Big Shave 2012

Wow, it’s been a LONG time since we’ve blogged.  We’ve just about given up blogging for Twitter (see @ryanmaple and @christimaple for our feeds) but every so often, something comes around that you just can’t summarize in 140 characters.

It’s that time of year again, folks: #bigshave2012!

I’ve been growing the beard since July and, quite honestly, it’s beginning to annoy me.  Couple that with the fact that it’s been an unseasonably warm winter, and the urge to shave it — and move on — has overtaken the urge to see how long I can grow it.   I haven’t done a big shave contest in a while (you can see the last one in 2009 here), and I haven’t brewed in a few weeks, so I thought I’d have one this year.  You can see my current beard (photo was taken the morning of Sunday, January 15th) in the photo to the left — click on it to get a high-res version.

So, without further adieu, here are the contest details!

Right before I shave or on January 21st, whichever comes first, Christi will pluck (with relish!) ten (10) random hairs, solely at her discretion, from my face.  These hairs will be set aside for judging.  She will measure all ten of them, in millimeters, then calculate the average length.  This average length is what you all will be guessing.

Each person is entitled to one (1) guess.  This guess may be provided in whatever measurement you want, but it will be converted into millimeters for the purposes of judging.

The prize is 2.5 gallons — half a batch — of #homebrew and, of course, bragging rights. I’ll brew whatever the winner wants, within reason (must be an ale, and something I can brew with my equipment), and will bottle and ship it to them at my expense.

Your guess must be submitted, via email, to bigshave@mapletrees.com, by 9am on Saturday, January 21st. Christi is the judge, and her judgement is final. She will resolve all conflicts and questions.

Ben Thomas (@ibackupyourshit) is the defending champion, and he can attest to the quality of the homebrew.  The 2009 contest was a success, but let’s make this year’s even better!  Spread this contest around to anybody you know who likes beer, or facial hair.  The more the merrier!

Leave questions and notes in the comments below.  Please do NOT put any guesses there — you don’t want to help out anybody else, do you?

Lastly, I may shave before January 21st (maybe today, maybe tomorrow, we’ll see) but that doesn’t change the terms of this contest.  Good luck, everybody!

Christmas in Paris 2010

Happy New Year Everybody!

As most of you know, @christimaple and I were in Paris for Christmas this year… this trip was a present to Christi for her 30th birthday.  Heavily edited digital photos of the trip may be found on my Picasa page... I’m eager to know what y’all think, so don’t be shy and leave a comment!

Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone is having a great Halloween! Ryan and I spent the morning raking leaves…and more leaves… and more (we collected 10 bags today). Added to the seven bags that weren’t picked up from last week and aligned across the curb out front of our house and it looks like we’re creating a walled fortress out there!

This afternoon we’ve been relaxing with some football and watching the kids come by for trick-or-treating. I want to know, though, when kids stopped saying “Trick or Treat!”? We’ve probably had about 30 kids total – enough to dole out four bags of candy – which seems a little low. It’s now 5:10 pm and we haven’t had a single ghoul or ghost or princess come to our door in the last half hour. Is it over? When did trick-or-treat time become a daytime activity? Even last year, when Halloween was on a Saturday, the kids were out during the afternoon. Is this the norm now?

Well, November 1 is knocking at the door, which means Thanksgiving will soon be here (my favorite holiday) and Christmas will show up swiftly.  If you haven’t heard, I’m super-excited for Christmas because that’s when I’ll get to use my 30th birthday gift – a trip to PARIS!

Party for Benny, Michelle, and Michael

Had an awesome time at the pool yesterday to celebrate Benny’s graduation from High School, Michelle’s Confirmation (albeit a little bit belated), and Michael’s graduation from Middle School.  Congrats to all!

I didn’t bring my camera and used this party as an opportunity to shoot and edit everything on my iPhone 4.  Here is the movie I cut up, again, entirely on my iPhone using the iMovie app.  The A4 processor made this exercise a total breeze, taking just under 20 minutes.  It’s quite incredible that the technology is here to do this entirely on your phone, potentially while the event is still going on.

Anywho it’s a bit big (1280×720), and entirely HD, so it may take a while to download.  If you want a copy just right-click on the link above and use “Save as…” to save a copy to your local system.  The raw pictures are also up in my Picasa gallery.

I’ve also posted it to YouTube and MobileMe but, quite honestly, they both look like crap compared to the high-res version above.

Enjoy!

Maple Auction #2

Next item up is….

… a tea press from Bodum. Place loose tea leaves into the stainless steel filter, pour in hot water and allow the leaves to steep through to the glass pot. When the tea has reached the desired strength, push down the plunger to stop the brewing.

Tea press available for giveaway is packed in its original box.

Maple Auction #1

First item up is…

…a pen from Tiffany & Co.. The clip is shaped into the letter “T” and the entire pen made of sterling silver. Original box and fabric pouch available.

Remember, if you want it, you must leave a note in the comments saying so. First person to request the item in the comments gets it!

Check back again this week… hint, hint.

“One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.”

Said by…. unknown.

I’m getting a head start on spring cleaning as Ryan and I need to organize our garage and buy some shelving, so today I went through all the items we set aside for eBay (this eBay pile has been gathering since 2005 and we have yet to set up an eBay account). Instead, we’ve decided to offer these items to our nearest and dearest – YOU! – totally gratis. Some items originally retailed for about $400 and others are probably only $20-$30.

I was going to start the trend of Freebie Friday but I truly think it’s better to just offer these items whenever we have a chance… an e-auction, if you will. So check back to this site often, because it’s first come, first serve.

The rules: Either of us will post a description and photo (or two) of the item randomly during the week. The first person to leave a comment on that post can claim the item. We’ll try to deliver it to you as soon as possible, but we might just hold on to the item until the next scheduled time to meet.

Hope you all get a kick out of this… and enjoy our goodies!

#26: Dubbel 1.0

Brewed this Belgian Dubbel on February 13, 2010 (90 minute boil).  Featured ingredients are .75lb of Belgian Candi Sugar and .5lb of Uncle Ron’s honey.  The WLP530 (which I re-pitched into a Tripel a few weeks later) had a field day on the complex sugars and after an extra week of fermentation I had gotten 85% attenuation.  The resulting flavor is very fruity (dark fruits, such as prune and currant) so if fruityness is not your thing, you may not like this beer, but I feel it’s totally within style.

It was entered into 2010 National Homebrew Competition and will be entered into the 2010 Sam Adams Longshot Competition.  I’ll update this space with how it does!

OG: 1.076, FG: 1.011, ABV: 8.5%, SRM: 28, IBU: 20

#25: Foreign Extra Stout 1.0

So really, we’re going to start blogging again… promise.  To kick it off, here is a page for one of my latest beers.  I’ll be doing this for every beer and asking you, my audience of tasters, to leave comments below with your opinions of it.  I want to hear if you love it or hate it and, if you can articulate it, why you love it or hate it.  I’ll try to keep each page as up to date as possible.

Picture coming soon.

Brewed this beer on January 2, 2010 to kick off the new year.  It’s, as it’s name implies, a Foreign Extra Stout (13D).  Very dark in color and a wonderful, roasty, flavor.  I aged this beer in my Dad’s 5 gallon french oak barrel, after he conditioned his Zinfandel in it.  It took on a lot of the Zinfandel, which you can clearly taste in the finish.

It was entered into 2010 National Homebrew Competition in both the 13D (Foreign Extra Stout) and 23 (Speciality Beers) categories.  I’ll update this space with how it does!

OG: 1.085, FG: 1.011, ABV: 9.7%, SRM: 36, IBU: 40

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Is this really the first post on our site of the new year? It’s March…already!

Did we mention that we went to San Diego and San Francisco last year? It was a great vacation and we had lots of fun. We started our trip in San Diego, in town to celebrate Dennis and Lisa’s wedding. The wedding was beautiful taking place on a paddle boat in the Santa Barbara Cove in Mission Bay. It was a beautiful, emotional wedding and a fun, festive reception. We spent a few days in San Diego with Jason & Jess and Rob & Becky, taking in the sights, then went to San Francisco for a few extra days. Ryan took advantage of being on the west coast to explore local breweries (we called this his beer-cation) and together with Rob & Becky we saw Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge, Haight/Ashbury, Fisherman’s Wharf and other sites. It’s a beautiful city and we experienced beautiful, sunny weather. One day, Ryan and I took a two-hour Segway tour in San Fran that took us all over the city. It was a blast and we recommend to anyone, in any city that offers tours, to experience the fun!

Since then, we’ve celebrated the holidays, I’ve lost my job, Ryan received an interim promotion at his, we spent time with friends for a long weekend in the Poconos (and then helped demolish the kitchen up there), I took a trip to Charlotte for my cousin’s baby shower and most recently we celebrated Ryan’s birthday. Our third wedding anniversary is coming up so we’ll be celebrating again at the end of the month.

Ryan’s still brewing and I’m sure he’ll write a big post about his accomplishments, including his 1st place win at a recent competition for his Oatmeal Stout. It received that recognition within the “Sweet, Oatmeal and Foreign Extra Stout” category and then was entered into the “Best in Show” category, where he placed 5th! I’m so proud of him, because this was the second biggest competition on the East Coast with over 800 entries!

Enjoy your St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, be safe and happy, and check back here soon for more updates!