Fermentation Day 4

Bubbling has slowed down, and it looks like the foam, or krausen, is beginning to recede. Still about an inch there, but the "action" in the liquid is more of a fall to the bottom and less of a swirl. Temp about 70 F.

Fermentation Day 2

Everything looks good. A steady 70 F, 3/4" of bubbling foam, and steady bubbles coming out of the airlock.

Fermentation Day 1

No real activity yet. Temperature is staying right around 68 F. I did some research into the higher than expected OG reading, and after verifying this solution with the brew shop, just added another gallon of water. It took me a little too low, to an OG of 1.042, but live and learn.

First Brew!

2/26/12 - Cincinnati Pale Ale

Recipe

• 3.3# pale Malt Extract Syrup (MES), unhopped (used Breiss CBW Golden Light)
• 2.5# amber Dry Malt Extract (DME)
• My local brew shop didn't have an amber, so they just gave me a pale DME with some extra grain to steep pre-boil to get what they said would be the same effect.
• 6 AAUs bittering hops (used 0.5oz Horizon 11.3%)
• 5 AAUs finishing hops (used 1.0oz Cascade 6.0%)
• 11.5g Safale US-05 dry yeast
• OG 1.045 (11.2 P), 30 IBUs

Boil

I ended up getting a propane burner as the electric range did not prove to be quite enough in my pre-boil testing - it boiled the water, but just barely and it took a long time.  I heated up three gallons of Publix Drinking Water to 150 F and added the grain in a cheesecloth sack to steep for 30min. I had a little trouble keeping the burner lit, as it had to stay on low to keep the temperature at 150 F and it was windy. As a result the temperature dropped to about 138 F briefly.

After the 30 minutes was up the grain sack was removed and the DME was added, then everything was brought to a boil. T-60 the bittering hops were added, T-30 the first half of the finishing hops were added, and the last half of the finishing hops were added at T-15. The copper wort cooler was also added at T-15 to let it sanitize. The LME was added at T-5. It was rather viscous so I soaked the can in warm water so it would flow easier, which helped rather nicely.

The copper wort cooler gave us our first disaster of the brew, and it wasn't that bad. I tested the copper cooler before boiling to make sure that everything flowed okay, and it worked fine. The addition of hot water must have been the tipping point, however, as the drain tube exploded out at the first bend. I did not see any hose water get into the wort, and the copper cooler still worked just fine, we just had to aim it properly.

After cooling to 70 F I took the water from the pre-boil last night and added it to get to the full volume. I then took my OG sample and carefully poured the wort into the carboy for fermenting, pitched the yeast, and sealed it up. I read the OG with my hydrometer and get a reading of 1.055, about 0.010 higher than the recipe stated. Which means, I think, that there are more sugars than the recipe called for vs water volume. 

My guess is that my water is a little short and my extract a little high - I guesstimated on the 2.5# of DME; it was a 3# bag and I eyeballed 5/6 of it. The volume could be off because of how long the water I pre-boiled took to boil completely, and perhaps it lost more than it should have to steam.  Regardless, it just means I should probably ferment a little longer. That works out well, because I won't have a weekend free for bottling for three weeks anyway. We'll test the FG in three weeks and see where we sit. In the mean time, I will be trying to post fermentation notes via the mobile app, so they will be short posts.

Happy Brew Year!

Tonight I drink a Magic Hat Demo Black IPA. It's a very interesting composition with the full flavor of a stout and the bite of an IPA. It's so dark you can't see through it with a nice caramel colored head. You can taste the malt characteristics of both styles that it blends. I enjoy how Magic Hat brings something different to the table.

After much time pondering and planning, I will finally begin brewing this weekend! My first attempt will be a brewing book's recommended first recipe of a Cincinnati Pale Ale. I plan to post pictures and info about the process and how I feel it went after the fact, and then continue to log the fermentation in some small daily posts.

I attended an all-grain brewing class this past weekend that was great. The guys (and gal) at Hoggetowne Ale Works put on a great seminar on the process and were really helpful in answering questions and educating everyone on the process. Not just the whats and whens but the whys of doing what you do in a brew. I hope/plan to move on to all-grain brewing at some point, but for now I will start with the junior version - malt extract brewing.

One of the best things about the class was that a lot of their customers brought over brews of different variety for people to try out and give feedback on. The things I tasted on Sunday were as good a quality of beer as I have tasted from a brewing company's bottle. I am real excited to start my adventure and share it with all of you.

Unhappy Valley

Samuel Adams Boston Lager remains one of my favorite beers. "Our original beer, brewed with Bavarian Noble hops. The balance of malty sweetness and hop spiciness in this brew sets the standard for all Samuel Adams beers." This American classic is a nice amber color, not too light or too dark. It poured with about two fingers of a cream colored head and has a nice hoppy smell to it. Not too sharp, but enough to notice. Sweet on the front and bitter on the back, but not overpowering with either. It is truly a good compliment to a variety of foods and occasions.

I wanted to talk about Penn State and the scandal late last week, but I was out of town and couldn't find a convenient time to write. It has maybe become a little stale already, so please forgive me if you are already tired of hearing about this. Let's first state that this is an absolutely horrible situation. That being said, I want to look at it from a few different angles.

Mike McQueary - Let's get a perspective at his life first. He was born in State College, where Penn State is located. I think it safe to assume he grew up a Nittany Lion. He played QB there from '94-'97 and set a couple school records. He couldn't make it in the NFL so he returned to Penn State as Graduate Assistant in 2000, and has been the Wide Receivers Coach/Recruiting Coordinator since 2004. I think it safe to say that Penn State was a huge part of his life. In 2002, McQueary reportedly witnessed former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky sodomizing a ten-year-old boy. Let that sink in for a moment.

Now lets examine who Jerry Sandusky was to him. In 1975 when McQueary was born Sandusky was a former Penn State Defensive Lineman who was now a coach. During McQueary's playing days from '94-'97 Sandusky was the Defensive Coordinator for the Nittany Lions, and is considered one of the most notable Assistant Coaches to never become a head coach.

So, back to 2002, a man McQueary probably respected a great deal, who worked for a program I am sure McQueary worshiped, was in front of him performing a vile act. It had to be a huge shock. Many people, myself included, wonder how he could have walked away without removing the child from that situation. He reported it up his chain of command as Pennsylvania law required and left it at that. It may have sounded like I was preparing to defend Mike McQueary, and I am not. I do, however, think that the emotional impact of the situation needs to be taken into account when judging him.  While McQeary may currently be safe from criminal prosecution, I can easily see some civil penalties of negligence on his part. More should have been done by McQueary, however I think it very plausible that McQueary was lied to about proceedings. Perhaps he was told that he could not speak of it publicly until an investigation was completed. Maybe he was even threatened if he spoke. Such thing are hopefully taken into account when and if he faces criminal or civil punishment.

Joe Paterno - I try really hard to see a silver lining with Joe Pa. Maybe McQueary was not clear on what he exactly saw when he reported it to Paterno. Maybe Paterno misunderstood the severity of it. Maybe Paterno did not realize the extent or the depth of the abuse. I try to rationalize it any way possible, because I find it unfathomable that Paterno knew the truth and did so little. Yet that becomes more and more undeniable the more we hear. I am not going to try and organize the facts at this point - there are plenty of articles that do that already - but there was not just a single incident with Sandusky, He is being charged with 40(!) counts of sexual abuse over a 15-year period. It feels to me like a good-ole-boy favor to try and keep Sandusky's dark secret for, and I hate to say this, the good of the football program. I am a huge college football fan, but the thought of something like this being swept under the rug for the sake of a program sickens me. As huge as Paterno was for Penn State, I find his negligence to be gross. Again, Paterno may be currently safe from criminal prosecution, but I think he may get lambasted in civil court.

Penn State - The institution of Penn State should be ashamed of itself. That the administration let something like this go on under their noses is beyond reprehensible. Their negligence is beyond gross. They willfully ignored a bad situation and let it fester on their campus. The only way they could have not known is because they didn't want to. If I could pump more venom into my words I would. It is a true shame to see such a proud program, which everyone believed was the last bastion of Things Done Right in the money grab that has become college football, immolate. A head coach that was loyal. Players that acted right. High graduation rate for their athletes. Players that became coaches at their old school. All burnt up in the fire and destruction of this story.

I leave you with a few things:
This article from the NY Times - the last sentence is powerful.
Jerry Sandusky's Autobiography is titled "Touched". I'm sorry, but that's horribly funny.

I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords.

Magic Hat #9 "A beer cloaked in secrecy. An ale whose mysterious and unusual palate will swirl across your tongue and ask more questions than it answers. A sort of dry, crisp, refreshing, not-quite pale ale. #9 is really impossible to describe because there's never been anything else quite like it." It really describes itself well. A golden amber color, it unfortunately poured without much head and what was there was a simple white in color. MH9 carries a complex smell to it - slightly hoppy, slightly fruity, slightly sweet. There is a distinct sharpness at the front of the tongue that finishes off in a really smooth fruity note that is perfectly balanced by what I first thought of as bitterness, but after reflection is better described, as by the brewer, as a dryness. I am typically not a fan of fruity beers, but this one is a different breed and is one of my favorites. I can't really say what fruit might be in it, if any, and I think that adds to the flavor and mystique of the drink.

So, I don't know if any of you follow technology outside of the consumer realm, but I have come across a few videos that are absolutely amazing.

So, that is Big Dog. A quadrupedal robot that can balance and move through rough terrain. That doesn't read near as amazing as it sounds in my head. Blows my mind. Ready for more?

Enter PETMAN. A self-balancing, freely-moving robot.

Holy.

Shit.

Currently under development for the testing of chemical protective clothing, but it does not take a genius to think of giving it some AI, hands, and eyes. Be prepared, my friends. The minute this guy meets Watson, it's Game Over.