Messages

3391

The Pub / Re: Post your local Gas Prices here...

« on: May 05, 2011, 12:09:41 PM »

4.499(grr) for #2 highway diesel

**EDIT** correction 4.699

3392

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Life membership

« on: May 05, 2011, 10:43:59 AM »

How about... membership in the AHA for the rest of your life?

Alll the rest is lagniappe.

good word! had to look that one up!

3393

The Pub / Re: Watcha plantin' this spring?

« on: May 05, 2011, 10:01:58 AM »

Do they look like this?
(This is from a previous post by tschmidlin that left an indelible impression)

I really hope that's been Photoshopped.  That's a really nasty, vile looking creature.  OTOH can you eat them like escargot?

I havn't seen one quite that big but the banana slugs here in northern cali are easily 6-8 inches long.

**EDIT** maybe this will get the topic moved to all things food! http://shellcollecting.tribe.net/thread/240db251-f8ef-4cb5-aff2-24f848a73efb

3394

The Pub / Re: It's Started Already...

« on: May 05, 2011, 09:59:25 AM »

I've dropped into grain bins in the morning and been surprised (at least the first time) by rattlers in western NE.  Even then they didn't strike.  I stood still while the rest of the building team raised the bin a few inches and the snakes all left.  Live and let live, I guess.  Except for rabbits in my flower beds.  Rabbits in my yard are dead rabbits if I can make it happen.

Paul

sounds like you need MORE rattle snakes to take care of the fuzzy bunnies!

do you eat them after you make them dead?

3395

The Pub / Re: Post your local Gas Prices here...

« on: May 05, 2011, 09:57:06 AM »

can I just say what the hell with the .9 cents! I want to pump 1 gallon of gas and ask for my .1 cents change!

3396

The Pub / Re: It's Started Already...

« on: May 05, 2011, 07:58:42 AM »

To each their own "Dude". If I see a Rattler it's dead. We have plenty of Bull Snakes & stray cats to take care of the mice. It's one less chance to be bitten in my mind. Really not sure what being a vegetarian has to do with it though?  Cheers!!!

Being a vegetarian relates because I am one at least partly because I don't want to kill things needlessly. I don't need to eat animals so I don't kill them.

Other humans place you and your family at far more risk than those snakes and I am guessing that you don't kill humans on sight.

If you are phobic about snakes I can understand that. but there is no logical reason to kill them on sight unless you are going to eat them. that is my point.

3397

Beer Recipes / Re: Red Witbier?

« on: May 05, 2011, 07:48:17 AM »

Hoegaarden and homemade unsweetened hibiscus tea it is! I actually drank a Canadian hibiscus beer today called Rosee d'Hibiscus by Biere du Ciel. It is significantly darker than I would need, and not particularly flavorful, though a bit floral (presumably from the hibiscus). Based on this tasting, if the hoegaarden with jamaica tastes good, I will hibiscify one keg full of wit and leave the other keg plain.

I had that rosee once, it was nice, didn't blow me away. I agree the flavours were a little subdued. Yeah hoegaarden would be a good test bed. Also try the Jolly pumpkin buedelaire Saison. much more flavour though I am not sure how much from the hibiscus and how much from the rose hips, similar flavour profiles there.

**EDIT** any chance we will get to taste this at the may GBA meeting? **EDIT**

3398

The Pub / Re: It's Started Already...

« on: May 04, 2011, 10:01:15 PM »

Leave 'em all alone! Dude, You walked into the house, found a broom, walked down the road and beat a snake to death and you didn't even eat it? not cool. I'm sorry but it's one thing if it's moving in on your kids (Which really doesn't happen) or even living under your house and you come across it sitting on your drive way but to go out of your way to kill another living being and then not even have the respect to eat it afterwords just seems wrong to me. Sorry to rant, I am sure you are not a bad person but do think about these actions. If for no other reason than because that rattle snake would eat many many rodents that would be much more likely to attack you unprovoked than that rattler ever was. And with all the diseases and bacteria that rodents can harbor and spread around killing that rattler has made your neighborhood a little less safe.

Guess that is partly why I am a vegetarian.

3399

Beer Recipes / Re: Red Witbier?

« on: May 04, 2011, 01:47:36 PM »

Well, the benefit of the hibiscus is that I can add it after the beer has been finished. That would also allow me to spare one keg if the first one comes out looking funny. But pictures I have found on the internet of hibiscus beers don't quite look right. And I don't find Jamaica from a taqueria to be particularly delicious... still not sure if I should stick to the original plan of carafa special II or if I should go with the hibiscus tea idea. Is there a way to make hibiscus tea that would limit its flavor impact and enhance the color impact?

not sure about the flavour minimizing. it's a pretty strong flavour. perhaps go back to the beet juice idea Tom suggested. You can make your own jamaica with a couple ounces of hibiscus in a tea pot with as much boiling water as it will hold. let it set overnight, strain, sweeten and dilute to taste. you could try that and doctor some pints of witbeir to get an idea of the color/flavour balance. or you could look for some good natural food based food coloring, I think they have it at the co-op in Davis. not sure though.

3400

Ingredients / Re: What should I have on hand?

« on: May 04, 2011, 01:42:32 PM »

pretty similar to hamiltonT, but bear in mind, almost all I brew these days is German lagers and American ales:

this would be a good name for a honey brown ale

3401

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Blowing CO2 into bottles and carboys

« on: May 04, 2011, 01:39:12 PM »

So you're saying you would need to pressurize your carboy with more pressure than in the keg?  That seems dangerous to me and I mostly use plastic buckets so I cannot pressurize a plastic bucket.  Your also assuming that I connect to the beer out line and I do not do that either I insert an open end of the plastic tubing into the bottom on the keg.

I release the keg pressure valve before transferring so it doesn't take much pressure to transfer.
I would consider filling the keg through the beer-out tube. Less splashing.
With a bucket you could easily siphon it into the keg.

I think oxidation is a big thing in homebrewing because our surface to volume ratio is so high.  But if you drink the beer within a few weeks it shouldn't matter.

No don't pressurize the carboy more than the keg. as he said yo urelease the pressure from the keg before transfering from the carboy. but if your using buckets that wouldn't work it's true. your still reducing your o2 contact if you depressurize the keg and rack in as normal.

to the OP I have not worried about purging carboys, bottles. Probably I should but when I am bottleing I am doing a secondary ferm in teh bottle so I figure the yeast will eat up any o2 in the headspace.

3402

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Do you give your beers a name?

« on: May 04, 2011, 01:35:35 PM »

I try to name my beers but don't always get around to it. No rhyme nor reason to it though. it's just what ever hits me

a few
- Kiwi X-Ing - A california Common hopped with all new zealand cascade
- 1 stAG - my first all grain recipe, a belgian pale ale, was going to translate it to flemish, didn't get around to it.
- Venuse Vestonika (Paleolithic Goddess Stout) - an RIS with honey named for a stone age mother goddess statue found near Russia.
- Sweet William - a barley wine I brewed to age (some of it) for 16 years until I can share it with my son.

but often times it doesn' last long enough to get a name and I don't rebrew it so...

3403

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Blowing CO2 into bottles and carboys

« on: May 04, 2011, 11:24:59 AM »

So then how do you fill your keg full of beer if you have it sealed and full of co2?  I usually rack using an auto-siphon and up to this point have inserted the tubing into the top of the keg with the lid off of course.

after hooking the syphon tube to the beer out tube (Check me on this someone, I am new to kegging) you give the carboy a little pressure (Really little we don't want exploding carboys) and then release the presure from the keg slowly so the beer is forced into the keg as the gas is expelled.

3404

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Blowing CO2 into bottles and carboys

« on: May 04, 2011, 09:11:59 AM »

How long can Star San sit in keg?  I know you don't want to keep it around too long or it's cloudy and not as useful.  Is prolonged contact to the keg OK?

as far as I know, as long as the starsan isn't cloudy it's all good. I don't think it's a problem to store it in a keg long term. but I don't know for sure, I know alot of folks keep a bucket full of starsan already mixed and keep using it till it gets cloudy, which if you use RO or even distilled water takes a long time to happen

3405

All Grain Brewing / Re: Water volumes for low gravity beers

« on: May 03, 2011, 08:40:19 AM »

1/2 lb 1-minute Oats (man I hope I didn't have to cook those).

You're fine.  The 1-minute (and for that matter, the 5-minute and instant) oats have all already be gelatinized so you can just put them straight into the mash.

in fact all rolled oats are pre gelatenized. The process of making rolled oats is to steam them and then squash them while still hot and soft.