Brew queen

I now consider my New Year's resolution to make homebrew fulfilled. I have almost 2 cases of what I'm calling "New England Pilsale" carbonating in the basement. Last night I bottled my first batch of 2008 homebrew--came to exactly 46 bottles. It's called "Pilsale" because its a Pils recipe but they gave me an ale yeast because I'm not pro enough to ferment at the right (cold) temperature. In the glass 5-gallon carboy the Pilsale looked honey-caramel colored, but as I siphoned it into bottles, the beer in the thin tube looked very light. I think it will be good. It's highly recommended to leave it alone for at least a month before sampling. I have November 6 marked on my calendar as the first date to give it a try.

The specific gravity to start was 1.038 and to finish was 1.007. I figured there must be some online calculator that would let me type these in and figure out my percent alcohol. Behold, my first hit was Lee's Brewery Beer Math Calculator (http://leebrewery.com/beermath.htm). According to this my beer will be around 4% alcohol, which is right on target. Next up I'm going to try Charlie Papazian's Crystal Honey Lager. I know, I still don't know how to ferment under refrigeration, but I'm going to try it anyway. If the beer store staff will let me, that is. I figure all I need is some simple dried malt extract and Cascade hops. Also I'm planning to brew in the afternoon this time instead of evening, because it takes forever to get the wort temperature down low enough. I hate waiting til midnight just for a big bucket of proto-beer to cool off...

Here are 2 Beef Jerky Time playlists for your delectation. First is from 9*24*08, my mellow "Welcome Autumn" show:

• Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars (Corcovado): Doris Day
  
• Sweet Mother Earth: Bert Jansch
  
• St. Elmo's Fire (radio): Uilab
  
• Cakes & Ale: Silly Sisters
  
• Rickover's Dream: Michael Hedges
  
• Leaves that Are Green: Simon & Garfunkel
  
• Everything About It Is a Love Song: Paul Simon
  
• Chimes of Freedom: The Byrds
  
• A Taste of Honey: Martin Denny
  
• John Barleycorn: Traffic
  
• Polio: The Sea & Cake
  
• 2 Sisters: Shakti
  
• Fisherman's Dream: Emerald
  
• Arms (Aaron Spectre mix): Aarktica

Next, the 10*1*08 show featured a lot of new stuff--exciting!

• Sabali: Amadou & Mariam
  
• Suivez la Piste: Saloon
  
• Another Day: Milosh
  
• Good Time: Brazilian Girls
  
• Blueberry Pie: The Upallnights
  
• Wraith Pinned to the Mist & Other Games: Of Montreal
  
• Ottoman: Vampire Weekend
  
• Can't Say No: Helio Sequence
  
• Something Is Not Right With Me: Cold War Kids
  
• Hey Hey Hey (That Kid's OK): Ruby Isle
  
• Turbulent Head: Southern Arts Society
  
• White Winter Hymnal: Fleet Foxes
  
• Everywhere (Fleetwood Mac Cover): Vampire Weekend
  
• Bent: Penny & Ashtray