For whatever reason, we can't all get up early enough in the morning to get in on TexDem's Mojo Friday diaries. By the time we show up, there's a thousand comments and our browsers go into apoplectic fits trying to cope.
If this describes your Mojo Friday experience, welcome to the Mojo Friday -- Time Shifters Edition diary!
This is like the other Mojo Friday diary, just time-shifted alternative for people who can't, for whatever reason, get in early on the regular Mojo Friday diary. The rules are mostly the same, with some small tweaks (see below). Basically, be nice and do like Wil Wheaton says: "Don't be a dick."
Flip on over for this week's theme, It's Happy Hour!
Yes, this is my first diary EVER and what a great place to lose your diary writing virginity! I am a lurker, occasionally posting comments and recommending lots of the great diaries that I see on the site. Since I am not the most politically savvy person, I decided to write a bit about a subject that I am very familiar with... BEER!
I am currently an unemployed chemical engineer down here in the beautiful desert Southwest. To fill the time between sending resumes I have taken up the hobby of brewing beer. It was a good way to marry my engineering background with my love of cooking to make some awesome taste treats for friends and family. I will give a brief tutorial for brewing your own beer at home. If this is not your cup of tea, just scroll down past the pics!
Brewing beer is not as tough as it seems. There are a couple of basic rules to follow to make a great beer at home. First, sanitation is the key! If it is going to touch your beer after the beer has been boiled, it needs to be sanitized! I usually use a couple of the great no-rinse sanitizers on the market (Star-San and Iodophor are my two favorites) to make sure my equipment is good for fermenting. The second rule? Relax, don't worry, have a homebrew... (Thank you, Charlie Papazian, author of The Complete Joy of Homebrewing)
Now how does a person get started with homebrewing? There are different methods for brewing beer. The easiest is extract brewing, then there is extract with steeping grains, partial mash and all grain brewing. We will start with extract brewing.
First, you will need some supplies. A brewing pot (my first one held about 20 quarts), a long plastic or metal spoon, a fermentation vessel (this can be as simple as a food grade bucket with a lid or a glass or plastic carboy), a funnel (if you are using a carboy), 60 empty beer bottles (I get mine at the local recycle center. Just soak in water and oxyclean overnight, clean out with bottle brush and rinse), an airlock with stopper, bottle caps, a bottle capper, a thermometer, a siphon hose, a hydrometer and some sanitizer.
First, we need to make our wort. You can use a recipe for this step or get a pre-packaged beer kit. I will use a simple recipe here for a nice hoppy pale ale:
1 3.3lb can of light liquid malt extract
3 lbs light dry malt extract
2 oz of US Saaz hops
1 pkg dry ale yeast (Safale or Nottingham are good choices)
5 oz corn sugar for priming (when you bottle your beer)
Before you start cooking, you will need to sanitize your fermentation bucket (or carboy), your funnel and your airlock. I usually soak everything in some no-rinse sanitizer in my bathtub. I like to soak for at least 15 mins but it doesn't hurt to go longer. No rinse sanitizers like Star-San are safe for septic systems and if some gets into your beer, it is not a problem!
In your pot, heat 2 gallons of water to a boil. Once the water has come to a boil, remove the pot from heat and stir in the can of liquid malt extract and the dry malt extract. Be sure to stir well so the malt extract is mixed well. Do not stir in the extract when the pot is on the burner or you could burn the extract to the bottom of the pot. Put the pot back on the burner and heat to a boil. Once the pot is boiling again, add 1 oz of the hops and boil this for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, add 1/2 oz of hops and boil for another 10 minutes. Then, add your last 1/2 oz of hops and boil for another 5 minutes. Remove your pot from heat. Put your pot into a sinkful of ice water for about 20 - 30 minutes to cool your wort (which is the term for beer before we add the yeast).
Add 3 gallons of cold water to your bucket or carboy. Pour your cooled wort into your bucket or carboy. Try to splash your cooled wort while pouring it into the bucket to oxygenate the wort. Open your packet of dry yeast and sprinkle it into the wort. Cover your bucket with a cover or insert airlock and stopper into the top of your carboy. Try to find a cool spot in the house to put the bucket or carboy, like a closet.
Now comes the hard part. LEAVE IT ALONE FOR 3 WEEKS! Yes, I know the beer kits will tell you it is OK to bottle it after a week. That is a bad idea. 3 weeks is a good timeframe to allow the fermentation to happen then allow the yeast to clean up after themselves. Waiting for 3 weeks will give you a MUCH better tasting beer in the end and eliminate most of the off-flavors you may get if you only leave it in the fermenter for a week.
After 3 weeks have passed, it is time to bottle your beer! You will need to sanitize your bottles, sanitize your siphon hose, sanitize your bottling bucket and sanitize your caps. Just stick them in a bathtub with sanitizing solution for about 15 minutes.
In your microwave put 5 oz of corn sugar in a 2 cup measuring cup and add water until you have 2 cups of sugar liquid. Heat the sugar water on high for 2 minutes. Put the sugar water solution into your bottling bucket.
Siphon your beer into your bottling bucket with the sugar water mixture. Be sure to keep the yeast and hop mixture at the bottom of the fermentation bucket when siphoning. If a little gets into the bucket it is not a big deal but your beer won't be as clear. After you have transferred all of the beer into the bucket, you are ready to bottle.
Fill your bottles to the point where there is about an inch to 2 inches of headspace left in each bottle. Place a sanitized cap on each bottle and cap the bottle. You will get anywhere from 40 - 55 bottles of beer from each batch, depending on how much is left after siphoning, boil off and a few other factors.
Put the bottles into the closet for another 3 weeks to allow bottles to carbonate. After 3 weeks, put a bottle in the fridge to chill, open the bottle and enjoy!
This hobby can be as complex as you would like to go. Some folks stay with making beer from extract the entire time they brew! It makes for some good beer and saves money over buying beer at the store. Some folks go for steeping grains to give some more complex flavor to their beer. Some folks do a partial mash with extract and some folks (like me) brew with only grains and hops. It is lots of fun and drinking your own creation is the best!
If you decide to start brewing, I would highly recommend getting a book to help you out. A couple of good books for beginning brews are:
The Complete Joy of Home Brewing by Charlie Papazian
How to Brew by John Palmer
One of my favorite home brew boards is here. They are great for answering all sorts of questions from the most beginning question to how to make your own equipment and has some great beer recipes.
Here is my current IPA that should be ready to bottle next week:
Here are the current bottles that are aging. They will all be ready to drink this Tuesday:
Enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend. Be safe! If you are going to drink, have a designated sober driver, grab a taxi or enjoy a beer at home! If you are having a BBQ this weekend, have some crash space in the living room for folks who have enjoyed a bit too much!
Just a quick update, I GOT THE JOB! Thank you everyone for all of the positive MOJO last week. I just got the offer letter today and I am going to accept the position. It is a dream job, with a green company in the solar industry! I can't tell you all how excited I am to not only be employed again but to be in a green industry!
I can also take the Time Shifters Edition next week since I don't start work until the 1st of June...
Mojo Friday Time Shifter Guidelines
Wherever you live, east, west, or in between, please pick just one Mojo Diary to play in. Mojo is nice, and all, but let's be reasonable. Besides, double-dipping will be obvious to anyone paying attention the post-game shows in the respective Mojo Diaries.
If you comment you have to recommend all comments. (in order to receive mojo you have to give mojo. It's only good mojo manners.) Except, as noted above, for the Nominations comment thread. See above
Everything you say may be taken as a joke (so if you ask a question, expect a silly answer)
You must recommend the diary (and pimp it unapologetically)
You don't have to comment to recommend.
You can't steal TexDem's idea (I already did, and one larceny is enough, but if you win the election you can steal it next week)
Please, no pictures or YouTubes until after 300 comments. Now, after 300, use a little common courtesy and be responsible in the number.
Mojo mojo mojo mojo, mojo mojo mojo...
Do these few things and you too can become a Trusted User, with all the rights, privileges, and free airline upgrades attendant thereto.
Mojo Friday Goals
A. At least 300 different commenters and 1000 comments by 1:30 PM PST and 1500 by 5:00 PM PST Friday Night that it's posted.
B. 100 recommends for each comment, at least.
C. Stay on Recommend List at least five hours (this requires some strategic planning by you guys, refer to guideline #3)
D. At least 200 diary recommends. 300 would be better, spread the word.
E. And always, fun fun fun.
F. Have at least 75% average participation rate as seen <somewhere> in the Mojo Friday West Coast Edition Postgame Show by <whoever volunteers first>. Hey, I can't do everything for you...
G. Have at least 30 kossacks over 90% participation.
H. Overload the servers with recommends, not to mention dominate Top Comments Mojo list. (we do tend to mess with the site with all of our recommends at one time)(also, to dominate the Top Comments Top Mojo we need at least 50 comments with over 200 recommends, see guideline B)
I. That's enough for now. (Have a suggestion? Post it.)
See also, MKinTN's diary on achieving greater success called How to Succeed at Mojo Friday Without Really Trying, and of course, the Official Mojo Friday Snecktionary.