A Plot of New Beginnings

Started a plot of seedlings today. With a peak of sunshine for the first time in what seems like weeks here in the Oregon valley, the vitamin D inspired me to take a cycle down to the local gardening store to purchase some trays, soil, and seeds. I am starting the endeavor small with various herbs (cilantro, sage, chamomile, lavender, etc.) that I hope to make some tea blends with along with vegetables that I know will get great use in the house (onion, carrot, pea.) I am currently in the market for a growing lamp and am hoping to get the garden turned and ready for transfers in the new couple weeks. Cheers to self-sustainability and organic produce that costs literally cents to produce! 

In other news: Imperial IPA had a very successful primary fermentation with constant CO2 activity for an entire week. When transferring to the carboy, the scent of the week-old brew had me gasping for air and wiping tears from my eyes with its potency. The beer now sits in glass for another 2-3 weeks before bottling. Stoked to see how it turns out! Midterms start Monday so my life is momentarily consumed by a lot of integrals, cellular respiration, and oxidation reactions. Working on formulating a plan for the upcoming summer of work/internships and spreading kindness in whichever way I can.  

Home Brew Volume III: Double Hop IPA.

13 lbs of malt extract. A sticky mess. 

Not even a fourth of the hops used! 

Yum.

Partner in crime, Zoe. 

Zoe chilling the wort/dreaming of a wort chiller.

Well, I ventured into my very own home brew recipe last night and what an adventure it was! $80 in materials, $35 in malt extract alone.... had me gulping in apprehension before the stove even heated up. The idea was to make a heavy double hop imperial IPA... nearly 10% ABV and 100IBU. Using thirteen pounds of liquid malt extract, 1 pound of various grain, and 5 different hop varieties totaling ten ounces, this was no cheap beer. After sanitation was complete, the seeping of the grain began and off to the races we were! We started at 6pm and by 9pm, my kitchen finally smelled of hops as the low power range got up to speed with the boiling of the wort. By midnight, the wort had finally chilled in our extremely unreliable ice bath and the liquid yeast strain was added with gusto as the primary fermenter was sealed tightly closed with the airlock and wrapped with my sleeping bag to stay between 70-75 degrees through these cold January nights. I learned a few things with this brew most definitely. The amount of hops used was overwhelming. Of course, this is fantastic! I love hops and high IBU but the aeration of the wort proved to be difficult with whole leaf hops slushing back and forth. I'm not sure if a hop sack would've been beneficial in a circumstance like this but it is definitely a question I'll be directing at the brew supply shop in town. Along with the hop sack, there is always room for improvement as far as precision is concerned. Little challenges always arise while making beer and it is vital to always remember the sanitization of all equipment, hands, etc. coming into contact with the brew. As a beginner in the art of brewing, I am always striving for improvement here. For now, the IPA sits in primary fermentation for the next two weeks before being transferred to the carboy. My fingers are crossed for an awesome result!

Jawbone Flats, Oregon.

Before Winter term starts this Monday, a couple of my good friends and I decided to explore near Opal Creek, Oregon. A foggy Saturday set the scene for this eerie hike complete with abandoned mills, mining shafts, and a further Jawbone Flats- a depression era community known for it's paranormal activity. While we didn't make it to Jawbone itself due to high snow levels, fading daylight, and car issues- we sure had fun. A future trip to Jawbone has already been put in order for Spring/Summer when the snow melts.