Grand Mayan Resort, Cancun/Playa Del Carmen, Mexico

Wendie and I spent the past week vacationing with our friends D & M in the Grand Mayan Resort just south of Cancun, MX. As you’ll see in the pics, the weather was overcast and cloudy between the torrential down pours. D & M taught us how to play Canasta and Hearts, which we did quite a bit in between cocktails in the room. :) There were a few sunny times that we spent by the pool, or walking about Playa Del Carmen shopping. Despite the rain, a fun time was had by all.. here are some pics!

An ode to Palin, and how clearly McCain has stood on his positions!

More art!

Here’s my latest piece, had a great time making this one!

Flower, 20×16, oil on canvas

Brew #50: Bewilder / Brew #51: Becalmer

As a celebration and challenge to myself for brews number 50 and 51, I did a double-batch partigyle style.. A single mash to generate two quite different beers.

Brew #50 is Bewilder, an english style barleywine.
Brew #51 is Becalmer, an american style pale ale.

Here’s my mash recipe:

5051 Mash!
———-
Brewer: Josh Gum
Style: Generic Ale
Batch: 12.00 gal All Grain

Characteristics
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Recipe Gravity: 1.064 OG (assumes 70% mash effeciency)
Recipe Color: 12° SRM

Ingredients
———–
American two-row 20.00 lb, Grain, Mashed
Belgian pilsener 5.00 lb, Grain, Mashed
German Munich 3.00 lb, Grain, Mashed
Crystal 120L 1.00 lb, Grain, Mashed
Crystal 10L 0.75 lb, Grain, Mashed
CaraPils 0.25 lb, Grain, Mashed

Notes
—–
Recipe Notes:
Mash @ 150f for 60min

I want 6 gallons (pre-boil) of 1.090 beer and 6 gallons (pre-boil) of 1.050 beer. Here’s the math;
6(g) x 90(points) = 540(point total for brew #50)
6(g) x 50(points) = 300(point total for brew #51)
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840(total points) / 12(g) = 70 (aiming at 12 gallons of 1.070 beer before the split)
—————————————————
540(points needed for brew #50) / 70(points) = 7.7(g wort for boil on batch #50)
300(points needed for brew #51) / 70(points) = 4.3(g wort for boil on batch #51)
—————————————————

Brew #50 is easy, just add hops and boil that down to 5 or 5.25 gallons remaining in pot. Used Pacific Gem hops (1oz @ 60min, 1oz @ 0min), and Willamette hops (1oz @ 15min, 1oz @ 5min). Pitched a vial of Dry English ale yeast, WLP007. OG measure 1.080, missed my number due to the mash and sparge being off a little bit. I may add a half pound of sugar at high krausen.

Brew #51, add 2 gallons of water to account for boil evaporation rate and hop absorption.. boil this down to 5 or 5.25 gallons remaining in pot. Used Summit hops (1/4oz @ 60min, 3/4oz @ 15min, 1oz @ 0min). Pitched a vial of Pacific Ale yeast, WLP042. OG measured 1.050, right on!