Grand Funk Railroad 1972 off the PHOENIX album. Written by Mark Farner.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Subzero hoofin'
Went for another walk today at Lake Wehrspann. We are in the midst of another very cold spell, with lows well below zero and highs in the single digits. Not very pleasant really. It was just below zero during today's walk so I bundled up a little extra. Today I saw some sparrows or the like playing around in the snow and some mallard ducks paddling around in a creek. One fella in a pickup truck actually stopped to ask if I needed help. Haha, I told him I was just out exercising.
Mmmmm, lager
One of the to do's on my agenda today is to make a visit to Fermenter's Supply. Back several years ago when I was homebrewing in earnest I made a lot of visits there, so this will be a lot of fun and bring back some good memories.
The reason for this visit is to acquire supplies for my next batch of homebrewed beer, this time it will be my very first attempt at a lager. All the beer I have brewed in the past has been ale.
What distinguishes an ale from a lager is the type of yeast used. Suffice it to say the yeasts used in making beer generally fall into two categories, ale yeast and lager yeast. Of course yeast is a living organism and is integral to making beer. The yeast feeds upon all the sugars present in the "wort" (pronounced wert), which is the unfermented liquid which becomes beer.
The yeast multiplies millions of times over as it feeds on these sugars and the by product of all the feeding is carbon dioxide (lending the "fizz" to beer) and alcohol (lending the good feeling you get from drinking it) :-)
Lager yeasts want to propagate (multiply) at lower temps than ale yeasts do and I have a little area of my basement which stays very cool, around 50-55 degrees, perfect for a lager yeast.
Anyway, today I will acquire the ingredients to make a lager which is classified as an American Premium. It will have a much less hoppy and lighter flavor than most of the beers I have made and should be more golden in color.
Here's the ingredient list:
-3.3 lbs of light malt extract (essentially a thick syrup of barley malt)
-1 lb of dry malt extract (same as above but in a powdered form)
-1/2 lb of light crystal malt grains (steeped in water for 30 minutes to release all of its flavor and color)
-1/2 lb of carapils malt grains (same as above and as well aids in a fuller head and head retention)
-1 ounce of Cascade hops, 1/2 oz used in the boil as a "bittering" hop (to balance all of the sweetness of the malt) and 1/2 ounce used at the very end of the boil as an aroma hop (to lend that wonderful hop aroma to the lager)
-North American Lager Wyeast
I will update this post later today with pics so you can see what all these goodies look like.
Thank you for reading :)
The reason for this visit is to acquire supplies for my next batch of homebrewed beer, this time it will be my very first attempt at a lager. All the beer I have brewed in the past has been ale.
What distinguishes an ale from a lager is the type of yeast used. Suffice it to say the yeasts used in making beer generally fall into two categories, ale yeast and lager yeast. Of course yeast is a living organism and is integral to making beer. The yeast feeds upon all the sugars present in the "wort" (pronounced wert), which is the unfermented liquid which becomes beer.
The yeast multiplies millions of times over as it feeds on these sugars and the by product of all the feeding is carbon dioxide (lending the "fizz" to beer) and alcohol (lending the good feeling you get from drinking it) :-)
Lager yeasts want to propagate (multiply) at lower temps than ale yeasts do and I have a little area of my basement which stays very cool, around 50-55 degrees, perfect for a lager yeast.
Anyway, today I will acquire the ingredients to make a lager which is classified as an American Premium. It will have a much less hoppy and lighter flavor than most of the beers I have made and should be more golden in color.
Here's the ingredient list:
-3.3 lbs of light malt extract (essentially a thick syrup of barley malt)
-1 lb of dry malt extract (same as above but in a powdered form)
-1/2 lb of light crystal malt grains (steeped in water for 30 minutes to release all of its flavor and color)
-1/2 lb of carapils malt grains (same as above and as well aids in a fuller head and head retention)
-1 ounce of Cascade hops, 1/2 oz used in the boil as a "bittering" hop (to balance all of the sweetness of the malt) and 1/2 ounce used at the very end of the boil as an aroma hop (to lend that wonderful hop aroma to the lager)
-North American Lager Wyeast
I will update this post later today with pics so you can see what all these goodies look like.
Thank you for reading :)
Friday, January 1, 2010
I like to walk
Pretty much no matter what the weather I enjoy getting out for a nice long walk. It gives me time to think unencumbered by distractions. Today the weather is cold and it is a bit windy but the sky is a brilliant blue and the sun is strong.
So I took a walk at Lake Wehrspann, a fairly large man-made lake about 3 miles from where I call home now. The lake has a nice series of walking trails around it, but due to the recent weather these are all covered in a lot of snow. However the roads are clear enough and the traffic is very light due to the most sensible folks staying in their warm houses on a cold day. I have never been accused of being very sensible. :)
I bundled up and hoofed along the roads. Soon I saw 4 does (female deer) in a snowy field about 50 yards away. Then they saw me. They started to run after about 30 seconds of assessing me and I could not get my camera phone out quickly enough before they disappeared into some trees.
I also saw a red-tailed hawk flying from tree to tree, probably looking for a field mouse or some such rodent he could prey upon. All in all it was a peaceful, beautiful and serene day for a walk.
CLICK ON THE PICS TO ENLARGE
So I took a walk at Lake Wehrspann, a fairly large man-made lake about 3 miles from where I call home now. The lake has a nice series of walking trails around it, but due to the recent weather these are all covered in a lot of snow. However the roads are clear enough and the traffic is very light due to the most sensible folks staying in their warm houses on a cold day. I have never been accused of being very sensible. :)
I bundled up and hoofed along the roads. Soon I saw 4 does (female deer) in a snowy field about 50 yards away. Then they saw me. They started to run after about 30 seconds of assessing me and I could not get my camera phone out quickly enough before they disappeared into some trees.
I also saw a red-tailed hawk flying from tree to tree, probably looking for a field mouse or some such rodent he could prey upon. All in all it was a peaceful, beautiful and serene day for a walk.
CLICK ON THE PICS TO ENLARGE
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