Diesel and Beer
Whuffle and I went to Diesel last night. We hung out, saw people, chatted with friends and had a generally good time. Caleb was held by a few people, displaying a tendency to shove his hand down the shirt of all the women who held him. I informed him that he should enjoy this while it lasts, as it will stop being "cute" in a little while. He smiled, gurgled and ignored my advice.
Two packages arrived yesterday, both of which contained brewing supplies and kits I'd ordered online. Since it's already Wednesday and there's only one weekend between now and Baitcon, the only way I'll get to bottle beer before the trip is if I start the Wort and bottle the beer on week nights. Since I've grown fond of sleeping at night, this seems an unlikely circumstance.
On the bight side, the two 1.5 gallon fermenting buckets I ordered arrived. I have a one gallon glass jug of apple cider wine I was working on, but the recipe called for more sugar than would fit into the one gallon vessel. The 1.5 gallon buckets however have plenty of room for this task. since I need to rack the cider anyway, I'll rack it into the bucket and add enough sugar to match the original recipe. There should be enough active yeast to kick the fermentation back into gear. Being an ambitious sort, I'm going to use some Palm Sugar I got at the Super 88 instead of Corn or table sugar.
Given all the small batches of assorted wine like "Stuff" I plan to brew, I'm thinking of keeping a culture of champaign yeast going instead of buying packet after packet. It will be cheaper and more convenient, will take up very little space in the fridge and will mean I can pitch a lot more yeast into each batch than if I were using packets.
Two packages arrived yesterday, both of which contained brewing supplies and kits I'd ordered online. Since it's already Wednesday and there's only one weekend between now and Baitcon, the only way I'll get to bottle beer before the trip is if I start the Wort and bottle the beer on week nights. Since I've grown fond of sleeping at night, this seems an unlikely circumstance.
On the bight side, the two 1.5 gallon fermenting buckets I ordered arrived. I have a one gallon glass jug of apple cider wine I was working on, but the recipe called for more sugar than would fit into the one gallon vessel. The 1.5 gallon buckets however have plenty of room for this task. since I need to rack the cider anyway, I'll rack it into the bucket and add enough sugar to match the original recipe. There should be enough active yeast to kick the fermentation back into gear. Being an ambitious sort, I'm going to use some Palm Sugar I got at the Super 88 instead of Corn or table sugar.
Given all the small batches of assorted wine like "Stuff" I plan to brew, I'm thinking of keeping a culture of champaign yeast going instead of buying packet after packet. It will be cheaper and more convenient, will take up very little space in the fridge and will mean I can pitch a lot more yeast into each batch than if I were using packets.