Christmas Presents

lots of bell’s beers from my sister and parents while I’m on the east coast where bell’s distributes! everything I’ve had so far is stellar.

Just picked up a couple kegs from Midwest’s one-day sale. Wouldn’t be surprised if we never see them this cheap again.

The sad thing about test batches is that a lot of perfectly good beer gets dumped to free up a keg… :cry:

My awesome girlfriend got me a 1 year membership to AHA with the book on Barley Wine!  I also got a pH meter and vacuum sealer.  Best of all, I gave a lot of homebrew to friends and family.

My sister who is even more of a beer geek than me, got me an awesome variety pack with the following brews in it-

New Holland Dragon’s Milk- love it
Rochefort 10- love it
Schlenkerla Oak Smoked Doppelbock- dumped it last time I tried it but I will give it a second chance
Surly Bender- good beer

The rest I have not tried-
LaTrappe Isid’or
Brew Dog 5 a.m. Saint
Brau Brothers Bancreagie Peated Scotch Ale
McSorley Irish Black Lager
Left Hand Fade to Black

We got some earthenware steins from my sister in law.  Got a barley crusher ™ for my birthday (today).

Happy Birthday!  The BC is an awesome gift…

My in-laws gave me a couple of 2.5 gallon kegs and a dual-stage temp controller.
My wife and daughter got me the new Hops book, a couple of aluminum pitchers, and a false bottom for my 26 gallon kettle.

It’s good to see other scotch lovers on here.  My wife and daughter also got me a Glencairn glass and a bottle of the Glenrothes 1988.

My wife also found an awesome pre-christmas gift for us… it was a Scotch advent calendar.  24 drams of different scotches… the last one being a 50 year old speyside.  It was awesome opening each day to see what we were trying that night.

;D That is awesome.  I wan’t one with bourbon next year!

They had one for gin, but I didn’t see one for bourbon.  http://www.masterofmalt.com/gin/drinks-by-the-dram/the-ginvent-calendar-gin/

Maybe they’ll have one next year.

Not homebrew, but still beer related. I got The World Atlas of Beer.
http://www.amazon.com/The-World-Atlas-Beer-Essential/dp/1402789610

My wife bought me a personalized oak barrel top with a galvanized strap around the edge that says “Canova Brewery” burned into it.  It also has the name of my town and est. 1995, even though I started brewing in '92, '95 was the year we were married.

Now I just need to build a bar to put it over.  ;D

Does she realize what she’s done yet?

I got four more of the books in the Classic Beer Styles series. I probably won’t read much of them, but I ‘need’ to fill out the collection.

The mother-friend-in-law got me an out of print book on the history of St Louis Brewing called St Louis Brews 1809-2009. Pretty neat! She also got me a culinary torch, which will probably only be used for flaming the lips of bottles. :slight_smile:

I also bought myself Stan’s new book and a new 30mm lens for my camera - you know, for taking pictures of the homebrew! ;D

I guess it’s safe to say I have a LOT of reading to do!

I got a $50 gift certificate to my LHBS from my wonderful mother. I also picked up a host of commercial examples, too many to list. Needless to say, it was a very nice Christmas.

I hope everyone had a festive holiday and I wish a Happy New Year to all.

I to got a 50$ gift cert to the LHBS and a good friend and brewing mentee (mentee? is that a word? I got him hooked on brewing) Made me a beutiful new mash paddle out of hard rock maple.

plus a silly tee-shirt that says ‘beer whisperer’

My kids got me a craft beer club membership. 3 bottles of 4 different craft beers. 4 shipments, every other month. ;D It’s going to be interesting and fun.
I bought my self a pound of Citra and Simco hops. Brew Brothers rocks.

I got several items to decorate my shop/mancave (brewery). I also got digital night vision optics, to find my way back to the house from the shop/mancave on those nights when there’s not enough daytime light to charge the solar lights. But the present I’m still giddy about is the 22 caliber Colt M4. With my arthritis, I love the adjustable stock. Will work good for shooting the sage rats in my field by the shop.

Bruce

The Brew Brothers do rock, I’ve seen them do it.
It’s awesome to have them as my LHBS only minutes from the office.

Yeah, they are only 10-15 minutes from my in-laws house, they have even come in early on a Sunday so I can do some shopping before heading back here.  Great prices too.  I love that place.

Two corny kegs, $100 gift card to NB, set of beer glasses, and a custom made shirt and hat.