dailysoy

One down

noreply@blogger.com (eBohn) — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 03:49:00 +0000

Just finished my first week of classes, kinda.

Actually, yesterday's classes are being replaced tomorrow, which I'll miss along with everything else until 9/14. So far I've had Physical Planning - Waterfront (wed. night), Intro to Housing (thurs. night), Urban Data Analysis (tues. afternoon) and Intro to GIS (tues. night). The missing link is Intro to Transportation Planning (mon. morning).

So that's what my next three and a half months looks like. Except for the next week. Maybe I'll come back at ya with some kotowaza action when we return.

Cheers!

What's brewing? 9/3/06

noreply@blogger.com (eBohn) — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 03:55:00 +0000

We racked the saison to the secondary last Thursday (8/31), even though activity in the primary was still evident. Specific gravity was 1.014, and the lactic acid was contributing a pronounced, but not offensive, sourness. Color was a light amber. Should be an interesting beer.

I had attempted to reculture the Saison Dupont yeast, but it was showing no signs of cooperating. I've read that Dupont yeast not only prefers warmer climes, but will actually go dormant when temps drop below 78F or so. So maybe last week's cool spell was to blame. Anyway, I went ahead and threw it into the secondary in hopes that the existing yeast would kick-start the Dupont. Whether this succeeded or not we may never know, but several days later there is still some slow bubbling in the airlock.

Bottling will have to wait until after we return from Japan on the 13th, but perhaps that's for the best.

What's brewing? 8/27/06

noreply@blogger.com (eBohn) — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 03:43:00 +0000

This summer has provided fewer opportunities for brewing than I anticipated, with house guests and little weekend trips really hampering my "marathon of Belgian styles" efforts. But there's still time before autumn, and yesterday I finally brewed my saison.

From what I've read about the style, the mash traditionally consisted of malted barley and whatever other grains were available - often unmalted wheat or spelt. Difficult as it was to come across, I decided to give spelt a try. So my partial mash consisted of:

- 1lb spelt grain
- 1/2lb Caramunich malt
- 3lb Belgian 2-row pilsener malt

I began the mash by soaking the spelt stovetop for 30 minutes at around 115F. Then added the Caramunich and brought the temp up to 140F. Poured this grist into my mashtun, topped it off with the pilsener malt and added more water to stabilize the whole thing at 140F for 30 minutes. Added some boiling water to bring the temp close to 150F, and a little decoction put it right at 150F, where I held the mash for an additional 45 minutes. Sparged with 1.5gal water around 170F, to which I added 1/2oz food-grade lactic acid. This was recommended for lowering the pH of the brew water to approximate local conditions, as well as to provide a sourness characteristic of some traditional saison beers. Of course I guessed on the amount required... 1/2oz could be way too much!

The boil for saisons also tends to be longer, so I gave 90 minutes a try. At the beginning I added:

- 3lb extra-light DME
- 1/2lb wheat DME
- 1lb Belgian clear candi sugar
- 2oz Hallertau 3.9% AA bittering hops
- 1/2oz Saaz 3.3% AA bittering hops

The water level in the brew kettle was already at 3 gallons, so I added no more. After 75 minutes, added

- 1/2oz Styrian Goldings flavor hops
- 1/2oz bitter orange peel
- 1tsp ground coriander
- 1tsp Irish moss

After another 13 minutes, added

- 1/2oz Saaz aroma hops

Boiled for 2 more minutes, and strained wort into primary fermenter.

Since the boil was longer than usual, the post-boil wort was only 2 gallons. This meant a greater addition of cold water to get 5 gallons, which dropped the temp below 80F quicker. Original gravity: 1.054. I wasn't working from a particular recipe this time, but that OG is reasonable for the style, and is actually a little higher than I expected.

I had a starter culture going from the Wyeast Belgian Ardennes yeast purchased a while back, so I pitched that right away. By this morning the primary was rowdy with yeast activity, and it's still going strong tonight. When I transfer to the secondary in a few days, my intention is to add yeast recultured from a bottle of Saison Dupont.

Kotowaza of the day: Patience... or an exercise in futility?

noreply@blogger.com (eBohn) — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 03:13:00 +0000

Japanese:: 錐刀を以て泰山を堕つ
Romanized:: Suitō wo motte taizan wo kobotsu
Meaning of Japanese:: Bring a large mountain to rubble with a small sword
English equivalent:: To empty the sea with a (tea)spoon
Related kotowaza:: 千里の道も一歩から

Kotowaza of the day: Behind the smile

noreply@blogger.com (eBohn) — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 03:13:00 +0000

Japanese:: えせ者の空笑い
Romanized:: Ese-mono no sora-warai
Meaning of Japanese:: Beware the person who flatters with fake smiles/laughter
English equivalent:: A smiling boy seldom proves a good servant

What's brewing? 8/14/06

noreply@blogger.com (eBohn) — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 00:51:00 +0000

We bottled the Orval clone on Saturday, adding 3/4 cup clear candi sugar. Final gravity was 1.010, the low end of the predicted range, for about 6.2% alcohol by volume. A little low compared with the real mccoy, but perfect for the recipe.

Of course there's no carbonation yet, but this beer actually tasted very good pre-bottling. The dry-hop is pleasantly evident in the nose, and to a lesser degree in the flavor, without imparting too much bitterness. The color is right on, too. I'm excited to try this beer in a few weeks!

Kotowaza of the day: Techniques in PR, pt. 1

noreply@blogger.com (eBohn) — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 00:22:00 +0000

Japanese:: 餓鬼の断食、悪女の賢者ぶり
Romanized:: Gaki no danjiki, akujo no kenjaburi
Meaning of Japanese:: The fasting of a starved devil, the affected wisdom of a wicked woman
English equivalent:: Don't make a virtue of necessity

Kotowaza of the day: Debunking the hairy palms myth

noreply@blogger.com (eBohn) — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 03:41:00 +0000

Japanese:: 人通りに草生えず
Romanized:: Hitodōri ni kusa haezu
Meaning of Japanese:: No grass grows on a busy (well-traveled) road
English equivalent:: Grass grows not upon the highway
The used key is always bright

Kotowaza of the day: Dreaming in Greek

noreply@blogger.com (eBohn) — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 03:51:00 +0000

Japanese:: 唐人の寝言
Romanized:: Tōjin no negoto
Meaning of Japanese:: A foreigner talking in his sleep
English equivalent:: It's all Greek to me
Gibberish

Kotowaza of the day: Aging to perfection

noreply@blogger.com (eBohn) — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 03:19:00 +0000

Japanese:: 梅干しと友達は古いほど良い
Romanized:: Umeboshi to tomodachi wa furui hodo yoi
Meaning of Japanese:: Both friends and pickled plums - the older the better
English equivalent:: Old friends and old wine are best
Old fish, old oil, and an old friend are best

What's brewing? 7/24/06

noreply@blogger.com (eBohn) — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 00:31:00 +0000

As promised on 6/19, I'm working on Belgian styles this summer, starting with an Orval clone using recultured yeast from an Orval bottle.
The partial mash and boil on 7/15 began with a grain bill of

- 2.5lb Belgian pale malt
- 1/2lb 40L crystal malt
- 8oz Cara-pils malt

The Cara-pils was an ad hoc substitute for the Belgian Cara-vienne called for in the recipe. (More accurately, it was a mistake brought on by my not knowing one Cara- from the next.) This may reduce the gravity a bit, hopefully not much.

This time I shot for a single infusion at 150F for 90 minutes. At dough in, the temperature was spot on. But about an hour in, after opening the mash tun to stir a few times, it dropped to around 145F. To raise the temp a little, and as a lead in to the mash-out, I tried a little decoction. This involves the removal of some grist and hot water, which are then brought to a boil and re-introduced to the mash. Did this twice, then sparged with 1.5gal water at 180F and began boil. At 60 minutes, added

- 3.3lb Bierkeller light malt extract syrup
- 1lb extra-light DME
- 1lb Belgian clear candi sugar
- 1/2lb amber candi sugar
- 1oz Styrian Goldings 5% AA bittering hops
- 1oz Hallertau Hersbrucker 3.5% AA bittering hops

Added water to 2.5gal in the brew kettle. After 45 minutes, added

- 1oz Styrian Goldings flavor hops
- 1/2oz bitter orange peel
- 1tsp ground coriander
- 1tsp Irish moss

After another 12 minutes, added

- 1/2oz UK First Gold aroma hops
- 1/2oz bitter orange peel
- 1/2tsp ground coriander

Boiled for 3 more minutes, and strained wort into primary fermenter. Original gravity: 1.057. Again, a little lower than the target range (1.059-1.062), possibly due to poor mash efficiency or my grain substitution.

This time I was able to pitch soon after adding cold water to the primary. I was a little nervous about the Orval yeast, since this was my first stab at reconditioning commercial yeast, but when we awoke the next morning the beer was happily bubbling away. Yeast activity was vigorous for a full two days, then slowed down considerably.

Racked to the secondary on 7/19, dry-hopping the prescribed 1/2oz Styrian Goldings. Gravity at transfer was 1.012, nestled soundly within the target final gravity range (1.010-1.013). Good sign. And it still seems to be very slowly fermenting, with some nice lacy foam in the neck of the carboy.

This beer is supposed to sit in the secondary for 3-4 weeks, so I will probably start another batch in the meantime. After all, I've got three packets of yeast in the fridge and - what timing! - a surprise copy of Farmhouse Ales just arrived in the mail.

Update:
My brewing advisor and former supplier in Omaha informs me that the substitution of carapils for caravienne will:

1) lighten the color
2) lighten some malt aromatics/flavor profile
3) slightly 'dry' out the mouth feel

Thanks, Frank!

Kotowaza of the day: Scratching the surface

noreply@blogger.com (eBohn) — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 03:38:00 +0000

Japanese:: 叩けば埃が出る
Romanized:: Tatakeba hokori ga deru
Meaning of Japanese:: If [a rug/anyone is] beaten, dust will come out
English equivalent:: Every man has his weak side
Every man has his faults
Many without punishment, but none without fault

Kotowaza of the day: Idling away at work edition

noreply@blogger.com (eBohn) — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 19:24:00 +0000

Japanese:: 悪銭身につかず
Romanized:: Akusen mi ni tsukazu
Meaning of Japanese:: Ill-gained (crooked) money does not remain long
English equivalent:: Ill got, ill spent
Treasures of wickedness profit nothing
Easy come, easy go
What is got over the devil's back is spent under his belly

What's brewing? 7/10/06

noreply@blogger.com (eBohn) — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 03:48:00 +0000

Well, nothing's brewing per se. But on Saturday I started the process of reculturing the Orval yeast I mentioned back here, and today it was finally showing strong signs of life when I came home from work. Reculturing yeast from bottle-conditioned beers can take a few days, but I suspect that this one sprung into action today because New York warmed up again - Belgian yeasts love those over-80 temps!

So how does one reculture yeast from a bottle of beer, anyway? First and foremost, the bottle must contain yeast. Your standard Coors Light won't cut it. Secondly, if you plan on brewing with the yeast, you probably want to make sure the yeast resting at the bottom of the bottle is the same strain used for brewing - some brewers will filter their beer and bottle-condition with another strain to protect their proprietary yeasts from thieving homebrewers and other criminal types.

Confident you've got the correct yeast? Then - aside from drinking 80% of the beer, leaving the yeast and some beer in the bottle - it's just a scaled-down version of the brew process. Boil 8oz of water, add half a cup of wheat DME and two hop pellets, and cool this mixture to below 80F. Sanitize a stopper, airlock, and the mouth of the yeast-containing bottle, and pour in the cooled mixture. Then keep it at room temperature until the yeast awakens from dormancy. Voila! Ready to pitch, or return to fridge for later use.

Kotowaza of the day: Vengeance at a distance

noreply@blogger.com (eBohn) — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 03:15:00 +0000

Japanese:: 江戸の敵を長崎で討つ
Romanized:: Edo no kataki wo nagasaki de utsu
Meaning of Japanese:: To get revenge in Nagasaki for a wrong received in edo
English equivalent:: To take revenge in a roundabout fashion (or in an unlikely place)
To have the wrong sow by the ear

Kotowaza of the day: Learning by doing

noreply@blogger.com (eBohn) — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 03:31:00 +0000

Japanese:: 猟は鳥が教うる
Romanized:: Ryo wa tori ga oshiuru
Meaning of Japanese:: Birds teach hunters how to shoot/catch them
English equivalent:: By writing you learn to write

Kotowaza of the day: Tell this to the workers to keep them happy

noreply@blogger.com (eBohn) — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 03:58:00 +0000

Japanese:: 足るを知る者は富む
Romanized:: Taru wo shiru mono wa tomu
Meaning of Japanese:: He is wealthy who knows when he has enough
He who recognizes when his needs are met is rich
English equivalent:: He is rich that has few wants
The greatest wealth is contentment with a little
Content lodges oftener in cottages than palaces

What's brewing? 6/27/06

noreply@blogger.com (eBohn) — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 03:04:00 +0000

Yesterday we bottled the amber ale, adding 1 1/4 cup amber DME for bottling sugar. Final gravity was 1.014 - right about where it should be. Since the original gravity was 1.055, this beer will have about 5.5% alcohol (by volume).

For me it's still difficult to have a sense of what the conditioned (carbonated, matured) beer will be like, just from tasting it at the time of bottling. This one seemed a little... blah... although the body was good and the allspice did impart a nice hint of clove. Who knows, once it's rested in the bottles for a month or so and had a chance to carbonate it may turn out very well.

Done watched 'em git hitched

noreply@blogger.com (eBohn) — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 02:47:00 +0000

Last Saturday we attended a wedding in Chicago, for which I had the pleasure of being a best man. It was great fun all around, getting to see John and Karen and their friends again, running into some old Kansas State cronies, and meeting a few new cool people, like Frank. There was also some tasty food and beverage action. (thanks, parents of the bride and groom!)

We drove, which made for very long days on Thursday and Sunday, but it also meant Kona could go along. She was happy about that - a bigger apartment to romp around in, and lots of grass outside. But after 13 hours in the car Sunday, we were all glad to be back home in Nueva York.

Welcome to the married kids club, J&K!

**Oh, and I was an idiot and forgot our camera on Saturday, so I can't even post a photo to show how great everyone looked.

What's brewing? 6/19/06

noreply@blogger.com (eBohn) — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 23:53:00 +0000

New feature!
By way of explanation, I've been meaning to keep a homebrewing notebook to record recipes and methods, what worked, what didn't, etc. If you're interested or even curious about homebrewing, read on! Otherwise, this'll just be for my benefit.

So I'm getting a late start on this notebook. I'm already working on my fifth batch since rejoining the ranks of homebrewers in Fall '05, and I've got paper records of several brews made back in '97-'01. Abridged info for past brews may eventually find their way online, but for now let's deal with what's in the carboy...

It's an amber ale, modified from the Wild Hogge Amber Ale recipe in Clone Brews. Their description:

Straight from the British island of Berumuda, this satisfying, thirst-quenching light amber ale has a caramel, malty, hoppy nose and flavor. The aftertaste of this full-bodied alt beer is smooth and slightly sweet.

I started this one on 6/14 as a partial mash, like all my beers lately. The grain bill was

- 2lb British 2-row pale malt
- 12oz 60L US crystal malt
- 4oz Vienna malt
- 4oz chocolate malt

mashed by step infusion, for 30 minutes at around 130F, then for 10 minutes at 140F, and another 50 minutes at about 148F. Three steps simply because the recommended amount of added boiling water did not raise the mash temp to 150 on the first shot. 148 was a compromise, but I suspect that my mash efficiency was well below the target 75%. Anyway, I sparged with 1.5gal water at 170F and began boil. At 60 minutes, added

- 4.5lb light DME
- 8oz malto-dextrin (this adds body, as the sugar is largely unfermentable)
- 3/4oz Northern Brewer 8%AA bittering hops

Added water to 2.5gal in the brew kettle. At 45 minutes, added

- 1oz Styrian Goldings flavor hops
- 1tsp Irish moss

At 13 minutes, added

1/2oz Tettnanger aroma hops

Boiled for 2 more minutes, and strained wort into primary fermenter. Original gravity: 1.055, a little lower than the target range, possibly due to poor mash.

I had a nice 8oz yeast starter going in the fridge (two strains - German ale and American ale - because both were a tad on the old side), but I couldn't pitch that night because our hot apartment just wasn't allowing the wort to cool below 80F. When I pitched the next morning, I dumped the yeast starter direct from the fridge into the wort in my rush out the door, not thinking about temperature shock. But did this kill off the yeast? Nope. I returned home to find the wort bubbling away happily.

On 6/18 I racked to the secondary, and added a small handful (15-20?) of boiled whole allspice berries in the process. I'm hoping this gives just a hint of clovey, cinnamony goodness without going overboard. Gravity at transfer was 1.015, almost down to the target final gravity. The air in our apartment is easily over 80F during the day now, so I've wrapped a wet towel around the carboy to cool the beer down a bit. Today there was still some foamy action on top, though the airlock is relatively static.

All that remains for this one is bottling. My next four brews are destined to be Belgian styles. I've got some Orval yeast waiting for me in the refrigerator, and three Wyeast pitchables on the way from Northern Brewer.

Kotowaza of the day: Finding value in the dull thud

noreply@blogger.com (eBohn) — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 03:33:00 +0000

Japanese:: 空樽は音が高い
Romanized:: Akidaru wa oto ga takai
Meaning of Japanese:: An empty cask/barrel makes a loud sound
English equivalent:: Empty vessels make the most noise
The worst wheel always creaks most
Related kotowaza:: 能ある鷹は爪を隠す

Kotowaza of the day: You snooze, you lose?

noreply@blogger.com (eBohn) — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 03:18:00 +0000

Japanese:: 早起きは三文の徳, or
早起きは三文の得
Romanized:: Hayaoki wa san mon no toku
Meaning of Japanese:: The early riser profits by three mon*
English equivalent:: The early bird catches the worm
He that will thrive must rise at five
The cow that's first up gets the first of the dew
Related:: Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise

*The mon (文) was a monetary unit in Japan during the Tokugawa shogunate. One mon was equal to 1/1000 of a kan (貫), which was in turn 1/4 of a ryō (両). With the Meiji Restoration the system of money changed, and one ryō was equivalent to one yen (円), the only unit in commercial use today. (The yen is divisible into 100 sen (銭), but these are called into action only to express fractional share prices in fiscal markets.)

Kotowaza of the day: Vox oculi

noreply@blogger.com (eBohn) — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 03:23:00 +0000

Japanese:: 目は口ほどに物を言う
Romanized:: Me wa kuchi hodo ni mono-wo iu
Meaning of Japanese:: The eyes say as much (are as expressive as) the mouth
English equivalent:: The heart's letter is read in the eyes
The eyes have one language everywhere

Kotowaza of the day: Dressing the part

noreply@blogger.com (eBohn) — Sun, 11 Jun 2006 03:57:00 +0000

Japanese:: 衣ばかりで和尚はできぬ
Romanized:: Koromo bakari de oshō wa dekinu
Meaning of Japanese:: The robe alone does not make a Buddhist monk
English equivalent:: It is not the beard that makes the philosopher
The cowl does not make the monk

Kotowaza of the day: Don't get snotty with me

noreply@blogger.com (eBohn) — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 03:06:00 +0000

Japanese:: 目糞鼻糞を笑う
Romanized:: Mekuso hanakuso-wo warau
Meaning of Japanese:: The eye mucus laughs/scoffs at the nasal mucus
English equivalent:: The pot calling the kettle black