Ah, but I bottled my Märzen instead~!

And it tastes Freakin’ AWESOME!  And that isn’t just because I brewed it; no, it tastes awesome because I did a long-assed time consuming Triple Decoction and it was worth every second of it.  Oh, it there was ever a time that I looked forward to September/Oktöber it’s this year!  It’s SO good…. It’s so good that I’d be ashamed to enter it into home brewing contests because it would be cheating.  The maltiness it maddening!  FG was 1.008 and at 5.5% ABV, it is still sweet malty tasting, no, not cloyingly sweet, no I didn't’ use an elephant full of priming sugar, it is… just so.  I’m liable to start cracking those bad boys open before they are carbonated. Sorry for tootin’ me own horn, but it is a high point in my brewing career.  Hobby.  I GOTTA make more of this.

And I’m going to decoct more often as well.  Ahhh.  Pure molybdenum!  (A little joke between me and my ole pal Charlie Dell...)

Cheers!

Web site is coming along… still a lot to do…

At least it looks like I’m doing something….

http://www.a-brew-frame.com/index.html

I made some custom buttons and changed the background on the banner to reflect what the finish of the products are going to look like… there is a problem with the .gif file, but it will be ok for now.  Maybe I can include a paint kit for your computer for scratches like they USED to do with automobiles back in the mythical time only referred to now as: ‘The Day’.

I got up at 4:00 and put a pot of coffee on the stove (yep… coffee maker finally gave up the ghost) and fed the WonderDog personnel, then after the coffee was to a point that I wanted to drink it I came down to the Future Site of the Man Cave, which I should start calling Corporate Headquarters, I suppose.  The coffee was boiling hot, but you know how it is with coffee: you just gotta pour some onto the soft inner tissues of the mouth.  It’s about drinking temperature now, as cometh from the coffee maker.  I made some .gifs for my banner and buttons (not as nice looking as the ones that Virtual Wayne made for his site, however…  I have a ways to go to even come close to the expertise of the WaynarWare team.  But as I said, they’ll do for now.

Still haven’t heard from my vendors, so I’ll stop by one of them this AM before work.  And on that note, I should go cleanse the bod and get ready.  Adidas!

Should have brewed today, but worked on my website instead… And then:

… went to the home brew club meeting… A good time was had by all.  The club is growing!  Woo-hoo!  Gonna drink me the last if the beer I brought back in front of the toob.  See you later dudes & dude-ettes!

-CyberDave

Bah-hahaha…. Beer is good

I went on a Mission today… First to the ‘C on Willie-D to get some cardboard thingys that I’d been hoarding when I was there...
I was going to use them for a project for Trish....
I kept forgetting them..
El Jefe said that he was about to throw them out, so its a good thing that I finally got them today.  Then, after visiting for a spell I was off to Che Kroger, at Towers Mall… got some chips to take to my friend’s Open Home Brew Session….

But First: I stopped by the ABC store at Towers to say Hi to Carole, my hot friend, and then, after a steamy exchange, I was off to the Open Brew Session at Home Boyz.

We had beers, several other peeps stopped by to kibbitz, and I was off again.

Stopped by Bryan’s to see him cleaning up after his brew session, had a couple of his beers, and then to another Che Kroger’s to get some rations.  Then, home.  And: Here I am.  Waiting for the End Of Time, at which point I shall go upstairs and drink even MORE beer… and watch some toob.

At some point tonight, I’m going to crack grain for another batch of ESB.  But that’s for later in the eve…

Märzen is in the Secondary

Finally… AFTER YEARS of not being able to make lagers, I finally have my first lager since then in the new freezer.  I’m keeping an eye on it tho’… I sort of forgot how to operate the Ranco ETC-111000 Temperature Controller.  I think I have it set to 48°F. ± 3°, but it was in the 20’s when I put the carboy in there.  I thought that I’d just turned it on and cranked it down a little… Well, maybe I didn’t.  We will see. - Young Märzen in it’s cradle… Shhh… We don’t want to wake it…

It took about 10 days to stop bubbling fastly.  Next time I’ll use a starter and the yeast that I poured off of the Primary.  I have Märzen yeast and the yeast I used to make my ESB in the fridge, and I’ll use the latter to make another ESB this weekend.  Got a new sack of 2 row pale ale malt today and some hops & a lb. of 40L crystal.  Really need to get a sack of Pilsner.  Next month, perhaps… Til then, I’ll use the Pale Ale to make the ESB and another batch of Märzen for later in the year.  Mental note: USE THE GREASE PENCIL on the carboys to tell which is which!  Don’t be a Dumbass!AGAIN!

Man Cave Update

Bwa-hahaha… The second section is up.  Here are the pix I took during manufacturing….

   

As  you can see, clamps are our friends.  I was able to do the whole thing by mice elf so far.  This section was easier as I had the previous section to use as fixturing (using our friends) and my grandfather’s roll top desk as an assembly platform.  Once the section was complete, I supported the end towards the computer and slipped a 2 x 4 under the framing, clamping it to the top to prevent scarring when I pushed the boogair over onto the floor.

The second foto shows that I used decking screws rather than 16 penny nails to fasten everything together.  Somewhere down the road the owner of the house in that time frame may wish to dis-assemble the thing and he can reuse the lumber.  Might be a rare commodity at that point in future historie…

The final shot shows the wall in place and the plate which will sport the door fastened to the concrete floor. I’ll center the door 3’ from the shitter wall… but that’s a story for another day….

Märzen

The first batch of Oktöberfest is still bubbling faster than it should be to transfer to the secondary… The rule o thumb is a bubble every 5 seconds indicates that fermentation has slowed to the proper point.  I am so anxious to try out my new lagering chamber….

More as it happens…