I haven't posted a blog entry for awhile, so here's a scattershot update of what I've been doing and what will be coming up on my blog.

Hops -- My hop plants recovered nicely after an absolutely brutal summer. In the spring, I'll restart the Southern US hop growing experiment and hopefully have an average summer. 

Barley -- I'll probably be planting a block of winter barley this weekend. Last year, I grew Robust (6 row) barley. This year, I have Robust and Conlon (2-row) and will split my plantings between the two. 

Malting -- Oh yeah, I grew barley last year. Still haven't malted it, though. Will remedy that soon . . . or perhaps "soon."

Brewing science -- James Spencer (Basic Brewing Radio) and I are about to announce our third experiment in the BYO/BBR Collaborative Brewing Experiment Series. This one will be one for you extract brewers. Hope you consider participating.

Pumpkin beer -- I grew some big pumpkins this year and hope to brew a beer in which I mash in a pumpkin, ferment in a pumpkin and serve in a pumpkin. The beer? My Old Pumpculiar (October 2005), of course. 

Homebrew events -- I went to this year's San Antonio Cervezafest and the Foam Ranger's Dixie Cup. Had a great time at both events. I'll post a summary and some pics later.

Yeast evolution -- A couple issues ago, I mentioned some cool papers on yeast evolution. I'm still planning to post a few blog entries on these interesting aspects of brewing science.

New brewery -- I have a new brewery, a "brewing sculpture" from MoreBeer. It's all cleaned up and ready to go. This week will be the maiden voyages -- a pale ale and a porter -- I'll definitely take pics and compose a blog entry for this.

Thanksgiving -- Nothing brewing related, I just like Thanksgiving. (Mmmm . . . turkey.) I forgot to brew my Cranberry Zinger this year (see my June 9, 2008 blog entry for recipe), but I may brew it anyway soon. Who says it can't be a post-Thanksgiving beer?

Now that our stretch of monthly issues is over, I'll keep my blog more up to date . . . at least until I get busy again!