I am still working on my baguette techniques. For such a simple bread, it is one of the hardest to perfect. For this last batch I made myself a baguette peel to transfer my dough from the couche to my baking pan.
I use a very simple recipe, which follows the French Baguette making laws.
500 grams flour, 360 grams water, 1 tsp yeast, 8 grams salt. I mix the ingredients, give the dough a couple of turns during the first few hours, and then leave overnight in the fridge.
I good hilly ride in the west county. Sweetwater and Mill Creek. It has been awhile since I climbed up Mill Creek. It is very different since the last fire. Lots of plots for sale and lots of charcoaled trees. I was looking forward to seeing the old Venado post office at the top of Mill Creek, but alas, it no longer existed.
Finished the ride at our favorite winery. Martorana Family Winery. Did a little tasting and had a picnic.
It was a beautiful day to get out for a ride in West Sonoma County. I am lucky enough to have this loop right outside my front door. During the summer, this can be quite a hot climb, since you are exposed to the sun with not too much of a breeze. The back side of Sweetwater Road is almost as gnarly as it was over 30 years ago when Claire and I climbed it on our original Burley tandem. If memory serves me, back then it was a gravel climb and I think I remember breaking our rear axle somewhere out there. Sweetwater Loop
This is one of my favorite recipes. I have made this beer a half dozen times and have been happy with it each time. For those of you who don’t know about about Saisons, here is a brief description. A Saison is a Farmhouse Ale which was originally brewed for drinking by European farmers and their worker during the late summer harvests. It originally was a lower alcohol beer, but these days that is not always true.
This is now one of my favorite loops. I have done it twice and look forward to adding some variations to it. It is perfect for a gravel bike or a mountain bike. There is a very steep climb up to the top of the ridge so an easy gear makes that more enjoyable. You do spend a tiny bit of time on the road but they are lightly traveled roads. Coleman Valley Road is a good example, narrow, but lightly traveled. Here is a link to my Garmin Data. Willow Creek Loop. I do take a sharp right hand turn right before the bottom of Old Barn Trail. It is a nice, bumpy trail that drops you off lower down Willow Creek Road.
Well, according to my records, I have been brewing beer for 12 years now. Thanks to my son and wife for surprising me on my birthday with a starter kit from The Beverage People in Santa Rosa.
The first couple of batches were made from extract in the kitchen.
Luckily, 4 months later I inherited a gravity feed system that had belonged to a friend of ours who was tired of making beer. I also ended up with a kegging system that really changed everything. No more bottling, just hook up the CO2 and stick it in the fridge.
I acquired a Giant Revolt this summer. It is a total departure from my typical rides. Carbon frame, carbon wheels (replaced), and WiFi SRAM drivetrain. I have really enjoyed the versatility of the bike. I built a set of traditional wheels with some DT Swiss hubs I had lurking in one of my boxes of old parts, installed some 700 x 45 WTB tires, and changed out the saddle.
First off, the SRAM WiFi shifting is amazing. I get to test ride lots of bikes, and have always felt that I was fine with my older Campy 10 speed shifters on my Cannondale SuperSix. I liked the fact that I could pull them apart if they felt sluggish and put in a couple of inexpensive springs and they felt like new. The SRAM shifting is awesome and very intuitive. One shifter goes to higher gear, one goes to lower, and both change front rings.
The carbon Giant frame is quite comfy and the d-fuse seatpost really flexes to absorb the vibrations from the road and trail. The day of the picture below I did a bunch of rocky single track around Fallen Leaf Lake. The only time I was uncomfortable was the downhills. I did run the tires down to around 35 psi, which helped out a bunch.
It has been a couple of months since my last brew day and we are running low in the basement fridge. I decided to make a typical IPA like usual and an ESB which would be lower alcohol and be ready to drink in a couple of weeks. Claire and I visited the Beverage People in Santa Rosa for all of our supplies a couple of weeks ago. I had a package of San Diego Super yeast left over from my last brewing. I made a couple of yeast starters two days before hand. The first beer went off without a hitch. Everything was spot on with my mash temperature at 152 and mashing out at 170.
The second beer, which was the ESB was a different story. I was A little distracted during the mashout and ended up getting almost 15 gallons of sweet wart instead of 10 or 11. Thank goodness I have a 15 gallon keg to boil in. So it may turn out to be a little lighter beer, but that is sort of what you want from an English ESB.
Beer # 95
Date Feb 12, 2018
Yeast San Diego Super Yeast
Grain Bill
25 lbs American 2-row
2 lbs Crystal 20 malt
2 lbs Carapils
2 lbs Corn sugar
Hop Schedule
10 ml Hop Extract 1h
2 oz Centennial 0h 15m
2 oz Amarillo 15m
2 oz Citra 15m
2 oz Simcoe 15m
4 oz Citra Dry hop
2 oz Simcoe Dry hop
2 oz Amarillo Dry hop
Beer # 96
Date Feb 12, 2018
WLP#002 English Ale Yeast with starter
Grain Bill
17 lbs English pale malt
2 lbs Carastan malt 35l 1.050
12 oz Golden brown sugar
.5 lbs Special roast 50l
12 oz Malt extract
Hop Schedule
2 oz Kent goldings 60 min
2 oz Kent goldings 30 min
2 oz Kent goldings 5 min
2 oz Kent goldings 60 min
2 oz Kent goldings 30 min
2 oz Kent goldings 5 min
Eric and I went out and did this loop together. It was quite a ride with 5800 feet of climbing in 48 miles. Here is a link to the loop.
As you can see we climbed up out of Armstrong Woods and made our way over to the top of Mill Creek. We even added in Sweetwater Road at the end. We had about a dozen creek crossings much to Eric’s dismay.
