Monthly Archives: January 2015

Days Off

I’m alive, but barely!
am15 Okay, maybe a slight exaggeration. I got wiped out Sunday with a fever and lovely lung issues. Therefore, I’ve been banned from the brewery and forced into a few “days off” until 48 hours after my fever subsides. Last night’s peak was 101. Thanks to that, I have time to do a blog recap again, albeit with a foggy brain.
am A few weeks ago I trekked back down to Boulder on one of my real days off to pick up some tea from Celestial Seasonings that have seriously come in handy in the last few days.
am1 I have an addiction…
am3 On my days off, I generally like to get out of town and do anything active and new, but there’s something to be said about relaxing at home with a glass of wine and having time to play chef.
am4 Prior to these past few days, it had been months since I’d seen the sunset from inside my own house. And I think it’s time to clean the outside of my windows…
am6 Most of my sunsets are spent at the brewery.
am5 No complaints there, but I have missed my wonderful couches.
am7 We had our staff holiday party two weeks ago (after I’d spent my day off in Broomfield with my bestie) which consisted of a bottle share, tons of food and our wonderful beer tellers.
am2 Plus the president of the Rocky Mountain Beard and Moustache Club. How could you not let that face in for a bottle share?
am8 I went out to brunch with some of my favorite ladies at Snooze in Fort Collins for a quasi day off on a Thursday and enjoyed mimosas, long conversations and painfully delicious pancakes before heading back to the brewery and real life.
am9 Our most popular Nuance Chocolate collaboration beer to date was tapped – S’mores Stout garnished with mini marshmallows. We kicked the keg in an hour and fifteen minutes with this one and will be recreating it for the Real Ale Real Love Firkin Festival in Loveland this Saturday.
am10
I had to drop some stuff off at New Belgium during the work week and decided I should probably stay and enjoy a pint of their new session IPA, Slow Ride with a friend who happened to be there at the same time. Mini breaks in the middle of my weeks help my sanity.
am11 Last Friday night was… interesting… One regular brought us canned bread. I don’t know why…
am12 After the canned bread sampling I decided to take the rest of the night off and sat down and played Cards Against Humanity with the staff, a few of our favorite regulars-turned-friends and experimented with beermosa blends.
am13 Sunday was another day off and I could tell something awful was about to occur, so I got out of the house and took this handsome fella for a walk before the cough really started to set in.
am14 I had a big day planned and I wasn’t about to let the beginnings of the flu ruin it. I headed down to Denver and grabbed lunch at The Ale House – blackened chicken sammich with pepperjack cheese, fried avocado and pineapple salsa. Painfully delicious. Afterwards we headed to the Denver Aquarium that I haven’t been to since I was 13 before driving back up and collapsing into the couch with NyQuil, blankets and a movie.
growler Now I’m sitting here twiddling my thumbs, trying not to go crazy from being cooped up and answering work emails. Oh, lovely flu. I’ve been trying to force more aspects of quasi-days off into my life since the past few months have revolved around the brewery and nothing but the brewery. Trying to find a balance when starting up a new business is hard, so I’m using these wonderful days of illness to try and get things into perspective and start planning a life outside of work.

Now for more DayQuil shots and pondering. Happy flu season!

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Farewell 2014

Another year in the books! Business at the brewery has been absolutely crazy in a wonderful way. I get home every evening and blissfully collapse into the couch wrapped in a blanket, pint glass in hand (or tea on those epically cold nights) as I watch the temperatures outside dip to -16.
pale Luckily we have plenty of brews to keep us warm here at the brewery. Here’s a little recap of my year!

January:
am12 Got my bow, which I unfortunately haven’t had time to shoot in the past too many months. Sad face.
AM2 First resolution for the year – get back to that. I miss it so!
AM10 I learned I don’t have any DNA and basically don’t exist after two failed DNA samples.
AM4 Watched my HOUSE begin building!
am20 Beer, beer, beer!

February:
am13 Stupidly cold. Similar to this week, actually!
AM AM4 Some of my beer photography was published in a book!
AM15 I flew to California for my birthday to see two of the loves of my life.
AM21 I visited all of my favorite breweries.
AM26 Well, most of them at least.
AM41 I enjoyed California brews while watching the sun set on the ocean. Happy sigh.
am4 I flew back to Colorado and watched my house progress even more.
AM11 I hit a unicorn in my car.

March:
am10 Went to Celestial Seasonings with my bestie.
am Became obsessed with avocado toast.
am4 Freaked out every day over how much progress was being made on my house!
am2 Beer, beer, beer!
am6 Got lovely gifts from Bhakti Chai.
AM15 Flew with Marissa, met Lauren, Heidi and Laura.
Screen shot 2014-03-23 at 10.47.08 PM …and Kait, Marisa, and many, many more.
am11 More house development and saying goodbye to most of my mountain views.
am17 Bacon grilled cheese, beer and beer studies.

April:
am2 Bhakti Chai brewery tour!
am27 Bhakti Chia Pudding recipe creation.
am Craft Brewers’ Convention! Hung out with my buds Dan and Ashley the entire weekend.
am5 Floors and drywall finished in the house!
AM22 Watched the wonderful Verboten Brewing win awards at the World Beer Cup!
Screen shot 2014-04-24 at 9.53.04 AM Moved into my house and enjoyed beer on my back porch.
Screen shot 2014-04-24 at 9.32.42 AM Didn’t have enough money for food, but found a way to buy beer so I at least had something in my fridge.
am8 Brewed at New Belgium with Snowbank Brewing!
am17 Bought a kitchen table so I could have something to put a beer glass on. Because I still couldn’t afford food…

May:
AM8 Brewed at my bro’s house for Big Brew.
AM12 Cold break!
AM14 Rediscovered my love for green monstas while on my new back porch enjoying the summer view.
am12 Tapped our collaboration brew for Fort Collins Beer Week.
am16 Installed our brew system at Snowbank!
AM6 Enjoyed many Loose Leafs from my back porch.
vacuum Got attacked by a rogue vacuum.

June:
am7 Made beersicles!
am1 Made Coconut Glazed Sweet Potatoes!
am8 Made Veggie Hash with Imitation Panda Meat.
am4 Biked everywhere.
AM10 And I mean everywhere.
AM14 Had our first brew day on our own system with the help of a handsome brewdog.

July:
AM3 Made friends with artichokes after a rough beginning.
AM1 A very rough beginning.
AM6 More brewing!
am6 Biked everywhere.
am2 Rehydrated from biking everywhere with Beer Camp.
am10 Ate way too many artichokes.
am Did quality control for four of our (soon to be) eight beers.
am8 Hiked two 14ers in one day.
am21 Swore I’d never hike another 14er in my life as I cared for my torn feet and aching knees.
am18 Braided my hair a lot. Took selfies of it. Cringed looking back on them. Posted them anyway.

August:
am Took care of this handsome gentleman while my parental unit toured Europe.
am6 Drank some Zinfandel.
am5 Fell head over heels in love with this handsome gentleman as I do every day.
am8 So much love.
am15 Kayaked around some Colorado lakes.
AM Had our brewery release party at Cranknstein!
AM8 Celebrated the upcoming wedding of my bestie of twenty years.
am6 Opened Snowbank Brewing with one of the most insanely busy days of my life!
am18 Reflected back to crossing the border into Colorado a year earlier to begin such a wonderful life.

September:
art1 The artichokes continue
AM2 The brewery explodes with popularity.
Rainbow Our social media outlets become extremely popular.
bank Delicious beer was consumed.
a2 I fell in love with Umami.
aa1 I fell in love with The Silver Seed.
am7 I enjoyed even more sunsets on my back porch as the sun began to set earlier every day.
pump1 We played with a flame thrower and caramelized 100lbs of pumpkin.

October:
am2 We got even busier and the posting began dwindling. I received a dirndl for all of my dog-watching efforts.
am6 I delivered kegs in said dirndl.
am7 I visited my old brew system in said dirndl.
am13 One of my favorites came from California to visit!
GABF Great America Beer Festival happened!
AM8 Wonderful invitation to a beer pairing dinner where the dessert was a chocolate waffle cone smothered in BACON.

November:
c5 Wore two different dresses for my bestie’s wedding!
c9 Got my hair did for said bestie’s wedding day.
c10 Finally got my hair dyed by our brewer’s superbly talented sister after the wedding.
am5 Had our first snow of the season.
flake2 Did lots of brewery social media pictures. So.
ginger1 Many.
snowy Picture.

December:
Beanie1 All brewery. All the time.
brew1 And I couldn’t be happier about it.
hood Oh, look! A penny.
christmas1 Christmas was spent with my wonderful family.
Stout1 And my adorable new town was explored.
stout As we say farewell to 2014, I’m ready to welcome 2015 with open arms and nothing but excitement for whatever this incredible year has in store.

Happy New Year!

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