I made Beer!

I had planned to get up Saturday and finally make that first batch of beer. I was running out of time to get the first batch brewed and bottled before I went on a conference in Phoenix and then on vacation at Jekyll Island, GA. So it had to be brewed Saturday so the beer would have the 5 to 7 days to ferment, and then the 5 days to clarify, and then the actual bottling of the beer.

As luck would have it, my work location was hit by some powered surge either from a lightening strike or from some other source on Thursday night. It took out all three of my work computers which are critical for us to function. We managed to get by Friday on my laptop computer.

So my top priory Saturday was to get the PCs back up and running. My pal and IT guru Bill Lacy said to bring the PCs over to his house Saturday to trouble shoot and hopefully repair any issues.

I wasn’t too hopeful. One PC started, stank, smoked a bit, and then went dead. One was just plain dead and didn’t attempt to start. The last one moaned a bit then died.

So early Saturday morning Gigi and I headed to my office in Southpark to pick up the PCs.

We had worked ourselves up to eat breakfast at the Original Pancake House. The place is always crowded, the service is good and the pancakes are mediocre. I’m not sure if it’s the syrup or the recipes but they always taste a little funky. The bacon is excellent however. The bacon is thick and smoky tasting with a sweet overtone. And the coffee is good too.

After breakfast and a little nearby shoe shopping, we picked up the PCs and headed for Bill’s house.

In a short time Bill had determined that the power supply on all three PCs had been blown. He happened to have plenty of spare power supplies and in no time had all three PS’s back in service. It’s amazing to see him tear apart one of those PCs and put it back together. He checked out and cleaned most components while he was in there.

One of the PCs runs my office web cam and I had already received two complaints that the webcam was down. So the cam should be back up Monday when I get the PC running again.

So, back to my beer making story.

It was by now late afternoon. The recipe said to realistically block out about 2 ½ to 3 hours to make a batch of beer. This is realistic. It takes some prep and cleaning. It said to expect an hour of cooking and stirring, then a cool down time and loading of the fermenting tank. Then there is cleanup time.

I decide to make the beer at the guesthouse. There is a nice little kitchen and TV.

I followed every step, cleaned, added stuff, stirred, watched golf on TV, sipped a few beers, etc. After a while the brew started to look and smell likes a pretty good microbrew. You could smell the grains and hops. It had a nice dark color.

The brew had a nice foam went I added the water to bring the level to five gallons. I then dumped and stirred in the yeast and capped it off to ferment. There is a small valve at the top to relieve pressure from the fermentation.

I could now provide a service to the community if I was somehow stranded on an island like the folks on LOST. Reggie would be the beer maker and I would be protected and elevated to an important status in this imaginary and primitive community. I don’t think anyone would need a financial advisor on a deserted island. This had long concerned of mine if I was called into action to really have a talent. I can’t build anything, or hunt. I could fish I guess. But now I would be the beer maker. I’m sure I could find something to grind up and boil to make beer. I just don’t want to end up like that fat guy on LOST and be a dispensable parasite.

10:00 AM Update - I checked to see if the vat was bubbling as it should. This indicates that the yeast is working and the beer is fermenting.

Sure enough it sounds like a bong in a college dorm. Bubbles are boiling up from the valve. This is good!

2 comments:

Peach Pod said...

I'm assuming part of that brew is for me!?

Reggie Hunnicutt said...

Well...it won't be ready until late July. The first corking is scheduled for 7/24. But there will be others.