Home Brewing a Lager

So I got a lager beer kit and boiled up my grain, syrup and dry malt extract the other night and added my 60 minute and 30 minute hops as dictated by recipe.  The whole process went well and when I cooled it all down and added my primed yeast I poured it from brew pot to fermenter to mix in some oxygen.  All together it was a pretty smooth process and having been NASA concerned with contaminating the brew I am reasonably confident the brew is free from bacteria and the lager yeast will reign supreme in fermenter town.  Its been about 24 hours now and I noticed at the 8 hr mark the gasses were venting through the sterile breather (filled with Vodka) and its moving a bit faster at this point.

My fermenter is sharing the tub as I can leave the window open and with the cooler temps needed I should be able to keep it a t 55-65 degrees for the next 51 days, 21 in the primary fermenter and 30 in the secondary.  Either way its a work in process and I'll post pics soon, cheers.- J M

Quick thought here if your doing the same, Food Grade plastic with sealing gasket lid! air tight!

so here is a batch of ale i did recently and will be botling soon.  The first two pics are oin the stove and the the third is the batch cooling in the sink.  The lager is still going. 

Here is a picture of the cleaned Sam Adams bottles im going to use.



Hurricane Irene (a Mcnormal approach)

Here in NYC (our temporary outpost) we were watching the approaching cane with bated breath.  I am critical of the city life in general but especially in times of disaster, turmoil and/or any othe natural or man made undesirable situation. As such a person I've attempted to put some "preps" in place in order to stack the deck in our favor.  Most of these preps were already set up and not to many would be available last minute.  I am pleased that none were needed and things slowed down by the time Irene reached us. Must have been the tolls on the Garden State!! Ha!  Anyways here are some pictures and some explanations.  Also the rules about practise and remaining flexible applies heavily to everything you wish to accomplish. 

Heres 1/2 my plywood bed frame perfectly covering the window (from the inside).

Here is the other 1/2 of my bedframe IMperfectly covering the window horizontally.  Johnny did not measure the window and did not see the overhang that is not present on the other window.  Not a huge problem but again practise would have alleviated this concern.  Although honestly I liked having a little window exposed to see out, and the drape over the plywood made the room that much more charming.  My shelf is a bit cluttered in this pic but my crank radio, cordless drill and screws, candles,medical supplies, bug out bag, window covering plastic-duct tape-crack sealer, and various are within reach.

This pic is the city prepper in me pixelized.  The tubs are powdered milk,lentils,beans,rice,oats,honey,soup mix, etc from Emergency Essentials.  Good company by me and saved me the time of bagging and acquiring provisions to bag on my own.   When i get out of NYC=Dodge I will be expanding this exponentially and most importantly making the overall drive into rotating storage and storing delicious food, not just staples.  Note the water in the bottles, this is about a third of the apartments water storage.   

So bottom line we all slept in the master bedroom and everyone slept through the storm.  I understand that 11 Americans lost there lives to the storm and my condolences go out to their families. 

I am planning to post some more stuff soom on city prepping and am always interested to see what everyone else is up to.  Got to go be McNormal at the moment and act shocked like my neighbors that the Nat'l Guard did not show up to make our beds and breakfast this morning.  JM out. Be well, be safe!

Our agreement (without the annoying pop up)

1.   Foremost and randomly first, I am not an expert at anything.  Where expertise has appeared to  drive my success I have yet again stolen my unfair share of good fortune, and slapped Lady Luck's backside as though it was all part of the plan.  She's totally cool with this and returns the favor at choice moments in my journey.

2.  Your opinions are very important and a constant reminder that open honest communication can bring about miraculous results.  As wonderful as those opinions are I can tell what is thought out and what is mashed together by a rampant commenter who barely skimmed the post.

3.  Two things I know you can't fake are medicine and explosives, alot of other things are really not cool to fake but despite my lacking knowledge in some things a healthy dose of enthusiasm can really bridge some gaps.

4. Run on sentences are acceptable.

5.  My wife is making me do this, and knows its here, I love you crazy devotee, who constantly stares and plots things, hahahaha.   She's such a good first wife but she knows my next wife will be Amish.   Her next husband will be rich.

6.  Lastly rub some dirt on it and get back in the game, focus people, we ain't got forever so try to make it count.   And 5 million USD buys the blog, a badass motorcycle, your name tattooed on my arm and we can get matching sleeves my treat.  Sit back enjoy and thanks for reading, commenting and whatever I will always treat you just a little better than you treat me, enjoy-

Johnny McNormal
555 Nothing Weird Going On Street
Regularsville, normal state 55555