Boise Brew Minute (episode 26) – For runners, triathletes and other physically active people, finding a great beer that can hydrate and fuel you is difficult. Brian Baker discusses his attempt at making just such a beer and the science that went into it.
A couple weeks ago, I noticed that I was approaching post Number 100. Trying to figure out what I could do to celebrate that milestone, nothing special was coming to mind. Talking with my friend Betsy (check out her blog, What Betsy Bakes) we came up with several ideas but none felt right. Instead, I realized that I’ve geeked out here a few times about physics and engineering, but never really about math. Having studies math (and physics) at university, this seems like an oversight, so for post number 100, here’s a small sample of my math nerdiness.
Anyone who enjoys math must know that last weekend was a very important day. It was Pi Day! This celebration started in the late 1980’s at the Exploratorium in San Fransisco and is observed on March 14 each year (3-14 as long as you write the month first, which may not make sense, but works out well in this case). This year was an extra special Pi Day because not only was it 3-14, but at 9:26:53am we had the first 9 digits of pi aligned. It was very exciting! We had a party.
I have been fascinated by pi since learning about it in sixth grade. In high school, I started to memorize pi. In college I wrote a computer program to calculate pi. I’ve even decided that if/when I get my first tattoo, pi will feature in it. So yeah, I was excited about Pi Day 2015.
We gathered at a friend’s house at 9:00 so we would be ready when 9:26:53.5 came around. We recited pi as far as anyone knew it. For most people this was 3.1415926. I showed off what I remembered from high school which was about 45 digits. Then we toasted with coffee and mimosas, then dug into the pies everyone brought over.
It was a fun gathering and a nice way to celebrate the joy of math. For anyone interested, the rest of the tattoo would be of Euler’s Identity (despite the spelling, it’s pronounced Oiler’s. Knowing this gets you serious math cred).
So, how did you celebrate Pi Day or your 100th post?
Boise Brew Minute (Episode 25) – Bill Weppner joined me to talk with Erik Antink at Heinous Homebrew (and cycles) about his latest Bavarian Wit, a partial mash recipe he created. We also discussed the coffee salted-caramel stout he brewed over the winter and how he got into homebrewing.
The second day in Poland, we wanted to venture out of town. The train ride was very different from what we were used to in Eastern Europe of the UK. The train cars were wider than usual and rather than having individual seats (or even plastic bench seats with individualized divots), there were stainless steel benches. The entire train still had a utilitarian feel. It added to the strangeness of the day trip. We were headed to Auschwitz Concentration Camp.
The experience of visiting a concentration camp, even one that has been closed for over half a century, is powerful. Seeing where people were forced to exist and the belongings that were taken from them was difficult. 
Seeing the collection of human hair and dental fillings that were taken for various uses was painful. It was incomprehensible to imagine being there (in any role) and experience the misery that was perpetrated. The creativity people have when it comes to inflicting humiliation and suffering is disgusting and shameful.
The experience of visiting Auschwitz will stay with me for years and although I would recommend others visit it as well, when I try to describe it here, words seem to leave me.
As we took the utilitarian train back into Krakow, we sat silently for the first half of the ride. We decided we needed to just walk around the city for a while. There was no real destination in mind, just the idea quietly wondering around an unknown city.
Ten minutes into the walk, we rounded a corner and entered a small neighborhood square filled with booths. It was an annual honey festival and people were selling almost anything associated with honey. We sampled several varieties of honey; the diversity of flavor was impressive. We decided to buy a bottle of mead to take home with us. Later when we got home, we translated the label and found one of the ingredients was, according to Babelfish, mangle. Not entirely sure how mangle – verb; to severely mutilate, disfigure, or damage by cutting, tearing, or crushing – could be an ingredient, but when we opened the bottle, there was a fruit fly floating dead on the surface. We decided that mangle must have been the name of the fruit fly and since then, we’ve referred to any fruit fly in or near a beverage as mangle. It’s amazing how much mangle there is at picnics.
We ended the day walking back to our flat along the river trail. There, below the castle was one of the most impressive statues I’ve seen. It was a 15′ tall metal dragon standing on a rock. The best part was that it exhaled fire. In my experience, families rarely gather excitedly near piles of metal that occasionally spew fire. but apparently it’s not that uncommon in Poland.
Boise Brew Minute (Episode 24) – Larry and Rick from 8 Feathers talk about their Moonshine and Corn Whiskey. We discuss the aging of their moonshine which differentiates it from traditional moonshine. Rick also explains how the distilling process is similar to brewing beer.
One of the other interesting aspects of 8 Feathers that we didn’t discuss on the interview was about classes they offer for those looking at starting their own distillery. Additional details about these classes are on their website.
Boise Brew Minute (Episode 23) – Jerry at Crescent Brewing talks about their new coconut porter… but he still won’t tell us how he got the coconut flavor. We also discuss his plans for a new oatmeal stout. He tells me about a pre-prohibition pilsner that was made by the original Crescent Brewing that they brought back a month ago and what got him into brewing.
Some days it’s almost impossible to convince yourself to get out the door on a run. Other days, you’re so excited about running, you get two blocks from the house before realizing you forgot to put on shoes. Today was the second type. The weather is still unusually warm for this time of year. It was sunny and 50-55° (10-12° C). The trails were in good shape as well so when we got to the 6 mile turn off, I decided to keep going with the group doing 8, ignoring whatever training plan I was following.
After our morning runs, our group goes out for coffee, which is the main incentive for getting out the door on difficult mornings. Today, the discussion turned to plans for Spring Break travel. One of the other runners mentioned that she’s headed to Poland to visit her daughter who is there for university. Specifically, they are planning to visit Krakow which was one of my favorite cities to visit in Europe.
Krakow’s central square
Back in 2006, we were still living in Ironbridge, England and taking an occasional trip to Europe. It was so close, it seemed wrong not to travel. We were starting to plan our next trip. We wanted to go to Eastern Europe this time and thought Prague would be fun. Talking with friends who had been, they recommended Krakow, Poland instead. One friend gave us a copy of the Trumpeter of Krakow, a young adult novel set in Krakow in 1462. After reading it and a few guide books about the city, we thought, “Why not?” bought tickets, rented a flat and were on our way.
In the novel, the main character gets a job as the trumpeter in a church clock tower. This clock doesn’t have bells, but rather has someone who plays a trumpet every hour. It sounded wonderfully romantic and we’d heard that it still happened. We arrived, dropped our bags and made it to the main market square around 12:40. Perfect timing to order a coffee at one of the cafes and wait to hear the trumpet play. Sure enough, at 1:00 a slow, melodious tune spilled from the top of the clock tower and ended on a broken note, just like in the novel (according to legend, in 1241 the city was under siege and the trumpeter was hit by an arrow while playing. Since then, the song has been cut short to honor that fallen trumpeter). With the trumpet and the historical square (mostly undamaged in WWII), it was easy to feel as if we’d fallen back through time.
After coffee, we wandered around the square and surrounding alleyways. We were on strict orders to send some Polish pottery to family back in the States so when we found a shop, we went in to look around. A bubbly, smiling woman stood up from behind the counter and came out to help us. At 70+ years old, she moved slowly around the shop, but maintained a youthful exuberance about all the pieces. She excitedly began describing a serving bowl to us, in Polish. Not wanting to interrupt, we waited for a pause and asked if she spoke English. All nods and smiles, she began describing the next piece, still in Polish. We tried a few more times to explain that we didn’t speak Polish, but it was no use. She knew exactly what we needed to hear and something as silly as a language barrier wasn’t going to slow her down. Who knows what she actually said, but she did so with such enthusiasm we left the shop with two pieces of pottery.
We ended the first day back in the market square, relaxing with beers to the sound of the trumpeter playing again on a picturesque night. The Moon rising over the clock tower. If the trip had ended there, it would have been nice, but we had a few more days.
Ironwork and stained glass inside the church with the trumpeter
Boise Brew Minute (Episode 22) – Shane and Terry at Blackbird Brewing talk about the IPA they are looking forward to releasing when they open. They also discuss the joys and challenges of opening a nano-brewery using Kickstarter.
Haff Brewing tasting room
Boise Brew Minute (Episode 21) – Brian at Haff Brewing introduces us to his new brewery and some of their beers. We discuss Sargent Haff IPA and the proceeds of which go to local veterans’ groups. We also talked about their upcoming Valentine’s beer with white chocolate and blueberries.
After Wilson Creek, I took a couple weeks off from running, but my ribs are starting to feel better and I’m running a bit more now. This Tuesday was the first Tuesday in February which means it was time for the Monthly Mile. I missed the January Monthly Mile, so this was my first of the year. I wasn’t planning to push too hard on this run so I left the track spikes at home. I just wanted to get some speed work in to see how everything was feeling.
It had been raining off and on throughout the day so we had a small turn out. There were only four of us who showed up for the mile this month. After a warm up, we toed the line, ready for the mile. I felt pretty good and when we set off, started a bit faster than I probably should have. Oh well, it felt good to go fast again… or really run at all. I completed the first lap in 1:12 but was already realizing that speed was unsustainable for a mile. My ribs were feeling good enough, but it had been too long since I’d run fast. After lap 2, I was still holding on to a 5 minute pace, but by lap 3, that was slipping. I ended at 5:10. Not a bad time by any means, but still 15 seconds slower than my PR.
The next day, my calves were more sore than my ribs, so I took that as a good sign. Hopefully I’ll be able to focus some time on these track workouts again and maybe take another few seconds off my PR this summer. Either way, it’s a much better start to the year of running than my Wilson Creek results and better than I expected. I can’t wait for next month.
If you’d like to join us, we’ll be at the Boise High track at 6:00pm on March 3. I hope to see you then.
A Runner's Ramblings 