TheHungryRunner

Hats off to the Columbus Running Company for a very well organized 5K this past Thursday.  Good course, good competition, good weather…  Even our dog Moose enjoyed the race.  Unfortunately he kept us from enjoying Brazenhead after the race, but he’s worth it.

Check out the pictures!

http://www.columbusrunning.com/images/irishfest/2010/album/

Finally ordered some new shoes.  I found a great deal on eastbay and then used a promo code (URLEB8N4) for 10% off the order.  To top it off I paid using PayPal with money from selling old motorcycle parts.  Any time I try anything besides the Response Cushion I regret it so I stuck with the tried and true.

Of course it isn’t good news that Bell’s Brewery had to recall some of their Two Hearted Ale, but at least it makes me feel a little better about my sour tasting summer ale.  At least I can just keep telling people that the taste came from the apricots peels.

Two Hearted Ale Withdrawal – Batches 9663 & 9674

I first made a simple IPA from a kit.  Then I made an imperial stout, but still from malt extract.  Next I wanted to make a beer with all grain.  My goal was to successfully brew a summer ale with only grain, hops, and yeast.  I also ended up putting some apricots in the secondary fermentor.  It has been in the bottle for about 2 weeks, so I tasted one yesterday.  It seems like I was only moderately successful.  I did everything right except that I must not have paid enough attention while sanitizing things.  The beer has a little tart taste to it.  Maybe it is from the apricots, which I left with the peels on.  Regardless it isn’t bad beer, and I learned something for next time.

Here are the grains before starting.

Next is my homemade mash tun.

Finally here is the boiling wort.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cups milk
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tbsp butter, softened
• 2 tbsp applesauce
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 4~5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg

Directions:

1. Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat and let cool.
2. Add brown sugar to water and stir to dissolve.  Add yeast to warm water mixture, stir gently, and set aside until yeast is frothy. Mix in eggs, sugar, butter, applesauce, salt, and raisins. Stir in cooled milk. Add the flour gradually to make a stiff dough.
3. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for a few minutes. Place in a large, greased, mixing bowl, and turn to grease the surface of the dough. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled.
4. Roll out on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle 1/2 inch thick. Moisten dough with milk. Mix together white sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg and sprinkle mixture on top of the moistened dough. Roll up tightly and tuck under ends. Place loaf into well greased 9 x 5 inch pan. Let rise again for 1 hour.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes, or until loaf is lightly browned and sounds hollow when knocked. Let cool before slicing.

Come to the dark side, we have beer.

It’s been about a month since bottling the imperial stout I made.  I finally opened one up to try and it turned out pretty good.  I like how strong it turned out, and I can taste a little but of oak from the chips I put into the secondary fermentor.  I used air-lock caps this time, so it should keep for a very long time.  I am going to attempt to leave it to age in the basement until this fall and winter, when the weather cools off and a stout is more appropriate.