Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Seasick Steve Live on Jools Holland
This guy has an amazing sound. I saw him on Series 14 of Top Gear and loved his 3 string style. The Mississippi Drum Machine is pretty great as well.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Brewing Beer the OH GOD WHAT AM I DOING Way
Beer. That golden liquid that most of us have used at some point or other as a social lubricant or just as a tasty accessory to dinner. Have you even wondered where that amber liquid that comes in 6-12 packs in your local corner store comes from? Well this isn't it. It's close but this is a bit of a different beast. It is, however, my first time stepping up to this level of complexity with my own brewing so like any good blogger I documented the whole process.
First of all, the ingredients.
Grains
* 500g American Crystal Malt 70/80L
Hops
* 50g Galena Hop Pellets
* 50g Cascade Hop Pellets
* 28g (1 oz) Williamette Hop Pellets
Extract (the sugers)
* 3.3 lbs (1 can) Black Rock Amber Malt
* 500g Spray Malt light
* 1 kg Muntons Beer Kit Enhancer
Other
* 11g Nottingham Yeast
My process was cribbed and adapted from two sources. The recipe I had initially planned on following was Pirate's Heart (sic) from TastyBrew and my go-to source for all brewing knowledge is Bodensatz. The rest is me freaking out about how far I've deviated from the recipe and making due with whatever I have. So lets get started!
This is pretty much the easiest way of using grain in your brew. The idea is that you keep it in a pot of water that is still in pre-boil for about half an hour. You've got to watch it like a hawk but all you need to do is crush your grain (i had it done in store) and throw your grain in a bag then in the pot.
Appreciate as your house starts to smell like breakfast.
If you need inspiration, crack open your own beer! In time you will have your own bucket of suds at half to 3/4 the price! If that's not motivation, I don't know what is!
After the grains have steeped for long enough, take out the grain bag and put it aside (you're done with it). Now you have a pot of grain water that you're going to want to bring to a boil. The recipes I wanted to follow called for a 3+ gallon pot but I didn't have one. Keep in mind that if you don't have one, be prepared to stare at the pot for the rest of the cooking. I had to remove some liquid at a point because it was about to boil over and make for one annoying cleaning session. Once you've hit a boil, leave it there for a minute or 5 then remove it from heat. Now is the time to add all your extracts or whatever sugar you're using. I'm using a LOT of sugar, which should translate to a higher alcohol content, so my pot increased by about 3 liters (hence having to move out a little liquid).
You're about halfway there at this point. Find a temperature where you're at a nice easy boil but not too vigorous. The hops are going to make it foam considerably so if you're close to boiling over keep your eye on it as much as possible.
Hops need to be added according to a certain time-frame. You'll be boiling it for an hour and some go in earlier than others. My schedule ended up being as follows: 1 oz Galena w. 60 minutes left, 1 oz Willamette w. 20 mins, 1 oz Galena & 1 oz Cascade w. 5 minutes left.
As you're getting close to completing your wort (what all the stuff in the pot is called) you can choose to rehydrate your yeast. Yeast is your friendly fungal micro-organism that is the real star behind beer brewing. You'll usually get it in dried form so to improve its performance and reduce the chance of it dying of temperature shock you can pop it in a glass with some warm water to get it working before you add it to the wort.
Don't forget the wort because seriously, this stuff foams up FIERCE.
Once the hops have been boiled you're almost done. You should try to get the wort down to room temperature before continuing. I used a sink full of cold water but there are other methods that are faster. Add some water (4-5 liters in my case) to your sanitized bucket (if you don't know the importance of sanitizing your brewing equipment you shouldn't be making beer) and add the wort.
Mmmm.
Top the bucket up with water, 23 liters is the usual mark.
Now you've got to stir the hell out of this stuff.
It's good at this point to get a hydrometer reading (if you have one)to see what you're going to be working with. I think my hydrometer might be kind of broken or else I really screwed something up because this should be MUCH higher (1.075 is what I thought it would be close to)
Add the yeast you souped up earlier.
Add a lid, put the bucket away. I use a semi-open fermenter for my primary period then rack to a second bucket after a few days. Also note that I've got the bucket in a tub. The yeast is going to go to town on all the sugar in the first few days and there's a real chance it's going to foam so much it will overflow the container.
That's the hard part. I'll change buckets after 5-10 days and transfer it into bottles about 2 weeks after that but I don't have much more influence over the process at this point. I'll try to keep this updated with how it's going but unless something goes terribly wrong all the interesting stuff is done with. This is a new experience for me so I'm excited to find out how all the extra work pays off.
First of all, the ingredients.
Grains
* 500g American Crystal Malt 70/80L
Hops
* 50g Galena Hop Pellets
* 50g Cascade Hop Pellets
* 28g (1 oz) Williamette Hop Pellets
Extract (the sugers)
* 3.3 lbs (1 can) Black Rock Amber Malt
* 500g Spray Malt light
* 1 kg Muntons Beer Kit Enhancer
Other
* 11g Nottingham Yeast
My process was cribbed and adapted from two sources. The recipe I had initially planned on following was Pirate's Heart (sic) from TastyBrew and my go-to source for all brewing knowledge is Bodensatz. The rest is me freaking out about how far I've deviated from the recipe and making due with whatever I have. So lets get started!
Grain
This is pretty much the easiest way of using grain in your brew. The idea is that you keep it in a pot of water that is still in pre-boil for about half an hour. You've got to watch it like a hawk but all you need to do is crush your grain (i had it done in store) and throw your grain in a bag then in the pot.
Appreciate as your house starts to smell like breakfast.
If you need inspiration, crack open your own beer! In time you will have your own bucket of suds at half to 3/4 the price! If that's not motivation, I don't know what is!
After the grains have steeped for long enough, take out the grain bag and put it aside (you're done with it). Now you have a pot of grain water that you're going to want to bring to a boil. The recipes I wanted to follow called for a 3+ gallon pot but I didn't have one. Keep in mind that if you don't have one, be prepared to stare at the pot for the rest of the cooking. I had to remove some liquid at a point because it was about to boil over and make for one annoying cleaning session. Once you've hit a boil, leave it there for a minute or 5 then remove it from heat. Now is the time to add all your extracts or whatever sugar you're using. I'm using a LOT of sugar, which should translate to a higher alcohol content, so my pot increased by about 3 liters (hence having to move out a little liquid).
Hops
You're about halfway there at this point. Find a temperature where you're at a nice easy boil but not too vigorous. The hops are going to make it foam considerably so if you're close to boiling over keep your eye on it as much as possible.
Hops need to be added according to a certain time-frame. You'll be boiling it for an hour and some go in earlier than others. My schedule ended up being as follows: 1 oz Galena w. 60 minutes left, 1 oz Willamette w. 20 mins, 1 oz Galena & 1 oz Cascade w. 5 minutes left.
Finishing
As you're getting close to completing your wort (what all the stuff in the pot is called) you can choose to rehydrate your yeast. Yeast is your friendly fungal micro-organism that is the real star behind beer brewing. You'll usually get it in dried form so to improve its performance and reduce the chance of it dying of temperature shock you can pop it in a glass with some warm water to get it working before you add it to the wort.
Don't forget the wort because seriously, this stuff foams up FIERCE.
Once the hops have been boiled you're almost done. You should try to get the wort down to room temperature before continuing. I used a sink full of cold water but there are other methods that are faster. Add some water (4-5 liters in my case) to your sanitized bucket (if you don't know the importance of sanitizing your brewing equipment you shouldn't be making beer) and add the wort.
Mmmm.
Top the bucket up with water, 23 liters is the usual mark.
Now you've got to stir the hell out of this stuff.
It's good at this point to get a hydrometer reading (if you have one)to see what you're going to be working with. I think my hydrometer might be kind of broken or else I really screwed something up because this should be MUCH higher (1.075 is what I thought it would be close to)
Add the yeast you souped up earlier.
Add a lid, put the bucket away. I use a semi-open fermenter for my primary period then rack to a second bucket after a few days. Also note that I've got the bucket in a tub. The yeast is going to go to town on all the sugar in the first few days and there's a real chance it's going to foam so much it will overflow the container.
That's the hard part. I'll change buckets after 5-10 days and transfer it into bottles about 2 weeks after that but I don't have much more influence over the process at this point. I'll try to keep this updated with how it's going but unless something goes terribly wrong all the interesting stuff is done with. This is a new experience for me so I'm excited to find out how all the extra work pays off.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
FIFA Fever!
It's been 4 years since the last flareup of my latent case of FIFA fever but it's back and there's nothing that can be done about it. It's a strange disease, characterized by an overwhelming compulsion to watch men in crazy uniforms kick a ball around while being deafened by plastic horn noisemakers. It's pretty rough but it runs its course in about a month. Hopefully I make it through with my hearing and ability to tell if someone is faking an injury intact.
I think there's something really special about soccer/football. It's always felt like the big secret that the rest of the world has always known about but North America is just getting the message on. It still hasn't really arrived yet but I think people are starting to get it more with each World Cup. Hopefully it won't be too long before we have an easy to access way to watch UEFA games and the Confederations Cup and all the other huge football events that go on. Once every 4 years doesn't seem like nearly enough for how much everyone seems to enjoy watching the games and picking their teams and even talking strategy and how well the players and teams are doing.
It wasn't always like this though. I was one of those young lads who laughed at organized sports. I'd played some ball as a kid but never really became someone who would watch anything on TV. It's only in the last few years that I've really come to appreciate the tension and fun of watching a good contest of skilled players. It's a beautiful thing when all the teamwork pays off during a good rush on goal in hockey or soccer. Everyone's got to know what their role is but also have to rely on their teammates to know theirs in order to find or make the holes in the defense. When it all comes together you know that it wasn't just a single shining star but a combined effort from everyone to make that opportunity happen.
It's a beautiful game, that's for sure and while it might be a bit blasphemous to the English fans out there I'm putting my support behind Maradona, Messi and the rest of the Argentinians. I suppose there are other teams that I should have a closer connection to but Argentina hasn't failed to deliver a fun to watch game yet. If they keep playing like this I think the'll have a real good shot at the golden cup.
I think there's something really special about soccer/football. It's always felt like the big secret that the rest of the world has always known about but North America is just getting the message on. It still hasn't really arrived yet but I think people are starting to get it more with each World Cup. Hopefully it won't be too long before we have an easy to access way to watch UEFA games and the Confederations Cup and all the other huge football events that go on. Once every 4 years doesn't seem like nearly enough for how much everyone seems to enjoy watching the games and picking their teams and even talking strategy and how well the players and teams are doing.
It wasn't always like this though. I was one of those young lads who laughed at organized sports. I'd played some ball as a kid but never really became someone who would watch anything on TV. It's only in the last few years that I've really come to appreciate the tension and fun of watching a good contest of skilled players. It's a beautiful thing when all the teamwork pays off during a good rush on goal in hockey or soccer. Everyone's got to know what their role is but also have to rely on their teammates to know theirs in order to find or make the holes in the defense. When it all comes together you know that it wasn't just a single shining star but a combined effort from everyone to make that opportunity happen.
It's a beautiful game, that's for sure and while it might be a bit blasphemous to the English fans out there I'm putting my support behind Maradona, Messi and the rest of the Argentinians. I suppose there are other teams that I should have a closer connection to but Argentina hasn't failed to deliver a fun to watch game yet. If they keep playing like this I think the'll have a real good shot at the golden cup.
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