Bottling Night at Mildren Brew. Co.

After anxiously waiting and waiting the last two-and-a-half weeks, my beer was finally ready to be bottled. Last night after Spanish class, the ever-helpful Beth assisted me in the process. I really would have been lost at a couple points in the brewing process if it weren't for her mathematical skills. Since I ended up with less beer than I had anticipated, I had to adjust the quantity of the priming sugar we mixed in last night. I would have just eyeballed it if I were on my own, but Beth actually guided me in measuring it all out and doing the proper conversions.

So, I boiled the sugar in a little bit of water and then poured it into an empty and sanitized water jug. The reason for adding the sugar is to give the yeast in the beer a little more to eat on while in the bottle which will create a natural carbonation and up the alcohol percentage a bit. While the sugar was boiling, I dipped all my clean, empty bottles into the sanitized water solution to prepare them for the beer. Next I siphoned out the beer from the fermenter into the jug with the sugar. I gently swirled the sugar into the beer (careful not to swirl too hard as oxygenating the beer can hurt the flavor) and then prepared to begin bottling and capping.

Siphoning the beer

My brew kit came with this neat bottling wand and it's just a narrow tube of plastic with a little tip on the end that when pressed down will release the beer (it's connected to the siphon). So I just put it into the bottle, press down, and the beer starts flowing. When the bottle's full, I pull up and the flow is cut off. Beth set out the empty bottles for me to fill and kindly capped the full ones. She did a great job and I really appreciate her getting into this hobby with me.

Filling the bottles

Once all the bottles were filled and capped, I counted up 31 12-oz. bottles and 1 22-oz. bottle. Not bad! Especially since I ended up with about 40% less than I should have. Now I'm supposed to wait another two weeks before drinking them. But, I'll probably try one in about 10 days as I'd like to have our soon-to-arrive guests, Matt and Erika, try it. I'll be sure to follow up on the flavor.

Capping the bottles

Holiday Break and White Elephant 1, 2, and 3

Holiday break in the U.S. was long, relaxing, and satisfying! We flew in December 10 in order to be able to make the famous annual Pennington and Company Christmas party (the company James does freelance work for).

The P & C gang

This was a fun time not only because James got to reconnect to coworkers that he hopes to work with again in July, but also because we got to see so many close friends! P & C is such a great place to work, and many times they allow their employees to work remotely. On the other hand, this means many of our closest friends have moved away and won't be there when we return. But they all made it back for the Christmas party, and it felt as if nothing had changed!

NEOSHO After a few days in Lawrence spending time with close friends, we then spent 10 long days of luxury in Neosho, Missouri, where Mom and Dad Kenny (Beth's parents) had recently built a new house and got a new baby pet pug, Mitzi! The house was awesome and comfortable, and watching TV on a giant HDTV was surreal.

The Kenny Family

Christmas Eve-Eve Evening

John, Paul, Ringo, and George

Tim, Natalie, Robin, and James

We spent our days playing video games with Beth's brother and sister, reading, eating Cheez Its, sitting in the hot tub, and drinking good beer, of course! Christmas in Neosho was magical, fun, and we celebrated with presents in the evening, a new tradition for the Kennys. James' big gift was a beer-making kit, which we dragged back to Guatemala. We hope it will turn out well!

WEST PLAINS After 10 great days, we went to West Plains to spend 10 more great days with Mom and Dad Mildren (James' parents)...and our cat, Mia! Again, there is not much to report since we just did so much relaxing! Christmas Day at the Mildren house is a fun time, and we especially enjoyed Mom Mildren's cookie-baking.

The Mildren Family

Mark, Lynda, Gabby, James

Our beloved Mia

Our beloved Lynda

SPRINGFIELD New Years Eve was celebrated in Springfield, Missouri, with some more close friends, the Pypers, and our friends Adam and Molly.

Adam, Stan, James

Happy 2009!

KC Then, to end the visit, we spent a few days in Kansas City relaxing with more friends. It was a great break!...but did we mention it was freezing cold?

Friends in Kansas City

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3 White Elephant Parties

6 ridiculous gifts

James' contribution poster to our Guate party

While we were home, we had two white elephant parties, where everyone brings an already-owned gift they don't want anymore and then you trade, steal, and end up with, well, who knows! :) Then back here in Guate, we hosted one. We love white elephant parties because we get to be creative and funny and get rid of our junk we don't want anymore. It's also fun to see what others have been hiding in their house all year!

Side note: The BEST white elephant gift we have ever received was the squirrel toilet paper cover from Jake and Amber, from Amber's grandmother (2007).

White Elephant I: Journey Group Party

Dillon, Cara, Kristin, Pat

Lucky Pat!

I hit the jackpot

This gift was so bad it deserved the fireplace!

White Elephant II: P & C Christmas Party

Aaron is excited about his new mask!

Robert scored the Gallo

Isn't everyone looking to add to their VHS collection?

Mandi can rock that hat in L.A. for 2009

White Elephant III: Guatemala CAG Teacher Party

So many great gifts!

I think Mike brings a mustache to every party...

James has been needing a new cell phone purse

Poor Mike. He just got stamps.

Nina got a "hippy kit" of incense

We can't wait for Christmas 2009!