Archive for the ‘play’ Category

Hop Breeding (2015) Hop Breeding (2015)

Wednesday, February 11th, 2015

You may want to start by reading: Growing hops from seed, Hop Breeding (2014), Breeding results 2014 During fall of 2014, we collected thousands of seeds from the two hop yards. The individual flowers had been pollinated by hand and carefully isolated to ensure parentage. In total, we collected nearly 40 crosses: Male/pollen source: NHB002 […]

NHB00X Experimental Pale Ale(s) NHB00X Experimental Pale Ale(s)

Monday, January 12th, 2015

The new hops from the breeding program produced an abundance of cones in their first year. For comparison, I’m brewing the same, simple beer from the most promising varieties. Normally, I stick to all grain. However, for simplicity these will be extract (don’t have to worry about mash temp/efficiency differences between batches). The same basic […]

AllGrain.Beer (WordPress Plugin)

Friday, November 14th, 2014

In an attempt to make AllGrain.Beer as easy to use as possible, I’ve added a page that creates an oEmbed code for each recipe. However, for this work, you need to add the site as an oEmbed provider. So, I have built a plugin: Step 1: Download and install the AllGrain.Beer plugin Step 2: Once […]

AllGrain.Beer AllGrain.Beer

Friday, November 14th, 2014

So… I built a beer recipe calculator: AllGrain.Beer Okay, but why did you build it? I have been brewing for a number of years and enjoy building my own recipes. There are many recipe calculators out there, but I find most of them frustrating. Then, I had the opportunity to speak at a conference. In […]

Collaborating with GitHub

Monday, October 20th, 2014

Presenters John Britton – Github Location: Skyline III In this hands-on talk, we’ll introduce Git and GitHub. We’ll demonstrate how GitHub is used in classrooms as well as campus IT departments. You’ll learn how to make your first contribution to a project on GitHub. We’ll show you how to contribute via the command line, the […]

Pinot Noir Pinot Noir

Monday, September 29th, 2014

We were invited to collect grapes from a vineyard that hadn’t sold all of its rows this year. Sam, Wendy and Dawn headed out and spent the morning picking large bunches of dark purple Pinot Noir. Soon they arrived back at the house with a truckload of grapes. I was originally expecting ugly seconds from […]

Oatmeal Stout (with naked oats) Oatmeal Stout (with naked oats)

Friday, September 19th, 2014

Thanks to the fermentation vessel, our recent stout went a bit wonky. However, I think that the recipe is really solid… So, it’s time to try again. Naked Oatmeal Stout Create your own recipe with All Grain Beer ABV: 5.57% IBU: 31.1 SRM: 48.3 OG: 1.055, FG: 1.014 Batch size: 12 gal Brewhouse efficiency: 70% […]

Fresh Black Frost Fresh Black Frost

Friday, September 12th, 2014

Another version of the award-winning Black Frost. This time, with a fresh hop twist! The hops are in my yard and will be thrown in the boil minutes after they are picked. Since they are fresh, we will be using 4x the normal weight for a combined  total of 48oz. Recipe Specifics Style: 23 Specialty […]

Hop Breeding, 2014 Results Hop Breeding, 2014 Results

Thursday, September 4th, 2014

You may want to start by reading: Growing hops from seed, Hop Breeding (2014) The seedling grew rapidly in their first year. 18 plants produced significant amount of hops by the end of August. For comparison purposes I decided to pick, sort, and catalog all the cones at once. No doubt this means that some […]

Are your hops ready to pick? Take a closer look Are your hops ready to pick? Take a closer look

Tuesday, August 19th, 2014

Unlike tomatoes, peppers and other crops, it can be really difficult to tell if they are ready to pick. Commercial growers often target a percentage of dry matter. This means taking samples, drying them and comparing the weights before and after. Optimal picking is when the wet hops are 4 to 5 times heavier then the dry matter. This […]