Water and Order Pooling Idea

Today is shopping day and we're off to the big city. I'd like to look at water filters and purification systems and get a price on them. Potable water here comes in the form of 5 gallon jugs, delivered at P40 each. At a couple of jugs a week it ads up over a year.

I.e. 52 x P80 = P4,160.
OK, that's only about US$80 a year.

The supplied water (tap water) is very cheap, but not good for cooking or drinking. A filter could pay for itself every year if reasonable they are in price.

I am once more trying to gain some contacts to measure the interest in a homebrew association here in the Philippines. Last night I researched and posted some messages on some of the groups. Hopefully a few expats or pinoys with a homebrew hobby will contact me. So far we have 1 member...me!

I am also tossing the idea around in my head of a 'community purchasing' scheme where a number of members could pool their orders and take advantage of lower prices or shipping costs. Some homebrew shops have discounts after a certain dollar amount. I know Homebrew Heaven has 10% off if you buy over $250. Pwede.

Ginger ale I bottled yesterday is sitting nicely in bottles. It's a great tasting batch. I primed the bottles with ground ginger, sugar, calamansi juice and water. So far there are no abnormal pressures in any of the bottles. Yes, I used plastic bottles.

Got to go. Blog you later.

Getting Homebrew Supplies from the USA

It's a scorching Sunday afternoon and I am happy today as I placed my order at Homebrew Heaven in Everett, Washington USA. I have been friends with Ralph and his team at Homebrew Heaven there for over four years. I asked him if they ship to the Philippines. Ralph says says they ship quite a few orders to the Philippines. The sad part is they ship only USPS Air Parcel to the Philippines and it's expensive; but... at least I know it will get here. By expensive I mean about the same in US dollars as my order. Example, I ordered $50 worth of supplies and the air freight was $48.40. Oh my! Well, most of my order is heavy on hops and yeast as they are difficult to find here. I also got a few pieces of hardware like a bottle filler, fermentation thermometer and a tiny (4 pounds) of dark Dry Malt Extract or DME as it's called in the trade.

We've had a few brown-outs (black outs in the rest of the world) but I have a laptop and I can keep blogging. Maybe I should walk to the sari-sari and get a Pale Pilsen or two to fight the heat.
Oh I want to take lots of pictures when the stuff arrives. I expect it in about 10 business days.

Wish me luck, it's like Pasko di ba?


Cheers....