Tosche Station Brewhouse – Sinjir’s Rath IPA Part II: Brewing and Tasting

Last time in our Tosche Station Brewhouse post series, we talked about crafting the Sinjir’s Rath IPA. This time around, we’re going to be brewing this sucker!

As a reminder, I use Picobrew’s rather innovative Pico Model C countertop homebrew system. This device is an internet-connected smart appliance that’s not much bigger than your average toaster oven, so it’ll be right at home in your kitchen. So often when people think about homebrewing, the thought of garage filling burners, containers, and meticulous monitoring requirements. Picobrew miniaturizes, simplifies, and automates the whole process to the point where a homebrew idiot and amateur like me is able to brew my own delicious beer. Before diving into the brewing process for the Sinjir’s Rath IPA, let’s talk about what actually comes in the box when you buy a Picobrew Model C. To the jump!

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Holonet Blast #65

It’s a little late (thanks, site issues!) but it’s time for this week’s Holonet Blast! And boy, is this week relevant to my interests.

The official site posted a new excerpt from Thrawn Alliances by Timothy Zahn, out on July 25, featuring Commander Mitth’raw’nuruodo of the Chiss Expansionary Defense Force (call him Thrawn, please) with Jedi General Anakin Skywalker of the Republic. Not only that, but Del Rey announced that a convention exclusive version of the novel (autographed by Zahn!) will be offered at San Diego Comic Con, complete with a grand admiral insignia pin and tote bag. The exclusive cover shows Young (Hot) Thrawn with Anakin Skywalker in his Clone Wars era armor. I am a very big fan of this cover and will be posting a printout on my cubicle wall very shortly. Here it is on the right, in case you missed it (and because I want to look at it again).

Speaking of The Clone Wars and San Diego Comic Con, there will be a special 10th anniversary panel at San Diego Comic Con, hosted by Amy Ratcliffe. No details yet, but this will be one to attend for all fans of the animated series.

Star Wars won big at the Saturn Awards, with Rebels taking the prize for Best Animated TV Series and The Last Jedi winning Best Actor (Mark Hamill), Best Screenplay (Rian Johnson) and Best Editing (Bob Duscay). Congratulations to all the winners (especially Mark Hamill)!

In more news for Rebels fans, the fourth season will be released on Blu Ray July 31.

Want to learn some life and leadership lessons from Star Wars? DK Publishing has you covered. You can choose the light side and Be More Yoda or the dark side and Be More Vader, both by Christian Blauvelt.  Both books will be released on October 2.

Tosche Station Brewhouse #1: Hondo’s Mostly True Lager

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Welcome to the pilot episode of the Tosche Station Brewhouse, where Kristen and Brian get together each month to talk beer, sports and Star Wars. On this inaugural installment, the hosts introduce themselves, their various sports affiliations, and put together a Hondo Ohnaka themed lager recipe utilizing Picobrew’s Model C system and Freestyle PicoPak Crafter.

Hondo’s Mostly True Lager

Base Recipe: American Lager

Grains: 

  • 3 oz. CaraPils
  • 52 oz. Pilsner

Hops:

  • .2 oz. Summit as bittering
  • .1 oz. Saaz as flavor
  • .2 oz. Amarillo as flavor
  • .2 oz Saaz as aroma
  • .1 oz Amarillo as aroma

Next time, we’ll be talking about the brew process and then crafting another recipe for a whole different Star Wars character.

Watch Tosche Station Brew House #1: Hondo’s Mostly True Lager from ToscheStationNetwork on www.twitch.tv

The Tosche Station Brewhouse is part of the Tosche Station Podcast Network. Subscribe to the Brewhouse on iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher. For more great shows from us, you can also subscribe to the Tosche Station Network mega feed on iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher. We can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

You can find Kristen on Twitter with the handle @itskeeks and you can find Brian with @LaneWinree.

This podcast has been brought to you in part by your support on Patreon!

Book Wars Pod, Episode 54: It’s a Very Queer Cape


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We’re continuing our read of CATALYST by James Luceno this week! Join us as we discuss Galen and Krennic’s relationship, breakdowns in morally responsible government leadership, and the Empire’s creation of a constant state of war. Plus, Kate and Kristen queer it up by talking about how Krennic is definitely a disaster bi.

This podcast covers chapters 7-14 and is NOT spoiler-free. It also mentions plot points from Rogue One, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and FROM A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW (which we discussed in our episodes 28-32). 

Book Wars Pod explores the Star Wars universe through the franchise’s non-screen media: the canon novels, comics, and video games. Check out our guide to past episodes, and subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and wherever else you cast your pods. You can also subscribe to the Tosche Station Radio Mega Feed on iTunes or Google Play for more great shows from our podcast network.

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr for episode updates! Hosted by Kristen Sereci, Chris Sedor, and Kate Sedor. Art by Joe Butera. Music by Podington Bear.

This podcast has been brought to you in part by your support on Patreon!

Book Wars Pod, Bonus Episode 10: A Lot of Interesting Stories Left to Be Told


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Surprise! We had the fantastic opportunity to talk to none other than Star Wars author John Jackson Miller at the All-Star Comic Con in Tysons Corner, VA, earlier this month. In this little interview, he tell us what he’s most excited about in the franchise and what he hopes to do next. Extra-special thanks to our TSR colleague Bria for helping to facilitate the meeting!

Book Wars Pod explores the Star Wars universe through the franchise’s non-screen media: the canon novels, comics, and video games. Check out our guide to past episodes, and subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, and wherever else you cast your pods. You can also subscribe to the Tosche Station Radio Mega Feed on iTunes or Google Play for more great shows from our podcast network.

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr for episode updates! Hosted by Kristen Sereci, Chris Sedor, and Kate Sedor. Art by Joe Butera. Music by Podington Bear.

This podcast has been brought to you in part by your support on Patreon!

Review: Darth Vader (2017) #13-17

In the “Burning Seas” arc of Charles Soule’s Darth Vader comic series, we take a bit of a time jump from the series so far: while issues #1-12 focused on the days immediately following the rise of the Empire, issue #13 opens three years after those events (so, around 16 BBY, for those keeping track). The Empire is consolidated, the military has built up, and the Emperor’s sinister servant, Darth Vader, has come into his own as the regime’s chief enforcer.

Whereas the series so has shown us the internal struggles of becoming Darth Vader, this arc focuses much more on external events – namely, the pacification of Mon Cala, the water world home to some of the future Rebellion’s greatest heroes. Indeed, these issues are full of familiar faces: Not-yet-Grand Moff Tarkin and his capital ship Sovereign (previously seen in the Tarkin novel) are pitted in a battle of wills (and weapons) against King Lee-Char of Mon Cala (who you may remember from The Clone Wars), Admiral Raddus (Rogue One), and then-Commander Gial Ackbar (c’mon, you know him). With such a cast of characters demanding page-time, we actually get less of the titular villain than one would expect; Vader plays the role of antagonist here, rather than the focus of the plot.  Continue reading

Holonet Blast #64

It’s the news, y’all!

Fairly light week for actual news, but you know you can always check back here when The Last Jedi remake finally happens.

First, some toy news. In August, Funko will be coming out with its popular (and aptly named) Pop! figures from The Clone Wars television series that ran from 2008-2015. We can expect Anakin (complete with all his limbs), Obi-Wan, Yoda and TWO Ahsoka figurines (one of which will be a Hot Topic exclusive). If you need me, I’ll be in the corner rocking back and forth at the (extremely unlikely) possibility of finally getting a Pop! Fives.

Over in France, ILMxLAB and The VOID won two Cannes Lions Digital Craft awards for their incredible work on Secrets of the Empire hyper-reality experience. Now… who wants to fly me to Orlando or Anaheim so I can actually go play and write a first-hand account for TSR?!

And let’s not to forget to congratulate our friends over at The Star Wars Show for their 100th episode! (Does anyone actually know any of the cast and/or crew so we can be real friends? Asking for a me.) There was singing, there was dancing, there were several red Millennium Falcon shirts.

That’s it for now! Going to moonwalk into the night and go see Solo again.

TSR #192: Standalone


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This week on TSR: We saw Ocean’s 8, a whole bunch of movie news, the Poe Dameron comic is ending, and the future of Star Wars standalone films.

TSR is the official podcast of Tosche-Station.net. If you like what you hear, subscribe and leave a review on iTunes and Google Play. For more great shows from us, you can also subscribe to the Tosche Station Network mega feed on iTunes and Google Play. We can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Nanci and Brian are the co-founders and writers of Tosche-Station.net. You can find Nanci on Twitter with the handle @Nancipants and you can find Brian with @LaneWinree.

This podcast has been brought to you in part by your support on Patreon!

Book Wars Pod, Bonus Episode 9: Enfys Nest, We Stan


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This episode is the second part of our deep dive into Solo: A Star Wars Story and all that the anthology movie means for the wider Star Wars universe. We answer YOUR social media questions on the film, and delve into the latest controversy around the film and the Star Wars fandom as a whole.

This podcast is NOT spoiler-free! We also mention this Huffington Post article on Ron Howard’s changes to Dryden Vos.

Book Wars Pod explores the Star Wars universe through the franchise’s non-screen media: the canon novels, comics, and video games. Check out our guide to past episodes, and subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, and wherever else you cast your pods. You can also subscribe to the Tosche Station Radio Mega Feed on iTunes or Google Play for more great shows from our podcast network.

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr for episode updates! Hosted by Kristen Sereci, Chris Sedor, and Kate Sedor. Art by Joe Butera. Music by Podington Bear.

This podcast has been brought to you in part by your support on Patreon!

Tosche Station Brewhouse – Sinjir’s Rath IPA Part I: Grains and Hops

Those of you who have listened to TSR, followed me on Twitter, or know me to any personal degree are aware that I am a big fan of craft beer. Yes, admittedly, I’m a Pacific Northwest native and as comes with the territory, I am a craft beer snob. Such a snob that a few weeks ago, I purchased Picobrew’s ingenious Pico Model C homebrew system.

Picobrew takes the guesswork, monitoring, and space requirements out of the homebrew beer process and replaces it with a rather sleek looking counter top appliance that fits in perfectly with the other gear you’ve got in your kitchen. As an added bonus, it’s also a rather capable sous vide cooker (stay tuned for future columns putting a Star Wars geek twist on cooking recipes). In other words, Picobrew’s Model C system is the perfect homebrew device for someone like me that wants to make their own beer, but doesn’t have the space, time, and monitoring requirements to homebrew in more traditional ways. But why are we here talking about kitchen appliances?

Welcome to the Tosche Station Brew House, a new ongoing blog series (with HEAVY inspiration taken from one of my favorite video series in Acquisitions Intoxicated) and soon to be podcast where we’re going to be taking a Star Wars character, event, or thing, and crafting a beer around them. Those of you who own a Picobrew system will be able to plug the recipes created into the Freestyle PicoPak maker or blank PikoPak (more on that in a moment) to make these beers yourself in the comfort of your own home. Up first, we’re cooking up a beer all about the snarkiest gun in the Galaxy Far, Far Away: Sinjir Rath Velus. To the jump!

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