There’s not a whole lot to report on at BEERdad since the baby won’t be here for another three months, and I’m only about 1/4 of the way through my espresso stout.

The only interesting thing I can say is that the coffee beer is still turning out nice, and I got BEERmom’s mom (who hasn’t had a drop of alcohol for 20+ years) to try one. My mom and aunts will be in town this weekend so they will probably try some as well.

Because of this downtime (while I wait for my coffee beer to dry up so I can begin the next batch), I decided to embark on a few side projects. My first one was an insane/ingenious idea I came up to create the world’s largest brewing company. This project is still a work in progress, so more on it later.

The other project I started serves a bit more of a purpose but also drives my wife crazy, which means I only get to work on it on weekends. It involves karaoke, searching, and a lot of other websites. I should be done or nearly done with it this weekend or next, so I will share more on it later too.

In the mean time, I am also trying to decide what to make for my next batch of beer. I am a fan of dark beer, but not very many of our friends are, so this time I am thinking along the lines of a pale ale or wheat beer. If you are 21+, and plan on being around to try some, vote below on what I should make.

I might be inheriting a glass carboy and brew pot here soon, so the next batch may actually be from scratch.

In case you have forgotten, BEERdad is a site where I write about two of the three greatest things in life: beer and parenting.

Some of you seemed a little shocked when I wrote about the baby’s room, which is why I suggest you actually read the about page of the blogs you read. In case you are still not paying attention: this site is about beer and parenting, and this entry is about our baby.

For those of you who didn’t know, my wife and I are having our first child in April, and unless the doctors and sonogram turn out to be wrong, the baby will be a boy.

According to my wife’s blog about the baby, he is 26 weeks along today and should now be able to hear all the stupid stuff we say and do. Recently we’ve been listening to a lot of techno and 60s music on XM so he will probably turn out to be pretty musical like his dad.

Other than making beer, family members have been giving us a lot of baby clothes, and we have been trying to finish his room and our basement since we probably won’t get much of a chance to do so when he’s here. My other site says he will be here in 92 days.

My espresso stout is ready, and has the bitter kick you can only get from a shot of pure espresso. The ale is almost entirely black except for the head which appears in a thick, light-beige foam. It also doesn’t seem to have any particular smell, but defiantly carries a taste every connoisseur of coffee or beer would long for.

I gave in to my urges Tuesday night and tried my first bottle. Then another Wednesday, and a third last night. At first I thought the conditioning wasn’t finished, or maybe something went wrong because my first sip began very bitter. Then I recognized that bitter flavor as the taste of espresso.

More …

Tonight I moved half the coffee beer to the fridge, which means one more week until it’s ready.

The rest of it is in the garage. Chances are I will probably give in and try one in a few days though.

Once we finished bottling our coffee beer, BEERmom and I got to start piecing together the furniture we picked out for the baby’s room. We put the crib together Sunday and finished the little guy’s changing table and dresser last night. The set has a cherry finish to match the rocking chair we purchased a few weeks ago.

Crib and Dresser

Changing Table and Rocker

We still have 4 months before the room will get any use so we plan to use the time to recolor the walls and do a little decorating. As you know, I am new at the whole parenting (and decorating) thing so any suggestions are welcome.

My coffee beer finished primary fermentation on Sunday so BEERmom and I spent the evening sanitizing and filling bottles. She wasn’t too excited when I bottled my first batch because I was pretty messy, so she decided to help.

Once everything was sanitized we primed each bottle with a teaspoon of corn sugar, then she handed them to me one by one. I filled them and handed them off to her to be capped, and this time I actually had enough bottles, so we didn’t have to get creative.

The batch made 63 bottles, which are now conditioning under our bar until it’s time to move them to the fridge. The recipe says they will be ready after a week, but I plan to wait at least two before seeing how they turned out.

Photos from bottling night below.

More …