Homebrewed T-Shirts - Cincinnati Custom T-Shirts

Brewing Beer

2011-03-26T11:34:00.006-04:00

Phil Pointer and I won last years Homebrewing Bock competition, and were given the opportunity to recreate our recipe for this years BockFest.

Here's the skinny !

The crew from Elevator Brewing where we made this year's Bock.

" Schoenling Bock is brewed using homebrewer Chris Mitchell and Phil Pointer's winning recipe in the 2010 BockFest Homebrewer's Competition - an annual Bloatarian Brewing League event. Schoenling Bock is a limited edition beer available only at participating BockFest venues. Details for the 2011 BockFest Homebrewers' Competition are available at the Bloatarian Brewing League website at www.bloatarian.org"

Wedding Day ! ! !

2010-01-07T15:31:00.003-05:00

It's been a while since my last post. Since then Krista and I have been married and been on our honeymoon in Mexico. We had a few special guests make an apperance at the wedding.

More posts to follow!

Big Snake . . .Big Snake Chase Me !

2009-06-16T16:23:00.009-04:00

Last night around 11pm someone was banging on my door. It was my neighbor and he was in a frenzy screaming something about a large snake.

Whatever, I thought. We got snakes all over the place, mostly little gardner snakes and an occassional rat snake. I threw on some shoes and went outside to humor him.
Well he wasn't joking. Near his driveway crawling along the sidewalk was a 4-1/2 foot long Python.. . .that's right. . .I almost choked on my milk and cookies. . . I scooped up the fella with a broom handle. Krista ran and grabbed a pillow case, and then we put him into a big Rubbermaid container.

Not sure what to do with the poor guy; obviously he was someone's pet that escaped. I have no idea how long he has been outside. No neighborhood cats seem to be missing.

I think I am keeping him, and I will call him Harry. . . after Harry Houdini. The great escape snake. . . .

Bockfest 2009

2009-03-12T22:42:00.003-04:00

Last weekend was Bockfest ! This is a description of the Festival as per the Bockfest website, http://www.bockfest.com/

"Cincinnati is the home to the world's oldest Bock festival, but many Cincinnatians are unaware of this tradition. If you are one of the unfortunate who have never attended a Bockfest (or who have but can't really remember that weekend) here's a quick primer. In the 1800s, Cincinnati was one of America's most prolific brewing cities. Cincinnatians drank more beer per capita than any city in the country, and Over-the-Rhine was at one point home to more than 18 breweries. A tradition developed among the breweries to release all of their bock beer on the same day. Bock beer is a rich, complex, robust lager that marks the end of the Winter brewing season and the beginning of Spring."

Dan Listermann and I built and rode the "Bloatmobile" (dressed as monks) in the Bockfest parade. The wheels are made from old whiskey barrels.

2009 Big Beers Festival - Belgians and Barleywines

2009-02-20T22:29:00.004-05:00

Congratulations to Mike Pedersen, one of my fellow brewing buddies! Mikey lived in Cincinnati for a long time before picking up and moving to Boulder, Colorado. It was after he moved that I discovered that he was heavily into homebrewing and making some kick-a** beers left and right.

We've stayed in touch over the years and he has just won Best of Show at the Tenth Annual Big Beers Festival in Vail, Colorado ! http://www.bigbeersfestival.com/belgians_barleywines_winners.htm

This is huge because as a grand prize his winning beer recipe will be commercially brewed at Dry Dock Brewing Company http://drydockbrewing.com/ and put on tap at The Falling Rock Taphouse in Denver and at the sponsoring brewery, Dry Dock Brewing, located in Aurora, Colorado. Absolutely incredible!

This is the only picture I found. . . I'll get more photos of him soon and repost.

Congrats again Mikey!

Cricket, Krista, and Cliff

2009-02-02T19:27:00.004-05:00

My parents come down and visit every once in a while and every time they bring their German Shepherd Cricket. She is a handful and that is one of many reasons why they stay at my sisters house when they visit. . our cats don't like dogs much!

It was a great weekend of food and hanging out. Pictured is Cricket, my fiancee Krista, and my father Cliff taking cricket for a romp in the yard.

When Life Gives You Chicken Bones, Make Chicken Soup !

2009-01-15T22:04:00.003-05:00

Every once in a while we roast a whole chicken in the oven Afterwords you're left with a whole lot of scraps, bones, and less than desirable meat. The solution I found is to make Chicken Soup!

Save some of the good meat (or get a boneless chicken breast or two) to add to the soup at the end. Then you boil the leftovers down to make stock, add some fresh vegetables and noodles, add the good meat and you have chicken soup.

I usually put the whole batch in the fridge for a day and the fat will congeal to the top. Then skim it off and and its good to go. You can then freeze some in individual containers, or divide it up any way you like. I definitely think it's better after a day of the spices and flavors melding together.

It's cold out so stay warm!

2009-01-11T19:21:00.002-05:00

Friday night Krista and I ate at the Cheesecake Factory in Kenwood Towne Center. The wait was extremely long but worth it. We had a gift card from Krista's mom which we really appreciated. To start off, we split a (huge) bowl of New England Clam Chowder while eating the warm sourdough bread brought to the table. Krista ordered a blackened salmon salad, that was presented very nicely and I ordered a featured dish called 'Chicken Bellagio' which was made with Procuitto Ham (my favorite)!

Lots of News: Little Space

2009-01-04T23:34:00.002-05:00

It's been a long time since the blog has been updated. Where do I start?

In Late October I asked my long time girlfriend to marry me (and she said yes!)

In early November, my architecture firm, where I had worked for 8-1/2 years decided to lay me off. They let go another employee who had been with them for 35 plus years, so I am only a quarter as mad as he is. . .

My cat was diagnosed with diabetes and has to be given a shot of human insulin every 12 hours for the rest of his life. He'll be fine, if fact he sitting on my drafting table next to the computer knocking stuff on the ground to get my attention. . .

In late November I my Grandmother had her 90th birthday party in New York. Spending time with relatives while being unemployed is a bit like going to the dentist. . but still great to see everyone.

The positive side was I was completely free for the Holidays and spent a great Christmas with my family.

New Years eve was relatively calm, I cooked a standing Rib roast and asparagus for dinner with Krista and myself, and we went to a club in downtown Cincinnati.

So currently I am working on silk screening T-Shirts full time.

More to come soon and I'll try to be better about updating the blog.

Happy New Year's everyone !

The Great Grape Crush of 2008

2008-09-30T15:57:00.012-04:00

We finally got our shipment of California Grapes, delayed by weather - specifically by Hurricane Ike that hit Cincinnati. . . Yes that’s right, the Ohio Valley was hit by a Hurricane around 2 weeks ago. Never thought I’d say that in my lifetime. . . Luckily, we sustained little damage and never lost power. Not so for many people who had lost power for over 7-10 days. . . craziness.

But back to the grapes. . . .They looked great and most of them are happily fermenting away as we speak. Three of us usually make wine together, and between the three of us we are making a Chardonnay, Muscato (Muscat), Viognier, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Petite Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Our big shipment of Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon is coming in at the end of October. . . . and it is arriving frozen. They pick the grapes and flash freeze them within a few hours of picking, so we know they will be fresh. Can’t wait !

Until the next post, Cheers !

Go Guest !

2008-09-26T13:22:00.007-04:00

Guest is a local (Ohio) band that has been around 10 plus years and they still absolutely rock the house !

Ryan "Buzz" Bussey designed a really nice shirt for their 2 upcoming shows. Thanks Buzz for a great design and the referral!

Here their band rep Louis Kontos drove down from Columbus to pick up shirts. The shirts turned out great and everyone is happy !
Friday Guest is playing in Columbus and they will be in Athens, Ohio Saturday night! Check out their myspace profile at :
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=66510205

Cincinnati needs to get these guys to come play a show soon.

Ten Fiddy is here! !

2008-09-12T13:49:00.002-04:00

It’s been a while since I have posted. 2 weekends ago we were at Bill and Jill Levenderis’s wedding in Oxford. We saw a bunch of old friends, ate some great food, and heard some phenomenal music by a band called Guest.

My friend Rob from Wisconsin brought me a ton of Ted Fiddy. . .an Imperial Russian Stout from Oskar Blues in Boulder, Colorado. Its as thick as oil coming out of the can, with a great nose of chocolate, malt, coffee, cocoa and oats – rated 100 points out of 100 by http://www.ratebeer.com/ . Some friends and I will be disecting these beers in an attempt to clone. . we'll see how it works out. . .
But I’ll be tucking away quite a few of these babies away for aging for sure. Thanks Rob !

We took pictures, which I’ll post later . . . I’d hate to be the person cleaning up our hotel room. . .

Listermann Mural

2008-08-22T13:57:00.003-04:00

Baby steps. . . .a little each day. . .

Watch as soon as I am done. . . .someone will hit it with Graffiti. . . knock on wood. .

Going Into The Sign Business

2008-08-20T11:51:00.000-04:00

Several days ago I began the Listermann mural. We set a projector up in the middle of the street, put out orange cones, and attempted to direct traffic around the project while I was up on scaffolding tracing the image with a sharpie. Fun !

As I was up on the scaffolding, 2 police came racing out of nowhere. . . . and I thought we were in trouble. Turns out they were curious what we were doing. . . and they wanted to know how to make beer! Dan Listermann chatted with them for the next 30 minutes while I finished up the tracing.

I started painting a few days ago and its going slow. The white pops out pretty nice and I think it will look great when it’s done. . . .

And the sign said you got to have a membership card to get inside. . . .

2008-08-15T14:20:00.000-04:00

Spraying the black and the finished sign.

Mr. Ming exhausted after helping. . . . .

“Off The Beaten Path” is officially open for business ! ! This new retail store is owned and operated by Johnny and Shelley Helfinstine in Oxford, Ohio. . . .and today is their grand opening. -
I finished the sign last night and Johnny came by early this morning to pick it up. I think it turned out pretty nice. This is just a temporary sign until we can get permits for the big Storefront Sign (10 feet by 2.5 feet).

Veggies, Meat, and Cigars!

2008-08-06T13:45:00.001-04:00

The vegetables are starting to come. This year we have 6 or 7 different kinds of cherries, romos, and the beefy slicers. . . .also some jalapeno peppers and some green peppers . . . .all much tastier than the ones in the store. This was our first year for cucumbers and they were very easy to grow. Next year we’ll plant more.

Over the weekend we grilled salmon and veggies. The next night I got a hankerin for Caribbean Jerk marinated Rib eyes ( thank you Food Network and Bobby Flay) and rib eyes were on sale at Meijer’s, so we had a super late dinner on Saturday. These are the rib eyes with a store bought Caribbean Jerk marinade spiced up with some fresh thyme and mango. Thanks to Krista’s mom for hooking us up with all this food !

Every once in a while I’ll enjoy a nice cigar. I’ve been trying to stock up my humidor and it it’s slow going. . . .my father’s humidor, on the other hand, is looking good in these pictures! All the yellow labels are cigars from Spain that he brought back. Man are they tasty! Thanks Dad!

Are Pyrex Carboys Flame Safe?

2008-07-25T16:04:00.000-04:00

In short, the answer is no. I wasn’t any part of this experiment, but happened to walk in on the tail end of it for the best part.
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Question: “Your making beer, why didn’t you boil in a stainless steel kettle like everyone else? “
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Answer: “Because glass looks way cooler”. Especially when it explodes, sending shards of glass flying through the air. . .

Danna nana nana nana Danna nana nana nana, Batman !

2008-07-23T11:32:00.000-04:00

We saw the new Batman movie on its opening night and the theater was as packed as I have ever seen it. Glad I got my tickets online, so we zoomed into the theater and found some seats. . . pretty much the last 2 seats together in the house. Then I proceeded to wait in the concession line for 15 minutes and missed most of the previews.
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I won’t give away any of the details, but I will say that it’s the best movie I have seen in a while. And at the end everyone clapped and went nuts. . . . definitely worth the money to see.
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As we were leaving the movie, the line for the next showing was out the door. A few guys waiting in line( I think that had been drinking) noticed my Homebrewing shirt and started yelling and screaming. We had a conversation about Cream Ale (since we’ll be brewing and selling some at the store). Pretty good group of guys. . . .as are most homebrewers !

Good Beer Radio ! ! !

2008-07-14T16:04:00.000-04:00

A few weeks back I was fortunate to take part in Pod Cast radio show called Good Beer Radio. It was held at my local homebrew shop called Listermann’s, where I help out (work) on Saturdays. They had a great line-up of guests, including John Palmer, who wrote “How to Brew”; Steve Wilkes and James Spencer of Basic Brewing Radio (another Pod Cast Radio show); Jeff Bearer of Craft Beer Radio; Dan Listermann; Bonus Beer Bob and the Host of Good Beer Radio, Jeffrey T. -
The show usual features the tasting of commercial beers, but this show was dedicated to homebrew, so there were 20 or so beers that they went through and tasted.
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My buddy Phil and I sat and watched some of the show. Originally I thought we’d sit there and watch the show or help out if they needed anything, but I was asked to sit in on the show when the group tasted an Imperial Bourbon Barrel Stout I brought ! Pretty exciting stuff ! ! !
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Here are the links to the shows. . .
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http://www.goodbeershow.com/
Download show #156, then go to 33.34 to listen to them taste my Imperial Bourbon Barrel Stout.
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The other podcast shows can be found on these websites. . .
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http://www.craftbeerradio.com/
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http://www.basicbeerbrewing.com/

Pictured from left to right. . . John Palmer, who wrote “How to Brew”; Dan Listermann; Bonus Beer Bob; James Spencer and Steve Wilkes of Basic Brewing Radio (another Pod Cast Radio show); the Host of Good Beer Radio, Jeffrey T.; and Jeff Bearer of Craft Beer Radio.

Cheers !

Preparing Screens

2008-07-09T13:41:00.000-04:00

Well, this is a blog about T-Shirts, right? Guess I better put some shirt stuff on here. . . Last night I prepared a screen to do the Listermann T-Shirts. We'll do a complete line of shirts, as well as some tote bags ( for carrying beer of course!)
Here's a photo of my ugly, wet mug after washing out the screen. It's a messy job. . . .Notice the Hawaian swim suit complete with St. Alphonzo's T-Shirt. . . . ?

Just Another Brick in the Wall. . .

2008-07-02T14:58:00.000-04:00

Thanks to my good buddy Phil, the "Listermann Mural" has begun. He lent me his extremely powerful Honda power washer to wash the side of the building.

I started scraping on Sunday, and will continue to do so throughout the week. Then I'll lay a base coat of paint on there and finally, paint the mural last.

Cricket - the dog

2008-06-26T09:53:00.000-04:00

My parents dog is CRAZY ! She's an over sized German Shepherd that is 2 years old and only beginning to calm down. My parents are gone for a week so my sister Brooke is "babysitting".

Here she is sitting on the couch being a goof. . .

Fire, Food, and Fun !

2008-06-20T12:18:00.001-04:00

Krista and I went to visit some good friends of ours up near Oxford, Ohio. . .Johnny and Shelley. They have an awesome house with a huge barn and lots of land. We cooked hot dogs, bratwurst, couple of giant pieces of beef, and veggies, along with potato salad. Johnny knows how to do it up right. . .
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Dave Sabo, meat master extraordinaire, smoked the beef. Then we had a giant fire, Sabo wrapped some salvaged copper wire around a giant stick and stuck it in the middle of the fire. When we lit the fire it gave off some pretty neat colors. . . He'll go back the next day and grab the wire and turn it in for scrap. . .
His wife Shelley is opening up a retail store in Oxford called “Off the Beaten Path” and have asked me to help them design a sign and logo for their business. Here’s what we came up with and I think it works well with their theme/philosophies on life. . . Stay tuned for pictures of the actual construction of the sign, and if your ever in Oxford, check out their shop ! The Grand Opening is sometime in August. . . !

Rock Lobster !

2008-06-16T11:28:00.001-04:00

I went swimming at the pool over the weekend. I wanted to get a tan, so of course I did not put on any sunscreen, despite the advice of my girlfriend, her sister, and numerous other persons.

So bottom line, I am a lobster. I won't disgust you with photos of me. . .instead here's one of John Candy in "Summer Rental". . .its a good comparison. . trust me. . .

Website is up and Running !

2008-06-13T15:44:00.000-04:00

Its not much to look at yet, but the website is up and running !
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Need shirts made, need a design, give us a call, check out the site !
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http://www.cincinnaticustomtshirts.com
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Below is Patrick and Chuck, a couple of fellow home brewers. Look how excited they are !

My Tomatoes Ain't Tainted

2008-06-12T12:37:00.001-04:00

My tomatoes aren't tainted. . .because we don't have any yet.

Meet the Kids. . .

2008-06-11T11:28:00.001-04:00

These are our babies, we have had both of them since they were kittens. Mr. Ming (the tiger cat) is a big boy, weighing close to 23 pounds, follows me around like dog, scratches at the porch door when he wants to go out, goes nuts when I poor a glass of milk, and sleeps at the corner of our bed everynight.
Opal (we call her Tee), is only slightly smaller than her big brother, and loves to hide under beds, jumps in the shower to let water drip over her head so we have to pet her to dry her off, and likes to give little love nibbles when your laying on the couch asleep. . . .

One Fish, Two Fish, Dead Fish, Smelly Fish. . .

2008-06-09T11:44:00.000-04:00

After a glorious weekend in New York, I came home to my house reeking of rotten fish. . .
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My poor fish had met its maker, and to get back at me for spending years of his uneventful life in a square glass box, he bloated up like a stinky watermelon, and secreted a mass of slime which clouded over my tank like fog on a lighthouse. . . in no doubt trying to take his fellow tank mates with him to the other side. . . .

Don't get me wrong. . I am sad. . . but pissed I have to deal with this stinky mess. . . .

So long Pat Jr. . . . . you will be missed. . . .

I want one. . .

2008-06-05T15:39:00.000-04:00

Went to Krista's cousin's for a graduation party. They had a beautiful house with a wooded lot and a pond. The pond was loaded with giant fish that would practically jump up and take food from your hand. Look how blue this water is ! I want one. . .

Were Not Winos . . But the pictures say otherwise. . .

2008-06-03T16:38:00.001-04:00

I got together with a fellow co-worker and bottled some wine last night. Every year three of us go in on grapes shipped from California to Ohio and we make wine. . . .mostly Red wine.
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The wine in the oak barrel is a 2006 Zinfandel from the Sutter Ridge region in California. It’s been in the barrel for approximately 1 year, 4 months.
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We ended up with 9 cases (split 3 ways) and filled a few carboys for further bulk aging.

We named the dog Indiana. . . .

2008-05-27T10:50:00.000-04:00

We went to see the new Indiana Jones movie on Sunday over Memorial Day weekend. Man, was I excited to see this movie. I have been waiting for 15 plus years to see a sequel. . . As a movie connoisseur I won't give my true "in-depth" opinion of this movie because this blog is supposed to be fun and upbeat. . .

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I will say that it was fun to see this movie and nice to see Indy on the screen again.

HOSTA-lavista Baby. . . .

2008-05-27T10:49:00.000-04:00

It's a little late to be splitting up Hostas right now, but we had no other choice. These babies are getting huge ! If you don't know about hostas, they are a great ground cover, nice and leafy, and they can get big. They prefer shade but can do all right in partial sun. . . .

If you are poor and can wait a few years, all you have to do is plant a few of these guys and each year split them up. In a few years you'll have hundreds. . .

Thirsty?

2008-05-14T10:47:00.001-04:00

Here’s the finished beer! . . . We were up until 2:00am banging around and keeping the neighbors up. . .heh, heh. . . .
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Total amount - 4 kegs of a Pale Ale (similar to a Sierra Nevada with more hops) and 4 kegs of a Brown Ale (similar to a New Castle Ale)
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Many thanks to my friend Phil who let us use his garage as storage and his time and kept us fed.

Driving the cleaned kegs . . .

Gary Copper giving us a hand. . .

Phil. . . .Master Brewer. . . .

the finished product. . .

Still Cleaning. . . .

2008-05-13T11:17:00.001-04:00

I am still cleaning these damn kegs. These are the stems that go inside the kegs. Pressure goes in the keg and the beer is pushed throught he stainless steel stem. . . .

The Incredible Edible Egg. . . .

2008-05-13T11:14:00.001-04:00

Mmmmm. . . . .Love a good breakfast. . . . . if I can get up in time. . . .

Cleaning

2008-05-09T13:53:00.000-04:00

Last night I had to clean the barrels(kegs). You gots to before putting the beer in them.
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One day I'll own a giant washing machine you can run these suckers through. . . because man does it take a long time !

Camp Work

2008-05-06T12:21:00.001-04:00

Every year we have a large camping party and we do a bunch of work at the site in order to lower the cost of renting the place out. This year we set some posts and erected some split rails. We also gutted the lodgehouse, put up new wainscoating, and painted. The camp is a great place to have a "get together", plenty of room to move around, a giant barn that has a stage for bands to play, etc. Here's a link to their site http://www.hannonscampamerica.com/.

Let the Wine Flow !

2008-05-02T10:26:00.000-04:00

O.k. So I make wine too. I entered a few wines in a local amateur wine contest (Henke Winery) and to my surprise took a Second place, First place, and the Best of Show. I might start entering more contests, but I hate to give the wine away !

Setting Up Shop

2008-04-29T13:42:00.000-04:00

-I've been trying to set up an office, someplace where I can sit, draw/design, and think. Originally I thought I would do it in the basement, but it's to dark and dirty down there. Plus that's where most of the silk screening will take place, so there is not much room. So here's the start of the office with an older drafting table. Its huge so I'll have plenty of room.

Check out my dad's old record player on the right ( covered in junk). Now I can play records and design. . . A fellow employee was kind enough to give me all his old records, including Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Blue Oyster Cult, Queen, Beatles, etc. Pretty sweet. . .

I am also setting up shelves to display books and my Star Wars/Tranformers toys. . . and yes. . . I am dork . . .

Steak and Beer

2008-04-25T09:16:00.000-04:00

This is what happens when you make beer at Phil's house. . .you eat right ! Steak and beer, what could be better. . . In the photo on the right we are using CO2 to push the beer from one container to the other leaving the sediment behind. . .this is called racking. Since one of the beers is a Pale Ale, we also added additional hops to the beer which will give it more flavor and aroma.

Making Some Brew

2008-04-24T12:58:00.000-04:00

Several of us throw a fairly large party in May with a pancake breakfast, hot dogs, lots of beer, and bands. Here's my friend Bill (right) posing with last years huge batch of beer. Phil, anthor helper friend, stirs the grain in the mash tun .
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This year we are making a nice hoppy pale ale and a brown ale similar to a New Castle. . ..yum. . .
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Tonight we'll be racking both beers and dry hopping the pale ale. The fun part is getting the brew into the sanke kegs (15.5 gallons). . . . I'll post more pics in the next few days. . . .

Got to Eat !

2008-04-23T11:55:00.001-04:00

We (my girlfriend Krista and I) splurged last weekend and did some food up right on the grill. Salmon marinated in a orange, soy sauce, and fresh ginger - Quail which was already seasoned in the package - and oven baked asparagus. I made a orange sauce for the quail that tuned out nice.

Homebrewed T-Shirts - Cincinnati Custom T-Shirts

2008-04-21T14:28:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the First of Many Posts. . . This blog will used to record our journey into the construction of a T-Shirt Company. Along the way we'll be brewing some beer, cooking some food, and having some fun.

I have been coming up with designs for t-shirts for the past several years, and it seemed only natural to get some silkscreening equipment and begin producing some original, quality shirts on my own.

Making wine and brewing beer have been a big part of my life, so the first several shirts designs will be focused on homebrewed beer.

Cheers !