Friday, Dec. 26

Hey Everyone...It's wet here... I mean really wet. We've gotten more than 4.5 inches of rain in the last three days. There's a MAJOR storm system over Big Island that is just relentless right now. I had the worst bike ride ever this morning and was soaked from head to toe in less than 1 minute. It got so bad that I couldn't even see across the street. Work was fine today. We are double brewing tomorrow starting at 5:45 a.m. and should finish up around 5 p.m. I'll have Sunday off and then right back to it on Monday. I am also checking out of the Hostel on Dec. 28 and going to stay in a hotel until Jan. 1. They extended my private room through Saturday, but that's the best they could do. Anyhow, I've got a bunch of stuff to do.. Aloha.

Thursday, Dec. 25

Hi Everyone...Merry Christmas. Hope everyone is having a good day with friends and family. The owners of the hostel threw a big party here last night with a band and tons of food and booze. It was alright time and certainly better than having nothing at all to do. The party ended about 11 p.m. and I had consumed quite a bit of Crown Royal and called it a night myself. Things over here have been pretty quiet for me today. It's been raining pretty hard at times, but during a brief stoppage in the downpours, I took a bike ride to the northern part of Hilo and checked things out, found where my bank is, scoped out a few restaurants, etc. I got soaked on the way back, but have taken to wearing board shorts and a rain jacket every time I get on my bike. Getting soaked is no fun, but it's not the worst thing in the world. The only excitement here today was when a completely intoxicated homeless guy stumbled up the stairs, crashed into a table and then went into some one's room and crawled into their bed. It was actually not funny at all and pretty scary. The manager here had to call the cops -- it was a big scene. I got moved into a room with its own bathroom and shower today. It's by far the best room and unfortunately, I can only have it for two days. After that, I was scheduled to go into a dormitory-style room. After the events of today, I have made the decision to get the hell out of here after my time in this room is up. I am already living even further outside of my comfort zone than I already have, trying to save money -- but when I stop feeling safe -- I will start spending money. In addition to the wasted bum, I caught some hippie stealing my bread (we have to keep all of our stuff in a communal refrigerator) yesterday. He said he thought it was every one's bread, despite the huge sign that clearly stated the opposite. I told him that if I ever caught him eating my food again I would break his F*C*I*G neck. He then had the nerve to offer the bread back to me after his dirty, hippie hands were all over it. This experience has been interesting. So, looks like I will be on the move yet again. I have to say, I am getting really, really sick of this temporary displacement bullshit. Time for me to figure this out. Aloha.

Tuesday, Dec. 23

Hi Everyone. I've been pretty busy the last two day and haven't had the time to post anything. I started working in Hilo on Monday and had a pretty good day. First days are always a bit strange and always seem to be somewhat unproductive. When I got there, I met some people and then worked with a guy named Chris who is a brewery assistant to fill some kegs and prep the bottling machine for today. The facility is nice and is a huge upgrade over the place in Kauai. There's more space and a lot more tanks. We are going to be making about 13 different beers pretty quickly here. I will have my first double brew day on Saturday. The rest of week, with the exception of Christmas, will be pretty busy with some labeling and tank cleaning scheduled to fill out the days. Looks like I will be working six days weeks for at least the next month. Outside of work, things are good. The weather has been great, pretty much sunny all the time. I've been riding my bike to work, 2.4 miles each way, and it takes me about 15 minutes to get there. It's a nice ride. We'll see what I think about it when it starts raining. Alright, I going to relax for awhile. I think it's about time for an update from Jessica, don't you?? Aloha.

Sunday, Dec. 21

Hey everyone. Howzit? Well, I flew over to Hilo this morning. Good thing I got to the airport early, cause they cancelled my flight and wanted to put me on an earlier one. So, when I got there, I had 30 minutes before my plane left. You've gotta love little airports, everything moves quickly. After getting here, I checked into the hostel and went and did some grocery shopping. I also got myself a membership at the local gym and then proceeded to have a great workout. Following some lunch, I went down to Hilo Bay and spent some time sitting on a black sand beach enjoying the excellent weather. I start work tomorrow at 10 a.m. and am not sure what the rest of my week will look like. I plan to have some dinner here in a bit and then head down to a local bar for some drinks and jazz music. I will post more tomorrow. Aloha.

Saturday, Dec. 20

Well, today was my last day on Kauai. Although the weather was not the best (cloudy), I went to Kalapaki Beach one last time. I hung out there for a few hours and headed back here to pack up my stuff and tie up some last-minute loose ends. As I mentioned yesterday, I would write about some of things that I've learned while living here for the past six weeks. I think the first thing that I learned here within the first few days is that, "I am not on the mainland anymore. " I know that term "mainland" may annoy some of you, but that's what people here call the continental US. What I mean by this is that the mentality of people who live here is far different than it is in any place I've ever lived before. It's far more laid back here, and by far more -- I mean more so than I ever imagined it would be. I'm all for kicking back and being mellow, but it was a bit much at first. For example, when I would ask a co-worker what time he'd be in to work, I would get this reply "Oh, I'll be in around 10-ish." He'd show up around 11:30 most days. For some reason, folks who live here seem to think they have much more time than they actually do. Maybe they actually do?? But this type of attitude was hard for me to take. At first I felt that it was disrespectful and lazy, but it's really not meant that way. Things move at a much slower pace here, and I am starting to accept that. I guess that it doesn't mean that I have to move at that pace, I just have to realize that some people will. Aside from this experience forcing me to be more independent and do more things on my own, I really think that the last six weeks have taught me a lot about living outside of my comfort zone. I'm pretty particular and normally go to great lengths to make sure everything is up to my "standards." As most know, I'm living in a '76 Winnebago in the brewery's parking lot. Let's put it this way -- I've been using a public bathroom in the parking lot for the past six weeks and it often smells terrible by Tuesday. I've been taking showers in a makeshift shower that is rigged off our water system and connected to our brew house. I have exactly 4.5 minutes to shower before the hot water gives out I've also been sleeping on a marginal quality air mattress since the day I got here. The point of the last few sentences is not to complain or solicit pity, but to illustrate the point that these are things that I've never done before and would have never even considered acceptable. It's way more rustic than what I am used to. But ya know what? I've acclimated myself and gotten accustomed to it all. It feels normal to me to wake up in the middle of the night, open the camper door, stumble into the parking lot and make my way to the public restroom. I'm fine with eating peanut butter sandwiches most nights and having my most comfortable chair be a $6 plastic lawn chair. I think that when Jess gets here and we move into our house, it will be a bit of culture shock. Hopefully I'll be able to handle it and won't need to sleep in the driveway. In closing, I've certainly had my ups and downs. However, I wouldn't change it for anything. I think I'll add this experience to my "character building" column and look forward to the next chapter in Hilo. Aloha.

Friday, Dec. 19

Hey everyone... I posted a short video for you, sorry it's a bit dark. The lighting in here isn't exactly perfect for this sort of thing. Had a good day. I finished washing those old kegs and now they are ready for beer. That was a long, thankless process that I am glad is over. Being a brewer isn't always the most glamorous job, and I think a lot of people think we sit around drinking beer all day. At least for me, that's never been the case. The weather started to clear up here today in the late afternoon. It would be great if my last day on Kauai was nice and I could hit the beach for awhile. I can hardly believe I'm leaving here already. It's been an experience. I've got all my work done and my suitcase is basically packed. I'm pretty much ready for my second one-way Hawaiian-island flight. I've done all my Christmas shopping and to the best of my knowledge, it has all reached its various destination points. We have our address for the house in Hilo that you can start using after Jan. 1. Get in touch with one of us and we'll get you the information. This whole experience has been really crazy at times. I started feeling really comfortable here in Kauai about three weeks ago and now.... well, it's time to change again. For those of you who know me, I am not usually a big fan of such drastic changes. This job and this place has forced me to live way outside of my comfort zone and what I'm normally accustomed to dealing with. At times, I have hated it and felt really uncomfortable. That first night I spent sleeping in the camper in brewery parking lot was rough. I think I slept about 4 minutes that night. Everyone thinks that "It's Hawaii" what could go wrong? I can't argue that it's the most beautiful place I've ever lived and the weather and the beaches and the island-lifestyle-mentality are amazing, but I'm not on vacation here....This isn't a holiday... It's my life now. Tomorrow I am going to write a Kauai wrap up and post some thoughts about Hilo. Aloha.

Thursday, Dec. 18

I was hoping to spend my last few days on Kauai on the beach, but the weather is not cooperating. It's not raining anymore, but is overcast and the water is dirty. So, I've been doing other things. I got up at 5 a.m. this morning and went and did my laundry. I alway seem to have a really bizarre experience every time I go to that place. First of all, the place was packed, I was lucky to get a washing machine. Second of all, the laundromat is pretty run-down and has a third-world charm to it. Lastly, I was the only white person at the place. Before anyone starts calling me a racist, hold on and see where I'm going with this... Never before in my life have I lived in a situation where white-skinned folks are the minority. I've always been part of the majority. It brings about some strange feelings when people stare at you or are completely rude for no apparent reason. Mainly, I just felt uncomfortable and grew tired of the dirty looks. I don't hold any grudges and have met plenty of great local people here. In fact, most people here on Kauai are good people. There's assholes and racist idiots everywhere. I've just never been a minority before. Thinking back on the situation, I'm glad I had the experience, it gives me a deeper perspective on things. After the laundry, I went and worked out and then hit the grocery store for a few things to hold me over until Sunday morning. I've spent the rest of the day cleaning 20-year old kegs. We purchased them years ago from the now defunct Ali'i Brewing Company, which was based on Oahu. Back in the day, Ali'i was the first and only microbrewery on the Hawaiian islands. They were pioneers of craft beer over here. Cleaning these kegs is a tedious and lengthy process. Residue from 20-year-old beer doesn't come off easily. While I doing this, I started thinking about how I was cleaning out the past and making way for the future of Hawaiian brewing. It's good to know that these kegs, for as long as they are in circulation, will have only been filled with Hawaiian-made beer. I think I'm going to take it easy tonight. Hope all is well with everyone. Aloha.

Tuesday, Dec. 16

Hi everyone. Howzit? Doing alright here.. Had a really busy last two days. We tore down a huge portion of the brewery and packed it into a 20 foot shipping container that will be picked up and put on a boat for Hilo tomorrow. Unpacking that thing is going to be a real chore. There's roughly 63,000 lbs of equipment in that thing. Hope it floats. Things here look really different, it hardly feels like a brewery anymore and looks less and less like one each day. The weather here has been crazy again. It rained more than I ever it seen in rain in my life -- anywhere. Downpours so intense that you couldn't see across the parking lot and tons of thunder and lightning. It started raining about 5 p.m. yesterday and didn't stop until 7 a.m. this morning. I just looked it up and in the last four days we've had more than 12 inches of rain. That's like twice as much as I ever saw in a year in Arizona. It was cloudy and hazy today, but didn't rain at all. I am hoping to have some time in the next few days to get ready to move to Hilo, which takes place on Sunday morning. I am excited but also a bit curious as to how things are going to shape up for the first two weeks.. Not having a car or a regular place to live should be interesting. Alright, time to me to sign off. Aloha.

Saturday, Dec. 13

Well, the rain continued all day long today. More than 6 inches has hit the ground in less than two days. Looks like it's supposed to clear up tomorrow, but I am somewhat skeptical. So seeing as it was raining all day, I spent a lot of time working. I pulled everything out of our main storage cooler (more than 400 kegs) with the forklift and then put it all back in there in a different way so I can squeeze 16 more kegs in there tomorrow morning. Other than that, I took care of some housekeeping items and hit the YMCA for a workout earlier in the morning. I just got done listening to the Detroit Red Wings and Phoenix Coyotes game. The Coyotes played strong, but in the end couldn't match the depth of the Wings. It was nice to hear a hockey game and kept me from complete and total boredom. I am going to get up early tomorrow morning and do some kegging and a few other small things around here before going to work out. If it is actually nice out, I am going to the beach to hang out for a bit. I think my tan is starting to fade. At 4 p.m. tomorrow I have to deliver and set up some kegs for a holiday party for a local business. Thankfully, it's right around the corner and shouldn't take me too long. I have the president of the company coming in Monday to spend three days here getting things ready to ship to Hilo. After Wednesday, I am pretty much done on Kauai. I leave for Hilo a week from tomorrow. Alright, it's cocktail time. Aloha.

Friday, Dec. 12

It's been raining like crazy here. And by crazy, I mean non-stop with heavy downpours. In the last few hours, we've gotten almost 3 inches of rain. It's supposed to keep on coming down for a few days. At least it's still warm outside. We wrapped up the final brew at the Kauai facility today, cranking out a batch of our Hapa, a brown ale. The brew went really well and should start fermenting pretty soon. Right now, I am kicking back with a few cocktails and will likely pass out soon. I plan to do some a good deal of cleaning tomorrow, while also getting a workout in and maybe some shopping. I went to the gas station tonight and while i was driving, I noticed a ton of Christmas lights up on people's houses. It actually felt a bit like the holiday season for a moment -- until I realized that I was wearing boardshorts and flip flops. The sacrifices we make to live in Hawaii, right? I'll write more tomorrow, after I've had some sleep. aLOha.

Thursday, Dec. 11

Hi everyone, Howzit? Things are good here. Worked a 15.5 hour day yesterday and had a decent day today as well. We are brewing the final batch at the Kauai facility tomorrow morning. I got up early and worked out and then did some laundry at the local laundry mat. I hate doing laundry in a public place. Other than Jess and Berkley, I really miss sleeping in a real bed and doing my laundry at home. I spent a good portion of the day prepping for the brew tomorrow and am pretty tired, so this post will be short. Some good news from the mainland-- Jess booked her ticket today!! We are officially 5 weeks in to it. She's half way to Hawai'i. Hopefully, she'll post a blog soon (hint, hint). Also, I sent out some Christmas packages today. I am doing my best to make sure you guys get your stuff on time, but a few things may be late. Alright, time for me to get to sleep. Aloha.

Wednesday, Dec. 10

Hey everyone. Howzit? Today was one of those days at work where nothing goes right. A piece of equipment broke just as we were getting ready to use it, so we had to do things differently and I am still ma hana (at work) and have been since 6 a.m. Looking forward to being pau hana (finished with work). Probably going to be another two hours as everything is moving painfully slow. Kinda like watching grass grow in slow motion. We've got some really strong trade winds right now, up to 35 mph gusts. Going to get some rain in the next few days, according to weather forecast. I was eating lunch at the Kalapaki Beach hut in Nawilliwilli yesterday and had the pleasure of sitting next to a couple of tourists from Idaho who really didn't like Hawaii. They actually said that they felt like they were in a third world country. I kept thinking, "Wait a minute, you're from Idaho, right?" Last I checked, Idaho was not exactly the most solid example of a fine-living state. I was shocked, they really hated it and couldn't wait to leave. I know that Hawaii is not for everyone, but I have honestly never heard anyone hate it sooo much. It was strange. I was happy when they finished their Aloha Burgers and hit the road. So, my filter is still going and by going, I mean barely moving. Looks like another few hours. Back to the fun. Aloha.

Tuesday, Dec. 9

Well, no one asked for it, but I thought I would post a small picture of myself just so everyone knows that I am alive, tan and well. Things are good here. It was beautiful today, about 88 degrees and plenty of sunshine. I cranked out my work (cleaned the brew kettle, mash tun and washed about 75 kegs) and then went to the beach for a good portion of the day. If there's one thing I will miss about Kauai it's going to be the beaches. Don't get me wrong, Big Island has some great ones, but these one are second to none. It's great that Kauai is only a 38 minute flight from Hilo in case we feel like visiting from time to time. Speaking of visiting, who's planning their trips? I will toss it out there again -- You get yourself to Hilo for Christmas and I will supply everything else. I'm talkin about a marginal bed in a downtown hostel, where you'll certainly find tons of strange and interesting people. We won't have a car or a private bathroom, but who needs that, right? We can drink ourselves silly at the local bar. I've only got room for one though, first person to contact me is IN. Anyhow, the rest of the week is looking busy. We are going to double filter tomorrow, then I will clean tanks on Thursday before prepping for the last double brew days at the Keoki facility. I also have to squeeze in doing some laundry and getting Christmas presents shipped out to all you land-locked folks. Hope everyone is well. Aloha.

Sunday, Dec. 7

Aloha Kakou. Howzit? Doing alright here. Had a pretty mellow day. Got up and went to work out, then finished up my Christmas shopping before heading back to work to take care of a few quick things. After that, I was all about the beach. The waves were almost non-existent, but it was a beautiful day and perfect for swimming. Several hours later, I headed out for some dinner and haven't been doing too much else since then. I did however do something incredibly stupid though. A little back-story is necessary to understand this. About a month ago, Jessica washed our digital camera in the pocket of her pants. We thought it was broken, so she ordered a new one. Just out of curiosity, she turned the old camera on a few days later and as luck would have it, the damn thing worked fine. So, she shipped it out to me. I finally got around to buying a memory stick for it today and as my luck would have it, I broke the $30 memory stick while putting it in to the card reader to download my pictures from today. Stupid, yeah? Cracked the freakin' thing right in half. This is starting to get expensive. My week looks fairly busy. I am going to clean and prep for kegging on Tuesday. After the kegging, we're going to double filter on Wednesday and then I am cleaning tanks on Thursday before brewing the last double batches on Friday and Saturday. Following that, we're going to tear this place down and then I am off to Hilo. Special thanks to the Walshman for leading the charge on the blog comments, it's much Hoʻomaikaʻi (appreciated). Aloha.

Saturday, Dec. 6

Hey everyone, Howzit? Doing fine here. Still a bit tired from the double brew days, but still managed to have a pretty busy day. I got up at 6 a.m. and went to the YMCA to work out. After that, I cleaned up and went to the mall to do some Christmas shopping. Seeing as I am moving to Hilo soon, I figured that I should probably get the shopping taken care of and out of the way. It takes awhile for packages to get to you folks on the mainland. After a two-hour shopping session, I went back to the brewery and gave a tour to some folks from New Orleans. They were pretty nice, but were the "know-it-all" type. Apparently, they know everything I do and should probably be professional brewers. I might think twice about giving up time on my day off next time. Once I sent them on their way, I jumped in the truck and went to the beach for about three hours. The water was more than refreshing and the sun felt good. The waves on the east side of the island were small today, but the North Shore area was seeing sets at 24-30 feet. There was a picture of a surfer on the front page of the local paper cutting up the face of one these waves, pretty amazing image. I'm getting pretty good on the boogie board, but not good enough to ride waves that big. I've pretty much been bumming around for the rest of the evening, taking naps and eating veggie burgers. I am going to take tomorrow off as well, which will officially mark the first time since moving to Hawaii where I have had two days off in a row. I see myself working out in the morning and then spending the rest of the day at the beach. Oh and by the way, we did lock up our new house in Hilo. It's going to be great and is plenty big for visitors. First people to book their tickets to come see us will get extra special treatment and ocean views. Who's it gonna be? Time for some cocktails....Aloha.

Friday, Dec. 5

Hey-- A post from Jessica!! Good to see the little lady back to bloggin'. I am doing good here, just got done with two big double brew days. These are the second to last for the Keoki facility. We are scheduled to brew the last ones last next week. The brews went well for the most part, although we did have to unclog our heat exchanger after the first set of brews. When you transfer beer from the kettle to the fermenter, the beer is more than 200 degrees. We ferment our beers between 64 and 66 Degrees. So, we cool it down through a heat exchanger. It's cooled down through a series of plates. Well, after you run thousands of gallons of beer through one of these things, they can get clogged up with gunk, such as betaglucans - which are polysaccharides. We ran a chemical loop through the heat exchanger and all is well. Cleaning the heat exchanger out dramatically reduced our transfer time. After we were done brewing, I dropped Dave off at the airport and headed back to start cleaning. I spoke with the President and CFO of our company today after work, and my first official day in Hilo will be Monday, Dec. 22. I have my flight booked and a reservation at the Hilo Bay Hostel through Dec. 31. The women we are renting the home from are going to let me move in with them on Jan. 1. They leave for the mainland on Jan 12, one day before Jess gets here. Alright, it's time for a well-deserved cocktail. Aloha.

I'm back!

Hello Everyone and Anyone! I'm here. I hope you are well. So many things have happened since I last wrote...let's see if I can break it down. I don't even recall when my last post was, but, I'll give you some highlights. So, I found Samson the turtle a new home, in Clarkdale, AZ. This is a picture just as he enters. And really, I might as well be honest about this: Samson is a female. I found out late in the game. The name should probably be Samsonette. You can tell by the length of the nails on the front feet. If they are long and sort of yellowish translucent, they are male. If the are short and black, female. Samsonette: short and black. Nonetheless, it was much more filled with emotion than I ever expected. We've had a long haul, many states and it's been fun. I've always promised her that she would have a sweet outdoor pond..so, this is the least I could do. AND, she has roommates. 2. I think she'll be very happy.

After that...hmm, well, I hiked..it was Fay Canyon, and it was amazing. Check it: picture here. Additionally, I'm pretty sure I heard a mountain lion kill and drag a coyote. Very strange. Exhilarating even. We ended up high tailing it out of there. Then there was Thanksgiving. I hope everyone had a great turkey. I sure did. It was actually a dough pouch filled with potato and cheese, commonly known as the perogie..my mother made it, and it was amazing. Wish I had a picture of that. And a plate of it too. Here is the lovely tree we decorated on Thanksgiving Night. In addition to having a great time with David and our Mother, they both crushed me in Scrabble multiple times. A lovely time also with my Gram, Uncle John and Rachael and Lauren. But, about this scrabble, I don't even know if I could put you through the torture of telling you the score. It might distort your image of "intelligent Jessica"...ha! I'll admit it: I think my low score was a 37. First game ever. Also, I must brag: I just made a 32 point score on virtual scrabble. Qualm. So, I returned to Lonely Little Sedona, work..to a back ache to beat the band. Doctor's appointment and all. Physical therapy next week. I'm going to work through this in a jiffy. Happy holidays. Love you cats.

Wednesday, Dec. 3

Hey everybody. Howzit? Doing fine here. Had most of today off, which was really nice. Tomorrow we start back to back double brew days. I will have Saturday off and then do two more back to back doubles on Sunday and Monday. We're getting close to closing the Kauai facility down, so we need to fill the tanks and build up our inventory for the transition period. Every tank in the house will be full giving us nearly 200 BBLS of beer, which is a pretty decent amount. Although we haven't heard from Jessica on the blog in a really long time, I can assure you she's doing well and had a nice visit with her family in PA over Thanksgiving. She's also really looking forward to getting over here and starting life in Hawai'i. Other than that, not much else is going on -- just a lot of work and not nearly enough time on the beach. Maybe next week. Aloha.

Monday, Dec. 1

Hey everyone. Howzit? Doing fine here. Had a pretty busy day today. We double filtered batches of our Sunset and Gold Ales. They are nice and clean and tasting good. We've been refining the hop additions in the beer for the last two batches and I think we're pretty close to nailing down a perfect balace of malt and hops. Hawaiian beer drinkers, not unlike you folks on the good old mainland, are pretty particular. If a beer is too hoppy or dark, etc -- they just won't drink it. So, we've got to pay attention to our market. At the same time, we've got to produce and make beers that we can stand behind as well. Well, I got the official word today....I start my first day of work in Hilo on Dec. 22. In addition to working with Hawai'i Nui Headbrewer Dave Campbell, I will be working with Calvin Shindo, brewer and General Manager, of Mehana Brewing Company. I am pretty excited to get over to Hilo and start learning my new system. I've got the majority of this one down, but things will be different on the Big Island. The owners of the house we are renting are moving back to the mainland on Jan. 12, but have offered to let me stay in the house starting Jan. 1. Looks like I'll be back in the Hilo Bay Hostel for a week or so. I certainly hope Claude and Veeder are long gone by then. I heard that it's snowing back in Michigan. Does anyone know a good remedy for a sunburn? Aloha.