After a loooooooong wait for it to open, and an equally loooooong time waiting for our server, we have our first beer at Twain’s.

Sean is hoisting a “Hell for Society Stout” — a dry, somewhat roasty stout with nice mocha finishing tones. I had the “Heaven for Climate Golden Ale” — a decent light ale with a pleasant spicy yet fruity hop finish (they attribute it to Liberty hops).

Whatever you do, avoid the pale ale, unless you like the taste of potting soil in your beer.

Knowing that this will be a busy week at work, I decided to put another brew into the fermenter for winter drinking. I had a full mason jar of Belgian ale yeast to work with — a dubbel sounded like it could do the trick.

We don’t have a lot of specialty malt on hand right now, so I used some malts I wouldn’t ordinarily use for a dubbel — aromatic, victory and chocolate — rather than the Special B that would usually be in there. It’ll be tasty either way.

For 5 gallons (85% efficiency):

Grain
7.50 lbs. Pale malt (Maris Otter)
1.00 lbs. CaraMunich 40
0.50 lbs. Wheat Malt
0.38 lbs. Aromatic malt
0.31 lbs. Victory malt
0.31 lbs. Chocolate malt
1.00 lbs. Light brown sugar

Hops
0.40 oz. Columbus (16.6%) 60 min.
0.25 oz. Columbus (16.6%) 10 min.
0.25 oz. Columbus (16.6%) knockout

Spices
0.15 oz. coriander
0.10 oz. cumin

Yeast
White Labs WLP500 Belgian Ale strain

Mash grains at 151F for 60 minutes. Add first hop addition when wort begins to boil. After 50, add the second hop addition, freshly ground spices and Irish moss. After 10 more minutes, add last hop charge and kill the heat. Knockout to chiller, and pitch yeast. Will be in primary fermentation for up to 7 days, and then try a 1 week secondary fermentation.

OG: 1.075 (18.1P)
Anticipated SRM: 18.4
Anticipated IBU: 29.8

Andrea’s family is a funny lot. Here, they are shucking a few oysters as a prelude to the big turkey showdown.

Clockwise from the bottom left — Hope, Adam, Bud, Jeanette and Meredith.

For the record, Bud thinks the Highland Gaelic Ale, with its very malty body and Willamette hop finish, goes well with the oysters.

This afternoon promises to mix two somewhat incompatible worlds: entertaining kids and entertaining adults.

For the kids, we have a wonderland of kid toys, including our bovine friend here. When you squeeze his udder (!), he breaks into a frenetic chicken dance. Go figure.

The beer pictured here, simply called Marzen, is part of the Michelob holiday sampler — 4 each of 5 different Michelob efforts.

So far, this Marzen falls into the lighter interpretation of the style. With a faint caramel color, and even fainter malt presence, this beer leans a little toward the hoppy side of the spectrum. I am drinking this one at about 48 degrees, which should accentuate the hop nose anyway.

Later today we’ll also be cracking open some Highland Brewing products, and some of my beers come mealtime. Check back for more then.

We’re on the road, heading to Andrea’s family gathering in Asheville, NC.

It’s our first road trip in the Element, which is handling things well. The XM radio is making the time pass quickly, and the cabin layout is very condusive to storing all the little things you need on a proper road trip.

During a gas stop at a Spinx station in Greer, SC, I spotted this gem of a brand extension — sugar-free Von Dutch energy drink.

I know I’m not the target audience for this drink, but it made me wonder…just who is the target for this drink? And does that type of person buy energy drinks at a Spinx station in rural South Carolina?

I might never know — I bought the Rox energy drink. Besides being Austria’s original energy drink [take that Red Bull], Rox promises “increased concentration and vigilance”. At $2 for 20 ounces, that’s a cheap source of vigilance.