ex candore decus

This weekend the weather in Houston was perfect. A bright, sunny, cloudless sky and a temperature of around 70 degrees. Gorgeous.

We did alot of catchup with cleaning the house. With all that’s been going on lately, we’ve let some things slide. The major part of the cleaning was a thorough vetting of all the clothes we have and a re-organization of the master closet. Goodwill is going to be getting a large donation soon.

I took some time, while cooking a batch of Chicken Bog, to sit down and empty the water jug of loose change and count it all. What a nice surprise that turned out to be, I’m glad I started throwing in all my loose change, instead of just the pennies. Oh, btw, does anyone need two MARTA tokens? Anyway, with this small jackpot I’m debating on purchasing a tool that is sorely needed in my homebrewing and winemaking hobby: a precision scale. I currently have a digital scale, but the resolution on it is in half-grams, not nearly precise for what I need. In winemaking, potassium metabisulfite is muy importante, but getting an exact measurement is even more critical. Too little and you run the risk of the whole batch going bad or getting oxidized, too much and you kill any chance of making something consumable.

Speaking of winemaking, this year’s batch is in carboys currently undergoing malolactic (or secondary) fermentation. So far, I’m very happy with how it has progressed.

In the world of homebrewing, I’ve set my sights on making a Kriek for the next brew. I’m excited about this brew for two reasons: I haven’t gotten to brew a beer for a while now since you pretty much can’t do that in Houston during the summertime, and it’s a lambic. Traditionally, lambic’s are fermented with wild yeast and bacteria that are found naturally in the regions of Belgium. Since I’m not in Belgium, I run a very real risk that whatever is floating wild around Houston would not taste great. Fortunately, the companies that create commercial strains have also created blends of the various bacterium and yeast one needs for these types of beers. I’m also excited that this beer will be very similar to wine in that it will need a while to ferment and age prior to drinking. We’re looking at a year, or possibly more. I’m also going to bottle this beer in large swing-top bottles.