Roo Pads

Re-soldered Post

 The horn is around 15 years old and it finally hit the ground. This post was bent half way off so I soldered it back. I cut the little dots off with a razor blade so there are two little shiney dots to mark the spot. I also buffed out some of the tarnish.

In Order Ready to Measure

I lined all the keys up in order they appear on the horn. The side keys might not be in perfect position but that doesn't  matter. I just wanted to get the measurements in roughly the correct order, for future reference.

Roo White Pads

I decided I would try these new Roo Pads. They went in fairly easily and not too many required shims.
The horn is back together and plays well although low B and Bb still need to be floated in.

Jalapeño IPA #25

Monday Night Brewing Demonstration.

I had company over last Monday evening to show them how to brew. Or better yet, how I brew. Somewhere in the middle of the process Randy said 'My wife would never let me do that in her kitchen'. Then Walt replied 'My wife would never let me bring that bucket in the house, let alone into her kitchen'. 

The interesting thing about showing people about brewing is that it is all a big controlled accident. And, you can do what ever you want, like add jalapeños.

Saturday When I saw how many pepper varieties the market had it was very difficult to decide if I wanted to stick to the original plan. So on the spot, I decided to stick with the primary plan but veer slightly off course when bottling. The little dried chili peppers will be quartered and bottled. I will probably roast them for sanitary purposes.

Wifey suggested I use parchment paper to roast the jalapeños on, so I did, at 350 deg F for ~25min. I usually set the stove timer as a reminder for hop additions. So the peppers roasted between stops. Because I didn't want to boil away any pepper flavor, I added them to the boil at T minus 5 min. 
 

 I used the wort chiller to get the temperature down to about 90 deg and because it was so late, I pitched in the morning. I needed a new method to get all the yeast in the carboy so I have started to use a piece of white paper rolled into a tight funnel to get the yeast all the way in. Grab the paper out of the center of the ream in order to be sure no one has touched it.

 

We brewed on Monday evening and I taste tested on Friday evening. There seems to be the perfect amount of heat and the pepper taste really quite interesting. Wifey said 'This is what the local microbrewery should be doing'. I agree.

The usual trub rinse is the next step and I don't want to keep the peppers in there any longer so I had to figure out how to fish those babies out. Simple enough, turn the carboy on its side after adding the rinse water and they floated right over to be scooped out.

Early indications: I hit the pepper target I was looking for. Will keep you posted. 

Update: This brew wakes you up and then lights you up. You either love it or hate it. Needless  to say, it is gone. Next round is seeds only. Leave out the pulpy madness.

Jalapeño IPA On Deck

Looking up Jalapeño recipes. Really, all I'm gonna do is add peppers to a Rye IPA. Just have to figure out when to add them and how much.

Via photo-dictionary.com

Update:

After casually surfing the web, here's what I'm gonna do:

10 lb 2-row
1lb Oatmeal for silky smoothness
1/4lb Chocolate Wheat for color
2 lb rye for dryness

1 oz Galena
1 oz Kent
1 oz Sterling

safale us-05

Add 6 Jalapeno, slit in half, at last 5 min of boil. Leave it all in the primary for a week. On bottling day, quarter and roast 6 peppers at 350 def F for 25-30 min. Put a piece of roasted pepper in each of ~24 bombers (24 oz bottles).
 

Vanilla Porter #24

Brew Date: August 10th, 3013

Mashing In Juice Box

Keeping A Close Eye

Rye IPA & Hop Schedule

Today while I was at the brew store I was reminded that today is the Microfestivus. Wifey just showed me how to link! Although Microfestivus is a great time, I decided to stick with brewing, in the A/C. Even had a Dogfish Head 90 IPA earlier. That is where I spent all my tickets on previous occasions, .a whole 'nother story. Still have a couple Rye IPA's left, but they're are going away fast.

Today's Recipe:

11 lbs 2 row
1/2 lb Carafa 1 1000L
1/4 lb Muttons 500L
1/4 lb choc wheat

Cascade @ 7.3%
US Brewers Gold @ 10.5%

Additions at 0, 20, 40, 55 min for 60 min boil

Safale #5 yeast at cool down, later this evening

1 Vanilla bean. After 1 week in the primary, I will split the been, scrap the seeds, cut the been in parts, soak seeds and all in 4 oz vodka. Then add it to primary, tasting for flavor after ~4 days. Then another 2 weeks in secondary.

Rinse

 In a day or so there will be ~1.5 gallons of beer to add to the 3.5 gallons in the secondary fermenter.

Update: Black, Chocolaty, Vanilla, Beer. Preliminary taste test indicates this is a freakin awesome recipe, although, Wifey says she thinks she can taste the vodka. Next time will try w/o vodka. The beer was a little stronger in taste than the finished product because the trub rinse has to be added in a couple of days to make up the final volume.

Brew #23 Rye IPA #14 Take 2

Brew Date: 6/16/13

Want to recreate a dry  and flavorful IPA with and smooth finish so I went back to one of the better received batches, #14. Had to make a Hop substitution. Gelena was sold out so I went with Warrior.

12 lb 2-row
2 lb rye
1/4 lb choc malt
1/4 lb crystal #60

1 oz Warrior hops
1 oz Sterling hops
1 oz Kent golding hops

safale dry yeast

Cooling Down

Need To Be A Few Degrees Cooler

Vader Triple Chocolate

Brew Date: 5/4/13, May The Fourth Be With You.

Batch #22.

It is only fitting that I brewed Death By Triple Chocolate on May 4th.

This is the original recipe # 3, take 2. The only thing I changed was the mash temperature and the vessel mashed in. And I did have a boil over while I was watching confidence interval testing videos on youtube. So my uniformity was doomed from the start. The boil over caused a lot of the hops to end up on the stove top again. Their rightful place is supposed to be in the primary fermenter. It is good to have a glass of water standing by while boiling on wifeys stove. I avoided major catastrophe by quenching the boil over by pouring in the water. This way only a quarter of the foamy cap escaped this time. Last time I lost about three quarters.

12 lb two row
3 lb choc wheat
1 oz galena
2 oz amarillo
safale #5 yeast

Look at the chocolatey goodness.

The foam cap glistens.

Now, I only have to wait. Probably 1 week in the primary, 1 week in the secondary, and 2 to 4 weeks in bottles.

Wood Ceiling On The Porch Update

I am installing 6" wide by 10'-6" long popular boards on the porch ceiling. You might think it is not hard to do but try doing it alone. I have a cleat on each end hold the board up but getting the tongue into the groove is trying. The little cut-off from one of the boards that is use to tap in the T&G has been demolished by hammering on it.

I had to invent a better way and use a bigger hammer. I am also cheating by relieving the groove closet to the ceiling. This way I have a fighting chance of getting it in.

After two boards I am wiped out. Time for one of these:

And, one of these:

This porch project has to be put to bed before I brew again. Better make quick work of it.

Update:

I wish I had thought to use a brace earlier. Somewhere around the fan fixture hole I figured that if the board is supported in the middle, the tongue and groove engage with minimal effort. Had I done this from the start, I would be brewing by now.