To brew a batch of homebrew it takes about 3 hours and averages $40. Which amounts to 5 gallons or 128 oz. of delicious brew. Divide that 128 ounces by 12(ounces in your average bottle) and you get approximately 53. So for $40 I can brew 5 gallons of beer which equals 53 12 ounce bottles. A six pack of my home brew costs roughly $4.50 or $0.75 each to brew it my self. The average micro brewery beer is $8.00 plus tax per six pack.

Do the math!!

Learn to homebrew (it is pretty simple) and enjoy creating the exact beer you want with out all of the ridiculous costs! You would be amazed at what you can create. The New Complete Joy of Home Brewing is the bible for novices to experts, if interested in giving homebrew a shot pick up a copy!!

I currently have a Dogfish Head 90 minute (chocolate) IPA clone that is almost ready to enjoy!! I added a bit of chocolate malt to see what would happen!!!

Juice Box, UTM, and Brownie will be my lab rats for this one! Right guys??

A few weeks ago I wrote about the importance of volunteering. Well the time has come so Juice Box and I gave up a Saturday to help our fellow citizens out, selflessly giving of not only our time but also our expertise. Namely B.S. and beer pouring!!! Here are some shots of us in action in case any of you doubt our dedication to volunteering.

I just want to make it perfectly clear that I am greeting the public, pouring beer after delicious beer, never wavering in my duties. All the while Juice Box is, well, lets see, 1st pic standing looking drunk, 2nd pic hands in pocket and not one but two half consumed beers in front of him, 3rd pic yeah that is correct folks Juice Box filling his gullet!!

Now I guess I should let you guys know Juice Box might have poured a few beers while on duty but I never saw it!! Hell if you were to put those three pictures together and play them over and over for an hour that pretty much sums up Juice Box and his idea of volunteering!!!

I do want to let you guys know that we chose this brewery for quite selfish reasons. Flying Dog Brewery has an absolute kick ass, send you to the moon pale ale, they call their 11.5%, aggressively hopped wonder the Double Dog. And with a whopping 85 IBU’s this is a fantastic beer!!! The beauty of pouring it was one for them, two for me!!! I am going so far as to say this is an official UpaDowna recommended beer!! The Double Dog is not for the faint of heart, with the high alcohol content and violently pleasing bitterness you must like bitter beers, for those of you that have not delved into the realm of the pale ales, this beer should be your first!!

These days as the almighty dollar thins and we find it difficult to make ends meet often we allow the great causes that we support to go by the way side. I just wanted to make sure that we outdoors lovers not allow some great protectors of the things we love to go un-aided.

Keep in mind there are a ton of great causes out there eager for your support, give wisely and keep these organizations going. If you have any recommendations feel free to let us know!

I.M.B.A. International Mountain Bicycling Association

Access Fund Non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the climbing environment

A.H.S. American Hiking Society

Microbreweries List of local breweries near you!

Volunteering. That’s right we all must do our part to help society out, whether it be picking up garbage, helping a little old lady cross the street or volunteering for a Craft Lagerfest! We are proud to join the ranks of voluntary laborers across the globe sacrificing time and skill to better not only myself but also to help those in need. It just so happens that we am helping like minded folks, you know craft brew drinkers, lushes like us!!! Come one come all.

Another quick note, the contact for this festival is Jason Yester who along with Todd Walton will soon be opening Trinity Brewing which will more than likely be one of the best brew pubs the Front Range has to offer!!!

This lady was out hiking on her property and was mauled by a bear. More than likely a result of the loss of habitat in the California mountains due to the recent fires.

She had two big dogs with her and was still mauled pretty good, kind of makes you think about the balance between man and nature. She was able to get away from the bear and drive herself to find help!

If nature ever got really really pissed, humans, with our soft skin, lack of sharp pointy teeth or claws we really wouldn’t stand a chance…unless we pave the world. Wait a minute, maybe that is why the wally worlds and super mega churches are so popular. They take up an insane amount of land and pave what ever they can. That explains it! Come on folks it is o.k., they are protecting us from all of the animals that want to eat us. Now why didn’t I realize that earlier!!!!

(for those of you that can not figure it out…JuiceBox, that was pure sarcasm)

However if this bear ever comes for my stash there will be a war and I WILL win, never get between a Yeti and his beer!!

The bear picture was not one of the bears mentioned in either article but does show how bears are doing their best to blend in and assimilate into human society.

Stonewall Century: 16 August 100 miles of painful road biking a lot of climbing!!

MuddyBuddy: 17 August 6 mile run/mountain bike covered in mud making a b-line for the beer garden!

This is looking very promising for team UpaDowna.