TongoRad

Congratulations on a fine first batch! 3/4 cup of priming sugar should be plenty for a 5 gallon batch. The first things that pop into my head as to what could have gone wrong are : 1-not enough time allowed, 2-they were stored in too cold a spot, or 3-that the sugar wasn't well distributed before bottling. I doubt that it was the second option at this time of year- how long did you wait before popping one open? Hopefully your problem will resolve itself in a few weeks. Please post back with some more details, including how you incorporated the priming sugar before bottling.

I recently had one of these and it was just killer. Mine had a little more char than the one pictured, but to me that is a very good thing. I was reminded of the bread that the Trini places use for their 'doubles'- flaky/stretchy and sort of oily in a good way. I got some of the zhoug to go along with the tomato relish, and that really made it for me. If I were close by at lunchtime I'd get one of these a week and never tire of it.

I'm glad that you posted back Cook456 because in googling Abma's I realized that I had them confused with another place- apologies. The one we went to was Alstede Farms in Chester. The directions on the site bring you to the main location with the store and the animals and the attractions for the kids. Inside is where we were given the directions to the pick-your-own farm not too far away. (I didn't see that info on the website but must confess that I didn't look at it too thoroughly.)

Thanks for the replies helenjp and Hiroyuki. It looks like we have more rain on the way and that may seal the deal for me. I'll just harvest what I can from now and hope for the best. Sorry to hear about the mint and cherry tomatoes.

Help! I need some advice, quick. Recently we have gotten a lot of rain in a short period of time and a lot of my tomatoes that are sitting halfway ripened on the plants have started to split their skins. What is the best way to handle this situation? Do I leave them on the vine to ripen and hope that insects don't find them and/or they start to rot? Or do I remove them and find some way to ripen them indoors?

If you have easy access to the GSP, Demarest Farms (not in Demarest, fwiw) isn't too far from the exit and has good apple and pumpkin picking. Good cider donuts, too The last few years we have also starting to go to a place (I think it is just called "The Orchards") in Pomona NY- very easy to get to via the PIP. We did Abma's a couple of years back and it was a great day for the little ones. There are two locations not too far from one another- one of which is used for pick your own pumpkins and berries. I don't think they do apples.

I'm definitely game for this one (thanks, Chris). At the moment I have some maseca in the house, as well as both corn husks and banana leaves. I'll probably use Mark Miller's recipe for the base tamale- it's always a crowd pleaser and I happen to love butter with any form of corn. I've also got some roasted red chiles straight from the garden sitting in the freezer waiting to be used in something. Sounds like a perfect match.

Something tells me that this one is going to be a "now you see it, now you don't" phenomenon on the east coast. I only hope that people don't start hoarding it before I have a chance to

The N2/Co2 systems are being used for almost all kegs in every bar I've worked. It's becoming a generic term to call this gas mixture "beer gas." So I can't see that as being the sole reason for the thickness associated with Guiness. Also, I've never seen a Guiness keg stored seperately from the other beer kegs. They keep all of the kegs in the same cooler. Also, in any of the bars I've worked there has never been a seperate draught tower for Guiness, it is always shared with other beers. I've had oatmeal stout and the head is very thick to start but it disappears eventually. With Guiness the head stays for way to long to not be artificially assited. ← The oatmeal stouts do not have the combination of being brewed with unmalted barley along with the Nitro- in fact the oats are a detriment to head retention. Check out this article: BYO- Fabulous Foam also (emphasis mine): I would guess the phenomenon people are associating with Guinness also applies to other Irish stouts such as Murphy's and Beamish when served on nitro. There is such a thing as a head promoter (alginate esters) added for foam stability, but these beers don't need it due to their makeup.

mtigges: Dextrins are probably worth noting, but it is the proteins that do the heavy lifting: From The Complete Handbook of Home Brewing by Dave Miller (re: lack of body)- dsoneil: Gelatin, isinglass and other finings are added for clarity- they aid in getting the yeast and any other solids out of the beer and are not meant to be a part of the final product at all, so it is not really an 'additive' per se.

Draft Guinness is definitely a low gravity beer. There is a two-part answer to your question (I'll just give a Readers Digest version): 1- Proteins. They are responsible for both head retention and body in a beer, and if not broken down properly during the mash process can even give a cloudy appearance. The process of malting the barley will also break the available proteins down, particularly in modern highly modified malts. Irish stouts like Guinness have both unmalted barley and roasted unmalted barley as a good portion of their grist, so the proteins therein will have a greater impact on the palate and head than one would expect from a similar low gravity beer. (Higher gravity beers- more pounds of grain per gallon- will come across as having a more full palate just because there is more of everything in there.) 2- Nitro 'blend' instead of CO2 carbonation (draft, widget package) gives a creamier mouthfeel and richer head. Hops probably also play a role, but not to the extent of the two mentioned above. Just out of curiosity- what stouts would you say seem watery or thin to you?

The Gumballhead and Summerfest are summer seasonals, the only ones on the list to technically fall under that heading. Nevertheless, I prefer not to get too hung up on that sort of thing either. The difference with these two is simply one of freshness as they aren't produced the rest of the year. Coincidentally I just picked up what will probably be my last sixer of Summerfest this year and it's still drinking mighty fine. Three Floyds are available in Fort Lee, NJ- just over the GWB from NYC- although I haven't seen any of their seasonals there. The incredible Alpha King is worth going out of one's way for, though.

She may not be growing the hot type, which isn't such a bad thing. When I used to order from NM I always got half of a box mild/ half hot. The milds have a much thicker wall so that you could leave them whole and make rellenos, and they're flavorful as hell. If you're ordering you should look into going half/half- use the hots for the burgers and the milds for other applications.

Daniel- your quest for the perfect green chile cheeseburger came to mind last weekend as I was harvesting these babies from the garden. I wound up roasting them and putting the flesh (whole, not chopped up) on some 6 oz. 80% chuck burgers. The cheese I used was yer averidge mozzarella so as not to compete with the flavor of the peppers, and everything else was pretty minimal (just a little schmear of butter on the bun). The best part was that these chiles were hot- and I've already got a bunch more in the freezer. I'm thinking of stepping up to a thick slice of buffalo mozzarella next time- it goes so well with roasted red peppers of any type.

I just don't think the distinction really needs to be made, myself, and the whole thing just smacks of defensiveness. Comparing a specific varietal like pinot gris to a catchall category like pale ale really doesn't make the case in any event. Also- if one were to seriously tackle this topic I would think the way to go about it is not by comparing source ingredients, but by comparing the end results.

The only things I am growing this year aside from my many herbs are chiles and yellow tomatoes. The yellows are starting to become ready to harvest and I am happy with how they are. The chiles are a different story- first insects got to the plants, and then the deer ate quite a bit of the greenery. This all happened when the chiles were about halfway grown so they started to turn red prematurely. It's not a total disaster because they are edible and quite hot. If only, if only... Anyway- here's what I got so far:

I noticed just tonight that Mi Pueblo is no more- there is a sign up indicating the change to the new name of El Paso II as of this past Thurs. Whether that means a significant change or not I cannot say because I just noticed it from the window of the market across the street and didn't go in... I just thought it was worth noting for now.

Excellent- I'll mark my calendar. Thanks, Jason.

Bump! Does anybody have any information about when the Food Fair is scheduled for this year? I'd hate to miss it again and their website doesn't have it posted. Thanks.

[Pee Wee Herman Voice] I meant to do that [/PWHV] On your nose, or In? Cuz I've actually done the letter a few times and probably will do it again. I'd say that it comes with the territory, so you're definitely not alone.

Thanks Audiofan2- I've been meaning to post back. It's still too coarse for my tastes so I'm going to give it a while to condition. That'll teach me to overdo it with hops that I am unfamiliar with, but I am confident that time will serve it well. Here is a shot from last night (apologies for the low-light blurriness, but the clarity and color are well represented, I think.) Ironically, my next batch will probably be ready before this one is. I am planning a Porter, and the heat wave of the past few weeks have convinced me to put it off for a few more weeks. My issues with the heat are: - the boil really heats and steams up the kitchen too much for comfort - my tap water for the immersion cooler was clocking in at around 70F - even my cellar ambient temperature was too high to ferment. This can be worked around, however by fermenting in my wine cooler with a thermostat attachment. So that's the plan- brew a small enough batch to fit the fermenter in the cooler, probably using a keg as a fermenter. I'll be steeping some grains this time, but not doing a full mash. Sometime in the fall I should be teaming up with another brewer who has the full 'cajun cooker' type setup. I'm really looking forward to that one.

That was my first thought as well. I've overdone it with saffron in rice before and I probably used less than you did. (It's something I would recommend that you do just once, actually, just to get a real sense of what it tastes and smells like. At that point you will be able to detect it with no trouble in more subtle amounts). Here in the NYC area one can get excellent quality saffron in Indian markets at very affordable prices.

Thanks for posting back, Rachel. Too bad I can't get there today, but I will soon enough.

Geez, man- that looks really good. And right up my alley, too. I can see myself going there today, actually (my normal Friday routine is to skip lunch and make it back over the GWB by 3pm or so. Usually it's a quick stop for some tacos in Bergenfield or dogs at Jolly Nick's on the way home.) Something tells me that if I get that schwarma I won't be having dinner tonight... Anyway, thanks for the heads-up.

With any luck you'll have a view of the sewage treatment plant, or even the sanitation depot FWIW- Bayside is on the opposite side of Queens from JFK. There is a small JFK thread here- you may get more hits if you post your request there. The short answer to your question about hidden top flight restaurants in the area is 'no', although there is good food of many other stripes. I'd be happy to toss some ideas if you decide to stay local.