December 13, 2006
Kegging a pale ale
I recently spent some $$ on a CO2 cylinder, regulator, and cornelius kegs so that I can keg homebrew instead of bottling it. It's been an interesting experiment. The first brew I have kegged is from Terry Foster's Pale Ale book. I used the "Classic Pale Ale" recipe, and the only change I made was to dry-hop the brew after boiling it.
The beer is good, but not what I would call an IPA. The color is too yellow, despite it's appearance in this photograph.
Here's the recipe:
9.2lb. Pale Malt
2 Oz 60°L Crystal malt
2 tsp gypsum added to the mash
2.5 Oz 4.5% Alpha acid Kent Goldings Hops ( added at the beginning for bittering)
1.5 Oz 4.5% Kent Goldings at end of the boil for aroma
1 OZ Kent Goldings added to fermenter - Dry hopping
Yeast: White Labs London Ale Yeast
O.G. 1.043
F.G. 1.010
Racked off of primary fermenter after one week, kegged after two weeks.
I've been playing around with the CO2 canister trying to not over-carbonate the brew. I inflicted it on some good friends(trusting that they will forgive me) last weekend. I regret it was a bit new, and a lot foamy.
After a few days, I've figured the CO2 thing out. It takes very little pressure. Just enough to push the beer out of the keg without any foam.
I think it's a good beer, but I would say that it is more along the lines of something like Boddington's ale than an IPA, but perhaps a little more hoppy.
The Doctor
Being a general nerd, geek or what ever, I've always been a fan of the Doctor Who series. Like most folks my age, I was introduced to this show when Tom Baker played our favorite Time Lord. But soon after that I learned to appreciate the efforts of Peter Davison and then via the miracle of reruns, Jon Pertwee.
I lost interest after seeing those mostly due to things like starting my career, and the lack of new episodes being shown.
However, recently the Sci-Fi channel and BBC America have started showing new productions of Doctor Who. The new episodes starring Christopher Eccleston as The Doctor was a welcome return of an old favorite.
The great thing about Doctor Who is that when one actor gets tired of the job, they simply regenerate him. So now David Tennant plays The Doctor. The stories written recently have been interesting, and the special effects exponentially improved over the old days. If you have any interest in this kind of entertainment, give it a try. Check out BBC America on Tuesday nights and Sci-Fi on Friday nghts.
December 04, 2006
My centerboard drawings
I thought I'd put the drawings I made of my centerboard on the site for anyone who may want to use them or may just be curious.