Phillip Fuller asked:


Why is it that dads can be such a challenge when it comes to picking that perfect gift for Father’s Day? He’s your dad; this should be easy, right? Maybe the difficulty comes in having Father’s Day only one month after Mother’s Day. Does your gift for Dad suffer from a lack of creative energy? How about using some of our gift suggestions as a starting point for an awesome Father’s Day gift?

1.) Be Prepared!

All good dads teach their kids this lesson. Use this opportunity to return the favor with a battery-free emergency radio. As anyone in a storm prone area can tell you, an emergency radio is an indispensable part of any emergency preparedness kit. Continuing on with the theme of being prepared, give Dad a new flashlight (with extra batteries) and maybe an emergency case of his favorite beer.

2.) The Gift of Time

Ask any parent what they really want from their kids and they will say more time together. A great Father’s Day gift is the making of family backyard BBQ. Start with a new barbeque tool set. But don’t stop there. Then you need to visit your local store and pick out some of the finest steaks they have (don’t forget to get enough for the whole family) and all the fixings. A gift for dad the whole family gets to enjoy, this gift may be one that becomes a family tradition for years to come.

3.) Start Your Engines

Have a NASCAR dad? With a racing season of nine months and tracks across the country, you can easily get tickets to race for your dad. The race may not be on Father’s Day but he will still love the gift. How do you package such an exciting gift? Why not in a mug with the logo of his favorite NASCAR driver such as Dale Earnhardt, Jr.? He will be so surprised when he finds out what is in the mug and he can relive the memories of race day whenever he uses the mug. Can’t you just see the grin on your dad’s face?

4.) Up in the Air

Does your dad travel for business or enjoy travel for pleasure? Then a new travel bag or trolley bag might be the perfect gift. Luggage can get so beat up during travel. Pack into the bag some travel necessities such as a new toiletry bag filled with all the necessities, a book by your father’s favorite author, and gift card for a nationwide chain restaurant so your dad can enjoy a meal on you after a long day of meetings.

Sometimes we make gift giving too difficult. The best gifts are those items that the recipients already love. So ask yourself, what does my dad enjoy?

5.) ***** Open a Six Pack

Is your dad a beer or wine aficionado? Buy him a bottle (or case) of a unique or memorable wine or a six pack of a limited edition micro-brew. Does he have a favorite game or hobby? Use them to come up with gift ideas, obvious examples are golf balls for golfers or power tools. But consider getting him something he would not buy for himself such as that exotic wood for the cabinet he has always want to build or time with a golf pro to really improve his game.

6.) Turn a Page

Books seem to be an easy out for gift giving. But for a reader, you really can not have too many books. Ask your father for his favorite authors and if he has all their books. Buy him the books missing from his collection or the latest release. If you get this information, a gift certificate for more books would be much appreciated.

We always think about taking Mom out for dinner for Mother’s Day. Why not take Dad out to his favorite restaurant? Give him his Father’s Day gift there while he is enjoying time with those who know and love him the most.



KARINE

Chris Haycock asked:


ing, that is, making your own beer at home, is an increasingly popular activity for many people. There is an absolute wealth of information, supplies, and equipment to be found on nearly every high street, and of course the internet.

Hardly surprising in this age of advertisement driven sales, where often the manufacturing costs of a particular beer are dwarfed by the advertising budget of many of the large breweries. Giving rise to a common complaint of bland, overpriced beers with little, or no taste.

So lots of people are turning to home brewing to regain the quality and taste of old. You have control over every stage of the process, and of course these days it certainly doesn’t hurt that your finished product, as well as being tasty, is considerably cheaper than the mass produced varieties.

Beer has been with us for thousands of years. It can be traced back at least 6,000 years when the Mesopotamians were known to have drunk a fermented bread mash. Via various routes it eventually arrived in Northern Europe. From where it rapidly spread all over the civilised world.

Early fermented drinks, made with grain, the early forerunner of our modern beers, made use of honey as a source of sugar. These drinks were always referred to as “ale”. The term “beer” did not come into common use until much later.

Most early ales were brewed from malted grains such as barley, oats, and wheat. They were simple beers. The addition of such ingredients as hops, which we now think are pretty much indispensable were only introduced in the early 1500’s when Flemish settlers broght over their recipes, which rapidly proved popular.

Until then many early recipes would contain such ingredients as saltpetre, tree bark, and all manner of root vegatables. The main purpose of many of these ingredients would be to offset the often “rank” taste of the brew. Obviously were it not for the alcoholic content nobody in their right mind would drink it!

Every large household in those days would brew their own beer. It generally being safer than a lot of the untreated water, was drunk by all. They would have a brewing day once a week, producing much stronger beers than are currently made commercially and were made in quite large quantities, stored in casks.

From the late 1700’s onwards small breweries started producing beer in commercial quantities, brewing excellent, good drinking beers, which were deivered to ale houses within a fairly small radius. Over a period of time, with the increase in population and improvements in transport links, many of these small breweries either amalgamated or were taken over. To be replaced by fewer, larger breweries, making a lot less types of beer.

And so we now see a swing back, consumer driven, to a lot more “micro breweries” producing a much smaller quantity of beer, but providing the variety and taste that people want. The ultimate micro brewery being of course the home brewer.



DANN

Chris Haycock asked:


almost as many classifications of beer as there are people who drink it. O.K. that’s something of an exaggeration, but it is a fact that commercial breweries produce an amazing variety of beers with different flavours and textures, to cater for the very varied tastes of the beer drinker.

The home brewer can also produce an almost limitless variety of beers, but they will all generally fall into one of the main categories of beer. These categories are as follows:-

Bitter beer. – This is usually a fairly hoppy beer, with a medium to strong alcohol content. Bitter will come in different colours and flavours, but will always have a slightly bitter finish.

Pale Ale. – Sometimes referred to as “Light Ale”. This is a beer that would more normally be drunk as an accompanyment to food. Being a light, not too strong beer, not as hoppy as bitter. It should have a clean refreshing taste.

India Pale Ale. – This is another version of bitter beer. Somewhat stronger and more fully flavoured than Pale Ale. With more hops and malt. It should still retain a clean taste.

Brown Ale. – One of my personal favourites, as it can be very easily personalised to your individual taste. A traditional brown ale can be dark brown to amber in colour, and has a very slight sweetness due to the use of lactose in the brewing process. It is only slightly hoppy, and often mixed with other beers by drinkers in pursuit of an individual taste.

Irish Stout.- This probably needs little description due to the popularity of Guiness. A very dark beer in appearance, very full flavour, and quite bitter. Traditionally it has a thick, creamy head. Something of an acquired taste, those drinkers who have persevered with it tend to be lifelong fans. It is relatively easy for the home brewer to produce a very acceptable stout.

Sweet Stout. – Or Milk Stout is a less bitter version of Irish Stout. Not quite so heavy or dark, with a more foamy head.

Oatmeal Stout. – This stout falls between the two previous stouts. Being not as bitter as an Irish Stout, and not as sweet as a Sweet Stout. It has it’s own flavour by the use, as the name suggests, of oats in the brewing process.

Barley wine.- This is a very sweet, heavy beer, with a high alcohol content. Commercial varieties often around the 10% ABV mark. High for a beer. Usually golden in colour, with just a touch of bitterness in the aftertaste. Usually served in small glasses. Not recommended as a session beer. This is quite a difficult beer to get right for the home brewer, but worth the effort.

Lager.- An increasingly popular beer for the home brewer. Again, not easy to reproduce but well worth it when it comes good. Pale in colour, and light bodied, it has just a touch of hoppiness. To brew a good lager it is essential to use a bottom fermenting (lager) yeast.

These are the broad categories, and most home brewers will produce a beer pretty similar to one of them. A common mistake with many home brewers is to get a kit and make whatever beer it makes, and either stick to it and get bored. Or not like it and give up. I can assure you that using the right ingredients and the right recipe you can find not just one beer that suits you, but many. And you won’t be bored.



LEEANNA