Bottling Stout and Cider Update

About a week ago, after racking my cider into another carboy for secondary fermentation, I decided to take the first real step in home brewing - actually BREWING beer. This is something that I have been trying to educate myself on for some time now, as I have been a beer fan since long before the law said I was allowed. My love of beer can even be attributed for where I am living now today in Missoula. I remember visiting here with my mother before I decided to make the move, and us sharing local craft brew at the Kettlehouse tap room over on Myrtle Street. With the music blaring, the grey early spring Missoula sky out the window, and a cold brew in hand she looked at me and said "You're going to live here". She was right.

For my first ever home-brewed beer I decided to go with a classic, the Irish Stout. I started again at my favorite local brew-shop, Summer Sun Garden & Brew. I used a British Dry Ale yeast, Munton's Hopped Malt (3 lbs), Munton's Amber Malt Extract (1 Can), and 1 lb of crushed roasted barley for steeping.

Fermentation was vigorous for the first few days, but quickly subsided. After a sample last night, I decided to move to bottling today. As the brew had not been carbonated yet, the sample was flat - but unmistakably a stout. Surprisingly, it lacked the bitterness that often drives people away from classic commercial stouts such as Guinness.

After bottling today, about 3.5 gallons, I will wait 2-3 weeks and crack one bottle to check the level of carbonation. Wish me luck!

-Cider Update-

After racking cider into secondary fermentation I decided to add more sugar (3 cups) and after two days of little activity I pitched a champagne yeast to increase alcohol content. After a tasting last night (about 1.5 weeks in secondary) I was pleasantly surprised. The cider has considerable alcohol content, seemingly comparable to that of wine, but still with the mouth-feel of apple cider. I am now trying to decide if I want to carbonate the cider or leave it flat like an apple wine. I may do some of each. I will move to bottling shortly after thanksgiving. Updates to come!

An Experience Unlike any Other - P.E.A.S. 2012

    Wednesday was my last active day as a credit-receiving intern at the P.E.A.S. farm. It has been nine months since I began my work at the farm, starting in the cold month of February breaking ice and defrosting the green house. Much has changed, on the farm, in my life, and within my being. I feel as though my time spent on the farm has been a healing experience. My faith in people has been restored through the meaningful work that I have done, through the beautiful landscape we created.
Working the land is a lesson in both impermanence and cyclical nature. The onions that we labored so hard to keep weed free are now long-gone, being enjoyed by CSA members, students and shoppers at the Missoula Food bank. The unpacking of Remay, the countless hours of seeding, weeding, harvesting and moving pipes in the hot summer sun have been replaced by their opposing actions through the cold autumn days.
    Nine months I have devoted to this farm, this project. Food grown, people nourished with blood and sweat, our labor of love. I will remember my experience on this farm, in this beautiful place called Missoula, the Rattlesnake valley, for the rest of my existence. I know that it has left an impression on me, and I hope that I have in some small way left a lasting impression on it.

    Thank you to all who made my experience so amazing. Through the early July mornings pulling weeds for hours, to the 1830 pumpkins we hand picked, I had a truly remarkable time with each and every one of you. You know who you are.

Cider - Take One

Fall is in full swing here in Western Montana. The trees are bursting with color, the nights have grown cool and crisp and the days are quickly growing shorter. Pumpkins are beginning to appear on neighbors' doorsteps, soon to become jack-o-lanterns. With all of this standard fall activity, I decided to try something new: home-brewing cider.

At the farm that I work on we have an old manual-style apple grinder and press. It is built of heavy oak and cast iron, staples of an industrious bygone era. Sunday I made my way up to the farm with a couple of friends and we fresh pressed about 130 ounces of cider from Montana-grown honeycrisp apples. Unfortunately, because apples are so expensive- I was forced to mix our fresh cider with three gallons of store bought cider (preservative free of course!). The combined cider was mixed with about a cup and a half of raw unbleached sugar in a 5 gallon carboy that I bought at Summer Sun Brew & Garden.

I opted for using a British Ale yeast instead of the champagne yeast that was originally recommended to me. My hope is that by doing this the cider will retain more of its' natural sweetness and apple flavor. From what I have read, using champagne yeast tends to result in a very dry end product. 

Fermentation began late last night, and I expect it to continue for at least a couple of weeks. Already much of the suspended solids within the carboy have fallen and the cider has taken on a lighter yellow hue. In 2-3 weeks I will rack the cider into a second carboy for secondary fermentation, and from there, on to bottling. I only hope my first attempt is successful!

Food For Thought

I have come across several quotations in my studies recently that I found to be of particular importance. I jotted them all down in my pocket notebook, and thought I would share them here.

"The true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. Necessitous men are not free men." - Franklin D. Roosevelt

      I find these statements by Roosevelt to be informative and inspiring. I agree that those who are "too needy" are inherently insecure. As the fictitious character Tyler Durden said in Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club - "The things you own, own you."

"In wildness is the salvation of the world" - Henry David Thoreau

     Many who have ventured into the wild for any amount of time can probably attest to the healing ability of the natural world. This is a profound statement from a historical authority on simple living and time spent in nature. I find that time spent in wild places has a centering effect on me, helping to put the worries of life into perspective. Nothing feels more 'real' than being away from the facade of civilization.

"Man always kills the thing he loves, and so we the pioneers have killed our wilderness. Some say we had to. Be that as it may, I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?" - Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac

    One of the most powerful statements in A Sand County Almanac, I have seen this ring true through the destruction of popular recreation areas and the commodification of nature through 'game ranches' and the like. While not universally true, I believe that humans often lack the ability to truly leave something alone, resulting in more damage than good.

Any thoughts? Favorite quotes you have come across recently? Please share in the comments below.

Weathering The Storm

This is a short essay I wrote in response to John Muir's 'Windstorm In The Forest'

    Having little experience with the pine and juniper forests of the Western United States, previous to my relocation to Montana – I found myself looking back fondly to my memories of growing up amongst the deciduous oak and hickory forests of the Midwest. I spent many an hour perched high above an open cornfield, tree-stand tied tightly to the trunk of an oversized White Oak, or Shagbark Hickory. I relate to the sensations that Muir felt during that wind storm, the cacophony of sounds the twisting and dancing trees make as the wind tickles and caresses every branch and twig “The sounds of the storm corresponded gloriously with this wild exuberance of light and motion.” The way that Muir describes the smell of the pine forest “The fragrance of the woods was less marked than that produced during warm rain, when so many balsamic buds and leaves are steeped like tea...the gale was spiced to a very tonic degree.” Is one of my favorite aspects of the western coniferous forests. There is nothing quite like a warm breeze through the pines after a violent spring downpour. The sharp, crisp mountain air percolating through the needles has the inherent ability to comfort the mind and soul simultaneously. Reminding one that there is more to life than the errant requirements of modern civilization.

    “Winds are advertisements of all they touch, however much or little we may be able to read them”. Muir reminds us that there is a story within each breeze, however ephemeral it may be. Through this non-direct anthropomorphism of nature, we are reminded of our own mortality. We drift through life, letting each metaphorical branch leave its' mark upon us, leaving our own mark upon it as well. 

Delving Into Emersonian Thought

I wrote this short response after reading "Nature" by Ralph Waldo Emerson as part of my writing-intensive class "The Environmental Vision"

The Outdoor Cathedral - Delving Into Emersonian Thought

    Having never read any of the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, or even being exposed to his core ideals, I found myself thoroughly enjoying Nature. I was introduced to transcendentalism in high school through the works of Thoreau, and in college through the study of Kantian philosophy. I immediately connected with the sort of rejection of the current state that these authors all portrayed.

    Within Nature, one truly gets to see the extent that Emerson believes in the sacredness and beauty of nature “...art is an abstract or epitome of the world. It is the result or expression of nature, in miniature...The world thus exists to the soul to satisfy the desire of beauty.” Emerson viewed the world as the centerpiece of human existence in a time period where the natural world was often shifted to the peripheral.

    I personally strongly connect with Emerson on his value of small, everyday events “Not less excellent, except for our less susceptibility in the afternoon, was the charm, last evening, of a January sunset...the air had so much life and sweetness, that it was a pain to come within doors.” The simple joy of enjoying a sunset is oft not realized in a society so preoccupied with constantly producing and consuming. There is a zen-like essence in Emerson’s worldview that tells one it is not only alright to stop and enjoy nature, but it should be commonplace.

    I try to practice the mindfulness of the often overlooked within my daily life, and am inspired to find a work that was written nearly two hundred years ago to be still so relevant today.

Farm Journal - Entry 5

Today I got to help Ethan begin work on the stage for the farm party. A flatbed trailer has been used traditionally for this purpose, but this year we are using materials we already have on the farm instead. Both the flatbed studebaker and the old GMC flatbed were backed up against one another on the cover crop nearest the equipment shed. We then started out building a pavilion that will cover the stage and provide shade for the musicians. The pavilion is supported by 2"x4" boards (reclaimed lumber that we had on hand) that we trimmed down to fit inside the slots on the edges of the flatbeds. This afternoon Ethan planned on beginning the crossbeams that would support the tarp we plan to use for the cover. Tomorrow we will build an awning on the front of the stage and hang lights across the front. I am excited about how the pavilion is going to look when we are done. The interesting part is that the flatbeds are at two different heights above the ground, so the stage has two separate levels. It looks a bit odd at first but I think it will make the stage presence better for both bands and create an interesting visual dynamic. Both the Kubota and the Cultivating Tractor will be parked along either side of the stage for added effect. It will be nice for young kids to be able to go sit on them and have pictures taken etc. 

I am somewhat excited about the farm party, but am weary as well. I find it very interesting how  Garden City Harvest has such a small role at the farm throughout most of the year and all of the sudden they swoop in and expect us to spend extra time working for them (for free) to put on a party so that THEY can make MORE money off of our free labor. When speaking of sustainable agriculture and sustainable businesses it seems often forgotten that your business plan must be financially sustainable as well. I look around at many of the small farms surrounding Missoula, and it seems that most of them barely scrape by, and that's with multiple interns providing virtually free labor. Society  claims they value the small sustainable farmer, but I am beginning to see things otherwise. I'm not sure what to make of it. I wish to have a farm of my own someday, but would prefer not to count on free labor to make it run smoothly. I think that there has to be a better way, or at least a more efficient way to make it work and to make a decent living without burning myself out.