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Monthly Archives: March 2007
Brewing Notes — Dry Stout – 3
I racked the stout into a five gallon carboy this evening. The specific gravity was 1.016. I am hoping the secondary fermentation will be active enough to reduce that considerably.
Student Evaluations for Socrates
Another Blow
M is down at the Mayo Clinic. All of us in colgaffneyis are worried.
Today I received bad news from another side of my life: One of my Carleton classmates was diagnosed with colon cancer on Friday. Not a really close friend from the old days, but someone I like and respect, and with whom I have been happily working on alumni business in recent years. I e-mailed her last week asking for a favor on behalf of another friend, and was wondering why she had not replied. Now I know.
Otherwise, this was actually a good day (“Aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?”).
Brewing Notes — Dry Stout -2
The brew is in the primary fermenter. Initial gravity 1.043, vs. the nominal 1.042 on the kit’s instructions. Amazingly close, considering how I altered the recipe. The yeast has been pitched and the lid locked down. I put a lid over the hole in the lid. When the temperature has come to equilibrium with the environment (our basement laundry room) I will replace that with a fermentation lock.
Brewing notes–Dry Stout
I am brewing a batch of beer now, a dry stout in honor of the day. It is based on Northern Brewer’s dry stout kit. The kit uses 1 lb. roasted barley, a 6 lb jug of malt extract, and 2 oz Kent Goldings for bittering hops and 5 gallons of water. I am looking for about a 6 gallon brew, so I added another 1.4 lbs of malt extract. I also used a cup of chocolate malt that was just sitting around.
Here is where things get interesting: I replaced 1 oz. of the Kent Goldings by 2 oz. of homegrown Nugget hops from our 2005 batch (stored in the freezer). We harvested these a little too late in the season, so they were past their prime. Hence going up to 2 oz. This is the purest guesswork.
Just finished the boil. I filled the bathtub with cold water and put the pot in it to cool. This will take a while, during which time I will clean the primary fermenter.
Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig!
(Happy Saint Patrick’s Day)
Cosc ar bheoir uaine!
(Avoid the green beer)
We went down to the Landmark Center for the St. Patrick’s Day celebration, staying inside and avoiding most of the drunken crowds. We listened to a short concert of songs in both Irish and English by the Giggin’ Siles, an a cappella group of women from Gaeltacht Minnesota (they badly need a web site of their own). Afterwards we wandered around for a bit, saw some singing and dancing, and got a bit of lunch from an Italian place across the plaza–faster and better than the cliché corned beef inside. At 2 PM my shift at GM’s information table began. We were on the main floor, so we got a lot of traffic and some serious inquiries. We went home when my shift finished at 3, avoiding the worst of the drunken crowds.
The class geek
From the web site of my Irish class
We played a game with Will’s students [the advanced class] as the quizmasters and the rest of the students worked in teams to answer the questions. Wes and Terri had an interesting way of working as a team that was very successful and fun to watch and Glenn was able to answer the question regarding what num pad combination on a PC was needed to make ‘é’ [Alt-0233]. It was a pleasant way to do some review and something we might do “anois ‘is aríst” [now and again].
Despite my management’s best efforts….
My blood pressure is still OK. I had an apheresis (platelet donation) appointment this afternoon at the Red Cross, and as part of the procedure they checked my BP: 112/76.
It was a particularly good experience. We in colgaffneyis are all worried about our friend M, who has been in the hospital for a week and will be going to the Mayo Clinic tomorrow. And there is nothing we can do to help her. At least this way I could help somebody.
Not that I did anything heroic in the process. They stuck the needle in my arm, and I just dozed off for two hours while they extracted the platelets.
Freudian Slip?
This afternoon I got an all-hands e-mail from one of the managers here. She was announcing a new hire, about whom we read
I am pleased to announce that M has accepted a Project Manager position within the Development PMO [Project Management Office]. M comes to …[us] with expensive Project Management experience.
A few minutes later came another e-mail from the same manager, which said
Everyone goofs, and my goof was very visible. I meant to say that M has extensive experience. Thank you to those who pointed out my mistake.
.
From Hilbert Space to Dilbert Space, and beyond 