Bottling Day: Orval Clone and Budget Conditioning Cabinet

Today, I bottled my Orval clone. I am getting pretty good at this process and it went without incident. I like a little extra carbonation in my beers and so I always prime with a bit more sugar than the style guidelines recommend(yeast turns the sugar into CO2 and carbonates the beer in the bottle, more sugar = more carbonation). I tasted the green beer and it's very similar to Orval except a bit drier and more floral in the nose. I think it should be delicious when aged.

I recently got a bottle tree and sanitizer which made the whole process a lot quicker. Previously, I would line a box or cooler with a clean tower and put the bottles in upside down. The tree setup gets the bottles drier, faster and is convenient to grab bottles off while racking.

Bottle conditioning often takes forever in my cold basement (right now between 53-58F) so I rigged up a budget fermentation cabinet. I filled a picnic cooler with the sealed bottles, filled in the gaps with water and then put an aquarium heater in there. These little heaters are cheap at $10 and some (like this one) come with a little thermostat built in. This should keep the inside of the cooler at 65F and the bottles should carbonate within 2 weeks. I'm not in any rush, though, as this style benefits from some cellar aging and will probably mature in a few months.

Medieval Jesus

Due to massive response from my readership I have recreated the logo for my imaginary death metal band (that's right, I upgraded my imaginary band from regular to death). Now it is appropriately unreadable.

Jesus, Obama!

Is it me or is this just a bit like that art of medieval Jesus? Also, I would like to announce auditions for my new metal band:

Asahi Super Dry

Asahi Super Dry and I go way back. I have always been intrigued by that silver can. Asahi and Sapporo were 2 of the first "exotic" beers I tried. Once, when living in Idaho, I went backpacking and brought along a bunch of tiny Sapporo 2.5oz beer cans. It's nice to have a beer at the end of a long hike even if it is barely bigger than a jigger. By the way, did you know Google can convert liquid volumes for you in jiggers? Next time your frat buddies dare you to drink that collar-popping 42.6 jigger Jägermeister Über-shot you can simply use Google to avoid the embarrassing math which you couldn't do sober anyway.

Anyway, Asahi Super Dry is delicious and refreshing. This is one of the few Japanese beers I appreciate. I have to admit that this MoFo puts the 24oz American Tallboy to shame. We do have the 40, which is pretty cool, but that is just grandstanding. Unlike monster trucks and sharks, bigger is not always better. Nothing this tasty comes in a can this big. Don't underestimate the enormous can. It's as big as your face.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
"There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches." -Bradbury

I read 451 before in high school. I loved it then but I think I understand it better now. I feel much more sympathetic with Montag's confusion and rising hysteria over a vapid and pointless existence.

Censorship is still out there and Bradbury's ideas about dumbing down literature to make it more digestible and less challenging really spoke to me. I think society has set the bar lower in what is found offensive (apathy? cynicism?) but I also think the palate has become bland. Like fast food, all starch, fat and salt, not too spicy and nothing unexpected.



Read the appendix, it is almost better than the book.


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Electronic Beer-Goggles

Apparently, on Amazon when you try to buy a 32 inch TV, 4 beers and flashy graphics will automatically upgrade you to a 40 inch.