Talk Tuesday: Beer Me.
Talk Tuesday is my most read post every week. It is where you get to ask me whatever you want and I answer you here. Did you miss the prior weeks, take a peek as there is some good stories in there: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 | Week 13 | Week 14 | Week 15 | Week 16 | Week 17 | Week 18 | Week 19 | Week 20 | Week 21 | Week 22. Have a question for me about anything under the sun? Ask away in the comments below before next Tuesday.
How is the home brewing idea coming along?
Well, I haven’t started but I have made a little bit of progress. I have a couple companies that want me to test out their home brewing kits. Now I know this is different than home brewing from scratch, but at least it gets me brewing. Mr.Beer sent me an Extra Hard Cider Brewing Kit to try out. I’m a huge cider lover, so looking forward to making it this weekend.
Mr. Beer Extra Hard Cider Brewing Kit
Then Craft a Brew contacted me and sent me this Bone Dry Irish Stout. It only makes a growler, but boy am I looking forward to trying this out. Stout and Cider? I’m in Beer Heaven!!
Craft Beer Brewing Starter Kit – Bone Dry Irish Stout
What has been the biggest adjustment (so far) for you dealing with winter in AK?
Honestly, the sheer amount of stuff you need to live up here. My wallet is taking a beating. I’m also cold a lot of the times. A lot. It might not be snowing right now, but I am still cold. I still don’t have all the gear I need to handle it. It costs a shit ton of money so I can only get a few things as I have the extra money left over after bills.
Social life in AK… how does it differ from AZ
For one, I still don’t know that many people here. So if I want to go have drinks with the girls on a Friday night, there are only a few I can call. My other friends live 2 hours away in Seward. 🙂 There are times when I get lonely and really miss being around my friends. I have been dreaming about my friends lately. It’s kind of weird.
As for dating, my luck hasn’t much improved since Arizona!! Quite a few of the men I have met in Alaska have recently been divorced, are looking for a straight hook-up, or don’t want anything more than that. I’m not that girl. At least in AZ I could recycle an old boyfriend or two and hang out with someone I know and trust. 🙂 Whomever said there were a lot of single hot guys in Alaska hasn’t been here in awhile. Oh, one more thing… guys here have a hard time understanding my life from traveling to blogging to everything. I feel very abnormal here at times.
Favorite beer type (Lager, Porter etc)?
I love stouts and ciders, hefeweizens and wheats, sours, kosch, porters, and a couple other random ones thrown in there. I don’t really care for lagers or IPAs. Except Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA – that’s fabulous.
Top 5 favorite breweries?
This is like picking my favorite child. Well, if I were to have children. Can I get back to you on this one as I am working on quite a few posts on this very topic.? It will be fave breweries in each state.
Would you like to start brewing your own beer sometime?
Yes!! I have quite a few ideas for some different flavor profiles. I am planning on working with the Head Brewmaster Lee at Midnight Sun Brewing Co here in January on a collaboration beer. I also have talked to a couple homebrewers here that said they would work with me this Winter. I wouldn’t mind microbrewing some bottles to hand out to my nearest and dearest friends and family. 🙂
I remember asking you about making your own Kombucha, did you ever look into it (not sure if you can brew it in AK with the cold though)?
No, I never did. To be honest, the cultures looked gross and I am not good with gross-looking things. I do however still buy Kombucha on occasion, but not drinking one a day like I was. It made me a little too tipsy 🙂
Have you looked into renting a Snow Bike or Fat Tire Bike to go ride on the snow?
I’ve thought about it but haven’t looked into it yet. I can barely ride a bike without snow and ice everywhere! I can just imagine skidding off the road onto the ice and breaking every bone in my body. Overly dramatic, I know.
Are there major adjustments you had to make in your lifestyle living in the freezing cold you didn’t think about?
You can’t just run out and get something you forgot in your car. There is no heading out barefoot either. You have to get fully dressed before you step outside. You also have to let your car warm up for at least 10 minutes before you can leave in the morning. So I lose a lot of time it feels like.
My life also revolves a great deal around the weather forecasts. If there is freezing rain then that means I need to wait for the truck to put down salt on the road before I can head home – otherwise, over the edge I go. If it is going to snow, I have to wear my snow boots. This means I have to tape my Achilles with KT Tape because the boots are so heavy that it is more painful than normal to walk.
If you knew what you know now would you do it again?
Yes and no. I love it here. I love Alaska. I can drive 20 minutes and be out in nature and feel so damn alive. I mean – I saw a Bald Eagle eating a salmon on a riverbank last week. How cool is that?? But I also wonder where would I be if I hadn’t decided to stay. Would I have finally made it to Europe? I still don’t feel settled. I don’t know if I ever will. Some days I really miss the security of owning my own home, having my own kitchen, and having a regular life around friends and family. I am facing my first big Holiday without being around my family. It is starting to get to me. I love to make Thanksgiving dinner – I look forward to it every year. But, this year will be different I suppose.
What is the best thing so far about this adventure?
The other part that has taken me by surprise are the friendships that I have made. Of course there are a few that are just superficial, but the ones that I have really allowed in, I have allowed in to see all of me. Deep, close friendships. That is priceless.
When is the best time to see the Northern Lights?
Right now! I saw the Northern Lights for the first time this past Saturday night in Talkeetna at my friend’s property. But… I couldn’t figure out how to get my camera to take the shot. It was late, I was freezing and every picture I took just kept coming out blacker than the last. I should have asked some of my photographer friends before I went out there about the settings, but I didn’t. I have downloaded an aurora app onto my phone that alerts me when they are visible. I’m crossing my fingers that I can see them again. It was like light waves dancing above the Big Dipper. Amazing.
How do you stay so absolutely awesome all the time?
Thank you for that compliment. Truly, it means a lot. I have been in a pretty big funk lately. I question my value all the time. I still struggle with why am I here – like, why am I here on Earth? What is my purpose? What else is there to accomplish? I overthink a lot of things, as if you couldn’t tell. I also think – why am I in Alaska?? Why?? There is a big reason or a person I am supposed to meet that I just haven’t figured out yet. Some days I feel that the way I can motivate others is awesome. I do love to know that I am impacting others positively.
But there are days when I wonder why am I doing all of this?
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