Some notes...

Last October I bought a bottle of Dogfish Head's Saison Du Buff, a saison beer brewed with rosemary, sage, and thyme. I saved the yeast in the bottom, fed it (thereby significantly increasing the amount of it), and re-pitched it into a few batches of beer that I brewed. One, a strong, but straightforward, saison that I bottled immediately at the end of November (and now have nearly finished drinking). The other batch of beer was another straightforward saison, significantly less alcohol as tradition would have it, thrown on top of the original yeast cake.

While the first batch was fermenting I had the opportunity to sample Victory's Wild Devil, a beer fermented with 100% Brettanomyces. I saved the sediment from that and fed it (thereby significantly increasing the amount of it). I also stumbled upon a bottle of Monk's Cafe Flemish Sour Ale a beer that is brewed in Belgium specifically for Monk's Cafe in Philadelphia
and needless to say I cultured that yeast some too.

The second, decidedly less strong, batch of saison I brewed and fermented on top of the yeast cake of the first finished quickly and I re-racked it to the secondary. The ABV should be somewhere around 4.5%, or at least it was until I pitched the yeast cultures from the Wild and Monk's. This beer was racked to the secondary in December with some medium roast oak wood chips thrown in, along with the extra bugs. The beer is sitting in the guest room closet waiting to be bottled next December. 5 whole gallons of sour beer with an unique blend of yeast.

The compost in the bin in the backyard has thawed some in recent weather. I'm adding a few moldy mangoes today. Surely the pits won't re-seed?

Through a strange series of events I came to know someone last August who seems to have decided to stick around. She is still such a good friend of mine some 5-6 mos later.

Today I'm putting a second coat of paint on the kitchen and bottling a peated porter I also brewed at the end of November. Next weekend I'll start on another batch of something delicious.

I haven't ever weighed more in my life. 182 lbs last Saturday. Last Monday I ran 6.18 miles and last night I ran 4.8. Today I weighed 176.