Big Brew

Saturday was the American Homebrew Association's 'Big Brew' day. My local brewclub, RIFT (Rhode Island Fermentation Technicians) gathered at John C's house in Exeter for a monster brew.

John has gone over the top with his brew equipment; he normally makes fifteen gallon batches, for this event he broke in a new 55 gallon mash tun and we made 50 gallons of a British Dark Mild Ale.

The sheer scale of this brew was bordering on a commercial operation.  Over 70 pounds of grain went into the batch.  

On Facebook

So I've been on Facebook for a while now and have a few thoughts...

• This is a giant digital vacuum for your spare time.
  
• The 'friending' process kind of bugs me. I mean, with true friends, there are no worries. But then you get these friend requests from people that you used to work with that you aren't really friends with and what do you do? Do you let them in and let them see your most unprofessional photos and musings, or do you ignore their requests and risk future business relationships?
  
• I had to 'unfriend' a former business associate, because it turns out that she is some kind of religious wacko. I just couldn't deal with someone quoting scripture coming across my desk every week.
  
• I need better tools for creating a inner sanctum of friends that I can truly be rude with.
  
• I find myself filtering truly funny comments because I know that it will be viewed by a wider audience.