Second all grain brew August 16
Did my second all grain brew yesterday, using my shiny new mash tun and strainer setup.
This one was another Barley Bottom kit, Gob Hoblin and it went very well, better than the first one as the mash didn't get stuck and it all ran into the boiler smoothly :)
Writeup of the brew day with photos of the mash tun / strainer is in the brewing section.
Wort Pump August 3
Bought a nice new Totton pump from ebay the other day to pump wort around when home brewing. Made a stand for it and wired it up yesterday.
The 'S' in the cable is a simple cable strain relief so pulling on the wire won't pull on the wiring inside the switch.
It's magnetically coupled and food safe. Should help with stuck sparges and save me having to lift full buckets of near boiling liquid.
First all grain brew July 21
Finally got round to doing my first all grain home brew - Old Yella from Barley Bottom.
It went pretty well - the mash tun was the main problem as I'd not cut enough slits in the filter so the runoff stuck, but the boiler and chiller worked very well :)
Things I've learnt:
- Start early - possibly prepare the water the night before
- Write down quantities with the instructions on the checklist
- Spending a little more time on your equipment saves you a lot of hassle later on - see mash tun filter problems
- You lose a surprising amount to evaporation, trub and deadspace - I lost almost 30%
- It's better to ferment for longer at slightly cooler temperatures than too quickly at too high a temperature
- Not everyone loves the smell of mashing grain or boiling hops ;)
I've done a write up of the brew day with photos and added it to the home brewing section.
First things from the vegetable garden July 12
We've recently been harvesting the first vegetables from our vegetable garden. The potatoes have gone a bit mad in the recent mixed sunny and wet weather and are a lot bigger than just a couple of weeks ago.
We dug up one of our second early plants yesterday evening to make a potato gratin and a spanish omelette - here is what we found :)
These were very tasty and more than enough for what we needed them for. I've been told to grow Pink Fir Apple next year which are apparently even tastier.
The beetroot has also started growing well recently so we've pulled a few up already to make pickled beetroot. Following a simple recipe we boiled the beetroot until soft before skinning them and slicing them, after which we poured over boiling vinegar that had been infused with peppercorns, coriander seed, bay leaf and cloves.
Here is final result next to another vegetable thats doing well, a big radish from the garden.
We'll leave it for a few weeks to mature then it's beetroot and cheese sandwiches galore.
Working Lunch June 29
When I first started working for SUSE as a student intern back in 2003, then a 21 year old with a full head of hair, I remember having KFC for lunch 21 (work) days in a row.Fast forward to 2006, when I lived with a foodie and started cooking from scratch. Since then whenever I eat at home I cook from raw ingredients - no ready meals, no crap but I found my work lunches were still lagging behind my other meals. Lack of cooking facilities or just the amount of sandwich bars offering adjective laden items for just under a fiver, meant I bought lunch every day - and was usually hungry again come 4pm.
Todays lunch.
Home made chilli, bread, and potato salad using our second early potatoes from our vegetable garden with a small salad from the Sainsburys salad bar.
Total cost - around £2.50 - a lot less than the cost of a KFC, something I wouldn't touch with a barge pole these days, and infinitely tastier.