February, 2006

I took a quick look at the Fairfax County Water Authority’s Inorganic and Metal Water Reports today and it looks like according to John Palmer’s How to Brew site that we are grossly lacking in Calcium, Magnesium, and Sulfates needed for all grain brewing. At least when I get to that point it should be easier to add these to water than to to take them out if the numbers were excessive.

I am also not quite sure which water supply is serving me in Fairfax Circle. I am officially on the City of Falls Church’s water system, but for areas outside of the beltway (aka my house) they buy the water wholesale from Fairfax County. The FCWA site says that Southern Fairfax is mostly served by Lorton and Occoquan supplies, while Northern Fairfax is served by the Corbalis plant. Fairfax circle is almost dead center of the county so no idea where that puts me. Luckily all of the sources seem to be about the same.

*All number are in PPM

With the help of James and Chris I made my first attempt at brewing beer at home this Saturday. Other than some numbness in my extremities legs and finding out how absurdly long it takes to filter 6 gallons of water through a brita filter, the process was relatively uneventful. The fermenter is bubbling away happily in my upstairs bathtub (the warmest room in the house at 64 degrees) so I believe it will turn into beer, perhaps bad beer, but beer none the less.

Now all I have to do is wait. I am planning on 5-7 days in the primary at 64 degrees, 10-14 days in the secondary at around 59 degrees, and priming with corn sugar prior to bottling. Then after only 2 short weeks of bottle conditioning I can get my first taste of the product.

More pics available in Petrilli’s flickr set.

Recipe and more details after the jump.
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Now that I have emptied a case and a half of the first of the beer that we brewed at the Flying Barrel, I am planning to brew my first beer at home. After a bit of thought I have decided on a Belgian Pale Ale Extract + Mini-Mash recipe. It looks easy enough for my first time, and should produce a tasty beverage. The recipe is after the jump.
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My nomination for the best quote of 2006 comes from an AP report on an incident in Pasadena, CA. after rescuing “Two dozen Caltech students wearing Superman capes, tutus and other odd attire” Deputy Greg Gabriel said “You’ve got to remember that common sense is not factored into the intelligence quotient.”