Change in Plans

So I decided not to brew Jennifer's Cherry Wheat yesterday. Instead I went ahead and brewed up my American IPA. MMMM, hoppy goodness!

Here's the rundown on the ingredients:

• 8 oz. of Crystal 120L


• 4 oz. of Crystal 40L


• 2 oz. Flaked Wheat


• 5.5 lbs of Extra Pale DME


• 3.3 lbs of Pale LME


• 1 oz of Summit at 60 min


• .5 oz. of Cascade at 20 min


• .5 oz. of Centennial at 20 min


• .25 oz. of Centennial at 10 min
  
• .5 oz of Cascade at 7 min


• .25 oz of Centennial at 5 min


• The zest of 2 oranges at 5 min
  
• 1 package of Wyeast American Ale II

What a smell from those oranges when I was zesting them. It was absolutely awesome. One glitch in the process. It's been about 24 hours now, and I hadn't seen any activity in the primary fermenter. It's not that big of a deal yet, but if it goes a couple more days, I'm gonna have to run out and get some more yeast. Here's the process of anything I could think of that may have caused this.

1. I smacked the "Smack Pack" the day before brewing, but for some reason decided to put it back in the fridge after reading the pack and seeing to do that 3 hours before using. I let the pack re-warm up for at least 3 hours before pitching.
   
2. I just used my new wort chiller for the first time. It's awesome! It cooled my entire brew in about 10 minutes. Once I got the temp to around 90 degrees F, I dumped the wort into the fermenter and topped off with cool water. I assumed there was no way the temp of the brew could possibly still be above 90 after topping off, so I pitched the yeast pack.
   
3. Wanting to maintain proper fermentation temperatures, I placed the fermenter in a chest cooler and filled the cooler with some frozen water bottles and cool water. When I checked the temperature of the water in the cooler, it was slightly less than 60 degrees. Not too cold for the yeast, but maybe a bit cool?

So all three of those things may have contributed to a slow start, or maybe even a non-start. I don't know yet. I promise not to worry too much.

For some eye candy, here's a shot of my Irish Red while out camping.

Whoah

I'm not sure whether I should be concerned we blew a 3-0 lead or amazed that the Canes won the game with .2 seconds left in Regulation. Either way, it was a game for the ages.

Hockey and Brew

For now, I'm way too excited and nervous to post much on the Canes as they play against New Jersey in the first round. One minute they look great, the next they give the game away. It's too stressing to write about.

Brewing beer however, is not! You can't possibly stress too much about a process that takes weeks, can you? Well yeah, you definitely can, but thankfully I'm not right now. As of yesterday, The Schitz! Barleywine has reached it's Final Gravity of 1.022, and will just sit in the Primary for another week to clean up a bit. It may even drop another thousandth of a point of two. Then it's off to the Secondary for about 6 weeks. That all means that I will have an empty primary in a week. Well now I can't have that!

Jennifer's Cherry Wheat to the rescue! My wife (SWMBO) loves Sam Adams' Cherry Wheat, so I'm going to try to the best of my ability, plus some creative leeway, to clone it for her. This would normally fall under the American Wheat style of beer, but since it will have cherries in it, it's technically a fruit beer.

The recipe is as follows.

• 3.3 lbs of Wheat Liquid Malt Extract
• 3.3 lbs of Extra Pale Dry Malt Extract
• 3 lbs of pureed cherries
• .5 oz. Centennial hops at 60 min
• .25 oz Centennial at 20 min
• .25 oz. Centennial at 7 min
• 1 package of Wyeast 1010 American Wheat Yeast.

Calculating the Starting Gravity, as well as the final Alcohol content will be hard because of the added sugars from the cherries. The color would normally be very light, but with the addition of cherries, it may add some red, along with some darkening to the beer. Plus, as an added bonus, SWMBO will be out of town this weekend, so she won't even have to smell the brew as it's cooked. Yay for her!

Playoff Picks

The 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs start tonight, and thankfully, after 2 years of not participating, the Canes are back in the post-season. With my super hockey knowledge and foresight I will give you who I believe will win the playoffs. Not just the 1st round, but the whole thing! Yeah, I'm good like that.

Round 1, Fight!

Eastern Conference

1 Bruins vs. 8 Habs: The Habs are beat up and haven't played consistent hockey in months. There's not way that they're going to be able to pull off this upset. The bruins pull through in 5.

2 Washington vs. 7 New York Rangers: These are two teams that look very different. Washington is a balls to the wall offensive team, with very little shut-down defense and a shaky goaltender. New York is a more balanced team with less offensive power and a better goaltender. The Caps' hopes are pinned on if they can score more than Theodore can let in. If nothing else, it'll be interesting to watch Avery try to pester AO. Caps win in 6.

3 Devils vs. 6 Canes: One of the more even matchups in the playoffs. This one could really go either way. The Canes are riding a hot streak that has lasted for more than a month, while the Devils have played .500 hockey for most of the past month. Brodeur hasn't looked Brodeur-esque lately, while Cam Ward has. The Canes have had Jersey's number this season taking the season series 3-1. However, the playoffs are always a different story. This one goes to 7 with the Canes coming out on top.

4 Pens vs. 5 Flyers: Another overly even matchup. This is going to be another series going to 7 games. This one however will be about who makes the most mistakes and who gets beat up the most. This series will wear down on both teams, but I see Philly coming out on top. Their defense is going to find a way to shut down Crosby, Malkin, and Staal. Flyers in 7.

Western Conference

1 San Jose vs. 8 Anaheim: Anaheim made a late season push to get into the playoffs, but they're not the team that won the cup a couple years ago. San Jose has been on a mission this year and can't be denied getting past the first round. Sharks in 5.

2 Detroit vs. 7 Columbus: I would love to see Columbus take this series, and I believe that they could. However, Detroit always finds that extra gear in the playoffs. They always seem to be able to stay focused and motivated. Even if they play to an empty arena, Detroit wins this one in 6.

3 Vancouver vs. 6 St. Louis: Another Cinderella team in St. Louis. The Blues haven't been in the playoffs in what seems like forever, especially after having a streak of twenty some years straight in the playoffs. Unfortunately for the Blues, this is the year that Bobby Lu asserts himself in the playoffs. The Nucks win in 6.

4 Chicago vs. 5 Calgary: The even matchup out west that isn't. Calgary won't have enough firepower to keep up with Chicago in this series, and Kipper won't be able to keep them in the game. Hawks in 5.


Round 2, Fight!

Eastern Conference

1 Bruins vs. 6 Canes: Ouch. I hate pitting my Canes against the Bruins like this. They were kicked around all season by the Bruins. That being said, they played all their games against the Bruins before they turned it on in late February. They will make a series out of it. As much as it pains me to say it though, I don't think they can get past the Bruins. They needed someone else to do it, and I don't see how the Habs or the Rangers could have done it (assuming the Rangers beat the Caps). Bruins in 6, they're just too big.

2 Caps vs. 5 Philly: The Caps will face a real test in the second round. The NHL won't get what it wanted in a Crosby vs. Ovechkin series. In this round I see Biron somehow getting hot, and Theodore will choke. Varlamov will come in for Washington, but it won't be enough, and the Flyers will take this one in 6.

Western Conference

1 San Jose vs. 4 Chicago: Ah, the Sharks and the 2nd round of the playoffs, mortal enemies. This series will be a battle to see who can score more. Goaltending won't be showcased in this series. Neither will perform poorly, but look for at least 5 goals to be scored in most of the games. In this series, I see San Jose actually making it past the second round in 6 games.

2 Detroit vs. 3 Vancouver: And here is where Detroit's goaltender's go downhill. Neither Osgood, nor Conklin will be able to do much. Not that Vancouver will throw an onslaught of offensive power at them, they will just falter. Vancouver in 5.

Round 3, Fight!

Eastern Conference

1 Boston vs. 5 Philly: Ok, the third round is so far away, and so much can happen between now and then, that it's a bit too hard to write a true review for them. Tim Thomas will show that he's not quite superman, and Boston will get thrown around a bit more in this series. The Flyer's forwards will find a way to forecheck against the Boston D, and that will make the difference. Philly in 7.

Western Conference

1 San Jose vs. 3 Vancouver: This will be the battle of goaltenders. Both Nabokov and Luongo will be great for their clubs. We'll see a couple shutouts and low scoring games. Both goalies will exit this round with Save Percentage's above .930, but only Luongo will come away smiling. Canucks in 6.


Stanley Cup Finals!

3 Vancouver vs. 5 Philly: Ah, time for all of Canada to jump on the "Canada's Team!" Bandwagon. In this matchup, I see Philly doing everything they can to get past Luongo, but not having the success that they had against Boston. However, their defense will come up big against the Sedins and Sundin, as Biron cools off a bit.
That being said, Luongo will be clutch in this series, where 3 games will go into overtime. This series goes to 6 games and the Canucks bring the Cup to Canada, Sundin makes half of Toronto hate him even more (and all of Montreal) and gets his ring, and Canada can keep saying how hockey is their sport and revel in the fact that it only took 16 years for it to happen.


There you go. Put your money on it. But no more than 10 bucks. I don't have a crystal ball or anything.

Come June we'll find out how (un?)awesome I am when predicting hockey.

Gravity Read

Just a quick update on The Schitze! Barleywine: I took a gravity measurement last night. It's specific gravity after a week and a half in the fermenter is 1.025. That's entirely not bad considering this brew started at a little over 1.100. Beersmith calculated that the target final gravity should be 1.022, so I am really close! There's still activity going on in the fermenter, so it's not done yet.

It really looks like making a starter helped a lot. Plus, the Imperial Blend from Wyeast seems to be getting the job done. Right now it's at 75% attenuation, but I'm betting that I can push this beer down to at least 1.020 and get 80% attenuation if it's in there for another week and a half.

Buffablow vs. Canes 4-8-09

Ah, it's nice to be sitting pretty as the slugs cling on for dear life with their 2.1% chance of making the playoffs. It truly is a thing of beauty that we may eliminate them tonight, assuming NY doesn't beat Philly first.

What will also be nice about tonight's game is that the team we play against will at least have something to play for. Unlike Tuesday's joke of a game against the Islanders the Slugs will at least have some fire. Tonight should be much closer of a match than the Islanders game.

Not much of a preview for today, but here's some pics of Buffalo that helps further explain why it sucks.

What is this freakin Communist Russia?

Good Luck Canes. Take away any hopes of Playoffs the Slug fans have. Give them one more season in which to whine about.

Fear the Sightless Eye!

10-1-2 in March. 11 straight home wins. An 8 game winning streak. Clinching a playoff spot for the first time since '06.

These are some of the accomplishments the Canes have put up in the last 5 weeks. After playing .500 hockey for the better part of the year, and being on the cusp of being in/out of the playoffs, the Canes have vaulted 4 spots in the Eastern Conference standings and now stand at 5th. So what happened?

So far it seems like the stars have aligned and everything has just fallen into place. The only different part of the team that has changed since February is the addition of Erik Cole. But by no means is he the only reason this team is playing better.

Erik Cole scored in 6 of his first 8 games with Carolina this season, but has only 1 point in his last 6. However, Carolina won all six of those games in which he didn't score. If we look at his arrival differently, you can see another trend.

Before Cole came back to Carolina, Sergei Samsonov played on Eric Staal's line. Now, he's been pushed to the third line along with Brind'Amour. This has increased Brind'Amour's production significantly. Roddy's put up 17 points in the last 14 games. It also seems that the Captain has finally recovered from his knee injury that happened last year, and plagued him for most of this season.

Another major contributor has been Cam Ward, who seems to have found his 2006 Playoff form. Ward has been spectacular in net for the Canes for the past month of two. As of Feb 24, Ward had a season save % of .908. Not horrible. As of today, his season save % is .917. To achieve that he's had to have numbers higher than .925 in just a month. What makes this even more astounding is that the defense hasn't been helping out Ward all that much. In the past 15 games, the Canes have allowed 30 or more shots in 12 of them. 3 of those had 40 shots or more. Ward has also played in 26 straight games. If Brodeur is his idol, then he is on the right path to emulate him.

So apart from luck and the Hockey Gods' intervention, one has to assume that coaching is to blame for the success as of late, considering so many pieces coming together. I was a critic of Paul Maurice when he first came back to Raleigh in December. However, it seems that he and Francis have really pulled the team together and have made huge strides.

Tonight, the Canes host the Islanders, the worst team in the league. This is one of those games where you're not sure if the Canes are going to take the night off, or just completely blow out the other team. I've been having bad feelings about the past few games, and each time the Canes have surprised me. We'll see how it goes tonight at 7.

Holy Crap am I Behind!

Wow. Have I ever been negligent. It's been 2 weeks since I've posted, and I still hadn't even covered the Toronto Trip. Lazy!

So here's how things went in Toronto. Tyler, here's your porn:

POW!

I like to call this one, "Get more bars in more places - AT&T"

Now, for other, non-Tyler porn pictures from the trip.

Here's the asshole of America, Buffalo, NY!

Back to better places.

Whew! All in all it was a legendary trip. Many memories were made, and I'm sure forgotten as soon as they happened!

Now onto the beer! The Schitze! Barleywine is now brewed and fermenting! Holy cow what a task. Here's the final recipe for The Schitze!

That's a ton of ingredients!

11 pounds of Dry Malt extract. 3 lbs were added at the beginning and 8 for a late extract addition for higher hop utilization.

2 pounds of Melanoiden Malt.

1 pound of Crystal 60L Malt.

1 pound of CaraMunich Malt.

1 pound of Dextrine.

8 oz of Hops.

Here's the hop schedule.

90 minutes: 2 oz of Cluster

30 minutes: .5 oz Cascade

20 minutes: .5 oz Cascade

15 minutes: .5 oz Cascade

10 minutes: .5 oz Cascade 1 oz Centennial

5 minutes: .5 oz Cascade

1 minute: .5 oz Cascade

The original gravity was around 1.100.

I've gotta say, I'm not a big fan of Dry Extract during the brewing process. I hadn't used it before yesterday, and I was not impressed. It clumps up and takes forever to dissolve into the water. That being said, I was brewing an extremely high gravity beer, and only using about 3.75 gallons of water to boil in, so it may have just reached its limit on how much extract it could hold. I'll try a few more lower-gravity brews with Dry extract before I give up on it.

Another addition I used yesterday was FermCaps. FermCaps is used to prevent boilovers in your boil, and blowoffs when you ferment. It worked great in the boil, and as far as I can tell it did its job in fermentation. However, this is what I came home to this afternoon.

There was actually beer coming out of the airlock. This is it cleaned up a bit. Since this was such a monster brew with a high gravity, and since I used a yeast starter, the Krausen almost caused a blowout. The high amount of activity in the fermenter also raised the temperature of the cooler I had it in. It fermented at about 70 degrees during the day today. About 5 degrees warmer than I wanted it to. However, I've got the temperature back down, so hopefully there won't be too many esters or perhaps off-flavors getting in there.

Tomorrow, if I have time, I'll try to post about the Canes' awesome success as of late.

Till then, Cheers eh!