I luvs me a Friday Night Stubbie

[Rob Courtney]

So I am on a sorta kinda, mighta diet.

One part of it is to not drink during the week and just only on Friday and Saturday. Sure, if I was you, I'd be running a book to see how quickly I will fail and just have a few on a Wednesday...I'm betting on week 2 for those interested...and I know me

So anyways, finish Friday, can come back to the other 3 who don't annoy me, my family and after some exercise...beer.

I am going to start off every Friday with the stubbie I have drunk...sadly I necked this one whilst typing. The dregs stubby from the Aus Lager, one of those dregs ones where it was like 3/4 full. For a dregs bottle, very nice indeed.

Next week I might even post the stubbie before drinking it, photos of empty stubbies is so 2010

BTW, what do Americans call stubbies? It'd be close to 11 Floz, I hope it is something like a "buckhorn" or a "24th gallon"

 

[Steve Gyldenvand]

4 hours ago, Rob Courtney said:

BTW, what do Americans call stubbies? It'd be close to 11 Floz, I hope it is something like a "buckhorn" or a "24th gallon"

I don't believe we have a name for them, Rob, because we don't really use them. I recall that Budweiser used them briefly a long time ago, and Olympia too, I think. At one time Schmidt produced a wide-mouth bottle that was roughly shaped like a beer barrel. 

As for the diet...well, good luck. I'm still holding at -40 pounds since last August, but haven't really lost any in the last few months. Eating healthier was manageable, after a fashion, but the beer is a weak point. I figure if I could cut my beer consumption in half, I could probably lose another 2-3 pounds a month. A big problem is my bride's work schedule. She works 3 nights  a week, leaving me home unsupervised, so... But then, on her nights off, she enjoys having a few good homebrews as much as I do, so...

Edited May 31 by Steve Gyldenvand

[Thagomizer]

13 hours ago, Rob Courtney said:

BTW, what do Americans call stubbies? It'd be close to 11 Floz, I hope it is something like a "buckhorn" or a "24th gallon"

The only example I know of a smaller beer bottle is the seven-ounce Coronita.  It is a smaller version of the regular twelve-ounce Corona.  As you would guess, Corona is a Mexican beer and has some popularity in Texas.

Thanks for explaining what a stubbie is.

By the way, good luck on your diet.  I have been able to keep off the 25 lbs. I lost since last October; but I do not recommend the procedure.

[Steve Gyldenvand]

I remember back in the 70s, I did weekend cleanup for a very popular local bar, including emptying the bottle baskets behind the bar. About 25% of all the bottles included "shorties", 7 oz. mini longnecks, mostly Pabst Blue Ribbon and Budweiser. Also, I scored a lot of change out of the Jukebox coin returns, and found odd home-rolled cigarettes on the floor.

[Rob Courtney]

Last week I got up to 100 kegs, probably 225 pounds ( I came from a country with parents that were still doing imperial, came here, it was metric, so I had to translate for my father for a few years til he got his head around it). In a perfect world I'd sit mid 80s but high 80s is fine. It just needs a touch of discipline which can sometimes be hard when works a stress, which is ironic that they want you to be healthy and not have stress because it is a KPI of the company but then...they stress you out

[Rob Courtney]

So a bit of winter exercise, less fun foods for breakfast and lunch and we will see.

Of course, the issue is I really like my beer and it is a big part of Australian culture

[Thagomizer]

14 hours ago, Rob Courtney said:

I came from a country with parents that were still doing imperial, came here, it was metric,

Ah, the struggle between Metric, Imperial, and USA units.  As an engineer, I found calculations much simpler in metric.  But in daily life, temperature in Fahrenheit; volumes in ounces, cups, quarts and gallons; mass in ounces and pounds; and speeds in miles per hour; are within my comfort zone.  And a few simple conversion rules allow me to cope with the rest of the planet.

All this reminds me of a course in Modern Physics taken in my undergraduate days.  We beseeched our professor to give us a sheet of the numerical physical constants we would need in order to solve the problems we would be asked to solve on the final exam.  These were values such as Planck's constant, Boltzmann's constant, the universal constant of gravitation ... and so on.  These were always in metric units.

Our professor thought we were being lazy and should have memorized all these values by then.  However, he relented and promised a "cheat sheet" of scientific constants for our use on the final.  He kept his word ... after a fashion.  All the constants were in English units.  For example, the speed of light was given in Furlongs per Fortnight.  Just for the record, c = 1.800 x 10¹² Furlongs/Fortnight.

😏 Just what you needed to know.  Happy brewing.

[Rob Courtney]

Well there you go, did not succumb to the midweek beer for 2 weeks in a row. Not sure the daily exercise is taking of the amount of weight I want but am happier so silver linings. Even work was better this week, I mean I'd still be happier not working but they do give me stupid money for the little I do so I'll keep going until they realise I am a fraud

Stubbie tonight is a Neder so I am happy, it's somewhere in my top 5 for beers. Good start, long weekend, brews to drink...

[Steve Gyldenvand]

3 hours ago, Rob Courtney said:

Well there you go, did not succumb to the midweek beer for 2 weeks in a row. Not sure the daily exercise is taking of the amount of weight I want but am happier so silver linings.

Good for you, Rob.  Keep it up. As for the exercise, I've been told, and have subsequently confirmed personally, that "we get fit in the gym, and lose weight in the kitchen." Of course the exercise does burn some additional calories, and muscle burns calories more efficiently than fat, but generally speaking, weight loss really does require eating/drinking less. 

Slainte!

[Rob Courtney]

19 hours ago, Steve Gyldenvand said:

Good for you, Rob.  Keep it up. As for the exercise, I've been told, and have subsequently confirmed personally, that "we get fit in the gym, and lose weight in the kitchen." Of course the exercise does burn some additional calories, and muscle burns calories more efficiently than fat, but generally speaking, weight loss really does require eating/drinking less. 

Slainte!

keep in mind my expectation is to lose ten kegs in 2 weeks (23 pounds) when in reality I will get there in 3 months. I just have the expectation if I am making the effort, the body should reward me more

 

[Rob Courtney]

Did a ten mile (yes mile) walk today, it goes up an old volcano and a walk around it and then back home. I have to admit, even though the walk back was all downhill, there was a lot of staggering going on. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't considered multiple times to get my wife to come pick me up but I stuck it out. I really think I forget how old I am sometimes and think I am still in my late 20s/early30s when that is decades ago.

There are parts of me that really hurt and worse, my daughter has challenged me to do that walk with her again tomorrow...and I am stubborn so I won't back down

[Steve Gyldenvand]

 

3 hours ago, Rob Courtney said:

Did a ten mile (yes mile) walk today, it goes up an old volcano and a walk around it and then back home. I have to admit, even though the walk back was all downhill, there was a lot of staggering going on. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't considered multiple times to get my wife to come pick me up but I stuck it out. I really think I forget how old I am sometimes and think I am still in my late 20s/early30s when that is decades ago.

There are parts of me that really hurt and worse, my daughter has challenged me to do that walk with her again tomorrow...and I am stubborn so I won't back down

About 10 years ago, I went on a bicycling binge for a year, logging over 1000 miles (yes miles) that summer. I tell people about my antics that summer, and point out that the day I did 40 miles wasn't the stupidest thing I did. The stupidest was when I repeated the trip a week later. 

Have fun, Rob.

Edited June 9 by Steve Gyldenvand

[Rob Courtney]

She didn't bring it up with me, I didn't bring it up with her, thank godness

[Rob Courtney]

 

Ain't going to lie here, probably didn't lose weight this week but you know didn't gain any and  know why, I do eat well. Still, 3 weeks no mid week beers so there is that, so I will take the positive, doing it for the liver. 

Anyways, opened up an Original pilsner that I hopped with Perle. It hasn't been optimal conditions for secondary as it is getting colder here for winter but that stands up at four weeks. For those who haven't tried with Perle in a pilsner, give it a go, it's like the "5th Beatle" of noble hops. i

 

 

[Thagomizer]

@Rob Courtney: Perle hops seem to be a versatile choice for IPA's, Pale Ales, Lagers and Pilsners.  They are described as having delicate floral fruit and mint tones.

It looks like I am going to need to stock yet another breed of hops.  Normally, I would dry-hop Original Pilsner with U. S. Saaz.  Next time, I will try Perle.  Since the Original Pilsner BrewPrint calls for two H4's, I am thinking that 30g of Perle would be about right.  Any thoughts on that?

[Rob Courtney]

2 hours ago, Thagomizer said:

@Rob Courtney: Perle hops seem to be a versatile choice for IPA's, Pale Ales, Lagers and Pilsners.  They are described as having delicate floral fruit and mint tones.

It looks like I am going to need to stock yet another breed of hops.  Normally, I would dry-hop Original Pilsner with U. S. Saaz.  Next time, I will try Perle.  Since the Original Pilsner BrewPrint calls for two H4's, I am thinking that 30g of Perle would be about right.  Any thoughts on that?

I always like to go 20gms of hops for a lager but there is nothing wrong at 30gms. I basically went Perle on the basis that I was looking at a craft lager I used to drink before brewing and they had "we only use Perle as the hops in this lager" and I thought that I hadn't tried that before.

Anytime I am experimenting on a pilsner with hops I like using the OP brew print, I think it is a very versatile print. Next time I am changing up the hops to a Mouteka hop to see how that goes, though I may try that with a Czech though

[Rob Courtney]

well well well, some of the blubber shifted and hitting into the 95s and another week without a midweek beer. I reckon that is 4 weeks now so I'm happy with that but there will be far more to do to get it into the high 80s, then I'll be happy and I'm sure you might be cynical and think "so 89.9kegs then?" and I would say "yes"

Anyways, my favourite N word tonight, Neder. Crisp, and delicious beer, probably my favourite beer with Hallertau hops

 

[Rob Courtney]

I think what I like most about this is the fact that I have not had a weeknight drink of alcohol in 5 weeks (obviously Friday doesn't count but I don't drink Sunday). The diet is getting easier too except for last night when my wife was talking and I couldn't even concentrate I was that hungry. I mean, I am that hungry that my sense of smell is akin to that of a vultures when it comes to smelling food. What's worse is I work 50 metres away from a KFC...oh the smell of that...not usually something I'd crave but yeah, I start the walk back home drooling like a Labrador being told to sit and wait at his food bowl.

Into the 94s this week, belt is officially back to the last notch so that's a plus, the exercise bike is now easier and my knees don't hurt like the used to.

So tonight the opening stubbie is an Australian Premium Lager. This one is a bit dear to me as this was cloned off a couple of beers I used to drink, Hahn and Southwark Premium (which they don't make anymore, the buggers) that I used to drink with the old man when he was still alive. The recipe calls for Hersbrucker but I make it with Hallertau hops like the beers I mentioned as I believe it tastes better. This one is at 6 weeks and is very nice out of the stubbie though this is one of the few lagers that I think has a sweet spot of 12 weeks (drinks fine before).

Anyways, I'm off to drink a few beers  

[Steve Gyldenvand]

Good for you, Rob. At the peak of my own weight-loss journey last October/November, I never quite managed to achieve total beer-absinence during weekdays. Maybe for a week here or there, but 5 weeks? I'm impressed. Keep up the good work, and enjoy those well-earned weekend brews!

 

Slainte!

[Rob Courtney]

5 weeks with no weekday beers, almost could say that is a habit now.

Sadly, the gods decided that I would stay in the 94s, I mean exactly 94 kegs on the button. I did wonder as I stood on the scales whether a fart might get me down to 93.9 kegs...although to be honest with some I have done lately I may have gotten into the 92s.

Beer tonight is a 3 week old Pirate Life South Coast clone. Can't say it's had the best of secondary environment as it has gotten quite chilly here with most mornings breaking the minuses and the house being empty all day keeps it under 16. In saying that though, not like I decided I could wait either.

Has some tickets on it already but interested to see where this goes with another month under its belt. If this goes where I hope it does, this is one damn good summer pale ale...pretty good winter one as well

[Rob Courtney]

Well, it has been a long time coming but into the 93s which is nice and now into the 7th week without a weekday beer. I must say though, it is much easier to go down that path in the depths of winter when it is single-figure weather than say a third consecutive weekday of 40 degrees, I'd have cracked.

Anyways, today I am cracking another under rated lager on the Brewart range, the Douche or Deutsch as it is incorrectly labelled on the website. It actually drinks well early, like 2 weeks in you could quite easily smash the whole 10 litres...with friends of course...and you'd think that you'd made a bloody good beer. This is 3 weeks in, malty, bit of honey sweetness in it, little bit of bitterness just really nice and a great start to this Friday Night session.

On a weird note, I was telling an associate what I was doing (only beer on the weekends, not during the week) and his wife asked was I doing "dry July". We both looked at her, she is smarter than both of us put together but for those few seconds she brought herself down to our level of dopey.