Monthly Archives: September 2011

Around the block

knitting, , ,

I’ve just finished a cute mini-wrap using the Citron pattern (LGT Ravelry). I used some of the lovely mocha-colored yarn that my grandmother gave me (spun from a blend of her alpacas’ wool, although sadly not by me – more on the spinning front in another post…).

The knitting on this one went really fast – I finished it in two otherwise pretty crazy weeks – and only involved a small amount of cursing (mostly limited to the time I accidentally pulled a ton of stitches off the needles). The pattern itself is pretty AND pretty straightforward, but does require blocking the project at the end. I’ve never blocked anything and was little daunted by the idea, but it had to be done.

But… how to do it? A quick search on Google reminded me (with apologies to Tolkien): Go not to the webs for council, for they will say both no and yes. Some people say hot water, some people say cold water. Some people say dunking, other people say spraying. Some people say special equipment, some people say a towel and straight pins.  In the end, I based my plan of action on this really helpful page at Yarn Harlot. I will add to the chorus of comments at the bottom of that page that the yarn-through-the-top thing is genius. Pure blocking genius.

Here are the before, middle, and after shots:

Surprisingly Like Mead

Mead, ,

We pulled the mead to second fermentation yesterday.  Since we only have one 1-gallon growler, we siphoned it to a 6-quart pot, washed the growler, and siphoned it back.  It all went pretty smoothly.

We actually remembered to check the gravity when we brewed and when we moved to second fermentation.  It started at 1.064, and was down to 1.010 (with a bunch of yeast messing up the sample) and 1.004 (with a clean sample).  By my math, that’s in the 7.5% – 8% ABV range.  Of course we sipped at the sample after checking the gravity, and it was surprisingly mead-like.  Definitely unfinished, just like beer coming out of the first week of fermentation.  But definitely promising.

Another ruffley success

knitting, ,

I’ve just finished another ruffle scarf, and I (obviously) love this pattern. The thing that I can’t get over is the transformation that happens between when it is on the needles and when it finally comes off. It basically looks like a lumpy snake to start with:

But, then the ruffles emerge stitch by stitch as you bind off, until you get this:

(Ugh – the colors are all over the place with these pictures – the first picture is the best match to the actual color!)

This particular pattern uses Yarn Overs to expand three times, going from 256 cast on stitches to 1024 bind off stitches in just a few rows. This also creates some very pretty, lace-like holes in the final scarf:

Despite carefully following the pattern’s guidelines about yardage and weight, I still had to run out to my LYS to get another skein of yarn half-way through the row just before binding off. Ugh. So I added a row with the sudden bounty of yarn at my disposal, which actually gives the outer edge a little more weight – a nice touch, I think. So, it was a blessing in disguise in the end, but still annoying that I simply can’t get the yardage right in my projects right now (more on the cursed market bag another time – let’s just say I was a little sheepish as I admitted I had not one but TWO skeins I needed to match dye lots on).

Belgian “Research” Project: First Round

Beer,

Between my local beer shop and a few other sources, I’ve managed to find several of the beers on my list.  Here are my impressions of the first batch:

Affligem Dubbel

I picked this up at the beer shop when I went without my list.  It’s wasn’t on a lot of top beer lists, but it does have a good rating on BeerAdvocate.  This beer is a lot like an English brown ale, with earthy overtones and a nice mild sweetness. It started out a little bland and underwhelming, but quickly grew on me. It’s sweet, but not cloying, with some fruitiness.  Solid.

Westmalle Dubbel

Giant sticky malt with lots of fruit, sugar, biscuit, etc. — much sweeter than the other abbey ales I’ve sampled.  A nutty body and a little darkness in the finish.  Didn’t like this as much as the Affligem.

La Trappe Quadrupel

This is the only Trappist brewery in the Netherlands.  Definitely one of the better heavy abbey beers I’ve had. Not too sickly or overwhelming. Definite subtleties with spiciness and nuttiness.

Rochefort 6/8/10

We picked up one bottle each of the 6, 8 and 10, and tasted them back-to-back. In a word, disappointing.  The 6 was very mild, with a lot of carbonation, and some mild earthy flavor, a little sweetness, but not much else.  The 8 and 10 definitely had a bigger alcohol kick, and a little more malt, but were pretty similar.  These are all very highly rated online, but we didn’t find much to justify that.

St. Bernardus Abt 12

Sweet and highly carbonated, with some caramel, toffee and light mineral notes. Very smooth and complex, with the typical fruitiness and spiciness.  Better than Affligem.  Made in a small town not far from Westvleteren, so maybe a day trip is in order.

DeuS (Brut des Flandres)

Sweet and very effervescent.  Lots of champagne flavor, but not dry like brut champagne (despite the name), more like a demi-sec.  Everything about this beer made me ready to love it.  It was definitely packaged and promoted as a special, one-of-a-kind experience.  But it managed to be just OK.  It was good, but not fantastic.  Not enough to justify the hefty price tag.

Westvleteren 12

Quite hard to get (the monks only make enough to support themselves and only sell it in limited quantities at the abbey), so I was hoping it wouldn’t live up to the hype. Alas, it was fantastic.  Lives up to the “best beer in the world” moniker quite well.

The Platonic ideal every other abbey ale I’ve had has been clustered around. Rich and earthy malt with fruity and spicy notes, plus some creamy chocolate and biscuit too. A little dry bitterness in the finish. Packs a decent kick at 10% ABV.  Exceptionally smooth and textured.

Belgian “Research” Project

Beer,

We’re going to be living in the Netherlands for a few months next year, so we’re planning on taking advantage of being next-door to Belgium to sample some hard-to-find brews and maybe visit an abbey or two.  Belgian beer is a domain roughly as complex as French wine (see e.g., A Beginner’s Guide to Belgian Beer).  So I thought I’d do some “research” before we went.

Background

I have had a couple of Belgian beers before:

  • Tripel Karmeliet and Maredsous 6/Blonde: I had both of these in Oakland on a business trip, and was really impressed by the complexity and maltiness.
  • Chimay Tripel: I picked up a bottle of this shortly thereafter (when I couldn’t find Tripel Karmeliet or Maredsous locally).  This has a lot in common with those, if maybe a little spicier.
  • Saison Dupont: I tried this after my not-so-gentle introduction to Saison, when I saw recommendations online to start with a milder variety like Saison Dupont.  This struck me as almost Champagne-like, with a ton of aroma and flavor I didn’t associate with beer at all.

Continue reading Belgian “Research” Project →

Now we get to wait

Mead, ,

Everyone appears to have their own personal mead recipe, with different — sometimes diametrically opposed — and strongly-held views about things like which yeast to use, when to pitch it (and how many times), and how much white stuff to skim off the top of the honey-wort.

We whipped up a gallon of our own mead and put it in for primary fermentation:

We kept it simple: we boiled a gallon of water and then took it off the heat, added 2 pounds of honey, and then pitched 5g of Lalvin D47 yeast (a wine yeast) and a bit of mystery yeast food that our LBBS supplied once the temperature dropped to 85F or so. (We have a fancy-schmancy coiled copper wort chiller, but realized at the last moment that it can’t attach to our new, fancy-schmancy kitchen faucet. Oops. Luckily, with only a gallon to chill, an ice bath in the sink is a perfect (and honestly better) alternative.

Now – we wait for some tiny bubbles to burble up from the airlock. In a couple weeks, we’ll transfer over for secondary fermentation for a few months. With luck we’ll have some lovely mead in time for winter. (Or December, whichever comes first here in North Central Florida.)

 

Have honey, will brew

Beer,

During our summer trip to upstate New York, my uncle gave Redbeard and I enough honey from his bees to make mead with. We’ve been toying with the idea of making mead for a couple years now, but have never before been able to get enough honey in one place at one time. So, in anticipation of an extra day off this weekend, we swung by our Local Beer-Brewing Store (LBBS?) and picked up some 12-14% wine yeast.

(Small jar on the left is some blueberry preserves I made earlier in the summer – not quite up to tackling blueberry wine, though it is popular among local vineyards here.)

I’m hoping this will take our mind off of our mash tun woes…