So yeah, BioShock runs great at 1280x1024 with details on high. There
might not be antialiasing but I honestly can't tell. I am pleased, and
now even more eager to play. Also, WoW installed on laptop; now to rip some of my more ah, light movies for the flight home.
Brewing Log 1 - Brewing Log 2
First, I realized I had no container to use as the intermediary between
fermentation and bottle. This is important because if you bottle
straight from the fermenting bucket you have a chance of getting the
sediment mixed in. If you siphon it to an intermediary first you can
cut out the sediment entirely. Well, I ended up using the giant kettle
from way back in step 1 - worked just fine. I siphoned using physics mastery granted by grinding rep with Eric, the resident (at work) brewmaster, Eugene faction.
First, of course, I spent an hour or so sanitizing all 50 bottles and
the piping. This was done in the kettle, about 12 bottles at a time, 10
minutes each set. Not bad, but I see that using bottles 2x as big will
speed up this step as well.
It turned out to be easy, although you waste a squirt of beer each time
... still, worked fine. All you do is pour water into the piping, hold
it there by plugging one end, connect it to the racking tube sticking
out of the bucket, and let it flow. The weight of the water flowing
down will pull the beer into the tube, over the lip of the bucket and
down into your chosen intermediate container. Brilliant! Unfortunately,
it does require a high place to set the first bucket on, and the porch
isn't really the best place. I think we need a house (with a garage
where I can put a worktable and some planks to raise it higher).
Once the whole thing siphoned - well, almost all of it since I wasn't
sure how deep to put the racking tube in to avoid the sediment - I set
aside the bucket with the totally nasty-looking dead yeast on the
bottom and put the kettle up on the porch railing for the second
siphoning stage - this time into bottles. We lost 6-8 bottles due to
stopping the siphon early, which was more than I wanted but oh well -
next time I'll mark the racking tube so I know how deep it goes into
the bucket; also, I now know roughly how deep the sediment layer is so
I can get more out.
The final step was pretty easy thanks to the bottle filler. All you do
is attach it to the end of the siphon tube and stick it in a bottle.
The valve on the bottom is pushed by the bottom of the bottle, which
starts the flow. When the bottle is full you simply lift the filler,
the valve drops and cuts off the flow. Most clever, I approve. We did
it in batches of 12, and then capped them and put them back into the
box I received them in (as part of the brewing kit). Finally the boxes
went into the bathroom, under the sink - what can I say, we're really
short on space in this house.
And the next half hour was spent cleaning the bucket, on which old foam
had about a week to harden. The less said about that, the better.
Conclusions
Well, the fermentation is supposed to take up to 14 days - but I
suspect in my case it was done by day 4 or 5, if not earlier. Everyone
mentions checking for bubbles in the airlock, but I don't believe I
ever saw any in there. I understand the reason for using a glass carboy
now - it's a lot more reassuring if you can actually see what is going
on in there. Finally, I'm not sure what the stuff is supposed to be
like prior to bottling, but it smelled to me as if it was still too
sweet and thick. Does so much really happen in the bottles now to turn
the stuff into drinkable beer? Hmm ... I guess we'll find out in a
couple of weeks!