Schitz Maritz!

Just a bit over three years ago, Schitzie (skit-zy) came into our lives as a very hungry and very skinny stray cat. We had seen her for about a week howling for anyone to give her some food. So we would put out food at night to help her gain some trust in us and give her some strength. Eventually, she adventured into the house, and decided she didn't ever want to leave.

Unfortunately, we lost her this past Monday due to a tumor on her large intestine. For about a month, she had been losing weight from not eating enough, so we took her to the Vet and found a pretty sizeable tumor in her abdomen. Two days later she was in surgery to remove the tumor and make sure it hadn't spread. When they opened her up everything looked like it should be easy; the tumor hadn't spread and was localized in one region, although it was pretty big. They successfully removed the tumor, however, Schitzie was too weak to keep up her fight, and her heart soon stopped.

The Schitz got her name because she loved people, but couldn't stand other cats. Unfortunately for her we have two others, and they loved to be around her. One would annoy the crap out of her just to make her mad, the other just liked being close. She also seemed to grow into her name and showed some neurotic behaviors.

This picture (Spacegirl Schitz!) was taken after she licked a few holes in her own thigh due to us being away for 4 days. She's also doing one of her favorite things, laying in a box.

When she first came to us, this is how she looked:

Not exactly the prettiest cat. She looked pretty rough around the edges and had some weird markings. Within six months she looked like this:

So she had gained a little weight (just a little). She loved to eat. She'd graze all day, try to eat any people food she could, and sleep as much as possible. That's just a recipe for a happy cat. Here's a few more from her time.

So to celebrate Schitzie's life I plan to put off the Citrus IPA, and brew a monster. I plan on brewing an American Barleywine. These beers are not easy undertakings. They are gigantic brews. Tons of Malt are required for these as they are very high in alcohol. They also have a ton of hops. Very strong bitterness and pretty strong on the aroma and flavor. Here's the recipe I've been throwing around now.

Malts:

15 lbs of Pale LME.

1 lb of Crystal 40L Malt.

1lb of Melanoiden Malt.

8 oz. of Crystal 60L Malt.

4 oz. of Carapils Malt.

4 oz. of Special Roast Malt.

I'll add 1 oz of Cluster and Centennial hops at 60 min. Then add .75 oz Cluster hops at 30, 1.25 oz Cluster at 20 min, 1 oz Cluster at 10 min, and 1 oz Centennial at 1 min.

I plan on using 2 packs of Wyeast Imperial Blend. I don't have the equipment to make a yeast starter yet, but it's on my shopping list.

When it's all said and done, this brew will cost over a hundred bucks, but will be worth it. If all goes to plan, it should be over 11% ABV and have over 80 IBU's. It will be aged for a long time. Almost a year. Yep. This brew is not going to be opened until March 9th 2010. It normally take barleywines at least that long to mellow out and get to their best in terms of taste. I plan on maybe sampling some here and there to see how it ages, but The Schitz! won't be tasted by anyone else until March 9th of next year.

Here's to you Schitzie! You're my girl. You're a good Schitz; you're the best Schitz in the world! Schitz Maritz!