The Reality of Things

Ok so I brewed a batch of Canadian Draft that does not go with my pallet at all.... almost hurts to drink it... hah

Sunday I started a new batch of cider - cider extract + 4 cans of frozen apple juice (more specifically 3 cans of Food City brand + 1 can of seneca) and since it should be ready right around Christmas time I added 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to the boil.
Smelled just like spiced cider as I dumped it into the fermenter.

OG = 1.057-1.058 the hygrometer was bobbing a little no matter how I tried to stabilize it.

It started out a little warm... I added the yeast anyway ... within a couple hours it had a good inch of foam on top, by the morning it had leaked a couple teaspoons out. Finally settled down by late Monday evening. I have always left the cider in for a week or more as it always seems to be actively fermenting for that long, but I think I will try bottling it as soon as I can (maybe Wed. or maybe Sunday... dunno)

Also I have researched how to make a brew similar to blue moon, and ordered some supplies from morebeer.com 14lbs of wheat extract syrup 2 vials of belgium wit yeast some hops .... This will prove to be my first real beer without aide of a kit (tried cider back before - but now I will try to make a kit-less beer)
About the time I received part of the ingredients I ordered I realized that Mr. Beer had a kit that was already very similar to what I planned to make. The witty monk witbier -- smack to the head...

We shall see how things turn out.

So, since I got my Polar F55 at Christmas (nearly 8 months ago) I have burned about 58,800 calories according to the counter. I missed several weeks here and there.

Turns out what we normal Americans know as calories is actually kilocalories. Which means I have burned 58800 kilocalories.
1 kilocalorie is equal to 4186.8 Joules. 1 Joule is equal to 2.777777777777777E-7 Kwh (kilowatt hours).

So that makes 1 kilowatt hour equal to 859.845 calories (kilocalories).

My measily 58,800 calories is 68.4 kwh of power - not too bad I guess ..... I expended enough energy to burn a 100 watt light bulb for 684 hours or 28.5 days.

Our house used like 2100 kwh more or less which means the house used up 1.8 million calories worth of energy in 29 days - what a fat burner. heh....

Just for reference there are about 3500 Calories in 1 pound of fat. So thats like 16.8 pounds worth of fat I burned in 8 months (too bad I am not nearly that much lighter than I was at Christmas heh)

Interesting I thought...

Bottled the amber wheat beer.
Took the specific gravity measurement and it was 1.014 after fermenting so:

If the starting gravity of the wort is 1.048, and after fermentation, the gravity is 1.014. Subtracting the second from the first gives us the weight of CO2 that left the vessel. That is equal to 0.034 kg/L. Then you multiply by 1.05 to get the weight of the alcohol in the container. That is 0.0357 kg/L. Now that you know both the mass of the solution (1.014 kg/L) and the mass of the alcohol (0.0357 kg/L) you can calculate the percentage of alcohol by mass by dividing the two. This gives 0.0357/ 1.014, which equals 0.0352, or 3.52 percent.

So that makes the amber wheat 3.52 percent alcohol by mass. Most of the time we are used to Alcohol by volume so that would be:
you get 3.52/0.79 or 4.5 percent alcohol by volume.

A sample from the little extra left over after bottling taste a bit like caramel... interesting.

Bottled the cider that had the seneca added to it.
Took the specific gravity measurement and it was 0.992 after fermenting so:

If the starting gravity of the wort is 1.054, and after fermentation, the gravity is 0.992. Subtracting the second from the first gives us the weight of CO2 that left the vessel. That is equal to 0.062 kg/L. Then you multiply by 1.05 to get the weight of the alcohol in the container. That is 0.0651 kg/L. Now that you know both the mass of the solution (0.992 kg/L) and the mass of the alcohol (0.0651 kg/L) you can calculate the percentage of alcohol by mass by dividing the two. This gives 0.0651/ 0.992, which equals 0.065625, or 6.56 percent.

So that makes the cider 6.56 percent alcohol by mass. Most of the time we are used to Alcohol by volume so that would be:
you get 6.56/0.79 or 8.3 percent alcohol by volume.

I put in a new batch of amber wheat beer and tried some thing new. I added 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract to the wort before boiling was achieved. This new wort measured 1.048 for specific gravity. I am hoping that it comes out very flavorful and tasty.

ok new version of Field Genius supports image files with world files. now how do you make a world file? good question!
First off the world file is in meters so if you are used to working in feet you have to convert your numbers to meters.

like if you have a GIS program and you make a 8.5x11 image print at a scale of 1"=50' and your image is output at 150 dpi then your world file would look like:
0.102 --- x units per pixel since it was 50 feet per inch and 150 pixels per inch that means each pixel was 0.3333 feet or 0.1016 meters
0.0
0.0
-0.102 --- assuming no scale factor (image is not squished) it should just be a negative of the thing in the first line (negative because images are stored from top to bottom in the file, but our coordinate system is positive going UP so negative makes it work right).
1397.86 --- upper left of image X coordinate in meters -- just an example number
1597.39 --- upper left of image Y coordinate in meters -- just an example number

now name this file like if you had image.tif the world file would be image.tfw and if you had image.jpg then the world file would be image.jgw.
You can make the file in note pad just make sure you put an extra blank line below the last line.

That should pretty much cover the basics...

I got my info from a wikipedia article and some playing around

1/2 cup shortening (butter)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed banana (about 2 over ripe ones)
1 tsp lemon juice
2 cup flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chopped pecans

------------
food processor
shortening + sugar until creamy
then add eggs and process
then add lemon and bananas process
then add flour, baking powder, salt process
add nuts - if pre-chopped then just pulse them in .... other wise process them in until they are chopped a little and well mixed in...

bake 325°F for 1-1:30 hours --- check at 1 hour to see if it is getting too brown on top - if it is then cover with foil

Well after a week of carbonating we tried the wheat beer. It is really good A LOT of flavor. I thought it drank really well.

down near the bottom of the glass the after taste started to be like a piece of whole wheat bread.

It is good!

Yesterday I decided that the clarity of the wheat beer was good enough to bottle - it had been that way a couple days actually, but I needed a couple hours to get it bottled and a new batch started.

Took the specific gravity measurement and it was 1.016 after fermenting so:

If the starting gravity of the wort is 1.044, and after fermentation, the gravity is 1.016. Subtracting the second from the first gives us the weight of CO2 that left the vessel. That is equal to 0.028 kg/L. Then you multiply by 1.05 to get the weight of the alcohol in the container. That is 0.0294 kg/L. Now that you know both the mass of the solution (1.016 kg/L) and the mass of the alcohol (0.0294 kg/L) you can calculate the percentage of alcohol by mass by dividing the two. This gives 0.0294 / 1.016, which equals 0.0289, or 2.9 percent.

So that makes the wheat beer 2.9 percent alcohol by mass. Most of the time we are used to Alcohol by volume so that would be:
you get 2.9/0.79 or 3.66 percent alcohol by volume (we shall call it 3.7% by volume). (seems low... but I assume this is accurate)

I put in a new batch of cider and tried some thing new. I took the normal recipe, used 2.5 cups of sugar and then added two cans of Seneca apple juice concentrate. This seems to have had substantial effect on the specific gravity because the starting gravity was 1.054. I am hoping that the addition of the juice concentrate will help the flavor at the end - the cider seems to be a touch on the dry side, I would like it to be a little sweeter seeming, I figured more different flavor might help.

Bottled the cider I started a month or so ago... probably left it in the fermenter too long but we shall see the reading on the specific gravity was 0.992 that means the alcohol content of the batch is ummm I need to figure that out. ok -- from how stuff works filling in my numbers:

You can compare the starting specific gravity to the final specific gravity. If the starting gravity of the wort is 1.044, and after fermentation, the gravity is 0.992. Subtracting the second from the first gives us the weight of CO2 that left the vessel. That is equal to 0.052 kg/L. Then you multiply by 1.05 to get the weight of the alcohol in the container. That is 0.0546 kg/L. Now that you know both the mass of the solution (0.992 kg/L) and the mass of the alcohol (0.0546 kg/L) you can calculate the percentage of alcohol by mass by dividing the two. This gives 0.042 / 1.02, which equals 0.055, or 5.5 percent.

So the ciders with the red circle on the lid are 5.5 percent alcohol by mass. Most of the time we are used to Alcohol by volume so that would be:
It is important to note that the percentage of alcohol by mass is higher than the percentage of alcohol by volume because an equal mass of alcohol occupies more volume than water would. So to convert from percent alcohol by mass to percent alcohol by volume you just divide by the density of alcohol. In this case you get 5.5/0.79 or 6.967 percent alcohol by volume (we shall call it 7% by volume).

Started a new batch - a wheat beer... has wheat beer base with a golden wheat UME and a booster pack the specific gravity was 1.044 at the time I added the yeast and closed it up. Probably should not wait a month to bottle this batch...hopefully 3-7 days...

Just put a new cider into the fermenter. Made a pretty standard recipe. Used 3 cups of sugar and 1/2 cup of clover honey. Added just up past the 8 quart mark on the fermenter - which should yield 24 - 12oz bottle equivalents. The new thing that I did was to use the hydrometer that my grandma gave me of what was left of my grandpas old beer making stuff. I read a specific gravity of 1.044 and on the potential alcohol scale it was just past the 5% toward the 6% - The hydrometer is accurate at 60°F and I am sure I was reading it quite a bit warmer since the brew was not even cool to the touch and the wort in the fermenter has pushed the temperature scale beyond the fermenter's temperature reading. Maybe I can get a semi close reading guesstimate since I am really only using the difference in the specific gravity before and after fermenting.

We shall see how it all works out in a couple weeks I guess.

Things hum along normally...
My aging box for my beer became quite full after the most resent batch of chocolate cider was put in there to age. Since the box was full I took a break on the batches for a couple weeks now, trying to drink down the stock so to speak heh.

Winter seems to be breaking, had 70°F days last week, then a couple cold ones this weekend, but I think we are headed back to the warm weather again this coming week. Karin is on spring break so maybe she will get to play outside during some of it.

The boys are finally getting old enough to enjoy having a GIGANTIC sandbox -- well mostly Jacob, but they both play.. I dug out a tunnel for Jacob through the sand and he just loved it. He was running a wooden stake through it which he was calling his train...

Kimberly planted several bulbs in the 3rd planter back in the fall and several of them were starting to bloom today - very pretty... I am hopeful that the yard will be all cleaned up this spring some time and that will be the last of the dirt that has to be brought in...

The roof is almost completely framed out for the garage -- just a few more pieces left to place in the corners and the we can put the sheeting on and the roofing and be DONE with that part, then the siding, windows, doors can be put in and it will be finished!!

Then there is the matter of getting concrete poured out to the garage (of course the dirt needs to be placed first so its a bunch of projects in progress working to a nicer homestead.

Finished up a survey job this weekend with Howard from Smokey Mountain Land Surveying. The deal we agreed upon was to split the profit from weekend jobs. This was the first project that we finished - so we shall see how it works out. I am hoping profitably as it was only 2 days work and should be a couple thousand $$ I hope.

I need to get some pictures dumped and put some links for them up.

Lost one of the computers at work - well was not a complete loss, but it crashes randomly and had to be taken out of productions as I lost work frequently when it crashed. Ended up with a new AMD based Quad core with 2 gigs of ram and got one of the nice 30" dell widescreen monitors to use with it. Pop thinks the 30" screen was worth the upgrade, as I am able to look at 2 documents at once and copy things more quickly -- improving my productivity.

Lots of projects going on around town... I have marked out about 20 houses already this year I think. One subdivision has gone from nothing to nearing the final stages of grading already. A couple others are in various stages of putting in utilities. Several others are in various stages of the planning - from just getting MPC approval to revisions of the grading plans for permit. KUB's new rules are proving aggravating - seems they want 3 submissions reguardless what may or may not be wrong on the plans. They had us change some thing and then change it back. I am not sure they have quite figured out their own new rules.

Cherry wheat went into bottles last night. -- smelled good - they yeast scrap in the bottom was all red, I am guessing from the cherries - or maybe that was food coloring from the cherries.

What went in the bottles was still a little cloudy, with some more flocculation and clarification in the bottles the final product should not be too cloudy.

I tried an experiment with the new batch that I put on. Took a regular cider mix and added 2 tablespoons of hersheys cocoa to the wort after boiling, covered with saran wrap and let it sit for about 10 minutes to steep before I added it into the fermenting vessel. Kimberly was hesitant about the idea of chocolate apple cider. When I was adding the cocoa, she decided that it smelled really good, so maybe it will turn out to be some thing good.

This morning I was checking on the status of the fermenter with my trusty flashlight and I had quite a bit of sediment already - which seemed unusual for 12 hours of fermenting.. and it looked like some of the cocoa had attached itself to the bubbles produced by the yeast, the foam that was on top was mostly dark cocoa brown color.

I am wondering if:
1. Did I add enough cocoa?
2. Should I have added it at the beginning of the boil, instead of the end?
3. Did I steep it long enough?
4. Will chocolate apple cider taste good?

I guess trial and error are the only real ways to find out -- 6-7 weeks and we shall see how this experiment turns out.

Well... My super cherry wheat beer did not overtake the airlock on the fermenter... thats a good thing! It behaved normally - as it should have. It seems to have quite a bit of suspended solids, not clearing as well as I had hoped... I guess it is destined to be a cloudy beer maybe...

Karin got a Mr. Rootbeer Kit for Christmas... oddly it seemed to have come without any yeast... so a quick call to Mr. Beer/Mr. Rootbeer ... and they had that all sorted out and sent us a new yeast pack.

Karin had me help her mix up a batch on Sunday... the instructions said that it should be ready in 1-14 days with a typical wait of 3 days... After 24 hours the bottles were quite firm - but not quite as firm as rocks ... on the second day they were almost as firm as a 24 oz mt. dew that was nearby that we were using for comparison. On the 3rd day (Wednesday) the rootbeer bottles were pretty much like rocks, I could barely dimple them in the neck... I did not just put them in the fridge though - I let Karin remember to check them on her own - she said they were very hard and her little fingers could not budge the plastic - so she decided it was time to put them in the fridge..

Since she was out of school yesterday due to inclement weather (it sorta snowed a little bit not much though) I figured she would have tried it. Kimberly says she was waiting for me, but I did not get home until nearly dinner time, and Karin figured we would not let her drink rootbeer with dinner so she did not even ask me... heheh...

My garage is coming along, have nearly 3/4 of the eves framed out, once those are done I can finally sheet the roof and it will be alot more done that it has so far...

Got a new Nokia 6265i phone, has mobile web, infrared communication, bluetooth, camera, all the goodies... works really well - cricket seems to compete well I think, even if they do not have unlimited nation wide coverage yet...

Ok I think thats some update for now... heh

Oh and Happy Birthday Jon!

I received a Polar F-55 HRM (Heart Rate Monitor) for Christmas this year. I am still learning all the things it does. A basic summary would be that it is a personal trainer in a watch.

In the two weeks following Christmas I did not really get much use from it, problems working it properly (read the manual many times) - not that it is hard to work, just takes a little getting used to.

The past 2 weeks I have logged 4343 calories burned during workouts for the week ending 1/14 and 2940 for last week (1/21) - not sure why it ends my week on Sunday. Tried to set it to Saturday a couple times shrug maybe I will figure it out eventually.

1950 is my calorie burning goal for this week. The part I cannot really show is the time spent in the heart rate zones, and the fitness scores that it calculates for me. Makes working out very similar to playing a game - with scr

A very neat device. Instead of buying the $70 Polar brand IR connect device I found a $9.95 Syba IrDA USB adapter at BuyXtra.com - installed the drivers and plugged it up to the computer, ran the Polar Weblink software and it worked flawlessly no problems talking to the F-55 and getting the exercise files loaded to the web.

Love it when things just work!

Saturday I bottled a batch of cider, should be ready in 5 weeks.

Sunday I whipped up a new batch of Cherry wheat. Basically the recipe was exactly the same as the one that blew up and put purple goo all over our kitchen. Only difference was two cans of cherries instead of one cherry and one blackberry. I did change the method a little though - I added the cherries to the boiling wort and let them steep for about 10 minutes before I added them to the fermenter.

I was hoping that the crazy expansion I experienced last time could be attributed to wild yeast that may have been introduced through the fruit. I use a Mr. Beer Keg style fermenter, and the top of wort level is usually about 3 inches from the top, the fruit line (pureed fruit that sits on top of the foam) is as high as 1 inch from the top, but the foam has settled down a bit and looks like it is only about 1 inch thick right now (this morning).

The yeast growth should have peaked out last night sometime, and now it should be converting over to making alcohol instead of exponentially growing.

The blackberry cherry wheat was a very good beer - one of my favorites I have done so far. Bloody shame that we lost have the batch to explosive fermentation. I am hopeful that this new batch will be just as good!!