28

I officially turned 28 yesterday. Thanks to all the people who sent notes or made a phone call and don't worry about it if you forgot. About three years ago I actually forgot my own birthday until the evening when Kelli called to wish me a Happy Birthday. Oops. Birthday's have never really been a big deal to me as an adult. But we did have a good time at the Leonardo's last night eating some of Kelli's home made fried chicken and Karli's incredibly fluffy mashed potatoes (Chris may have been in a mashed potato coma, but it hasn't been confirmed). Then we ate some chocolate cake and watched Lost. A good night.

28 is really on the old side of the twenties. 25 was pretty cool, 26 was alright, 27 started to seem kind of old, but now that I'm 28 it's like I hear a voice saying, "being cool is over pal, just face it". 2 years until 30. Yikes.

I did get a cool birthday gift yesterday...


That's right, a wort chiller! (thanks Mom) Just in time to brew a Pale Ale (trying a Widmer 07 clone using all cascade hops). This is really exciting, after the boil it takes forever to cool down the wort so basically you just stick this thing in the wort, hook it up to the sink and run cold water through it and it cools down the wort so you can pitch the yeast in about 10 minutes! I can't wait to try it out tomorrow! No more sticking my bucket in the bathtub and waiting for an hour!

I realize that this is really taking things up a notch so I hope our beers actually turn out drinkable or I'll be bummed. We've got a Nut Brown Ale in the secondary which will be ready to bottle in about four days! And after tomorrow we'll have a Pale Ale in the primary!

What are we going to do with all this beer? I don't know, but one thing is for certain, we will not have to buy beer again for a long time! (if it turns out good of course!)