We recently had a pic-post thread for GLBT forum members.

[MNBrewer]

As part of getting to know eachother better, I'm curious about our hobbies.

Mine:

Homebrewing
Beer Judging
Gardening
Playing French horn
Mycology

[Jamastiene]

1. For me, nowadays, it's Runescape.

It is my one luxury I allow myself. Other than that, I've had to put a lot of my hobbies on hold due to budgeting.

I still love my guitars, but don't get to play them very often any more. And there is always my cats to dote on and spoil as rotten as I can. And yes, they are spoiled rotten, so, apparently, I've been doing that hobby a lot too. :P

[IndianaGreen]

77. Oh, my GAWD!

My 16-year old is totally addicted to that stupid game. He coordinates strategy with his friends. I swear that the only time he gets off his chair is to go to the bathroom.

[marimour]

81. ok me too!

I love that game, and I cant believe I actually paid the money to be a member. My name is the same as here. add me as a friend!

[JeffreyWilliamson]

2. Being a total DU nerd...

...I read threads here way too much for my own good.

I also fix old computers and give them to families that can't afford one.

[MNBrewer]

4. That's really cool!!!

[DarkTirade]

3. Fellow homebrewer here, I brew mead.

REAL mead, not that sweet white wine with honey crap they sell in stores.

I'm a classically trained musician, and self-taught in some of the more modern styles. My main instruments were classical violin and rock guitar, but I've also done voice, renaissance music, ect.

When I was younger I wanted to be a writer. Unfortunately while my writing skills and my creative mind are good enough, my storytelling skills SUCK. So I kinda lapsed on that pursuit. :)

I'm a geek, generally of the sci-fi variety, but I'm fairly well versed in many forms of nerdery. I used to make pen and paper RPGs, although mostly I designed those just to flesh out universes that I could write my stories in. I haven't done any of that lately either.

I learned to program in BASIC in 3rd grade, and as an attempt to combine that with my love of writing music scores, plus the fact that I grew up being the only poor kid who didn't have a Nintendo in an area full of middle/upper middle class kids who had Nintentos, SNESes and Segas, I have dabbled in http://www.stickmanltd.com/breakinvaders2.html">amateur video game design. Unfortunately my programming knowledge is a bit behind the times, so I'm using gamemaking programs at the moment.

I'm currently back in school after having dropped out halfway through last time. Lack of money. Last time I was a violin major, I wanted to switch to composition. This time I'm just doing liberal arts so I can finish my 2 year degree, then I'll figure out what I'm going to take after that.

In general, I just like to make stuff. Hence the writing, mead, video game design, music, ect. I've also dabbled in leatherwork, chainmail and I used to make and sell http://www.stickmanltd.com/cheapsabers/newcustom.html">prop lightsabers.

[MNBrewer]

5. Sweet (no pun intended)

I have a couple of meads going now. One sweet, one dry. Plus a cyser and a braggot.

then there's 6 batches of beer... all in all about 45 gallons at the current moment.

[DarkTirade]

6. I've got four batches of mead going right now, and I need to try and find

one particular honey so I can get another batch of my winter brew going.

My fall's a cinnamon cyser. Winter I use the thickest honey I can find and add six ounces of molasses per gallon for an extra kick, then add a bit of ginger and a few other gingerbread-type spices. That way both are already spiced and ready to be mulled, but have that nice bit of oomph when cold too. :) Still haven't decided on a spring though, and I only have a rough idea of what I want to do for my summer. Right now I have two batches of winter and two of fall. I just bottled both the winters. One was my very first, brewed in a plastic jug and not glass, so it's got a bit of a funky aftertaste. The other is MUCH better, but needs some aging time.

For the hell of it I just got the ingredients to do a small batch of capsicumel. Sweet mead with two kinds of hot pepper. :evilgrin: I think I'm gonna call it 'Loki's Helfire'.

[MNBrewer]

9. someone brought a chipotle mead to the last MN Homebrew Ass'n meeting

It was pretty hot! I took a few sips and that was plenty!

What kind of honey are you looking for?

What part of the country do you live in?

[DarkTirade]

18. Right now I'm in upstate NY

and I'm looking for one particular brand. I've got the jar around here somewhere... Golding Farms was the company. I think it's called 'Mountain Ridge honey' or something like that. It's regular wildflower honey, so it doesn't have any particular taste like buckwheat or anything like that, but it's almost as thick as buckwheat. It makes for an interesting deep red color. I found it at a SuperTarget when I lived in Orlando, FL. Unfortunately I haven't found it anywhere here.



If I can't find it in stores around here then I'll just order a case online. A case should make a good 3-5 gallons of mead, depending onhow I tweak the recipe. :)

[MNBrewer]

19. Wow... what a beautiful color!

So far, I've just used Costco clover honey, but it makes a really nice mead.

A friend has made an orange blossom honey mead with tarragon that's really really nice!

[DarkTirade]

31. I was thinking about doing orange blossom honey with citrus and maybe cloves

for my summer mead. Since I started brewing back when I lived in Florida, it seemed appropriate. :) I still need to come up with names for them all too. 'La Florida' would probably work for the summer. Maybe just a simple 'Spicy Cyser' for my fall and 'Hearty Winter' for my winter.

No hurry though. I'm not planning on marketing anything anytime in the near future. :)

[MNBrewer]

38. I'd like to do the star anise/black cardamom mead with buckwheat honey.

[DarkTirade]

41. That would make for some fairly interesting (i.e. strong) flavor.

:P

Personally I don't like anise, so I've never brewed with it. For some reason all the little seeds like that just bother my sense of taste/smell, not sure why. Can't stand carroway either. :shrug:

[MNBrewer]

48. Cardamom

Black Cardamom

Has the smell of menthol, smoke and tobacco. With a LITTLE bit of anise and the strong buckwheat honey, I think it would be a very masculine mead. I think of it as liquid viagra hehe.

WOUld need to be a sipper though. Not a quaffer.

[DarkTirade]

49. If aged long enough to mellow the anise out, I'm sure I'd like it.

:)

[Vanje]

50. Mead, huh?

I work with sheep. Theres a big sheep outfit that I travel to to help with some veterinary work. Each time I visit, the host gives me a big jar of honey from his own bees.
It keeps accumulating.
I bet I have 10 lbs of it.

I should make mead!

Do you need special supplies?

[MNBrewer]

52. Not TOO special.

If you live near a homebrew store, they should have what you need. If not, PM me and I can send you the website of the store where I work.

[DarkTirade]

54. All I can say from my own experience is

brew in glass. Not plastic. :)

[MNBrewer]

57. Given the time involved, I would agree.

Glass is gas-impermeable, whereas the plastic buckets are ok for beer (3 weeks max), glass is definitely preferable for meads.

[DarkTirade]

59. That, and I made the mistake of brewing in really CHEAP plastic the first few test batches.

Left a nasty aftertaste.

[LostinVA]

62. I expect a delivery via UPS in a few months

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

12. Mmm...we love mead

Your winter mead sounds delicious. I wish I could try it.

[MNBrewer]

13. It can be really nice

but a little bit goes a long way with me. I'm definitely a malt-based beverage guy. Although Honey does make a great fermentable!

One mead I'm doing is herbed with lemon thyme, the other I have planned to spice with star anise and black cardamom.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

15. I'd love to get into homebrewing

But I've got so much going on now as it is.

[MNBrewer]

17. Homebrewing needs more women! I keep trying to recruit ladies into it.

It's definitely a male dominated hobby, but the women that I know that are into it are really good brewers. The prez of the Minnesota Homebrewers Association is a woman. We say I'm her "gay boyfriend".

it's actually pretty easy, and lots of fun. I work on Sundays at a homebrew store here in Minneapolis. I get a sweet discount :)

[lightningandsnow]

27. I'd totally love to make mead.

Or other forms of yummy beverages.

Unfortunately, I'm not of the legal drinking age yet.

[MNBrewer]

32. Psssssst.

In MN the ingredients aren't taxed (as they're food). Perfectly legal to purchase the ingredients. No ID checks. Not that I'm encouraging you to break the law, mind ya!

[lightningandsnow]

34. I'd be popular.

A high schooler making their own booze.

:rofl:

[DarkTirade]

37. Honestly, I'm surprised more high schoolers don't realize that.

:P

[MNBrewer]

39. The making, and certainly, the consumption is probably not legal

But when we check ID at the store, it's only to verify the credit card, not the age of the purchaser.

[DarkTirade]

53. She's in Canada, isn't the drinking age 18 there?

So if she started now and let it age until her next birthday, voila! She'd be old enough to drink. :P

[lightningandsnow]

60. Only in Quebec.

It's 19 everywhere else.

However, I might go to university in Ottawa next year. Which is close enough to Quebec. :P

[DarkTirade]

61. Ah.

So get the really good ingredients, age it for two years. Then it's a fancy mead. :P

[DarkTirade]

35. Beverages might be illegal for you to buy...

but honey, water, yeast and nutrients aren't. :evilgrin:

[Vanje]

55. Well then! You make it....I'll drink it.

Problem solved!

[DarkTirade]

20. That's the nice thing about mead vs. beer.

Beer-making is a lot more involved. More equipment, gotta keep an eye on it. With mead, you just put it all together in a carboy or something. Let it brew. Check on it every now and then. Then when its done, put it in another carboy and let it age. Check on it every month or so. :P

I might get into beer at some point, I can't stand most storebought beer. I'd love to try my hand at making a braggot too. But I'm not gonna try it until I have the time and energy to invest in it.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

22. LostinVA has officially announced she wants me to start brewing mead

That's just because it's one of the few alcoholic things she really likes.

[DarkTirade]

24. I've just got one bit of advice before you start...

http://www.gotmead.com

It's a great resource. :) I haven't used any of the recipes there, but I did get a lot of basic information before I even got started.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

25. LostinVA actually already knew that site apparently

She used it trying to find a local meadery.

[MNBrewer]

36. Beer's not that hard.

I always say, if you can boil water, you can make beer.

[DarkTirade]

40. It does take more attention and a little more work over a shorter period of time, though.

It's kinda like comparing baking bread to cooking meat. With the meat, you can just plop it in the over and baste it now and then, you can marinate or add spices/sauces if you want, but with baking you have to get it all together and ready ahead of time. With cooking, you don't have as much prep work, but you can leave the kitchen and come back a while later to check on it. With baking you do the prep work and as long as you don't lose track of time, it'll usually come out right. :P

[MNBrewer]

42. True.

Neither is particularly difficult. Like bread making, beer making used to be a common household activity.

[DarkTirade]

43. Yes, but now we live in a consumer society.

When I told some of my co-workers at my last job that I was home-brewing, 90% or the responses were, "Why? Can't you just go to the liquor store?" and the other 10% were, "... is that even legal?"

:banghead:

[MNBrewer]

46. Well, it wasn't legal until the Cranston Act was signed into law by Jimmy Carter

Which is why every meeting of the MN Homebrew club starts with a toast to Jimmy!

The beer/mead, etc is fresher, PLUS, it's a hobby....if your hobby was gardening and you never touched anything, just had your gardener do everything, it wouldn't be much of a hobby would it?
:)

[DarkTirade]

47. Exactly.

It's like the football fanatics who spend hundreds of dollars on all the sports channels... but can't spend 20 bucks on a damn football. :P

[LostinVA]

21. How about a lavender mead for Spring?

Your cinnamon cyser sounds DELICIOUS, as does your Winter. I looooove mead, and I loooove gingerbread.

We had mead as the toast drink at our wedding. A semi-sweet traditional mead from Magpie Meadery.

[DarkTirade]

23. Originally I was thinking about going with a fruit thing,

but then I realized I already had fruit for my fall and I was planning on doing something with citrus for my summer, so that might be a bit too much.

On the other hand, I LOVE blackbery and I think it could make for an interesting semi-dry mead. Hmm. Dilemma. :dilemma:

[LostinVA]

26. I like blackberry, too -- I think I should be your official taster

If you were closer to the NJ border, I would be!!!

[DarkTirade]

28. Well, if I find myself with a particularly good product in the near future

I'll probably start looking for investors who'd want to help me make a real business out of it.

I love living up here. Not only are there four seasons to celebrate, there are also basements that stay a nice constant temperature year-round that I can age my brews in. :) And we're in the middle of wine and cider country here, and there are several small beer brewerys around here too. So the atmosphere is really ripe for the picking. One of the local wineries here makes their own 'mead', but it's that cheap white wine + honey crap. Not real mead.

[LostinVA]

29. Haruka's stepdad brought us some fake mead back from Ireland

EEK!

[DarkTirade]

30. Bunratty?

You can buy that one here in the states... it's the only one that I can't quite classify as 'cheap white wine with honey added'... because it's okay white wine with honey and some spices added. :P I still can't stand it though.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

45. Yeah, it was Bunratty

It's still sitting in the cabinet. I got it about two years ago.

[DarkTirade]

51. I'm just wondering if they can honestly call it mead... (or in Bunratty's case, meade)

when the honey hasn't been fermented.

There are plenty of uber-sweet meads out there. Just try any Polish mead. They've got some that have a 1:1 honey to water ratio. :P But they're still MEAD. Not white wine that's been sweetened with honey.

[MNBrewer]

56. Polish mead is quite different, despite starting out with the same ingredients.

Very characteristic!

[DarkTirade]

58. I'd love to get my hands on some

but I haven't found any place that sells it. Nor can I justify spending the money to get it shipped to me. :P

[MNBrewer]

33. Lavender mead would be a great nightcap

Would put one right to sleep.

[LostinVA]

63. Maybe I'll make some

[Chovexani]

72. Oh my god and you make mead

WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I WAS SINGLE? :cry:

:D

[lightningandsnow]

7. I'm a nerd.

Surfing the internet
Writing
Reading, especially books about theory and social issues
Astronomy
Being a Muppets fanatic
Medical biology
Playing guitar
Singing
Anything to do with musical theatre
Dance (attempting)
Cooking
Promoting the social model of disability
Theorizing
Ranting

[bicentennial_baby]

8. Ok! Knitting, Cooking,

watching Horror movies, reading about Economics, writing about Economics.

And gardening when I have access to a garden. :)

[MNBrewer]

14. That's awesome. I tried it once, but didn't have the talent for it.

How great to be able to make warm garments!

[MountainLaurel]

66. Another knitter here!

:hi:

I also like to walk and hike, read, ride my bike, hang with my furry family, and garden.

[donco6]

78. I love gardening.

Winter is hard.

We planted a billion bulbs this fall - can't WAIT to see them come up!!!

[La Lioness Priyanka]

10. dancing (specifically belly dancing), make up, politics, activism, cooking

and planning my next study :)

[Creideiki]

11. Mine

I'm also a French horn player
Baking
Cooking
Board and roleplaying games
Math
Volleyball
Hiking and camping

[MNBrewer]

16. yay french horn players!

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

44. My hobbies:

Beer
Martial arts (karate & aikido)
My border collies
African Cichlids (though, I don't have any right now)

[dbackjon]

64. Mine:

Birding
Hiking
Watching Sports (especially baseball and football)
Softball

[foxfeet]

65. My hobbies:

Our animals (3 dogs, 3 cats, 2 turtles, and a tank of tiger barbs)
Knitting (I make good socks)
Reading
Gardening
Woodcarving, if I ever get the time.
I want to get back into playing my guitars and folk harp. (Played French horn in high school and undergrad, but not for years. Probably could produce a sound approximating a goose fart on a muggy day at this point).

[sui generis]

67. I played piano & cello at the Juilliard

so still tear through music every minute I'm not occupied with something else. also compose and edit with Orion Platinum.

Also, I paint in oil - chiaroscuro northern Italian renaissance and realism.

And kolmogorov equations, a-life, any kind of fractal or ifs math, and

I LOVE TO COOK! My kitchen equipment gets used more than 300 times a year, and I actually like my own cooking.

and, being a goofball with my partner as often as possible. :P

[DarkTirade]

68. Curse you for being more artistically talented than I!

:P

[Jamastiene]

71. Showoff!

I'm just kidding. Seriously, I always wanted to be good enough to get rejected by Julliard. I always thought that if you were even good enough to be considered, even if you were rejected, you were damn good.

I used to play guitar, but hardly ever get to any more. I miss it. Life had other plans for me and now I just don't have the schedule to support practicing like I liked to practice. I love music.

[Ms. Toad]

69. Here's mine - not necessarily in order:

scuba
biking
photography, including photo retouching (primarily for NILMDTS.org, at the moment), and photo restoration (old family photos)
knitting (when I can get someone else to run meetings for me)
sewing (when my daughter needs a prom dress...)

[SacredCow]

70. Mine....

Currently:

I play and acquire guitars and basses (and amplifiers)
I am (slowly) restoring an old air-cooled VW Beetle
I make the wire frames for Mardi Gras Backpieces (soon to leave this behind, though)

In the past, I have also done my share of homebrewing.

[Chovexani]

73. Nerdery of various sorts.

I'm a hyuuuge gamer, of the console/PC and tabletop variety, practically since birth. Lately my obsession has been World of Warcrack.

I'm also a comic book/anime/manga geek, and a sci/fantasy/horror novel nut. I write, and sometimes I'm even good at it. :P I do original stuff in the stated genres, and also suck at the teat of the devil fanfiction. I have been known to write saucy stories about the menz (and the womenz, and everything in-between. I'm an equal opportunity pervert.). Lately I've been writing a lot of Warcraft fic. Sadly, despite many attempts, I have yet to get any fiction published, though I did have a non-fiction essay published in an anthology on young people and modern witchcraft.

Costuming is another big hobby for me, as I have spent way too much of my life covered in body paint and prosthetics, draped in uncomfortable fabric, carrying large and/or awkward props in Ren Faires and at various dive hotels and convention centers. One of my proudest achievements in life was being voted Miss Callisto 2000 by a bunch of drunk ass lesbian Xena fans. No, really.

When I'm not nerding it up, I play violin and synth, and I also sing. Many moons ago I was in a goth band of no particular note. I'm pretty much proof of the old adage that goths are just nerds dressed in black.

[DarkTirade]

74. You? A geek?

I don't believe it. :P

[plantwomyn]

75. Hobbies

Member of OBC gamming clan. Medal of Honor Airborne - favorite game. Love Myst and Elderscrolls also.
Medicinal Herbs. Potions and tonics.
Survivalist. Just bought a new gun <30.06> and Bug out pack.
Camping/Fishing.
And of course growing an edible garden. My name is Plantwomyn after all.

[MNBrewer]

76. Brewing today :)

I've been sick, and haven't felt much like brewing lately. I did find that sipping mead helped out a LOT with the sore throat and cough though.

So I'm brewing a small batch of beer that I wish I had had earlier this week. It's a braggot (1/2 honey, 1/2 malt) with Lots of ginger root, and lemon and orange peel. I'm making it pretty strong, and am using a champagne yeast. :)

[Rhythm]

79. I usually don't have time/money for hobbies here of late, but when i DO...

Collecting: punk-era vinyl recordings (especially Misfits rarities); antique classic books (100+ yr old editions); comic book art (original pages or uncommissioned art by comic artists)
Domestic travel - almost always by land-vehicle, because i don't like flying
Getting tattooed

[NorthCarolina]

80. Mine is

wood crafting. Currently making pet products, raised feeders, pet beds, with many designed specifically for the LGBT community. If you're interested in seeing any you can click on the logo below. Now I have to go look for the pic posting...I missed that one too.