I like this time at night on HBT

[Varmintman]

Well I have to say big John is kind of ugly. Ugly in a kind of plastic way :cross:

 

[BobbiLynn]

Dang, we need to get past that last page, Big John is scary. Today my new hand pushed seeder came in the mail and I planted a bunch of basil. That will start attracting beneficial organisms to my garden, while I get ready to plant the rest. Cleaned out the chicken box and rearranged their stuff. Their favorite toy is the sand box, and next favorite is hanging string. I think I'll go ask the chicken people what their chicks favorite toys are, get some ideas on new toys for them. Happy chickens do taste better. Also transferred an IPA for some dry hopping.

 

[brewingmeister]

Big john should be your scarecrow.

 

[Varmintman]

Dang Bobbi I feel like buying you a beer....Say are you wearing those magical pants again :fro:

 

[BobbiLynn]

I am!!!! Checked to see if they still fit me and they do, nicely.

 

[Varmintman]

Well I am starting a mead today. I got tons and tons of honey that has gone black I say. I still use it for bread and it is fine so I figure what the heck it might work for mead.

Going to try a joam but I do not have a cinnamon stick but I do have powdered so I will put a little in...Oh I do not have a orange either but I do have mandarins I will use instead. But hey I got the raisins so I am golden :rockin:

 

[BobbiLynn]

Isn't honey one of the things that is supposed to never go bad, at least not in a lifetime. Seems like hubby told me that and I believed him when he wanted to use black honey, can't remember what he made but it was good and we didn't get sick.

 

[Varmintman]

Well already screwed up. Supposed to use 3 1/2 pounds honey but only used 3 pounds.

I have heard honey never goes bad. I have been using the black stuff for bread and it has been fine so I am not worried

 

[BobbiLynn]

Just found this on about.com:

No, honey does not go bad. In fact, it's recognized as the only food that doesn't spoil.

 

[Varmintman]

Just found this on about.com:

Cool because I am done making the mead. Seriously disappointing though making it. You just put some stuff in a milk jug shake it all up and walk away pretty much.

By the way my wife made me put another half pound of honey in it. I guees it is her mead now

 

[BBL_Brewer]

Big John looks like little John to me Maybe it's supposed to be a mock up of Bucky Larson

Well, I got my Dad's water line mended today. Luckily I found a piece of plywood big enough to almost cover the hole before all the snow hit (actually as the snow hit). We got about 7 or 8 inches here. It was a little mucky in there, but not bad. Finally found some good parts that got the job done. I tried getting some hose barbs from the big chain hardware stores and they were too slim. Like a hotdog in a hallway. I was poppin clamps right and left and couldn't get it to seal. Got a little Mom and Pop store here that usually has hard to find items and they had the good stuff. Expensive, but for me it was priceless. I had to torch the plastic pipe a little to push these on and it was still quite a feat. In fact, once I got the first one on, I had to tamp in the second one with a hammer (elbow fitting). Now I just have to wait for the snow to melt and the dirt pile to dry out a little so I can shovel it back in.

Good news is, it looks like luck is turning back in my direction. Tapped a fresh keg of pale ale when I got home (been on the gas for about a month now) and it is money. Checked the weather and it's going to come up into the 50's in a day or two. Won't be long and I'll be slayin some crappie.

 

[Stauffbier]

My dog Walnut says "Hello"!

 

[BBL_Brewer]

I love dogs. Has anyone seen that comercial where a married couple is compromising on things they both want and it results in a pink monster truck and a cat that barks like a dog? That $hit cracked me up.

 

[opus345]

First, I now have Big John's image burned into my brain and then there is this....

....Big John is scary. Today my new hand pushed seeder came in the mail....

I don't k now about the rest of you, but it took me a minute to get past this new disturbing image happening.

Oh, wait, your talking about a tool to be used out in the garden not, well let's not go there.

 

[Varmintman]

Big John shall haunt my dreams tonight and in a bad way. Bobbi I do not express to often negative things but that thing is just wrong. I fear I do not have enough beer to wipe that out of my head

Well I put the mead above the fridge which happens to be about the warmest spot in the house and I shall forget it for 3 months I guess. I have to say on a nappy scale it is looking pretty nappy. I sure hope it clears up some

 

[opus345]

It will. The fruit and raisins will drop and you will be able to read a newspaper through it. Did you use the bread yeast or a wine yeast. I make two side by side batches. One with the bread yeast and one with D47. The bread yeast batch made a mess out of the airlock for the first day or two. Here is the initial receipes and pics: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f30/show-us-your-mead-photo-294571/index22.html#post4019622

The D47 turned out "hot" and slightly bitter at the three month period and the bread yeast was very drinkable. Both have mellowed and matured since then.

 

[Varmintman]

I used the bread yeast and it is hopping already. Looks god awful right now though since I used really old black honey. When I say old I am thinking 50 plus years :cross:

Going to be interesting I suspect

 

[Leadgolem]

BL, whatever you do, do not name your chickens. It will make it much harder to cut their heads off.

I used the bread yeast and it is hopping already. Looks god awful right now though since I used really old black honey. When I say old I am thinking 50 plus years :cross:

Going to be interesting I suspect

I would bet that if you give it six months or so, and you normally enjoy mead, that it will knock your sox off. I've found that the older the honey is, the more intense the honey flavor. Even after fermentation.

Dry sugar also does not go bad, unless it gets wet.

I worked for eleven hours and fourty-nine minutes today. My work will kick you out right as you get to twelve hours. So, I won't be posting much tonight. I will probably be working the same kind of schedule for the next week or so, plus an extra four to six hours on my days off.

 

[bottlebomber]

Bummer LG, that's a tough shift D: what sort of work do you do?

 

[Leadgolem]

Bummer LG, that's a tough shift D: what sort of work do you do?

Paperwork for Dish. I came into work this morning to find 1755 requests for documents that were supposed to be completed 9 days ago. Cute huh? Well, it's extra money for me.

 

[Leadgolem]

Honestly, I'm not really that upset. I'm just annoyed that the guy who is supposed to be helping me get this stuff done got stuck doing other things. He can only run this stuff maybe two days a week. I just came into work today and said screw it. If they won't get me any help, I'll dig us out of this hole by myself then. /rant

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao-Sahfy7Hg"]Head Like A Hole[/ame]

Goodnight everybody. Sleep well.

 

[bottlebomber]

Night bro

 

[emjay]

My dog Walnut says "Hello"!

Looks a bit like my papillon

Dry sugar also does not go bad, unless it gets wet.

This is true, but dry sugar doesn't really exist in nature. There are actually a lot of foods that won't spoil, but nearly all of them are because we made them like that; honey is the only one that's all-natural, unrefined, and unprocessed. And that's because, if you want to get really technical, honey IS a refined and processed foodstuff - it's just that it happens to be done by bees instead of humans.

 

[opus345]

Go bees!

 

[Stauffbier]

Looks a bit like my papillon.

She is indeed a papillon, and a handful!

 

[BobbiLynn]

Trying to work out an order. Extract kits are on sale and if I just buy those my total will be 91.96. Now if I buy the stuff to make the exact same beer, same amount, but all grain, my total comes to 86.92. Only a little cheaper, more work, but this option leaves me with over twice as much spent grain to dry out as chicken feed. Extract kits are tempting, but will probably go with the all grain. Decisions, decisions.

 

[Varmintman]

I guess I live in a great place in the world because all grain is way cheaper for me than extract. I took a friend in to the LHBS and he bought 2 batches of extract and paid over 50 bucks for them and they were small batches I mean like for a MR Beer thing.

 

[BobbiLynn]

The exact kits are on sale almost half off, that's why it's so tempting to just buy them and also why the prices are so close. These kits are a partial mash and plenty of hops.

 

[Varmintman]

After doing a extract kit finally I would cough up the little bit more to shave tons of time on brew day. Of course I drink during brew day so perhaps that would get in the way of my drinking or I would have to step up the drinking a notch

As far as the grains go a little bit goes a long ways with chickens I have found. Been to cold here to dry them out so I just freeze it and give it to a buddy whenever he wants and I am light years ahead of his chickens.

Sigh the wife just informed me that I have the honor of cleaning the garage today

 

[BBL_Brewer]

It's easy to find grain on sale or group buys in the fall. As much as you've been brewing bobbi, I would start thinking about stocking up for the whole year come this fall. You're going to buy it sooner or later, so why not all at once while it's cheap? And it sounds like you can partly justify that cost by supplementing your chicken feed. These last couple of years I've spent about $300-$350 (per year) for everything I need to keep me in beer.