Hops Harvest 2013

Much improved over 2012.

Now I need to dry them in preparation for use.

On a screen in a cool dry place with moving air is the preferred method.  The dehumidifier is running in the basement, so I think I can handle this.

You can almost smell them, right?

On the old window screen.
I don't think there was a window in the house for this screen when we moved in 27 years ago.

The screen folded over, capturing the hops.

Drying in progress!

So we're running the dehumidifier to keep the place dry, right?  And where is the air the driest?  Might as well take advantage of the fan blowing the dry exhaust out of the unit.  

This classic messy basement shot is so...so...so me.  Amid the stuff strewn about, I've got the hops at least half-drying in the moving air, balanced on some junk that probably needs to be thrown away.  In front of that is junk of my own creation...old speakers I built a millennium ago, unfinished, of course...but they work.  And overlooking it all is the alarm system I recently reconditioned and don't appear to have applied the schematic sticker the door or buttoned up the unit.  

This is almost a self portrait. 

Beer Report

This just in from the Beer Institute:

Maybe New York is more of a sipping state than a chugging one. Whatever the reason, the Empire State ranks near the bottom in terms of beer drinking, according to a new analysis by beer industry trade group the Beer Institute.

In ranking states by their 2012, per-capita beer consumption, New York came in 48th, with only Connecticut and New Jersey tossing back fewer cold ones. According to Beer Institute data, New Yorkers in 2012 consumed, on average, 22.4 gallons of malt beverages per person. That works out to roughly 218 12-ounce servings per person.

The national average was 301 servings.

Total beer consumption nationwide was up about 1.5 percent in 2012, according to the Beer Institute.

The thirstiest state in 2012 was North Dakota at roughly 489 12-ounce servings per person.

*     *     *

Maybe it's time to look into North Dakota real estate.

Optimum Growing Conditions:

Upstate NY's erratic weather is having some positive effects.

Scrubby in year one, spindly in year two,
the hops vine is looking robust this year.

Look at all those lovely flowers!

Such beauty makes one thirsty.

Camp improvements.

It's good when children know their father, and wives know their husbands.
This Father's Day/Anniversary present is an improvement, don't you think?

A little detail from the previous picture.
I was going to put a battery in this clock,
but I think it is more useful like this.
Don't you agree?