Highs/Lows for the week...

[Brendon]

Ok - so this might seem a little weird and PC by my usual standards but in team meetings at work I encourage people to give a quick "barometer" check of their week to see how they are going. It helps people crystallize their thoughts into the essential things that are going on. So I thought I would try it here on the forum.
There are only 3 rules:
1. You must provide an answer when asked as you would in a team meeting at work - if you are lucky enough ;-) (volunteer out of turn - it's fine on a forum);
2. You may have as many highs for the week as you can reasonably think of but at least one is compulsory; and
3. You may have a maximum of only 1 low for the week.

So what are my items this week? Glad you asked....

Highs:
1. California Lager yeast (Wyeast 2112) - wow, just loving it and the fact that beers take so little time to condition up!
2. Quick disconnects for my gas on my corny kegging system - how did I live before hand. If people want to get you a cheap but valuable present for birthday/father's day/any other reason then get them to buy you a QD's for less than $35.
http://craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=964

Low:
1. Promising 15L of beer to a friend on Friday 30th May and knowing that you don't have a hope in hell as it's that good it won't last that long! ;-)

B

[Rusty Chch]

Low: Realising I'll have to wait until October before I can get my hands on smack-pack yeast.

High: Being given a free coil of 3/8" copper pipe. Chiller here I come!

[Stu McKinlay]

Highs:
Cycling 600km in Queensland, through beautiful countryside, some great little towns and in fantastic weather.
Being so thirsty that even XXXX tasted ok - and canned Guiness was near orgasmic. (or is this a low!?).
The early response to Yeastie Boys.
Getting back to the family.

Lows:
The beer selection in Qld.
Missing Beervana.
Back to work!

[Barry]

High:
Talking (and drinking) beer with Keith Galbraith at the Auckland SOBA meetup

Ultra high:
Greig handing me a bottle of Hopback Summer Lightning as a treat, a nice way to cap off the All Blacks win.

Ultra Ultra high:
Keith bring a magnum of Romanov out of hiding and cracking it open. Incredulous at the generosity. What an amazing beer.

No lows this week.

[Stu McKinlay]

He's a bloody good guy Keith. Spent a few quality hours with me last year, talking all things brewpub and giving me plenty of advice, and he never fails to say hello if he spots me in there.

Same can be said for Martin Bennett at The Twisted Hop - it must be something about guys with brewpubs ;-)

Loved that Romanov. David Cryer cracked one after BrewNZ judging in 2007. It had held up exquisitely.

[Stu McKinlay]

More highs:
Matilda Bay Alpha Pale Ale. I tried this last year and it was really really average (and that is flattering). Tried it again the other day and it was deliciously full of juicy hop flavour and bitterness. It'd be nice to see a bit of it here in NZ.

[Bambule]

Alpha had been getting some pretty big wraps by the media in Australia. That generally means the marketers are doing their job. My father was going to bring some over for me but it appears to be elusive, at least on the east coast. I'd find it hard to go past the Little Creatures from that part of the world, talk about Perthites being spoiled.

[Kempicus]

I'm still interested to know where i can get malt shovel pilsner from considering it was at brewnz!

[Geoff Griggs]

I've been doing some detective work on this and my local Lion rep assures me they (Lion) aren't bringing it in. It seems the only possibility is that Foodtown / Woolworths might be bringing it in themselves, but it doesn't appear on their online shopping sites. Hmmm?!

[James P]

I thought I would share mine this week:

High - I got my keggle back last night, all it needs is a little grinding and polishing them I'm just about ready for an AG....

Even Higher - Two weeks until my wife is finished fermenting our second child... I mean conditioning, I mean until she is due to give birth... time for me to stop brewing and finish the babies room.

Low - dropped a dozen bottles of my first batch of lager for this year, gutted as it tasted pretty damn good.

[jt]

Low - dropped a dozen bottles of my first batch of lager for this year, gutted as it tasted pretty damn good

Now that's a very good reason to invest in kegs !

[James P]

LOL, the kegs were full when this one came out of the fermenter! :)

[jt]

Now that's a very good reason to invest in even more kegs !

Father's Day has just passed, but Santa's due in a few months :-)