kevincarobine

Creme Brûlée Imperial Milk Stout

2012-01-12T23:34:00.000-05:00

While in Savannah, GA for Thanksgiving, my family, friends and I took a bicycle stroll through downtown Savannah on an awesome pedal-powered trolley call Slow Ride. This thing was great - about 25 people working together to move this massive bar-like trolley. If you're ever visiting Savannah, I recommend checking out this thing. You can get a lot of information, and even reserve a trolley, from their website - www.savannahslowride.com.

The 'Slow Ride' - everyone getting settled in.

We pedaled around downtown, stopping at a different bar every couple of blocks. We'd go in, order a drink, put it in a to-go cup and get back on the Slow Ride. One of our later stops took us to 'Jen & Friends Martini Bar,' where I tried a Creme Brûlée Imperial Milk Stout. It was like dessert in a glass.

Because I enjoy beer a lot, I did a little research on this one. Creme Brûlée Imperial Milk Stout is made by Southern Tier Brewing Company in the state of New York. It's a Summer Seasonal beer that the company releases around June. It's a pretty big beer with lots of flavor and high alcohol content (10% ABV). I really liked this Creme Brûlée beer, but wasn't sure where to get it now that I'm back in Virginia.

I was able to dig around a little bit and find a clone recipe online at Hopville.com. I only have a few home brew batches under my belt and I've never made a beer from a recipe that wasn't put together for me by the guys at Home Brew USA. I decided to give it a shot. The recipe - found here - was for an all-grain brewing process, a process that's a little too advanced for me, so I had to convert the base malt (American 2-Row Pale) into an ingredient that I could use in my malt extract process (LME). Using a conversion equation I found at Brew-Dudes.com, I was able to figure out how much LME I would need.

So, I headed to my local Home Brew shop and plopped down the recipe. The guys at the shop had never heard of Southern Tier Creme Brûlée, but took a look at the recipe and decided that it was a pretty tasty beer. All my math and conversions done at home were pointless - the guys just punched in the ingredients and their computer told them exactly what I'd need. For what it's worth, my math was pretty accurate.

So, I loaded up with 11.5 lbs on LME. Thats a lot of malt. By comparison, every other beer I've brewed at home never used more than 6 lbs of LME. The more malt you have, the more sugar you have. The more sugar you have, the longer your yeast gets to eat. The longer your yeast gets to eat, the more alcohol you have in your beer. Lots of malt is a good thing.

So, a few days after the New Year began, my brother and I began brewing Creme Brûlée. As you can see in the picture, the process starting with the steeping of some grains. We steeped 3 lbs of Chocolate, 1 lbs of Caramel and 1 lbs of Black Patent. All of that gave the wort I nice, dark coloring and a very rich scent. The brewing process didn't take long - after steeping, we added the LME. Once you add the malt and bring it back to a boil - it has to boil for an hour. After that, the brewing process is basically over. The longest part of the process comes next. You have to let the beer cool to room temperature before you pitch the yeast. If the beer is too hot, the yeast will not survive and fermentation will never take place.

The beer finally cooled and I pitched the yeast. When fermentation began, it was like nothing I had seen before. I've heard stories of violent fermentation, but I wasn't expecting that to come from my delicious, dessert beer. The fermenter was making all kinds of noises for a few days, you could hear the beer pulsing and moving inside the container. After a few days, the action cooled down a bit and wasn't as loud and violent. About a week into fermentation, I added some vanilla beans. Added specialty items like that late in fermentation is supposed to give the beer added aroma.

The Creme Brûlée has been fermenting for about two weeks now, and will probably be ready to bottle this weekend. I can't wait to have a taste - hopefully it will be just like I remember it from the Slow Ride when we were pedaling down the streets of Savannah, GA.

Logo: Spotted!

2011-09-07T19:32:00.000-04:00

I love it when a logo comes to life...

Just like with this exterior sign for Leverett Eyecare Optometrists in Virginia Beach, VA.

This was one of the best rebranding experiences I've been apart of. The folks at Leverett Eyecare are very creative and had alot of ideas for their new brand. I was very happy to design their new logo and help create their new sign.

If you're in the market for an optometrist, Leverret Eyecare might be for you!

I Like Bobbleheads

2011-04-26T20:50:00.000-04:00

I collect some sports memorabilia - autographs, championship tshirts, World Series hats, game ticket stubs - but my favorite of all is bobbleheads. I especially like bobbleheads of players depicted as minor leaguers or amateurs. A few eBay searches or even a few thrift store scavenges can produce a Ryan Howard bobblehead as a Reading Phillie or a Chase Utley bobblehead as a Scranton Wilkes-barre Red Baron.

Aside from being an interesting collectible, bobbleheads have served another purpose over the years - teams use them to get customers through the gates at their ballparks. Bigger market teams usually give out about two bobbleheads a year (usually to the first 10,000 or so fans through the gates on specified game days).

And because I'm such an enthusiast, I've scoured the schedules of teams near me (Central East Coast) to see when they're giving away bobbleheads - so I can plan my trips to the ballparks. I hope you find the following list helpful!

Philadelphia Phillies, Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

May 24 - Cincinnati Reds vs. Philadelphia Phillies

Roy Oswalt Bobblehead giveaway

Baltimore Orioles, Camden Yards - Baltimore, MD

June 25 - Cincinnati Reds vs. Baltimore Orioles

Buck Showalter Bobblehead giveaway

Washington Nationals, Nationals Park - Washington DC

July 30 - New York Mets vs. Washington Nationals

Jayson Werth Bobblehead giveaway

Baltimore Orioles, Camden Yards - Baltimore, MD
August 6 - Toronto Blue Jays vs. Baltimore Orioles
Brian Matusz Bobblehead giveaway

Philadelphia Phillies, Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA
August 16 - Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Philadelphia Phillies
Placido Polanco Bobblehead giveaway

Washington Nationals, Nationals Park - Washington DC
August 20 - Philadelphia Phillies vs. Washington Nationals
Ian Desmond Bobblehead giveaway

Philadelphia

2011-04-03T23:40:00.000-04:00

This past weekend I took a mini-vacation. My brother, a friend and I did some old-school road tripping to Philadelphia. The trip came about because of Opening Day of the 2011 baseball season. My beloved Phillies were opening their season at home against the Astros. My brother, Kieran Carobine, writes for the fan blog, Phillies Nation, and was kind enough to secure some game tickets and some invites to a pregame tailgate party.

Our road trip was old-school because we took the bus, the-$10-round trip-Megas Bus, to be exact. We caught the bus in Hampton - stopped in Richmond, DC, Baltimore and finally, in Philadelphia. Once in the city, we took full advantage of the public transportation - riding the metro all around the city - even taking the train at the end of the day from Philly to just outside the city, where we were staying.

Opening Day on Friday, April 1 was cold, very cold - so cold that is was actually snowing in the morning. The tailgate party, hosted by Phillies Nation, was fantastic. I enjoyed some soft pretzels (probably too many) and drank some local Yards brew (probably not enough). The game was even better - having witnessed a ninth inning comeback and a walk-off victory.

Basking in the first victory of the season for the Phils - my brother, my friend and I decided to spend Saturday, our last day in Philly, seeing some sights in the city. One of the highlights from Saturday was the area of the city called Fairmount. Located just behind the art museum (which is probably why it had a very laid back, artsy-town feel), it offers plenty to do for the leather-tramping tourist.

My brother, a huge ghost story fanatic, insisted we partake in the self-guided tour at Eastern State Penitentiary. He boasted about how it was known in ghost-hunting circles as one of the most haunted facilities on the east coast. Although there was no noticeable evidence of anything being haunted at the country's oldest penitentiary - it definitely gave me the spooks a little.

While visiting Fairmount, we were also able to stop by and grab some food from my good friends at Rybread Cafe. It was my first visit to the cafe and I was thoroughly impressed. The menu alone, which features sandwiches, paninis, soups and salads named after cities you might visit on a cross-country road trip, was enough to win me over and the whole experience made me wish we had a cafe like it back home.

The trip was capped off with the bus ride back to Hampton - stopping along the way again in Baltimore, DC, and Richmond. The 7 hour ride wasn't bad - mainly because I had an iPod full of movies and an iPhone full of audiobooks and podcasts. Riding back, we began to plan our summer DC road trip - which would include a $2 round trip ride on Mega Bus. Oh, yeah!

Now, it's back to the grind in Virginia Beach. If anybody had their own Opening Day mini-vacation, what were some of the highlights?

Lost Sketches

2011-03-27T22:21:00.000-04:00

Paging through my sketchbook again - this time it's getting me primed for the warmer weather of Spring and Summer. Above are pages I dedicated for a series of fish paintings - deep in the dark and cold months of winter - that I planned to get started on in the Spring. It's almost time to break out the oil paints and the old windows.

Hopefully, I'll finally submit some work for the 2012 Virginia Beach Boardwalk Art Show Festival.

Lost Sketches

2011-03-21T22:38:00.000-04:00

Paging through my sketchbook for a clean page tonight, I came across this goofy caricature of my dog with a mustache. My dumspter-dog mutt, Libby, is a girl and therefore does not actually have a real mustache, but for some reason I sketched her with one. I don't typically do caricature sketches - I don't typically just sit down and sketch my dog either - I'm not sure why I have it, but it made me laugh.

For the sake of credibility - I do actually draw and paint from time to time. You can find samples of my artwork at my website. Check it out - My Art Portfolio - My Design Portfolio.

IN BAZE WE TRUST

2011-02-05T11:59:00.001-05:00

Living in Virginia Beach sometimes makes it tough to be a sports fan - we have no professional teams (unless you count the UFL team that is coming soon). The next best thing comes from our neighboring city - Norfolk has Admirals hockey, Tides baseball, and my favorite, NCAA-awesomeness in the ODU Monarchs.

Now, I didn't go to ODU (although I have been thinking about returning for a second degree) - my loyalties lie solely with their fantastic sports programs. I'm a Monarch football and basketball season ticket holder - and I love it.

ODU basketball's most exciting player is Kent Bazemore - he's good for a huge dunk and a blocked shot off the backboard, at least once a game. And that is why I made this tshirt. Purchase one for yourself below for $20.00 and I'll ship it to you!

Color

Size

Busy Summer

2010-09-23T21:19:00.000-04:00

ahhh, the first day of Fall.

It's been quite a Summer - lots of fun projects! The highlight of the Summer though was easily my wedding in June at the Signature at West Neck Golf Course in Virginia Beach, followed by our honeymoon to Playa Dorado, Dominican Republic. A week in the Caribbean was exactly what we needed after months of wedding planning. We laid on the beach, read by the pool, drank the local beer and visited the street-side market.

Adjusting back to life in the real world was tough, but I got right back into the swing of things with a handful of exciting projects and even a few new clients.

Keep checking back for updates!

Firefox vs. Safari

2010-05-05T10:19:00.000-04:00

I know this has been debated nearly as much as MAC vs. PC - but I finally broke down and started weighing my options.

I've been on Firefox for a few years now and recently started reading some compelling arguments about switching back to Safari. There is a great comparison here, by Chris Coyier.

Other than being a MAC-purist, there are a couple other reasons I decided to go back to Safari. One of the most noticeable differences is the speed at which the MAC-native browser loads compared to Firefox. There is a big difference on my iMAC that has 2GB of RAM in it. If you have one of the new, unibody, MacBook Pros that came standard with 4GB you might not notice the difference, but it's there.

The next reason is admittedly a little silly, but it's Yoono. I used the Yoono plug-in in Firefox to update all of my social networking sites at once. This a great tool if you're trying to stay connected - even greater now that there is a Yoono Desktop application available. And because I use the desktop version, I no longer to need to have Firefox open to use it.

Safari has definitely gotten into the game of internet plug-ins too. You have to do a little more searching around and the collections are still growing, but a good place to start looking is PimpMySafari.com.

I haven't gotten into the social bookmarking game yet, if I had - this next reason might not be that big of a deal. But I really enjoy having my Safari bookmarks sync right to my iPhone bookmarks without any effort or extra time spent managing them.

Those are my thoughts - I'm always digging around because I feel that every tool or toy I have and use is grossly underutilized. Please feel free to share your insight, thoughts and resources.

Thanks for reading.

Fear the Beard Tshirt

2010-03-24T22:23:00.000-04:00

Opening Day of baseball season in right around the corner! Homeruns, No-Hitters, Summer Days, Peanuts & Beer and, of course, tshirts with beards on them - at least this season. I created this shirt in honor of a new beard that arrived at Spring Training this year. There has been an overwhelming response from a lot of beard (and Jayson Werth) fanatics - so I decided to go to print with them.

They're printed on American Apparel 50/50 white shortsleeve tshirt (super comfy). The cost is $20 plus shipping - so use the link and purchase with PayPal.

Black Dog Social Media

2010-03-23T20:58:00.000-04:00

Yeah, I ventured into the social media world a little while ago (find me on Facebook and Twitter) and up until recently, I thought I was getting the most that I could out of it. This was until I came across Black Dog Social Media and had the pleasure of face-lifting their logo.

Black Dog Social Media are consultants to plenty successful businesses and brands, including restaurants, bloggers, politicians, and the local animal control shelter (which is actually how we met) - they know the ins-and-outs of using social media tools to boost brands and believe that honest and open conversations with your customers will build your brand loyalty.

Founder of Social Media Club Virginia Beach and all around animal advocate, Black Dog Social Media is definitely the real deal. If you're ready to dive into the social media world or curious to know how these tools can boost your business or brand - check out www.blackdogsocialmedia.com.

A company called Moo

2010-02-01T21:12:00.000-05:00

A few months ago, I designed a logo for a company called 'Red Rock Flight Center.' (Check out their logo on my site, here!) They're a company that specializes in getting everything a person needs to become a pilot - essentially, building a pilot starter kit. Red Rock Flight Center has a fleet of personal aircraft scattered across Southeastern Virginia at a number of regional airports. Some of these aircrafts are for pilots that want a specialized license (ie. tail-dragging, acrobactic, etc.) - (wow, I really learned alot about flying working with this client!).

Anyways, Red Rock Flight Center wanted some business cards that really showed off some of their specialized aircraft - and we came up with a great idea thanks to a company called Moo. They have a great little system for printing custom cards. I was able to print contact information on the front of the business card and a variety of different images on the back of each business card. The cards were inexpensive & good quality and even came in a card-holding box that is made of recyclable materials! So, now the guys at Red Rock Flight Center can show of each piece of their fleet with every business card they hand out.

If you're interested in contacting Red Rock Flight Center, let me know - I'll put you in touch.
I'm building their website right now - so they'll have something else to show off soon!

Finding time to Volunteer!

2010-01-18T20:45:00.000-05:00

I've been trying to find the time to volunteer at my local SPCA - actually, I've been trying to find the time to visit my local SPCA to ask about volunteer opportunities. (After all, my New Year's resolution was to acquire good luck through acts of good karma.)

So, when a forwarded email came through my Inbox from a good friend - regarding volunteer opportunities for graphic designers with the Virginia Beach SPCA - I jumped at the offer.

After a few introductory emails with their awesome Events Coordinator, I was offered the opportunity to create a 'Save the Date' mailer for an upcoming fundraiser event. The staff at the SPCA had a bunch of great ideas and threw them my way. I was able to come up with a cost-effective design solution that they loved. The pictured mailer (left above) is designed to be printed in black & white and is the exact dimensions for mailing with the USPS for just 28 cents!

Not only was I excited to be working with such an established organization as the Virginia Beach SPCA, I was very happy to finally find an opportunity to volunteer my time and skills for such a worthy cause.

The best part about it - they loved the mailers so much that they want me to design the rest of the materials for the fundraiser!

'Save The Date' Magnets

2009-12-02T22:01:00.000-05:00

Wheww... Glad to have this one off my plate! And so is Andi!
Now its in the goods hands of Faella Design in Virginia Beach for printing. After that, they're going in our Christmas cards to friends and family. Next on the list - Wedding Invitations, Guest Books, Table Cards, Name Cards... and whatever else Andi wants! Almost 6 months away....

December 1 - Staying Busy

2009-12-01T22:44:00.000-05:00

Just finished another really cool project - I love working with other creative people! I just completed an identity for a local florist. She creates the most beautiful arrangements, so she needed a beautiful logo. If you're in Hampton Roads and you're in need of a florist - look her up - or email/tweet/facebook me and I'll pass along her contact info!

Now, back to working on my 'Save the Date' magnets!

2009-11-11T18:48:00.000-05:00

Sooo... I just finished a really cool project for a friend. She and her JMU Alumni friends wanted some cool, custom tshirts and a couple of other things for Alumni weekend at JMU.

A group of about 30 friends were planning a Alumni weekend centered around the Homecoming football game. They wanted me to create a custom tshirt that depicted James Madison and Duke (JMU Mascot) clinking cups. But since this was a homecoming football game, and there was a lot of tailgating planned, they also wanted me to build a set of cornhole boards with a custom JMU paint job. I was really excited about this - I hardly ever get to use power tools for a design project!

After some fun sketching and illustrating - and working with a dozen or so JMU grads over email - we came up with the tshirt illustration. It ended up being a four-color design and had a couple of their group's tailgating slogans thrown in. I don't know which was more fun though - illustrating a comical, historical drinking scenario for a tshirt - or building those cornhole boards! After some cutting, hammering, paint color matching (thanks Home Depot) - I slapped some JMU vinyl logos on the tops, added a set of matching bags and those boards were done.

Definitely a fun project! I can't wait to build some more cornhole boards!