Ok, ok… I’ve been lazy. I admit that, you expect that… so let’s not dwell on it, hmmmm?
What has happened in DmentiA since last I rambled on at random?
Christmas came and went, and left many wonderful things in its wake… including (but not limited to) a new art print for the wall, books, and seed money to procure the bulk of my start-up gear to begin home brewing beer. *squee* Much intense and focused research was done and equipment was bought.
We made many delicious things as Christmas gifts this year, and Sweets has a great write-up about it all HERE.
Austin saw much rain, and very cold temperatures. Much of the garden did the usual die-off/leaf drop gig, and the yard started looking bleak. A few plants were protectable, and even fewer actually prospered form the cold (our garlic, to be specific). Leaves dropped from trees and littered the yard.
The new year came and went, and left me with a kidney stone as a parting gift. Thanks… it’s what I’ve always wanted.
Sweets’ family came to the States, and after a week in Disneyworld, they trekked into NOLA where we met them and stayed a few days, then made our collective way to Austin. They stayed for a week — it was a lovely week at that — and I think I managed to keep from frightening them sufficiently with my crass American ways… I was on my best behavior, and didn’t disgrace my family. Suckers! Fooled you all.
They specifically came in to attend Sweets’ graduation from Culinary School, join us in a bleated (very belated!) wedding party, and basically make sure I wasn’t keeping Sweets in squalor (I kid! I kid!). The graduation was very nice, and I can’t adequately express how fiercely proud I am of her.
Sweets has written up the visit, complete with pictures, HERE. She’s done such an elegant job of it, that I won’t shame myself by endeavoring to do it again. (see paragraph 1, i.e. “being lazy”).
And, most recently, Sweets and I finally brewed our first batch of beer. It’s a lovely Belgian Golden Ale, similar to Duvel, and it was a blast to make. I spent the preceding ten days doing massive research into the brewing process, basically discarding the generic process that comes along with the recipe kit. I learned a tremendous amount about the overall process, what shortcuts can be taken, the very specific stages of mashing grains and making a wort, the hows and whys of the specific gravities of the liquid at every stage, and so much more. I also learned that for all the minutiae that can and should be paid attention to, that you can just chill and not worry about it. There is a popular phrase I’ve read a lot while doing my homework: “RDWHAHB – Relax, Don’t Worry, Have A Homebrew.”
The hooch is in the primary fermenter where it will live until the yeasties have done most of their work converting the sugars into alcohol (about a week), then it gets moved into a secondary fermenter where it basically clarifies for two weeks, then into bottles for conditioning and natural carbonating for 3-4 weeks. Yup, it’s a lot of time to wait, and that’s why most home brewers have multiple batches going at once. Time, equipment, and experience will eventually allow us to do that to. Eventually.
For now, I’m enjoying the sheer adventure and creativity of the process, and I’m learning a hell of a lot of new things as well. When you stop learning, you may as well lie down and die.
That’s it for now, kiddies. Expect to hear a lot more about homebrew from me.