opportunity to use my new bottle caps and capper. It also gave me an opportunity to use some glass bottles and eventually taste some more Stout. I like Stout.

Yesterday was the third day of the hydrometer reading 1.010. That means bottling is ready. I gave it five days. They say that if you let fermented beer sit too long, it can go bad. I had to get this stuff in the bottles.

I also took this pretty picture for you. Overall, I got 63 bottles out of the 23 liters I brewed. I have no idea how it’s going to taste, but hope it’s good. The capping was relatively simple and the capper worked great. The only issue was that I needed to adjust the height every so often, because some of the bottles were different sizes. That was really no big deal though. I would say the whole process took about an hour.

I am going to drink some of this beer before I go ahead with the Coopers Irish Stout. Firstly, I am almost out of bottles, second, I am running out of room to put them and thirdly, it’s just ridiculous having that much beer in the house.

I Brewed Real Beer!!! - Coopers Lager

Tuesday, February 26th, 2008

Tonight, I cracked open my first real home brewed beer. It’s the Coopers Australian Lager. I know I have told you many times that I don’t like light beers, and I still don’t. I have to say though, this beer ain’t have bad.

I poured it into my favorite beer mug and took a sip. I was surprised to see that it tasted just a bit better than the day I bottled it (two weeks ago…to the second). I was also surprised to see that it actually tasted like real beer. Laura took a sip too. We both agree that it tastes like Corona. Stick a lime in this thing and sit by Rob’s pool on a hot August day. There you go.

Looks pretty good, right? Two big parts of my beer drinking experience are the bottle the beer comes out of and the glass I am pouring it into. This looks like the real deal.

Today, I read that I should bottle my next batch…Coopers Stout, between 4-7 days, and after the hydrometer has a consistent reading for two days in a row. Today is the fourth day and the hydrometer read “1.010″ both yesterday and today. This batch is brewing faster than the lager partly because of the type of beer and partly because of the warmer temperature I am keeping it at.

With the hydrometer readings the way they are, I bottled one beer today. I wanted to make sure my capper was working properly for the remainder of them. Everything worked fine. I am keeping it stored upside down, just to see if there are any leaks. If not, I think tomorrow is the day to bottle them.

Thank You For the Beer Bottles

Saturday, February 23rd, 2008

I mentioned earlier that Paul gave me a bunch of beer bottles. That was very nice of him. Well, it’s been a long afternoon cleaning them out. I have a sore back.

In order to really clean them out, I first soaked them in bleach water in the sink. That made the house nice and smelly. Then, I rinsed them out and scrubbed the outside to remove the labels. After that, I put them all in the dishwasher. It took two dishwasher loads, but they are all done and smell great.

Since I now have about eighty bottles, I thought the best place to store them was on an unused shelf in the corner cabinet. That way, that are off the beaten path. I even took a picture for you…

Believe it or not, this is all of them. It doesn’t look like that many, but it is.

A Little Beer Overflow

Saturday, February 23rd, 2008

I have been keeping this batch of beer at a steady 25C. That is warmer than the last batch. When you ferment beer at a higher temperature, there seems to be more activity down in the big jug.

I learned this today. Today, Paul was kind enough to bring over about seventy bottles he has been saving up. I am cleaning them out right now. While he was here, I was showing him the beer kit. As I was showing him, I noticed that the foam inside the jug was touching the inside of the lid. It reminded me of making good bread…it rises real nice. Well, I knew I was going to have to do something about this because it was only going to get worse in the next few days.

After Paul left, I took another look at the fermenting beer and was shocked to see bubbles coming right out of the water seal thingy.

I knew I needed to do something before liquid found its way to the floor. I took a stroll downstairs to look through my tube inventory and found some good stuff I had been saving for…well, nothing. I brought it back upstairs and stretched out the end by heating it up.

As you can see from the picture, this is going to be good beer.

After I hooked it up, I had to use my belt to hold it to the side of the tank. Then, I grabbed a five gallon bucket from the basement and stuck the other side of the tube into it. Now, as it drips, it won’t make a mess.

I love it when things ferment like this.

Coopers Stout in the Bucket

Friday, February 22nd, 2008

Yes, it’s been a few days since I received my Coopers Stout in the mail. I have been very excited to get the ingredients together to start the brewing process. This time, I will be brewing a beer I actually want to drink, as opposed to the Lager I just bottled.

As you can see, this beer is much darker than the last. This is the regular Coopers Stout. I am hoping it is good.

This is all the ingredients getting mixed up together with the boiling water.

The brew is supposed to be between 21C and 27C. It always starts off good like this, but eventually gets cooler. Now, I am keeping it next to the pellet stove, wrapped in a towel for a toasty 26C. At this temperature, the fermentation should be complete in about five days.