Right, third batch underway  I had a crappy day at work so I cheered myself up by brewing a beer. Or really just mixing extract with hot water. But I also did a teeeneeee tineeeeeee mash of some grains, in a muslin bag. AH it went okay. There are some subtleties I am yet to learn for the BIAB method, but I did get some nice flavours out of my tiny amount of carapils. I added 1kg of copper tun English bitter DME no.70. I kinda hate DME. I stirred the shit out of my brew and sooooo much DME is sunk to the bottom. Is that normal? Is it okay? I have no idea, I just taste the mix and carry on. Yeast pitched at 24 degrees. Can't wait till I have an all grain set up.

16/10/12
OG 1.0375 wow seems low, Still style notes suggest a regular bitter only goes as low as 3% and high as 4.1% after that its a ESB (extra special bitter).

20/10/12
SG 1.0150

21/10/12
Added 30 grams of hallertau hops, cause y'know..... I like em.

23/10/12
SG 1.0100

26/10/12
SG 1.01
Added finings removed hops

28/10/12
Bottled 28

We'll call it 3.7% alcohol with generous rounding. This is my first batch of beer made with spring water, but its been kept entirely too warm. So not anticipating great flavours.

Double pale ale

My double pale ale has been bottled. Not quite as high alcohol content as my label implies. I may have under pitched the yeast. Doh. The dry hopping didn't quite give as much aroma as I'd hoped so I will be adding more next time. Meantime all the home brew shops are closed on Sunday afternoons, so I'm left to ponder the next batch, what shall it be?

The Hunt for Water

Ah water, its so free...... oh wait. NO ITS NOT. City council privatised water to "watercare" and now its about $70 a month.

Small price to pay for clean drinking water, first world problems etcetera

However, my new brew obsession demands chlorine free water, and perhaps something with a decent mineral content to emulate some old world brews.

But where can you find 23L of free artisan water in the city?

A bit of research leads me to the raw food meet up blog, where everyone so super healthy the ne'er a skerrick of chlorine passes their lips. But they pointed me to 15 Eden Cres in the heart of Auckland city. Its the current location of the Auckland University Law Library.

15 Eden Cres. There is a driveway by the telecom phone box but it has a barrier arm.

So far it looked less than promising. Concrete jungle surrounded me. Parking could be had for a short time  for a dollar, even though I didn't plan to be long I had to pay due to a hungry looking parking warden stalking the pavement.

The driveway did not inspire confidence.

No free parking at the spring!

But we persevered. I swear this spring had featured in "North", Marcus Lush presented, he wouldn't lie to us..WOULD HE?

Urban beauty, the interplay of orange and grey so so so frank!

Instructions were to head right under the walkway and  through the covered car park. I still felt as though I was on a wild goose chase, but beyond! Beyond! In the light a hint of green and the legendary brink wall!

There it is, a nice black plastic tap has been installed by some thoughtful person and its easy to fill your jerry can.

Not sure if vines poisoned or dead due to winter

This is what it used to look like (image by Phil Hanson)

So I grabbed my water and when I got home I did a bit more research. Auckland city history is well served by the timespanner blog and has load of knowledgeable commenters. From here I learned that the spring once served Grey and Menzies, a local soft drink producer.

From Interesting collectables of New Zealand

The spring also helped the city through a drought in the late 1840's. The spring is called Waiariki and originates near Albert park. It's also popular with Geocachers, but as its a popular site it keeps getting "muggled". It was also run down to the wharf at official bay to refill ships barrels, these days the overflow still runs to the ocean, but unused and unloved via stormwater drains.

So there is free spring water to be had in the CBD. Surprisingly easy to find and easy parking on a Saturday too.

First Batch Label

Second Batch of Home Brew

Experimental Double Pale Ale

So I dumped two pouches of Mangrove Jacks Pale Ale malt extract and topped up to 25L. No dextrose, that's what the second pouch of malt extract is for.
One sachet of yeast.

Two days later and I have huge krausen and bubbles every 7 seconds. Smells a bit fruity, not sure if that's good or bad.

23/9/12
Initial Gravity Reading 1.0425

30/9/12
Well its been a week, fermentation has slowed. Nice flavour developing, still considering dry hopping.
Gravity now 1.0175

3/10/12
Gravity 1.015 creeeeeeeping down. I want it under 1.01! tasting gooooood though!

7/10/12
Gravity 1.015 still. Hmmmmmmmm is it stuck or finished? I have no idea!

8/10/12
Gravity 1.015 heck it I'm bottling next chance I get.

14/10/12
Yeah I really could have bottle this last week. But its all done now! Dry hopped for two days with some hallertau wakatu in a mesh bag. Next time, more hops, more days.

Why Does My Beer Have an Internet?

When will I stop using shitty filters? NEVER!

So all over twitter and facebook, (because I follow the beers...) has been buzz about epic orcon. Now granted most of the buzz was due to the free beer being offered at O'carrolls, but this buzz is deserved.

Epic is known for its hoppy beers, hoppy to the point of madness. Take the hop zombie for example. Its like trying to scrape your tongue with a sappy pine branch. Which can be a good thing, but only for a moment. This beer however is more of a session beer, I popped the lid and heavenly sweet hops wafted from the bottle. Good start. Aroma is everything, at least 70% of everything, 50% at the least...er anyway it smelled good. Also sweetness. The website calls it passion fruit, but my odd food pairing (sesame seaweed salad ooops) didn't let me come to that conclusion'straight away. But thanks to the power of suggestion as as the last drops go down, I can say that passionfruit is a fair call. There's a great balance with the malt here. Round smooth, exquisite mouthfeel. Very silky. Full body, not too much bitter after taste, beautiful balance, should have bought two and only $7.99 at Forest Hill Liqourland, which is the BEST craft beer stockist on the shore.

I pour to minimise head, cause I don't like sipping foam that much.

First batch of Home Brew

I know my husband loves me because he pays attention to the things I love and encourages me to pursue my dreams.

Friday afternoon I found myself at the courier depot picking up a surprise parcel! It was a Coppertun home brew starter kit, everything you need (except bottles) to brew a batch of beer. Giddy with excitement I could barely drive home, so I drove to the home brew shop instead and picked up some 750 bottles in anticipation of bottling.

Its still pretty wintery here, so I was a bit concerned about fermentation but the brew shop lady was overflowing with knowledge and rest assured my brew will ferment even if it takes a bit longer than usual.

Is it just me or is the picture on the box somewhat misleading......

First I sterilised everything, even the can opener. No way in hell is my first batch of beer going to be contaminated with rogue micro-organisms only the sweet little brewers yeasties allowed.

Then I mixed up the malt, dextrose/hops mix (smells so good) and filled to make 23L of brown goodness.

Temperature gage indicates around 20C so all good for brewing, now I just have to wait a couple of weeks and I'll be ready to bottle.

11/8/12
Mangrove Jack's Munich Lager
27062-245-26-00 Best Before 28-06-14

Mixed with Coppertun beer essentials German lager.60 Malt, dextrose and hops dry mix.

And Mangrove Jack's supplied yeast sprinkled on top.

21/8/12
Gravity 1.012 (forgot to take initial reading DUH!!!)
28/8/12
Gravity 1.011 (its still bubbling away beer takes ages. the kit instructions LIE!)
10/9/12
Gravity 1.010 (still bubbling, COME ON BEER!!!)
15/9/12
Gravity 1.0075 (still bubbling and using a new hydrometer)
16/9/12
Gravity 1.0070 (seems slightly lower than yesterday, am I imagining things? maybe...maybe.)
17/9/12
Gravity 1.0075 ( I suck at reading hydrometers.)
20/9/12
Gravity 1.006 (definitely lower, and bubbling has slowed way down!)
23/9/12
Bottled! 27 x 750ml bottles.
3/10/12
10 days later and the beer is looking very clear indeed! really starting to mature. I'm think at least another 11 days till I test a bottle.

23L of beery goodness just waiting to happen.

Brunch at Pear Tree

Eggs Benny $15.5
Mushrooms on toast $15
Flat White $3.9
Latte $4.5
Steinlager Premium light $7
Total $45.90 (A bit less than I pay for a breakfast out in Auckland at somewhere like the Papermoon cafe)

I only just found out that the house now know as the Pear Tree was previously owned by distant relatives and my mother used to spend nights there as a child. But now its a wonderful place to eat and if you're ever in Kerikeri stop by!

Its conveniently located at THE tourist hot spot stone store and Kemp house, but doesn't suffer from tourist trap prices and the food is excellent. Its so good I went twice, once for lunch and back again the next day for brunch. Who can resist sitting in the sun watching the water and perving at the tourists?

The seared scallop salad thing i had for lunch was perfect, the whole thing was deliciously, loads of different flavours all working together to make me wish I'd ordered two. They have Stoke amber and golden lager on tap, plus Guiness and a selection of reasonably priced wines. 

This is where our holiday fund went.......

Half done

All done

Edge before the stairs to the back garden. Drains take a sharp curve and runs down the side of the steps under some concrete.

Now theres the leaking pipe in the backyard to be dug up and fixed and hurrah! ALL done! All up $3700  incl GST.

Going to The Pub

My mums partner has returned to OZ for work because he just couldn't make enough money in NZ. Fair enough wages here are pretty bad compared with the ever increasing cost of living. One things my mum mentioned that really hit home for me is that they often found they had to decline shouting a round or avoid going out with friends because it was too expensive. I know the feeling, I couldn't afford to buy other people drinks that's for sure. I can't really afford to go out for lunch/dinner unless I have a coupon. (Yay grab one!)

I've of a couple of workmates who seem to manage to go out several times a week and I get regaled with tales of restaurants and bars. Ah to lead a life where I could just go out if I didn't feel like cooking.

So what does a pub lunch on the North Shore of Auckland cost?

Macs Brew Bar Hurstmere road
Rustic Pizza $21
Hand cut chunky fries $8
2 x Pints $17
Total $46 (I paid only $26 thanks to a grabone voucher)

The pizza and fries could have fed 3 people though, we certainly didn't finish it all. If we'd had two beers each the price would have rocketed to $63. $63 for beers,pizza and chips? Does that sound reasonable
thats about;

$51 (US)
£32 (GB)
€39
$50 (AUS)
$51 (CAN)


So is NZ expensive or just expensive compared to my wages? Is it reasonable to assume an average worker could afford to go out for a meal once a week? Or am I trying to aspire to a lifestyle way beyond my means,  has my generation come to expect too much?