The Ninja

"Yea, I'll take a pint of "The Ninja"" the brewery patron states.  That would of course be the 'short' name for "The Ninja Ginja", a powerful Honey Ginger Wheat (final ABV to be around 10%, but I'll update when it's finished).  Obviously this has to make it through my tight tasting standards (for my own beers that is) and if it clears that, then I'll release it to my friends/family for their take.  I mentioned the "Iron Brewer" competition I'm entering, and I went ahead and decided on a ginger beer.  Luckily I heard at this month's meeting that a bunch of people are using beets (which I luckily decided against).  Anyway, it's been almost 3 weeks and that bad boy is STILL in primary, but will be transferred tonight since the fermentation has slowed way down.  When things get finalized I'll post an update...

Dirt, Rubber, and La Folie

Damn, what a great night!  It started off with a trip to the chiropractor to get my hips/back squared away (it had been a year so I think it was time), then ultimately ended with a trip out to Heil Ranch for a dirt sesh.  With the 2nd cancellation of the CU Short Track races I had to get out on the bike; and Heil was just the spot.  I took off wondering what state the trails would be in with all the rain we've lately had only to find that the majority of them were in great shape.  The top loop, Ponderosa, was a bit soupy at the start, but cleared well.  I had never been on this particular loop, but a buddy told me that I needed to check it out for some kick-ass flow.  The ride was great, although I was a bit tired and the legs were a little sluggish for a while.  I recovered and hit an overlook that was needing to be taken in; the view was of Hwy. 7 and the front side of Hall Ranch.  It was a damn nice view if you ask me; thoughts?

So after bombing back to the buggy and changing out of the muddy clothes, the journey home commenced.  As most of you mountain bikers could agree, what's better than a nice cold beer after a good ride?  My taste buds were telling me sour (surprise eh?), so a stop at the local beer cooler was in store.  I was surprised (happily) when I stopped at the bomber section to find the latest release in New Belgium's Lips of Faith series, which just so happens to be La Folie!  That's right, their Sour Brown Ale, which pours more like a sour 'reddish brown', but I'm not here to complain.  Man, I was even happier at this point in time since the beer I was hoping to find was actually there!  At any rate, I got home, unloaded the bike and associated gear and threw the bomber in the fridge (I needed to 'de-funk' myself).  I'm not reviewing it this time, but I'm just telling you to go out and buy one, if you can find it.  I'm pretty sure I'll be picking up another one and maybe I'll review it.  That is, if I can keep it in the glass long enough!

Brews and Tap Handles

I've been busy to say the least.  The batch of rye I made a bit ago is now on tap at the bike shop which is cool; I need to swing by for a taste since I didn't get a chance to sample it with carbonation since I don't have pin-lock fittings for my CO2 tank.  I haven't heard any complaints yet, but we'll see; I'm going to drop in to check on it today.  Anyway, last weekend (4/30) I made a Bass Ale clone but I changed the specialty grain count to give it a bit more color and fuller flavor.  So that is in primary and will be getting transferred either tomorrow or Wednesday.  This past Saturday, a good friend of mine wanted to brew and since we typically brew together, I went over to his place and got the kettle hot.  I decided that I wanted to enter in a friendly competition our local homebrew club is putting on; The Iron Brewer Competition!  The ingredient du jour has to be a root vegetable.  I initially thought of using beets, but realized I didn't really like beets, so why would I ruin a beer with one?  I DO like ginger beer, like Left Hand Brewing Company's Juju Ginger; actually I guess it's got a new name now, "Good Juju".  The only thought I have though is that there will probably be plenty of ginger beers submitted, but we shall see.  So the brew day was just off for some reason.  I lit the burner, filled the kettle, put the lid on and walked away.  I don't know why, but I just wasn't paying any attention, so I find my kettle boiling which is NOT what I was wanting.  The wait began.  For whatever reason, I didn't throw any ice in to bring it back down to mashing/steeping temperatures; there went any sort of hope for a timely brew session.  Once the temps were back down, I got started.  Things went smoothly from here until it was time to transfer to the fermenter.  I had installed a stainless ball-valve last week and am using a stainless screen filter wand to keep the hops schmutz from making its way to the fermenter.  Well, this would've been great had it not gotten plugged up so quickly.  I ended up taking everything home (warm wort still in the kettle) to finish it off since I had left my filter-funnel there to begin with.  Upon making the transfer and filling the carboy with water, I took a hydrometer reading.  To my surprise, it was reading somewhere in the 20% sugar range; basically ridiculously high.  After taking a look at the wort, I realized that it was actually separated; mostly the sweet wort on top and water below.  So, I mixed it up, and took another reading; this time, it was more reasonable but still around the 12% range.  I pitched the yeast and threw in my new 'home-industrial' airlock (think plastic hose connected to an airlock with the other end in a bucket of water).  Down to the utility room, I mean, 'fermentation room' it went, and yesterday it was bubbling like mad!  This has the potential to be in the 9% ABV range by the way.  I'll update with actual hydrometer readings when I get home.

So my second lil beer project this weekend involved making a new tap handle for my kegerator.  I had a perfectly good Look "egg-beater" type pedal sitting in my bike toolbox and since its pair had met an untimely demise, I figured that the good one could be used for something.  After a night of hanging at my friends' place, we got up in the morning and went out to his machine shop to start in on this little project.  We bored a hole down the center of the spindle and proceeded to try to get threads cut in, only, it wasn't that easy.  FINALLY, we got the damn tap started and threads were being cut.  I was left with the task of continuing to cut the threads, so twisting the tap I went.  After a few good turns and backing it out, I go in one more time.  This time, I torqued it just a hair too much when SNAP!  I broke the damn tap off INSIDE the pedal!  We hammered on it as much as possible to try to knock out any other pieces possible since unscrewing it wasn't going to happen.  As it turns out, we were actually able to get enough of it out so that it would still thread on to the tap!  So, I now have an "Egg-Beater" tap handle!