Boise Brew Minute (episode 59) – Kevin at Tioga-Sequoia Brewing in Fresno, California, talks about the mashing process, the “brewers’ window” and how grain starches get turned into sugar for the yeast. We also discuss how different mash temperatures impacts the flavor of beers at Tioga-Sequoia.
Boise Brew Minute (episode 58) – Ian at Payette Brewing talks about getting extra color, flavor and alcohol into the big beers being released for Black Friday. We also discuss BJCP, the Beer Judging Certification Program, which lists the main styles and substyles of beer. Anyone can get certified as a beer judge and the best get invited to judge events around the world.
Boise Brew Minute (episode 57) – Brian at Haff Brewing discusses hop utilization or how efficiently the bitterness is extracted from the hops during the boil. We also chat about how recipes must change when transitioning from home brew to commercial brewing to compensate for improved hop utilization.
Boise Brew Minute (episode 56) – Zack at County Line Brewing talks about fruit beers, specifically their Raspberry Brown ale. The berries are local and are in the fermenter within 90 minutes of being picked. Putting the berries directly in the beer is a different approach than we heard about a few weeks ago at Hi-Fi Brewing where they use tinctures. Zack explains why they opted to go this route.
Before my trip to Saudi Arabia, I was looking for information about running here and found very little. I’m still no expert but in the three runs I’ve done, I already learned a lot. Hopefully this will be helpful to others making a trip here.
Need water? Bring cash and buy a bottle on your run.
The first thing most people told me about running in Saudi Arabia is that no one does it. I was told (and read online) that the Saudis don’t really exercise much and that running, in particular, is almost completely unheard of. Need water? Bring cash and buy a bottle on the run.I’m in a very different place than that. By luck, my hotel is close to Tahlia Walkway which is a great place to walk or run. Tonight there were hundreds of people out. Most were families or groups of friends walking but there were also groups and individuals running. The whole thing is about 4km long with benches and even a chin-up bar. Every 100m or so, there’s a cooler with bottled water and a money box asking for 1 SAR per bottle. As long as you’re not hoping to run a sub-20 minute 5k, there will be people out there at your ability level.
Next, don’t wear shorts. This advice came up many times with some people saying you can get away with 3/4 length shorts but even that would raise eyebrows. My first run here, I went out in track pants at 11:00pm. It was still way too hot for full trousers, even light-weight ones. Luckily the next day I drove past Tahlia Walkway. There were many people out running in knee-length or just-above-the-knee shorts. With that encouragement, my next two runs were in my “long” running shorts which come down to about my knee and so far, no one has complained.
Finally, it’s hot and humid here which impacts your running. Not a big surprise, this one’s completely true. Not much to be done about this but keep it in mind. With a breeze on each of my runs, it hasn’t felt too bad until I stop and realize I’m drenched. I’m also going a bit slower.
I’ve been told that Riyadh is a very different picture so I would investigate more if you’re going somewhere else in Saudi. So far, the running in Jeddah has been much better than I’d feared. Have you run there? Add any advice you’d give people visiting the city in the comments below and have fun running.
It’s time for another trip. This time I’m going to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and I leave in less than 20 hours. They are starting four new science centers in the country and are looking for training in informal and non-formal education techniques. I’ll be over there for about a week and plan to post photos and stories while I’m there. Here’s a quick update on the progress so far.
This trip was first discussed about a year ago, but the plans fell through. Talk began again in May or June with the plan to go over in August. Since I’d been down this road once before, I was happy to meet and discuss the training, but wasn’t convinced it was going to happen. As expected, the August training got pushed back to September, then early October, before settling on November 1 – 5.
When I went to Abu Dhabi five years ago, I thought it strange that my ticket wasn’t purchased until 36 hours before I was schedule to fly out. That seemed like cutting things a little close. Turns out, that might be standard operations for business travel to the Middle East. Although my ticket was purchase almost six days before I fly out, I still don’t have my passport back from the embassy with my visa. I’ve been told not to worry. It’s being overnighted from California and will arrive within the hour… We’ll see.
I’ve tried to learn a few Arabic phrases and I suspect one will be more useful than all the other combined on this trip. I have no idea how it’s actually spelled, but it’s pronounced “mafi mush-kalla”. It means “no problem”. While on the Night Train in Kenya, a bunch of us from different countries discussed this concept. No worries; don’t sweat it; hakuna matata; she be right; it’s all good. Now I’ve got one more to add to the list. Considering many of the materials they are supposed to have for the training have not yet arrived (or the wrong parts were ordered), I suspect this phrase will get a lot of use.
Well, time to pack. Then go see if my passport has arrived back in Boise yet. I’m looking forward to an exciting trip.
Boise Brew Minute (episode 55) – Kombucha is growing in popularity and Mike with Idaho Kombucha tells us a bit about the drink. We discuss how it’s made, what differentiates kombucha fermentation from beer fermentation and how to flavor it.
Boise Brew Minute (episode 54) – Dave at McCall Brewing Company talks with us about unfiltered beer and why they opted not to filter their brews. We discuss how filtering impacts flavor as well as what they have to do to achieve similar levels of clarity to filtered beers. Finally we talk about their coconut porter and how the coconut oil improves the mouthfeel of the beer.
Boise Brew Minute (episode 53) – Ryan at Hi-Fi Brewing in Redmond, WA talks about flavoring beer. How do you get just the right amount of spice in a pumpkin beer to remind you of pumpkin pie but not overpower the beer flavor? We hear how he does it and how they use this technique to create Voodoo Chai Brown Ale.
A Runner's Ramblings 