A Non-beer post

I haven't felt good about this election. I don't actively dislike Mitt Romney, but I don't trust him. He seems far too willing to say what he thinks we want to hear.

I genuinely like Barack Obama. He seems to be a good man, doing what he thinks is best. However, I haven't agreed with most of what he's done.

I started to poke around a bit, wondering if there wasn't another choice, and I found this link.

http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/

I think you should listen.

Not Everything Is Perfect

Over the last several months, I've been conducting a brewing experiment that, uh, hasn't gone well. But, I keep going back to an old quote, I think attributed to Henry Ford. "Every failure is just one step closer to success."

(Artful screen dissolve as we flash back.)

I was eating some cold breakfast cereal one day when I happened to read the ingredients. Sugar was second. A lightning bolt of inspiration hit me, and I thought, "How could I get this into a beer?"

ATTEMPT NO. 1 - I made a one gallon batch of porter, using a pound of dry extract, eight ounces of crystal malt, eight ounces of chocolate malt, half an ounce of hops, and three cups of cereal. I tossed the cereal into the boil. The flavor was delicious, but there was WAY too much sediment.

ATTEMPT NO. 2 - I decided to try all-grain, and include the cereal as part of the mash. This way, any sediment from the cereal would be removed with the spent grain. Color and sediment were just what I had hoped for, but the flavor wasn't quite there. And, after a couple of weeks, I heard "BLAM!". Almost every bottle had exploded.

ATTEMPT NO. 3 - I made a second all-grain batch, but this time I increased the cereal, and halved the priming sugar. The flavor was close to what I had hoped for. The bottles were OK for about 3 weeks, but I heard one go off, and immediately moved the rest to a safe place.

And that's where I am, now. The question I keep asking is, why are the bottles exploding? Is there something wrong with my mash? Not getting enough conversion, and a secondary fermentation taking place? Is there some thing else in the cereal, retarding the yeast? Should I just let it ferment longer? I know there will be an Attempt No. 4, I just haven't worked out the parameters, yet.

What Kind Of Brewer Are You?

Today, I want to discuss for a moment the Reinheitsgebot, or German Beer Purity Law. There's a really interesting article at Wikipedia. Here's the link.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinheitsgebot

Essentially, the law restricted the ingredients for beer to water, barley, hops and yeast. Obviously, not many American breweries come close to that. For homebrewers, there are some people who try to brew according to the old law.

I don't really have a firm stand either way, even though I personally have brewed with, cocoa, molasses, and breakfast cereal. My philosophy on brewing has always been that there's room for all of us. I've said both here and in my podcast that the equipment doesn't make you less or more of a homebrewer. If you own a Mr. Beer, or a 15-barrel conical fermenter, you're still a homebrewer.

The same goes for ingredients. It makes no difference if you make nothing but classic English brown ales or German schwarzbier; Or if a normal part of your brewing day is scanning the kitchen or supermarket for fermentables. All brewers make what they want to drink. It's your own taste you want to satisfy.

Time for an analogy. Haydn wrote over 100 symphonies, all within the rigid restriction of the Classical Symphony. Beethoven came along and turned this format on it's head. The music of both these masters has stood the test of time. Just as we listen to both types of music, there's room in brewing for both versions of beer.

Make beer you like, be happy, and let others do the same.

A Muzzle-Loaded Rifle

This has nothing to do with beer. In  fact, don't have any if you're going to do this. But, it's just too cool not to share.

Some time ago, I had mentioned to my son (an Army vet) how much fun I used to have loading and firing a friend's muzzle-loader. One day, he showed up with this,

 a modern muzzle-loaded rifle. We took it out to the local range to try it out. Great fun!

Getting ready to fire is a much more involved process. I don't know how they did it way back when, while being fired at.

The powder is added first, then the ball is forced down the barrel, and "seated" against the powder.

Next, a priming cap is added, which produces the initial spark, after being hit by the hammer. This spark lights the powder, and propels the ball.

Firing these is very satisfying. The cloud of white smoke is unreal. And, since it's a modern weapon, it's surprisingly accurate.

The End

Why go through all that? This is why! To have beer that you crafted yourself; to taste flavors that either aren't available off the shelf, or cost way too much.

In my opinion, it just tastes better if you made it.

And...Cleaning Up

There are two VERY important reasons for cleaning up after yourself. You'll want to do this again, won't you? So, let's make sure everything is ready for the next brewing session.

And, if you have a roommate, wife, or Significant Other, you need to keep him or her happy. In homebrewing circles, the wife is often referred to as SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed). Household peace will make your brewing, and beer, much more enjoyable.

I've seen a great deal about cleaning. What solutions, chemicals, equipment, brushes, etc to use. Again, use what you feel most comfortable with and what works best for you. I soak my bottle for several days in a weak bleach solution, and never use a brush. This works well for me.

Remember, keep everything sanitary!

Bottling Video #4

So, your beer is done, in bottles, and capped. Uh, where do you put it? For years, I just had a pile of cases in the corner of the living room. One year, for my birthday, my wife got me a cabinet to store my bottles in. (I suspect it was actually for herself.)

This cabinet has room for 20 sixpacks. I don't drink very fast, so it lasts a good long time. And, with all the bottles in sight, I can easily tell when I'm running low.