Slump Finally Over?

I'm brewing today, which is why I'm not getting a hell of a lot done on the ManCamp book. I'm always going to be a little ahead of Val, because he has a pesky little thing called "a day job." And I'm waiting for my editor to catch up with me on the Nigerian book. I work too damn fast for my own good. I still like the title "Spam of the Damned," but I also think "Nigerian Rhapsody" would be funny. Albeit meaningless.

By the way, this is fricking ridiculous. I just realized I didn't have Robert from the 26th Parallel blogrolled. I can't believe it. Sorry, Robert. Fixed. Anyway, Robert got Val in touch with a newspaper guy who just happens to want to write about men who create their own little "guy spaces" in their homes. How about that? Some coincidence.

I'm brewing my tasty wheat beer. It's mostly wheat, with a little Pilsner and crystal, and I hop it with Centennial. Which I'm not supposed to do. Try and stop me. The yeast is White Labs Hefeweizen something or other. It's mashing right now.

Because I'm brewing, I feel obligated to sample my last brew. I was really worried about it, because I had been having one lame fermentation after another, and this one stopped for a while at 1.020. But thank God, it took off again, and I ended up at a perfect 1.016. And it's clear and beautiful.

It's mostly 2-row malt, with a little Munich and 60L crystal. And I hop it with Nugget and Crystal hops. Don't ask me where I got the idea. Man, does that combination rock.

It's a lager, even though the grain says "ale." I used Geman lager yeast and fermented at about 55. I didn't secondary it; I think that's a waste of time. You end up losing a lot of beer, and you risk exposing the beer to too much oxygen. And many brewers think it tastes about the same either way. If beer gets better than this, it gets better than I need it to be.

I racked it directly into the keg, and I didn't suck a lot of sediment into it the way I would if I were doing a secondary. You pretty much have to suck up crud from the bottom unless you want to leave a half-gallon of beer in the fermenter. A small amount of yeast and hop sediment got in, but it came out in the first couple of glasses I poured. Now there's no sediment to taint the beer, and I ended up with a bigger yield. So screw the secondary.

Here is some other silly news. I got a 100 MHz oscilloscope. Cheap. If I can remember how to use it, it will be a fun addition to the tool collection. If not, I plan to fill it with dirt and plant impatiens. Or maybe I'll have a chia oscilloscope.

I think I can hold off on buying more junk until I twiddle around with the stuff I have and decide whether I really have any interest in this stuff. But I think it's fair to say that a few basic electrical and electronic tools will come in handy sooner or later.

Today I actually needed a grinder, by the way. For an actual task not related to workbenches or fixing other tools. How about that? And I didn't have one, so I had to use a pocket knife.

I can tell that grinder is coming soon.

After I have a few more beers.