We have beer.

We think.

We'll know in a week.

Only 4.2 gallons, because - Sean says - Joel shorted us on the malt.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

On the river

The complete Escanaba Pail Ale creation reference post will wait for a later time. Perhaps after the bottling in a week or so, perhaps after the fall close. Suffice it to say I found it necessary to escape the madness at lil' camp and spend a few hours of solitude on the river. I was reminded of John Voelker's words in Trout Madness:

"There is a certain remote stretch of river on the Middle Escananba that I love to fish by myself; the place seems made for wonder and solitude." - Robert Travers

It was the last day of the trout season. No rises, no catches, no nibbles, but well enjoyed nevertheless.

Brewmaster in action

The E.P.A. Brew is underway.

Complete photo documentation will, of course, be submitted in due course.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

The Escanaba Pail Ale Expeditionary Team

... is underway.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

The Brewmaster has arrived!

Our first pickup at Sawyer. Sean and Katie have landed.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Sunrise at Shag

First sunrise since we got here where we've actually seen the sun.  A good omen for the imminent arrival of the brewmaster.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Notes from the brewmaster - Re: Last call..

Sean,
No problem. I will complete the circle by posting this thread to the blog.

A 22 qt. brew kettle has been procured.

As to the rest, I will defer to the judgement of the brewmaster.

See you on the morrow.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

---

From: Sean
To: MW
CC: Harlan; Katie
Subject: Re: Last call..

Mike:

Noted. In the future I will refrain from replying via email to blog posts.

Regarding the brewing, a reminder that we need a brew kettle in the neighborhood of 5 gallons (with lid, if possible). I am trusting that you have already made this acquisition or have plans to do so soon. The general process will be as follows:

1) Bring 3 gallons of water to a steam.
2) Move kettle off of direct heat and steep grains for 35 minutes.
3) Discard grains and add malt to kettle. Bring back to a boil.
4) Once rolling boil has been achieved continue boil for an hour, adding hops at desired intervals.

Normally I would now place the kettle in an ice bath in my kitchen sink This is because we are going to add 2.5 gallons of water and the goal is to reach a final temperature of about 75F. This is probably an impossibility. I think we have two options here.

1) Wait for the wort (this is what we refer to the liquid as) to cool down on its own. and add to the fermenter at little shag.
2) Transfer the wort back to the cabin in the kettle, and add to the fermenter there.

We can't leave the fermenter at little shag, so given the drive involved it may be easier to transport the kettle, with only 2.5 gallons, rather than a fermenter with 5 gallons. I will also need to sterilize the 2.5 gallons of river water via boiling it prior to adding it to the cooled wort.

Please advise on the method that you think will best safeguard the brew

Sean

On Mon, Sep 28, 2009 at 6:37 AM, MW wrote:

Hey Sean,
I generally do not respond to blog related comments unless they are properly left as comments on the blog itself. As such, since this request is not on the blog, it is exactly as if your request does not actually exist. You are taking your chances. One can of Gordon has already been consumed. Fortunately for you, I am fasting today for Yom Kippur, so I need only protect the calibration set from nephew Brian and friend, who arrived late last night. The best way to do that is get out and procure some local swill, as they will not be able to tell the difference. We will be heading into town this morning to get some decoy beers before they wake up.

I think the weather will break just in time for your arrival. Looks like you'll get some dry cool weather, and peaking color over the next week.

Finally, you may recall that you remain an author on this blog. Feel free to document your journey east, if you feel so inclined. - mw

Sean wrote:

MW,

Glad to see you made it to camp (with the supplies no less!) I expect that Joel's calibration set will remain unopened for the next couple of days....

Should we bring anything such as towels? Hope the weather clears up a bit (although I wouldn't mind a bit of rain.) See you Wednesday morning!

Sean

Since there were no chubs in Oconto..

We thought we'd check out Thill's Fish House in Marquette. Still no chubs, but we got some nice looking smoked trout.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

wake up!

Jeff asked that I forward this e-mail with ShagCam screen shot to the blog. Note the correct time of the e-mailed screen capture.

-------- Original Message --------

Subject:	wake up!
Date:	Tue, 29 Sep 2009 10:19:12 -0500
From:	Jeffrey
To:	Brian
CC:	MW

Yooperology 101 on NPR Weekend Edition

Just noticed that Lian Hansen did a series of reports on the Upper Peninsula for NPR's Weekend Edition:

In Michigan's U.P., Visitors Welcome, Just Don't Stay
by Liane Hansen

"Yoopers want you to know how lucky they are to live in such a beautiful place, how hard it is to do that, how their jokes about themselves are funnier than anything you've heard — and why you shouldn't move there. Just visit. Anytime. Come again. And next time ship the thimbleberry jelly home."

Often Left Out, U.P. Ducks Michigan's Worst Woes
by Liane Hansen

"The Upper Peninsula's economy "is struggling, like most economies, especially when you put it in the context of the Michigan economy as a whole. Michigan leads the nation in unemployment," Ferrarini says. "We've got Baraga County, where one out of every four people are unemployed, but then you look at Mackinac County and you see we have about 2 percent there because of the tourism surrounding the island, Mackinac Island, a beautiful place." Although there are pockets of high unemployment on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the economy there is relatively stable despite the recession. Lahti credits the diversity of industries, including minerals, forestry, tourism and agriculture."

Pasties: The Meaty Center Of 'Yooper' Food
by Liane Hansen

"The meat turnover was brought to Michigan's Upper Peninsula by immigrant miners from Cornwall, England, and "Yoopers" — the local population — are very opinionated about them. A pasty is a small circle of pie crust filled with meat, potatoes, onions and spices. Some have carrots. The pasty at Lawry's Pasty Shop in Marquette — voted best by the local newspaper — has rutabaga."

A Trip U.P. North

Weekend Edition Sunday explores the culture, traditions and economy of Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

• Often Left Out, U.P. Ducks Michigan's Worst Woes Sep. 26, 2009
• The Civil War That You Never Heard About Sep. 27, 2009
• U.P. County Tops State Unemployment Rate Sep. 27, 2009
• In Contrast, This U.P. Town Is Thriving Sep. 27, 2009
• Iron Mine At Core Of U.P. History, Culture Sep. 27, 2009
• U.P. TV Anchor Moonlights At Target Sep. 27, 2009
• What's A Yooper? Sep. 27, 2009
• In Michigan's U.P., Visitors Welcome, Just Don't Stay Sep. 27, 2009
• Initially, Michigan's Upper Peninsula Sep. 26, 2009
• Pasties: The Meaty Center Of 'Yooper' Food Sep. 27, 2009

Rainy day at camp

The main story of the day was the felling of the broken birch tree that had threatened visitors to Camp for the last two years. There is more to the telling, and perhaps a video update from Andrew will be included here at some unspecified future date. In the meantime, the story of the operation can be seen in the stump. The notched "kerf" cut with the axe, the backcut with the chainsaw, and the portion holding the tree unitil it was pulled down by Andrew's Chevy 4WD (a critical component for the successful completion of the entire operation).

There were some other activities this cold and rainy day...
Papa pulled KP duty and is peeling potatos for his Potato Onion Soup - welcome break from the Yom Kippur fast.

We had visitors- Whitney and Mary stopped by to say hi to Brian and Andrew. Shag Cam fans witnessed an exciting card game of Phase 10 (I have no idea).


While too rainy for the boat, we got some fishing in at the expansive Shag Lake Beach. I caught some undersized pike casting from the shore. Papa caught some bass and bluegill from the dock.

All problems solved.

No injuries. No more birch Damocles Sword hanging over the parked cars. No more safety issues. All roads cleared.  The major problems solved, and only a mess remains.

  Which we expect it will continue to remain until spring.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

By request

The Reader requested clarification of the new problem.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Well... We solved one problem.

But in the process, created another one.

Maybe a worse one.

Stay tuned.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

First catch

In the rain, off Will's dock, 2nd cast.  Slightly undersized, but nice fish.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

At Camp and settling in...

Arrived at Camp around 6ish EDT. Barely had time to unpack the car, admire the early color, and stare in dismay at the receding waterfront, when this happened -

The skies opened up with big lightning, rolling thunder, and even some hail.

This gave us some time to unbox and assess the supplies sent from Joel. We were delighted to see our new favorite cousin included samples to inspire us with our prospective beer brewing venture. He is setting the bar high for Sean to clear with the Escanaba Pail Ale (working title). Thanks Joel!

In other news - Shag Cam is back on the air, and the Bears came back from a big deficit in a hostile Quest Field to lay a can of major whoop-ass on the sad sack Seattle Seahawks. I think Seahawk fans have had a complex about the Bears ever since they lost in the NFC Championship Game a couple years ago. All in all, a very satisfying victory.

At camp

Warm, wet, low water, color underway

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Back to dobbers...

Gram's is closed on Sunday. We need staples.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Hops delivery...

In Marinette.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Still smells bad here

Although, it apparently smells worse in St. Louis...

Pack is leading at halftime.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

The official start for the drive north

9:20 rolling

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Chicago, MDW and a dog...

from Gold Coast Hot Dogs at Midway airport while waiting for my bag.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

At SFO

Heading East,  G20, Iran, Ca budget and state parks in the news.  I am going fishing.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Anniversary dinner at Shimos

Celebrating at our favorite sushi restaurant (at least on this side of the Pacific).

Hamachi, saba and ankimo accompanied by the sake we brought back from Japan.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

My life has meaning.

After the Treo went belly-up yesterday, and Verizon's replacement won't arrive until next week, I finally broke down and switched to Sprint and a Palm Prē.

These things seem to happen right before leaving on a trip.

Now my life is complete. I jut have to figure out how to use it.

First blogging test.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Crystal Springs Golf Course - Scorecard

Don is tracking his golf games on his new iPhone using Golfshot. My results arrived via e-mail from the application:
------------------

Mike, Thanks for playing your round with Golfshot. You can view your scorecard below. Forward this email to share with the other golfers in your round. Crystal Springs Golf Course White Tees 70.3 / 125 September 22, 2009 EAGLE BIRDIE PAR BOGEY 2BOGEY+ MIKE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 OUT 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 IN TOTAL WHITE 380 401 154 479 379 422 460 178 384 3237 325 136 346 144 409 300 449 358 508 2975 6212 HANDICAP 7 3 13 17 5 9 15 11 1 10 18 4 16 2 14 12 8 6 PAR 4 4 3 5 4 4 5 3 4 36 4 3 4 3 4 4 5 4 5 36 72 SCORE 6 8 4 5 6 4 8 3 6 50 7 4 5 6 6 4 6 7 6 51 101 ROUND SCORE E +2 +1 E E -2 E -2 -2 -2 -1 -1 -2 E E -1 -2 -1 -2 -2 -2 NET SCORE 4 6 2 4 4 2 7 1 4 34 5 3 3 5 4 3 4 5 4 36 70 TEE CLUB 1W 1W 6i 1W 1W 1W 1W 6i 1W 1W 6i 1W 6i 1W 1W 1W 1W 1W FAIRWAYS 57% 71% 64% GIR 22% 33% 28% PUTTS 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 16 3 3 2 3 3 2 3 3 2 24 2.2/40 SAND SHOTS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 PENALTIES 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 FRIENDS' SCORES DON 6 5 3 7 5 4 6 3 5 44 8 4 5 5 5 8 8 4 7 54 98 NET SCORE 4 3 2 6 3 3 5 2 3 31 7 3 3 4 3 7 7 2 5 41 72 ROY 9 6 4 7 6 5 7 6 5 55 8 4 7 3 5 5 7 6 6 51 106 NET SCORE 7 4 2 6 4 3 6 4 3 39 6 3 5 2 3 3 5 4 4 35 74

Cool app. I cannot make this table fit within the confines of the blog, but if you click the button above, it'll take you to a readable version of the scorecard, along with more statistics about this round than you or I would ever want to know.