As soon as I make a post saying I haven't seen any quotes lately, I am sure to run across some, so here goes:
Quotable Rogue-
Indeed, history is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes.
-Voltaire
Toward no crime have men shown themselves so cold-bloodedly cruel as in punishing differences of belief.
-James Russell Lowell
Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.
-Aristotle
Thursday, May 15, 2008
This week
Overall it's been a great week. Got my stimulus check and was able to buy Heidi a nice Mother's Day present as well as send some flowers to my mom. I however failed once again to get my brother something for his birthday, so I think I will pick something up and send it out as a combo housewarming/birthday present.
It is lilac season here in Iowa, so I went out and picked some for Heidi as I was walking the dog one night. The next day Heidi went and picked a ton more, enough so the whole appt smelled like a lilac thicket. After listening to a podcast about dandelion wine, I checked up on lilac wine. It seemed like a simple enough, though long, process. Needless to say after hours of tedious picking out lilac blossoms, I have just over a gallon of lilac wine starting fermentation right now. It will be a minimum of 6 months before it's ready, but so what, it will be a nice fall/winter treat I hope. I am feeling a lot more confident now that my blonde ale is carbed and pretty darn tasty, if I do say so my self.
Ian had his last eighth grade choir concert this week. I have been proud of his continued interest in music. He has taught himself guitar somewhat, can play piano a little and really does enjoy singing. (He sure doesn't look like he's enjoying himself during the concerts though, LOL.) It was a little bittersweet thinking that this is one more last thing before High School next year. He also got his headgear last week. He hates it, and I can't blame him for that at all. I wouldn't want to wear it either. At least he only has to wear it at night and not to school or out in public.
I am going to dive back into my books. I picked up the Shadow Rising on audiobook/mp3 and a couple WotC books this week.
It is lilac season here in Iowa, so I went out and picked some for Heidi as I was walking the dog one night. The next day Heidi went and picked a ton more, enough so the whole appt smelled like a lilac thicket. After listening to a podcast about dandelion wine, I checked up on lilac wine. It seemed like a simple enough, though long, process. Needless to say after hours of tedious picking out lilac blossoms, I have just over a gallon of lilac wine starting fermentation right now. It will be a minimum of 6 months before it's ready, but so what, it will be a nice fall/winter treat I hope. I am feeling a lot more confident now that my blonde ale is carbed and pretty darn tasty, if I do say so my self.
Ian had his last eighth grade choir concert this week. I have been proud of his continued interest in music. He has taught himself guitar somewhat, can play piano a little and really does enjoy singing. (He sure doesn't look like he's enjoying himself during the concerts though, LOL.) It was a little bittersweet thinking that this is one more last thing before High School next year. He also got his headgear last week. He hates it, and I can't blame him for that at all. I wouldn't want to wear it either. At least he only has to wear it at night and not to school or out in public.
I am going to dive back into my books. I picked up the Shadow Rising on audiobook/mp3 and a couple WotC books this week.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Next Batch Idea
| 15A. Porter, Robust Porter | Extract |
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Fermentables
| % Weight | Weight (lbs) | Grain | Gravity Points | Color |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 70.6 % | 6.60 | Amber Malt Extract Syrup | 43.2 | 10.8 |
| 5.3 % | 0.50 | British Black Patent | 0.8 | 52.3 |
| 5.3 % | 0.50 | American Chocolate | 0.9 | 31.8 |
| 8.0 % | 0.75 | American Crystal 40L | 1.5 | 5.5 |
| 10.7 % | 1.00 | Light Dry Malt Extract | 8.2 | 0.4 |
| 9.35 | 54.6 |
Hops
| % Wt | Weight (oz) | Hop | Form | AA% | AAU | Boil Time | Utilization | IBU |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25.0 % | 0.50 | Simcoe | Pellet | 12.0 | 6.0 | 60 | 0.045 | 26.8 |
| 50.0 % | 1.00 | Northern Brewer | Pellet | 8.0 | 8.0 | 15 | 0.013 | 10.2 |
| 25.0 % | 0.50 | Cascade | Pellet | 5.5 | 2.8 | 1 | 0.002 | 0.4 |
| 2.00 | 37.4 |
Friday, May 2, 2008
Botlling Fun
I bottled up the blonde ale tonight. It has turned a little darker over the last week and with the addition of the priming solution, but damn if it didn't taste good. I think the sharpness I had detected earlier this week may be coming off of my testing tube. I added chili peppers to 9 bottles, including one 22 oz. bottle, so well see how that goes. This leaves 34 bottles of non-chili blonde ale. Woohoo!
I really want to make a porter (or a dry stout if not) next but finding Munich extract is next to impossible, and partial mashing at this stage does not sound like something I want to do.
It is just about time to pull my dinner out of the oven, but I saw a good quote today, so I am including it here. Quotable Rogue:
It was beautiful and simple, as truly great swindles are.
- O. Henry
~Post-script~
I am on Twitter now as Zalaster, so follow me if you want!
I really want to make a porter (or a dry stout if not) next but finding Munich extract is next to impossible, and partial mashing at this stage does not sound like something I want to do.
It is just about time to pull my dinner out of the oven, but I saw a good quote today, so I am including it here. Quotable Rogue:
It was beautiful and simple, as truly great swindles are.
- O. Henry
~Post-script~
I am on Twitter now as Zalaster, so follow me if you want!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Some Data
Here is some finished data on the blonde ale:
Still looking to bottle this week sometime.
I tasted the first batch. There is a distinct medicine-like taste to this that is likely due to pitching the yeast while the wort was too hot. The plain portion may calm with age, but the cherry extract portion is just far too much like robitussin. Lesson learned on that one. The plain portion will be okay I think, and even if not, it will make good beer brats.
I tasted the blonde ale last night after final testing and it is a little sharper than last time, but I am really looking forward to how it tastes after carbing and also to see how the chili experiment works out.
| OG | FG | OPlato | FPlato | |
| 1.062 | 1.012 | 15.20 | 3.07 | |
| %ABW | 5.335203 | RE | 5.261799 | |
| %ABV | 6.800033 | AA | 0.79835 | |
| RA | 0.654008 | |||
| Calories | 206.4312 |
Still looking to bottle this week sometime.
I tasted the first batch. There is a distinct medicine-like taste to this that is likely due to pitching the yeast while the wort was too hot. The plain portion may calm with age, but the cherry extract portion is just far too much like robitussin. Lesson learned on that one. The plain portion will be okay I think, and even if not, it will make good beer brats.
I tasted the blonde ale last night after final testing and it is a little sharper than last time, but I am really looking forward to how it tastes after carbing and also to see how the chili experiment works out.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Sydney's 5k River Run
My daughter has been participating in Girls on the Run this spring. This is an empowerment program focused on girls and healthy choices. As part of it, they train to run a 5k. Syd enjoyed the fall session so much (even though that 5k was during an ice storm in Dec) that she wanted to do it again this spring.
Today, or yesterday as I finally finish this post, she ran her second 5k. This time they did their 5k during a big event here in town, the annual River Run in Iowa City. It was pretty chilly at 9AM this morning, but all in all it was a nice day to run. Her and her running buddy started off at a decent pace and at an official time of 55 minutes (beating her time from Dec by at least 10 minutes) Syd crossed the finish line. She had a beaming smile that just showed just how proud she was of what she'd accomplished. I have to say that I am too!! Here are some pics from the run:
Finish Line
Today, or yesterday as I finally finish this post, she ran her second 5k. This time they did their 5k during a big event here in town, the annual River Run in Iowa City. It was pretty chilly at 9AM this morning, but all in all it was a nice day to run. Her and her running buddy started off at a decent pace and at an official time of 55 minutes (beating her time from Dec by at least 10 minutes) Syd crossed the finish line. She had a beaming smile that just showed just how proud she was of what she'd accomplished. I have to say that I am too!! Here are some pics from the run:
Starting Line
Finish Line
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Second Batch Testing
I decided to use a secondary fermentation on this batch and I think it was a great idea. My SG was 1.013 when I racked it over a week ago. Today it was at 1.012. This means that the blonde is at 6.5 to 6.8% ABV. The more important thing is the taste!
It is smooth with a dry finish. Not a big hop taste or bitterness to it, but a nice hop aroma though. This one is not going to need much conditioning at all I think. Carb it up and it will be ready to go. I am going to do a chili pepper experiment with like a 12 pack I think and see how that turns out.
Off to find a SG scale by temp formula to tie up what my exact OG was.
It is smooth with a dry finish. Not a big hop taste or bitterness to it, but a nice hop aroma though. This one is not going to need much conditioning at all I think. Carb it up and it will be ready to go. I am going to do a chili pepper experiment with like a 12 pack I think and see how that turns out.
Off to find a SG scale by temp formula to tie up what my exact OG was.
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