Leadville is known for some of its hills. The mid point is the top of Hope Pass at 12,600 and is preceded by a 7 mile 8% grade climb of 3,000 feet. Not an easy climb, I expect I'll probably hike much of it.
Knowing that hills and I haven't always been on the best of terms, something highlighted at Moab, some intense hill focus is called for. That's where Mount Sanitas comes in.
Sanitas is a popular local hike in Boulder and while it only reaches 6,863', its 1300' of elevation gain comes in just under a mile and a half (1.4 miles), making the rocky ridge trail a muscle burning 17.5% grade. While Sanitas does not have the length of the Hope Pass ascent, climbing the steep grade and rough, technical footing a couple times a week, in conjunction with some other, longer hillsets, should give me the strength I will dearly need in Leadville.
Friday, April 01, 2011
Wednesday, March 09, 2011
Stuff I Love - WebOS & WebOS Internals
WebOS is the mobile operating system created by Palm (which is now a part of HP). When I decided to get a smartphone, I went through a list of my priorities. Some of these were hardware related and others were OS related. Among these prerequisites were that it be open source in some way and that the GUI be elegantly designed and intuitive.
iOS has an elegant GUI, although the notifications are pretty obtrusive, but the 'gated community' approach that Apple takes to iOS (and most of their products) is a huge turnoff. If I buy a phone, it is mine, not Apple’s. If I want to open it up or download software from somewhere other than the highly restrictive App Store, then that’s my business. If it voids the warranty, fine, but don’t install software that will destroy (brick) my phone if I choose to do that.
On the other end of the spectrum was Android. I’m a big Google fan, I use a lot of their services (gmail, google voice, docs, Picasa, videos, calendar, tasks, notebook, etc.) and unlike iOS, Android is much more flexible and open source friendly and I really wanted to like Android. But the interface… As I have said many times, Android feels like its interface was designed by an engineer, not by a designer. It lacked (and still lacks) elegance, smoothness and an intuitiveness to the interface. Using it is like trying to talk to an android instead of a human being.
The third path I considered was WebOS. WebOS (on the Palm Pre) has an incredible GUI. Simple, intuitive, beautiful. Nothing more need be said about it. Palm (and now HP) also took an approach to open-source and homebrewing (known as jailbreaking to the iOS crowd) that goes above and beyond. The ability to put the phone into Developer Mode (to jailbreak it) is built into the OS, just type in the Konami code and it unlocks. Easy as pie.
This is where a group known as WebOS Internals comes in. WOSI is a group of homebrewers dedicated to improving and pushing the limits of WebOS. The amazing thing is that HP (formerly Palm) not only tolerates the work they do, but supports it, praising the community in presentations, looking on at Developer Days as they disassemble new hardware and Frankenstein it with old hardware so it will run on unsupported networks and even donating expensive servers to WebOS Internals so they can distribute their work. The latest version of WebOS (v. 2.1) even incorporated some of WebOS Internals work into the operating system. Can you imagine Steve Jobs looking on as someone opened up an iPhone to make it run on Sprint?
When that latest OS version came out, it was announced that it probably wouldn’t be available to older devices like the Palm Pre. Hardware issues were the cited reason, but given the lag on the release of the update prior to that, it seemed more likely that the carriers didn’t want to take the time to review the update, and also that continually updating old hardware would discourage users from buying new hardware. When one provider finally released an update, WebOS Internals swooped in and, totally legally, set up a simple process that combined the new OS installer with the older ones and made it compatible for most of the so-called legacy devices within a matter of a few hours.
By releasing the update package (known as a WebOS Doctor) HP knew what WOSI would do (and has done) and enabled them to do what HP’s relationship with the carriers prevented them from doing, which is get the latest version of the operating system to those who want it. As a result, instead of a 600mHz Palm pre running WebOS 1.4.5 I’ve got a 1gHz Palm Pre running WebOS 2.1 with no fear of Big Brother looking over my shoulder to take away or brick my phone. What’s more, these changes were incredibly simple to make, I’m no computer whiz by a long shot, I just like to tinker a little and thanks to HP and WebOS Internals, I can.
iOS has an elegant GUI, although the notifications are pretty obtrusive, but the 'gated community' approach that Apple takes to iOS (and most of their products) is a huge turnoff. If I buy a phone, it is mine, not Apple’s. If I want to open it up or download software from somewhere other than the highly restrictive App Store, then that’s my business. If it voids the warranty, fine, but don’t install software that will destroy (brick) my phone if I choose to do that.
On the other end of the spectrum was Android. I’m a big Google fan, I use a lot of their services (gmail, google voice, docs, Picasa, videos, calendar, tasks, notebook, etc.) and unlike iOS, Android is much more flexible and open source friendly and I really wanted to like Android. But the interface… As I have said many times, Android feels like its interface was designed by an engineer, not by a designer. It lacked (and still lacks) elegance, smoothness and an intuitiveness to the interface. Using it is like trying to talk to an android instead of a human being.
The third path I considered was WebOS. WebOS (on the Palm Pre) has an incredible GUI. Simple, intuitive, beautiful. Nothing more need be said about it. Palm (and now HP) also took an approach to open-source and homebrewing (known as jailbreaking to the iOS crowd) that goes above and beyond. The ability to put the phone into Developer Mode (to jailbreak it) is built into the OS, just type in the Konami code and it unlocks. Easy as pie.
This is where a group known as WebOS Internals comes in. WOSI is a group of homebrewers dedicated to improving and pushing the limits of WebOS. The amazing thing is that HP (formerly Palm) not only tolerates the work they do, but supports it, praising the community in presentations, looking on at Developer Days as they disassemble new hardware and Frankenstein it with old hardware so it will run on unsupported networks and even donating expensive servers to WebOS Internals so they can distribute their work. The latest version of WebOS (v. 2.1) even incorporated some of WebOS Internals work into the operating system. Can you imagine Steve Jobs looking on as someone opened up an iPhone to make it run on Sprint?
When that latest OS version came out, it was announced that it probably wouldn’t be available to older devices like the Palm Pre. Hardware issues were the cited reason, but given the lag on the release of the update prior to that, it seemed more likely that the carriers didn’t want to take the time to review the update, and also that continually updating old hardware would discourage users from buying new hardware. When one provider finally released an update, WebOS Internals swooped in and, totally legally, set up a simple process that combined the new OS installer with the older ones and made it compatible for most of the so-called legacy devices within a matter of a few hours.
By releasing the update package (known as a WebOS Doctor) HP knew what WOSI would do (and has done) and enabled them to do what HP’s relationship with the carriers prevented them from doing, which is get the latest version of the operating system to those who want it. As a result, instead of a 600mHz Palm pre running WebOS 1.4.5 I’ve got a 1gHz Palm Pre running WebOS 2.1 with no fear of Big Brother looking over my shoulder to take away or brick my phone. What’s more, these changes were incredibly simple to make, I’m no computer whiz by a long shot, I just like to tinker a little and thanks to HP and WebOS Internals, I can.
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Strategy and Snow
As I was riding into work the other day, mulling over my morning run, Istarted wondering when there would be meaningful results posted on USAT's website. That was when I realized I'd been incredibly stupid, I had gone ahead as if just putting up 400 miles would win the competition. Triathletes are a competitive bunch though, they'll be watching the standings and competing and anticipating just as much as I will. Doing a flat 100 miles a week would tip my hand.
This was friday morning so I cut out my lunch run while I figured out how I would tweak my running schedule and goals. Now I have a plan laid out that hopefully makes a little more strategic sense than my previous one.
As for the running thus far, things have gone very well. The only hitch has been that Mother Nature seems determined to make things as absolutely difficult as possible. Every day thus far has been either amazingly frigid or snowing. Sometimes both. Even the days when the temps hit the 40's during the day, by the time my evening run came around it was freezing or snowing again. At first I admit to taking a sick sort of pleasure from it, but as of this morning it stopped being fun and started to really tick me off. I did the longest three miles of my life through fresh snow on unplowed and unshoveled sidewalks. The snow of course had accumulated on top of the now frozen slush from a few days ago, which meant that in several places it was like running atop a rock field that was coated in ice and then hidden under a serene blanket of fluffy powder. It's a good thing I have strong ankles, but even still I was cursing up a storm for several stretches.
This was friday morning so I cut out my lunch run while I figured out how I would tweak my running schedule and goals. Now I have a plan laid out that hopefully makes a little more strategic sense than my previous one.
As for the running thus far, things have gone very well. The only hitch has been that Mother Nature seems determined to make things as absolutely difficult as possible. Every day thus far has been either amazingly frigid or snowing. Sometimes both. Even the days when the temps hit the 40's during the day, by the time my evening run came around it was freezing or snowing again. At first I admit to taking a sick sort of pleasure from it, but as of this morning it stopped being fun and started to really tick me off. I did the longest three miles of my life through fresh snow on unplowed and unshoveled sidewalks. The snow of course had accumulated on top of the now frozen slush from a few days ago, which meant that in several places it was like running atop a rock field that was coated in ice and then hidden under a serene blanket of fluffy powder. It's a good thing I have strong ankles, but even still I was cursing up a storm for several stretches.
Monday, January 31, 2011
400 Miles
Tomorrow I begin the longest race of my life.
At midnight tonight the run focus portion of the USAT Club Challenge will begin and I'll attempt to run 400 miles over the next 28 days. That's an average of just under 14.3 miles per day.
Naturally Mother Nature has decided to make this as interesting as possible. This morning she threw a nice layer of black ice on everythin before rolling in a snowstorm. Tomorrow's high is expected to be -3. That's the high.
Why would I do this? Well, last year I found at the end of February that I had managed to take 13th overall in the run focus without consciously trying to win it. I was putting in a lot of miles as I started my early prep for Leadville (which ended up not happening that year). So this year, for the first time ever I think, I'm entering a solo athletic competition with the intention of winning it.
How will I get in that many miles while still working full time and trying to maintain my sanity? Currently my commute to work includes three to five miles each way of running. So a five mile run in the morning, then a five mile run home in the evening gives me a pretty automatic fifty miles a week, that's half my weekly quota right there. Getting another couple miles in at lunch and the occasional late night right will bring me along further and contribute to spreading out the load. Saturday will be a long run and finally Sunday will be my mopup day, I'll evaluate how I feel and how many miles I need to get to 100 for the week. Getting Sunday as an off day would be the ideal, but a short run to polish off the mileage wouldn't be a problem.
At midnight tonight the run focus portion of the USAT Club Challenge will begin and I'll attempt to run 400 miles over the next 28 days. That's an average of just under 14.3 miles per day.
Naturally Mother Nature has decided to make this as interesting as possible. This morning she threw a nice layer of black ice on everythin before rolling in a snowstorm. Tomorrow's high is expected to be -3. That's the high.
Why would I do this? Well, last year I found at the end of February that I had managed to take 13th overall in the run focus without consciously trying to win it. I was putting in a lot of miles as I started my early prep for Leadville (which ended up not happening that year). So this year, for the first time ever I think, I'm entering a solo athletic competition with the intention of winning it.
How will I get in that many miles while still working full time and trying to maintain my sanity? Currently my commute to work includes three to five miles each way of running. So a five mile run in the morning, then a five mile run home in the evening gives me a pretty automatic fifty miles a week, that's half my weekly quota right there. Getting another couple miles in at lunch and the occasional late night right will bring me along further and contribute to spreading out the load. Saturday will be a long run and finally Sunday will be my mopup day, I'll evaluate how I feel and how many miles I need to get to 100 for the week. Getting Sunday as an off day would be the ideal, but a short run to polish off the mileage wouldn't be a problem.
Monday, January 17, 2011
An Ultra Dinner
Last night I was able to attend an event hosted by the Boulder Trail Runners at Sherpa's in downtown Boulder. The event was a roundtable question and answer session with four of the best trail ultra-runners in the world, Scott Jurek, Tony Krupicka, Dave Mackey and Geoff Roes.
I won't get into everything they said, I wouldn't be able to do it justice, but I'll cover a few highlights. The nature of the sport seems to keep these guys very grounded and human. They're still very competitive and have healthy egos but the lack of big money in ultrarunning seems to keep them more normal and approachable than you might expect.
One of the best questions of the evening could be summed up in a single word... "Why?" The answers they gave for why they do what they do were simple and fairly straight forward yet still bore a lot of meaning. The endorphin rush, love of nature, ego, because it's there. One of them, Jurek I believe, observed that he had never come back from a run and thought afterwards "I wish I hadn't done that." There were a lot of heads nodding in the room to that comment, mine among them.
At the end of the evening as people dribbled out of the restaurant, the foursome continued chatting with the attendees who had packed the upstairs area almost to bursting, and by the time I left my mind was abuzz with ideas and thoughts so that when I went to bed I lay there almost ninety minutes before finally finding sleep. Those ideas are still churning in my mind, we'll see where they lead to.
I won't get into everything they said, I wouldn't be able to do it justice, but I'll cover a few highlights. The nature of the sport seems to keep these guys very grounded and human. They're still very competitive and have healthy egos but the lack of big money in ultrarunning seems to keep them more normal and approachable than you might expect.
One of the best questions of the evening could be summed up in a single word... "Why?" The answers they gave for why they do what they do were simple and fairly straight forward yet still bore a lot of meaning. The endorphin rush, love of nature, ego, because it's there. One of them, Jurek I believe, observed that he had never come back from a run and thought afterwards "I wish I hadn't done that." There were a lot of heads nodding in the room to that comment, mine among them.
At the end of the evening as people dribbled out of the restaurant, the foursome continued chatting with the attendees who had packed the upstairs area almost to bursting, and by the time I left my mind was abuzz with ideas and thoughts so that when I went to bed I lay there almost ninety minutes before finally finding sleep. Those ideas are still churning in my mind, we'll see where they lead to.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Bottling & Mead Update
Between the holidays and having the flu I haven't had a chance to fiddle with any of my mead in a while. Until this weekend, that is.
This weekend I bottled two meads, my traditional and bacon mead #2. The traditional isquite tasty at this point, albeit strong. The bacon mead is interesting, it's extremely dry (SG of 0.986) and the bacon flavor is interesting. I'm curious how some aging will affect it.
I also took the oportunity to transfer the chocolate mead to secondary. Like the bacon mead it's fairly dry, but unlike the bacon mead, which is crystal clear, it's very cloudy. It's going to need to settle and age for a good long time.
Bacon mead #1 should also be ready for bottling and the pumpkin and apricot meads should be ready to transfer to secondary. The fudge mead is still fermenting actively and I haven't checked on the third bacon mead in a while. Perhaps I'll do a bacon mead tasting this weekend before starting my next batch of meads.
This weekend I bottled two meads, my traditional and bacon mead #2. The traditional isquite tasty at this point, albeit strong. The bacon mead is interesting, it's extremely dry (SG of 0.986) and the bacon flavor is interesting. I'm curious how some aging will affect it.
I also took the oportunity to transfer the chocolate mead to secondary. Like the bacon mead it's fairly dry, but unlike the bacon mead, which is crystal clear, it's very cloudy. It's going to need to settle and age for a good long time.
Bacon mead #1 should also be ready for bottling and the pumpkin and apricot meads should be ready to transfer to secondary. The fudge mead is still fermenting actively and I haven't checked on the third bacon mead in a while. Perhaps I'll do a bacon mead tasting this weekend before starting my next batch of meads.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Architecture Design Review
Yesterday I stopped by my Alma Mater, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, to visit my old professors. As it turned out there was a studio exhibition that evening so after catching up with my old teachers and an old classmate I got to review a couple designs.
I take a fairly formulaic approach to start off most presentations. The first step is to just let the student present their work and see what they talk about and what they avoid. Once they've done that I ask "What do you want to get out of this review?" I love this question. It's an important one that they're almost never prepared to answer. It's not that I want to throw them off, it's that they're there to learn and figuring out what it is they need to learn is important.
After that I'll start addressing the design, the presentation, their presentation skills, the overall concept, materiality, etc. When going over this I try to treat the discussion as a sandwich of sorts. Open with some praise for certain things, then move on to the criticisms and wrap up with some encouragement. I close with asking them if they have any questions, whether it's about the design, working professionally or whatever. They always have questions.
The two students I reviewed were in high contrast to each other. The first had a very polished presentation but his design had some very basic problems related to layout, circulation and use. The second student had sketches on trace paper pinned to the wall and only had plans drawn out, but her understanding of space was clearly very good and her layout and approach to the site were great. Both clearly had challenges and strengths and in fact, they would probably learn a lot from doing a collaborative project together.
When the review was over they were both, not surprisingly, very curious about the IDP process and the state of the job market. In this economy I rather envy them, being in undergrad with grad school still ahead of them makes for a nice buffer during these rough economic times.
When it was over I realized how much I miss doing design reviews. When I return home I'll have to make a point of getting in to them again at the local university.
I take a fairly formulaic approach to start off most presentations. The first step is to just let the student present their work and see what they talk about and what they avoid. Once they've done that I ask "What do you want to get out of this review?" I love this question. It's an important one that they're almost never prepared to answer. It's not that I want to throw them off, it's that they're there to learn and figuring out what it is they need to learn is important.
After that I'll start addressing the design, the presentation, their presentation skills, the overall concept, materiality, etc. When going over this I try to treat the discussion as a sandwich of sorts. Open with some praise for certain things, then move on to the criticisms and wrap up with some encouragement. I close with asking them if they have any questions, whether it's about the design, working professionally or whatever. They always have questions.
The two students I reviewed were in high contrast to each other. The first had a very polished presentation but his design had some very basic problems related to layout, circulation and use. The second student had sketches on trace paper pinned to the wall and only had plans drawn out, but her understanding of space was clearly very good and her layout and approach to the site were great. Both clearly had challenges and strengths and in fact, they would probably learn a lot from doing a collaborative project together.
When the review was over they were both, not surprisingly, very curious about the IDP process and the state of the job market. In this economy I rather envy them, being in undergrad with grad school still ahead of them makes for a nice buffer during these rough economic times.
When it was over I realized how much I miss doing design reviews. When I return home I'll have to make a point of getting in to them again at the local university.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Sheer Elegance in its Simplicity!
One of the things that I enjoy most about homebrewing mead is the simplicity of it. Mix some water and some honey, add yeast and presto, mead! The antibacterial nature of honey make sanitation much less of an issue than it is with beer.
The simplicity and foolproof nature of the process makes it open to endless possibilities as far as experimentation as well. Fruit meads, also known as melomels, are common, maybe even more common than traditional meads commercially. Experiments such as chocolate meads are less common because they take longer to age properly but still are popular in the homebrew set. Then you get the real weirdos who will put almost anything in their must (must: mead mixture before fermentation completes) even bacon. It's like a chemistry experiment you can drink!
The simplicity and foolproof nature of the process makes it open to endless possibilities as far as experimentation as well. Fruit meads, also known as melomels, are common, maybe even more common than traditional meads commercially. Experiments such as chocolate meads are less common because they take longer to age properly but still are popular in the homebrew set. Then you get the real weirdos who will put almost anything in their must (must: mead mixture before fermentation completes) even bacon. It's like a chemistry experiment you can drink!
Friday, December 17, 2010
2011 Running Goals
It's getting to be close to the New Year so I thought I would go over some of my running goals for the coming year.
My first goal, at least chronologically, is to win the individual run portion of the USAT Club Challenge. USA Triathlon does an annual event over three months during which members of triathlon clubs log their training mileage. There are multiple facets to the competition and the one that I want to focus on is during February, which is the run focused month. Whichever athlete logs the most miles during February, wins. Last year's winner had 350 miles, I figure that if I shoot for 400, that should be sure to do the job. I'm looking at the whole month of February as one very long endurance event.
My second goal is actually my primary goal for the year. The Leadman. 284.2 miles in 5 events in under two months. The first thought I had when I heard of it was "What kind of idiot would do something like that?" My second thought was, "I've got to try it!" I'm that kind of idiot I suppose.
The third goal is to finish three 100 mile trail races this year. Currently I'm eyeing Moab in late March, Leadville in August (part of the Leadman) and Boulder in October.
There are two or three other races I'm eyeing, but those three goals should keep me pretty busy for most of the year.
My first goal, at least chronologically, is to win the individual run portion of the USAT Club Challenge. USA Triathlon does an annual event over three months during which members of triathlon clubs log their training mileage. There are multiple facets to the competition and the one that I want to focus on is during February, which is the run focused month. Whichever athlete logs the most miles during February, wins. Last year's winner had 350 miles, I figure that if I shoot for 400, that should be sure to do the job. I'm looking at the whole month of February as one very long endurance event.
My second goal is actually my primary goal for the year. The Leadman. 284.2 miles in 5 events in under two months. The first thought I had when I heard of it was "What kind of idiot would do something like that?" My second thought was, "I've got to try it!" I'm that kind of idiot I suppose.
The third goal is to finish three 100 mile trail races this year. Currently I'm eyeing Moab in late March, Leadville in August (part of the Leadman) and Boulder in October.
There are two or three other races I'm eyeing, but those three goals should keep me pretty busy for most of the year.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Mead Madness
Not long ago I began home brewing mead. Mead, for those who don't know, is a honey wine, though considering that mead likely predates wine it might be better to say that wine is a grape mead.
The highly flexible nature of this beverage has lent itself to a lot of experimentation on my part including forays with fruits, chocolate and... bacon. So far as I can tell I'm the only person I can find who is experimenting with bacon meads, which is rather exciting.
As this is something I've become quite enthused about I've decided to do a status update here on the nine batches of mead that I've produced thus far. Each batch is numbered, followed by the type of mead, it's current phase and a few short thoughts. There are three phases in the mead making procees. Primary is where most of the fermenting happens. Secondary is for aging and settling of yeast and sediment. Bottled is for additional aging and distribution.
#1 - Traditional - Secondary - This is a strong traditional mead, lots of honey with a high alcohol content. Currently sitting in a glass carboy (big glass jug) I tried a sample the other day and found that the strong alcohol kick that had been present has lost some of its edge. It's still a bit cloudy and I'm unsure if it will ever really clear completely due to the high OG (Original Gravity - density of the mead compared to water from the addition of honey).
#2 - Maple Bacon - Secondary - This is a bacon and maple syrup mead with a taste like a christmas ham. Delicious. Like #1, it had a high OG and is not clearing as well as I would like.
#3 - Maple Bacon - Secondary - My second batch of bacon and maple syrup mead has cleared beautifully. The flavor at last tasting was more subtle and was slightly smokey as opposed to sweet. I'm looking forward to bottling this after christmas.
#4 - Apricot - Failed - The nozzle on the fermenter somehow managed to break, resulting in the whole batch dripping steadily out of the fermenter. This was a birthday apricot mead for a friend of mine, but it shall rise again.
#5 - Pumpkin Spice - Primary - I made this pumpkin spice mead from homemade pumpkin pie filling. Sampled last night, it's quite delicious and clear and should be ready for bottling after Christmas.
#6 - Bacon - Primary - Has a very subtle bacon flavor to it. In fact, I can't taste it, but knowing that I don't have the most sensitive palette I had some friends sample it and they enjoyed the subtle bacon taste.
#7 - Chocolate - Primary - Chocolate meads take at least a year to be palettable... so far I agree. Having sampled last night, it was the opposite of delicious.
#8 - Fudge - Primary - This mead is too fresh for a tasting or testing but it is by far the most active mead I've made through fermentation. It's been bubling like mad. I'm sure it will need a lot of aging like the chocolate, but I'm equally sure it will be worth it.
#9 - Apricot - Primary - Brewed last night, this is our second go at the apricot birthday mead. It should be a slightly sweet melomel (melomel: a mead made with fruit) with a distinct apricot flavor.
The highly flexible nature of this beverage has lent itself to a lot of experimentation on my part including forays with fruits, chocolate and... bacon. So far as I can tell I'm the only person I can find who is experimenting with bacon meads, which is rather exciting.
As this is something I've become quite enthused about I've decided to do a status update here on the nine batches of mead that I've produced thus far. Each batch is numbered, followed by the type of mead, it's current phase and a few short thoughts. There are three phases in the mead making procees. Primary is where most of the fermenting happens. Secondary is for aging and settling of yeast and sediment. Bottled is for additional aging and distribution.
#1 - Traditional - Secondary - This is a strong traditional mead, lots of honey with a high alcohol content. Currently sitting in a glass carboy (big glass jug) I tried a sample the other day and found that the strong alcohol kick that had been present has lost some of its edge. It's still a bit cloudy and I'm unsure if it will ever really clear completely due to the high OG (Original Gravity - density of the mead compared to water from the addition of honey).
#2 - Maple Bacon - Secondary - This is a bacon and maple syrup mead with a taste like a christmas ham. Delicious. Like #1, it had a high OG and is not clearing as well as I would like.
#3 - Maple Bacon - Secondary - My second batch of bacon and maple syrup mead has cleared beautifully. The flavor at last tasting was more subtle and was slightly smokey as opposed to sweet. I'm looking forward to bottling this after christmas.
#4 - Apricot - Failed - The nozzle on the fermenter somehow managed to break, resulting in the whole batch dripping steadily out of the fermenter. This was a birthday apricot mead for a friend of mine, but it shall rise again.
#5 - Pumpkin Spice - Primary - I made this pumpkin spice mead from homemade pumpkin pie filling. Sampled last night, it's quite delicious and clear and should be ready for bottling after Christmas.
#6 - Bacon - Primary - Has a very subtle bacon flavor to it. In fact, I can't taste it, but knowing that I don't have the most sensitive palette I had some friends sample it and they enjoyed the subtle bacon taste.
#7 - Chocolate - Primary - Chocolate meads take at least a year to be palettable... so far I agree. Having sampled last night, it was the opposite of delicious.
#8 - Fudge - Primary - This mead is too fresh for a tasting or testing but it is by far the most active mead I've made through fermentation. It's been bubling like mad. I'm sure it will need a lot of aging like the chocolate, but I'm equally sure it will be worth it.
#9 - Apricot - Primary - Brewed last night, this is our second go at the apricot birthday mead. It should be a slightly sweet melomel (melomel: a mead made with fruit) with a distinct apricot flavor.
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