Next Project - Stair Handrail and Storage

So the next project for the house is to install a handrail and storage underneath the steps. The previous owners installed a master suite over the garage, with steps taking part of the dining room. But they didn't really finish the job, so here's what it looks like now.

I took a week off a work, with hopes that it'll look like this by the end of the week.

I drew it in 3D using Google Sketchup (a free download!) As you can see, we'll be adding a handrail with pickets and a newel post, with storage drawers and a pair of doors containing a pantry and shelves.

The funnest part of house project is demolition. I get things going with a hammer.
I admit it - I learned 95% of my martial arts skills from Frank Dux. Back kick!
HI-YA!!!
AAAHHHHH!!!
WAH-ZZZYYYY!!!
KARATE CHOP!!!!
DOUBLE-PUNCH!
CRANE KICK!!!
ANOTHER BACK-KICK! (almost fell after this one).
Farley is not impressed.
Demo done. Stay tuned!

Taste Test

It's been about 3 weeks in the bottle, so the beer should be done carbonating by now. I've had a few bottles over the past week, and I can say that it tastes pretty good.

Some bottles tend to have a hint of a bitter aftertaste, and I think that may be from not cooling the wort fast enough on brew day. The last hops to go in are the bittering hops, which are only in the boil for 5 minutes. I think the excess bitterness stems from prolonging the cooling process after the boil...maybe those bittering hopes soaked too long.

Some bottles tend to have too much head, where some have very little - but they all taste great!

Billy Beer Update

The batch of Billy Beer English Brown Ale has been fermenting for three weeks - about 2 weeks longer than the instructions say, but everything I've read elsewhere recommended longer.

How do you tell when it's done fermenting? The true test is to take hydrometer readings on consecutive days. If the reading is the same, then the beer has finished fermenting.

The hydrometer reads the specific gravity. The beer begins at a higher specific gravity at the beginning, and gradually decreases as the yeast ferments the beer. Also, the higher the initial specific gravity, the more alcohol content...i.e., "High Gravity" Steel Reserve malt liquor.

The hydrometer read 1.012 on consecutive days. This is the FG, or final gravity. Using the original gravity, OG, of 1.045 we can calculate the Alcohol By Volume, ABV%.

(OG-FG) x 131.25 = ABV%

Running the numbers, we get 4.40%. By the way, the beer sample tasted fantastic! It was flat, of course, but not for long...

To carbonate the beer, we add sugar for the yeast to munch on and create CO2. After boiling the 5 oz of corn sugar in 2 cups of water, it is left to cool before dumping into our bottling bucket.

The top bucket is the fermenting bucket, and a siphon is used to transfer into the bottling bucket (with sugar water) below.

After the transfer, all that's left is the "yeast cake" at the bottom of the fermenter...

Next, I put the bottling bucket on the counter and attach the bottling wand to the spigot. The wand is a handy device that has a valve on the end which opens when pressed. When the bottle is lowered, the flow stops.

Another handy trick I learned on homebrewtalk.com was to conduct this operation over the open dishwasher door to catch all the little drips. It's also handy for dumping the small amount of sanitizer solution that gets left in the bottles before it gets filled. Everything that touches beer gets sanitized beforehand to avoid bacteria infection.

After I fill about six bottles (these are 22oz), I apply the bottle caps with this handy red device.

Twenty-three 22oz bottles and one almost-filled 12oz bottle later, we are finished. The final yield was about a half gallon less than I anticipated, but that was because of the slight spill mishap during the brewing process.

As the yeast create CO2, some pressure builds in the bottle. Apparently, bottles have been known to spontaneously explode from over-carbonation.

Paranoid about this, I decided that the bottles would be best left in this new garbage can bought for my brewing activities. In two weeks, the beer should be ready!