Via Kottke, Spin magazine's list of the top 10 albums of the last 20 years. Seeing how that period nicely defines my adulthood, I thought it an interesting opportunity to see how my life has coincided with pop culture.
Or not.
I have exactly one of these albums, No. 7. I listened to it just the other day, and I still enjoy it.
I tapped into the third all-grain batch last night (I've been managing about one batch every other week, which pleases me). This was my first attempt at a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone. My previous attempts to get the Sierra taste involved hopping some kit ales and brewing them to a shorter brew length than specified to boost the alcohol. They were acceptable. This time, I used the above recipe, adjusted to UK brew length and for unavailability of certain of the ingredients.
The results? Well, it's good. It's not SNPA. But perhaps I shouldn't have expected it to be.
First off, I had trouble in the sparge again. I got some of the plumbing issues sorted out in the second batch, and it went much better. But this time I was having trouble maintaining the liquid level over the beer, which makes me think I was rather channelled during the sparge, which I consider was evidenced by the starting gravity of 1042 (SNPA says 1052). The final gravity came out at 1010-1012 (about on target) but that means the alcohol level is low.
Also, I did not have Perle hops, since I couldn't get them. I had some Challenger in the freezer with approximately the same alpha acid as the Perle, so I used those. And, probably most critical, I didn't have the Wyeast 1056 yeast, sometimes called Chico (address of SNPA), which is the right yeast for the job.
What I wound up with tastes good. It's not as hoppy; not as Cascade-y as the last time I used Cascade in a brew. Maybe that's just due to too small a quantity, or just poor contact with the steeping hops during the cooldown. It actually reminds me a lot of Fuller's London Pride. Considering that's one of my favourite beers, that's no bad thing. If you look at the Pride tasting notes, you see Challenger hops and an ABV of 4.1. These are probably closer to the reality. And the fact that it tastes like an English Ale, well, that's probably the yeast, Safale S-04. If you're a hammer, everything looks like an ale.
Incidentally, I definitely note the difference for having used caramalt in the recipe. The head is firmer, with smaller bubbles. And the body is good; colour is probably about right for SNPA. My wife reckons it's under-carbonated for SNPA, but it's just fine for an English ale.
Do I fret? No, I'm relax and not worrying. Hell, I'd make this again. We'll have another go. I still am thinking to culture the yeast from bottle-conditioned SNPA. And I might look a bit harder for the Perle hops next time I try.
Next up? I was thinking to do a porter, but now I think I'll just make another bitter. I'm looking to have some good drinking beer around for a barbecue in early July and I don't see my clone lasting that long.
My "clone" recipe (to make 5 UK gallons):
Mash at 150F 75 mins, sparge at 178, og 1042, fg 1010-1012
Cheeky headline: "Sergio works on his putts".
A recent podcast called my attention to Chris O'Brien, the Beer Activist. His "About" page tells us "My two great needs in life are drinking beer and saving the planet." Oh, if only my wife would listen...
Anyway, via Chris' website I found the Crannog Ales website, Canada's only organic farmhouse brewery. What's better...they are sharing their wisdom (pdf) on hop cultivation from the perspective of a low-input organic farm. Man, this is what it's all about.
This past week a new survey (pdf) took our high streets to task. The "identikit" high streets, where every town looks the same because the same "major multiples" - the ubiquitous high street formula shops - have driven any sense of character from the fabric of our shopping experience, shall henceforward be known as "clone towns". Wimbledon, our local high street area, is the prime offender in London. So it's not just me...
I gave this new Yahoo service Launchcast a spin the other day. I listened to their "World Music" channel, which mysteriously has disappeared from my options.
Now I'm presented with the amazing, fee-for-music "Brazilian" channel. I love this...featuring artists such as Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Ian Pooley and Bebel Gilberto.
While I can understand why you might include each of the non-Brazilians above on the list, I can't imagine why you would want to pay $35.99 a year to listen to this as a premium channel.
< scratches head, returns to iTunes >
In an apolitical way I'd like to mark the passing of one intrepid immigrant who died en route to the land of the "free".
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
For my own people, those who arrived to Liberty's greeting...I will remember you.
I have to confess I don't get all the commotion and kerfuffle about the 'non' and 'nee' votes on the EU constitution treaty.
Politicians who at this point insist on a referendum are asking to be bloodied by a protest vote cast by people who know their 'yes' means nothing and their 'no' means 'try harder'.
What's changed, exactly? That the European governments cannot count on those who elected them to back their nod? And this is a crisis? Have an election, already. Why isn't it just "back to the drawing board?" Because this incomprehensible treaty was the best compromise we could have hoped for? Because it is too hopelessly complex for us to understand and thus we should just shut up and do what we're told (I use the "we" as a resident, rather than an voter).
Why exactly is this a crisis? Doesn't "status quo ante" apply here? Is the whole experiment doomed to crash and burn because Europe can't fast-forward expand to the borders of Iran? Somehow I don't think so. Somehow I think that when you sort through all the noise, you'll find the core of what the EU really is and thinks it is. And on that basis things will go forward. And if that's not a lot different from the way it is today, well, that's not necessarily a good thing, but at least it's something people will be prepared to live with.
Call me naive, tell me I'm wrong, convince me this matters. Is the Italian economy going to bring down the Euro? Would the new treaty make any difference? In my opinion there are some HUGE structural problems that the French, the Germans and the Italians need to sort out if even the present scenario is going to work. Maybe EU histrionics are just a convenient smokescreen to steer attention away from the mess behind the curtain.
My daughter (3-1/2) and I were talking about percents:
Me: If you had 100 pennies and you gave me four, then I would have four percent and you would have 96 percent.
She: Daddy, I would have lots of pennies. I want to have four percent. Lots of other people could have four percent, too!
Consider me schooled!
BTW, this is not a case of hothousing. She merely asked what was that thing (%) that looked like funny glasses next to the 1 and the two 0's.