Secret Santa '09

[Bigbrews]

I hope whomever name I draw is a hop head. Three of the four beers I have to send are quite hoppy. The forth, my Christmas Double Alt is a malt bomb

[Ozwald]

Here at 7500 feet in Colorado it's -21 tonight, and I'm in the garage brewing! With the kettle going it's a balmy 12 degrees inside the garage. With the Christmas ale I've been drinking (included in my secret Santa offering) it's about 104 inside me. Long underwear, Carhart bib, hat, gloves, and joy.

I mashed inside near the fire, though, so as not to lose heat. My wife thinks I'm crazy, but it's nothing but crying babies inside, so I'm feeling pretty good.

I haven't even been watching the night temps. -40F at noon tells me that I don't really need to know

[twodogsbrewing]

Ok guys, the deadline is TOMORROW! Since winter has gotten pretty brutal here, I'm required to be on the mountain all day again tomorrow (it was -40F today, probably colder tomorrow) So the noon deadline is pushed back to whenever I get back home, sometime in the evening. I have to go in around 4am, so there's a very, very slight possibility they'll let me go around 3 or 4 in the afternoon, but I seriously doubt it. Plan for 8 or 9pm, mountain time. I'm sure I'll be half-frozen & exhausted from working outside in those conditions for that long, so I doubt I'll get to do the real drawing until Thursday morning, unless I get called in again in which case I'll have to do it Thursday evening.

Dude, take care of yourself first. We appreciate you doing this, but don't kill yourself. We can wait a day or two.

Oh, and as for the weather, sorry to tell the rest of the army that the Southenmost Soldier in the COntinental United States woke up to 78 degrees this morning, sunny and nice. South Florida does have ONE redeeming quality, not sure if nice weather is worth living in the beer wasteland of America, but its just too damn cold anywhere else!

Now that I've rubbed that in, stay warm brothers, and brew strong (and warm)!

TwoDogs

[Dirk McLargeHuge]

Highs in the 50s today as a cold front comes through. Wearing shorts to work today. Lows in the 30s, then highs in the upper 60s by the weekend.

I don't know how people deal with temps like you're talking about.

Bottling some beer this weekend, so I'll have quite a bit to choose from.

[greglovesbeer]

Dude, take care of yourself first.....

Agreed. But make sure to wash your hands when you're done.

Thanks again for all the hard work.

[Ozwald]

I appreciate the thanks, but the thanks goes to all of you. Without everyone's participation this whole thing wouldn't have happened. Cheers everyone!

I took care of myself & wiped it on my ... that was what I was supposed to do, right? After all that, I finished drawing names. Watch your email & you should receive your info by Monday at the latest.

It was also brought to my attention that some people may not know the proper way to ship bottles of beer. I don't have a link to any tips besides what's been brought up on the Session. If anyone with some experience has a list of tips or a link to a thread, feel free to post. Thanks again everyone, happy holidays.

[Ozwald]

Another point was brought to my attention, "When should we ship our gifts?" Personally, I'm going to be sending mine out next week. I want my gift to arrive in time for the recipient to enjoy during the holidays... hence 'Secret Santa'. If you're going to be out of town or otherwise unable, the soonest you are reasonably able.

[Sent From My iPhone]

There are a lot of post on the forum about how to package and ship beer. Here are a couple:

http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=11577&hilit=shipping+beer+packing
http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=12572&p=125222&hilit=packing+bottles+for+shipping#p125222
http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=16352&hilit=bubble+wrap