Chest Freezer Kegerator Project

Bottling is my least favorite part of the homebrewing process. Last week, Cheryl helped me bottle the Cherry Wheat I started in June. It took us about 3 hours to clean, sanitize, fill and cap the 50 bottles, and then clean and stow the equipment. It’s time consuming and a lot of work. Fortunately, there’s an alternative: kegging.

In order to get the most out of kegging, I’ll need a kegerator. I was considering a compact refrigerator conversion project (like this), but I’m hesitant to drill big holes in a brand new appliance. While doing some research, I came across a better [for me, at least] plan: the chest freezer kegerator. It’s simple, practical, and completely reversible.

After shopping around a bit, I settled on an 8.9 cubic foot Whirlpool freezer (EHL090FXRQ). It’s the perfect size for 5 cornelius kegs and a 5 pound CO2 tank (on the compressor hump). It weighs about 90 pounds, and has a fairly small footprint. I’m planning on putting it on casters so I can roll it around the basement.

Yesterday I acquired the freezer, a thermostat, kegerator conversion kit and a pair of corny kegs. Today, I’m heading back to Lowe’s for some lumber and miscellaneous hardware, stain and some roundover bits for my new router.

I’ll post pictures as the project progresses.

(photo: stevem_nyvi)

Fixing Mobile Me on OS X 10.4.11

We’ve never had much use for .Mac, but now that our iPhones are on their way (ordered yesterday), we thought we’d give Mobile Me a try. Apple’s new synchronization service stumbled out of the gate on Friday, but it seems to be running smoothly now.

If you’re trying to set up Mobile Me on Tiger, you’re probably getting an error: “There was a problem with the sync operation” and “.Mac login failed“. After a little tinkering, I was able to find a simple solution.

Here’s the procedure:

1. Close System Preferences
2. Open your Home Folder and navigate to Library > Preferences.
3. Delete the following files (they’ll be re-created automatically):
   • com.apple.DotMacSync.plist
   • com.apple.dotmactranslator.plist
4. Open System Preferences

That’s it! Mobile Me now works fine on OS X 10.4.11.

Leave a quick comment if you found this useful.

Northern Michigan Vacation 2008

Cheryl and I just returned from a fantastic week in Northern Michigan. We went up for a wedding in Copper Harbor on Saturday, and visited some of our state’s more beautiful sights on the way home.

An Experiment: MacGyver Mead

My last post got me thinking about ways to get started without a trip to the homebrew supply shop. I came up with a recipe that uses readily-available ingredients and common household items. I’m still quite the novice, so if someone with more experience happens to read this, please share your comments.

MacGyver Mead (melomel, actually)

Supplies                    Empty 2 liter bottle & cap Empty 20 oz bottle & cap Plastic tubing Funnel Household bleach Rubber bands Duct tape

Ingredients                    1 pound honey 12 oz pineapple juice 8-10 raisins, chopped bread yeast

Procedure after the jump.

Homebrew Economics: Mead

I picked up some commercial mead at my local market yesterday. A 750mL bottle cost $11.99. When I ran the numbers, I found the same quantity can be made at home for $1.39. As an added bonus, the end product comes with the pride of knowing I crafted it myself. 

I already had most of what I needed. If you’re starting from scratch, a modest investment is required …

Startup Costs – Equipment and Supplies

1 gallon glass jug	$4.25
#6 stopper – drilled	$0.70
Fermentation lock	$1.10
Plastic tubing	$3.95
Auto siphon	$8.25
Funnel (with strainer)	$4.75
Capper	$11.95
Equipment Total	$34.95
Sanitizer (Star San)	$8.25
Caps	$2.25
Gypsum	$0.80
Acid Blend	$1.20
Yeast Nutrient	$1.50
Irish Moss	$1.00
Supplies Total	$15.00

Actually, not all of this stuff is completely necessary. You can use household bleach as a sanitizer, for example. Raisins can be substituted for yeast nutrient. A simple racking cane is cheaper than an auto siphon, and you can make an airlock with plastic tubing and a jar of water.

You’ll also need:

• A stock pot
• A plastic spoon
• Some beer bottles (not twist-top)

Once you’ve cleared the entry barrier, mead is cheap:

Ingredient Costs (per 1-gallon batch)

Honey (3 pounds)	$6.21
Yeast (Lalvin EC-1118)	$0.75
Ingredients Total	$6.96

One gallon makes about five 750mL bottles. Including equipment, supplies and ingredients, your first batch will cost $11.38 per bottle. After that, it’s about $1.39 for 750mL.

Your local homebrew supply shop can help you get started.

Now Fermenting: Pineapple Melomel

On Sunday, I made my first foray into honey wine with a 1-gallon batch of Pineapple Melomel. I scaled down Papazian’s Traditional Mead recipe and added an entire fresh pineapple (sliced). In hindsight, I probably should have left out the acid blend, since I was adding an acidic fruit. The pineapple was very sweet, though, so there’s plenty of room for hope.

Up next is a 5-gallon batch of sparkling raspberry ginger mead.

One Remote to Rule Them All

Our home theater has 7 remotes: DVD, TV, Cable Box, AV Receiver, Netflix Player, AV Switch and Apple TV. Up until yesterday, they all sat on the coffee table in one big pile of clutter. Simple tasks like turning on the TV required 3 separate remotes. Even watching TV was a juggling act, because volume controls were separate from the cable box remote.

Some of these remotes are programmable, but none of them is truly universal. This one is:

We invested some of our economic stimulus payment in the Logitech Harmony One advanced universal remote. It showed up yesterday. After about an hour of setup, the pile of individual remotes was relocated to a drawer. All that’s left is the Harmony One and its cradle.

When you pick it up, the remote’s touch screen turns on and presents a list of activities: Watch TV, Watch DVD, Watch Netflix, Watch Apple TV. Press “Watch TV”, and it turns on the TV, sets the input to Component 1, turns on the AV receiver, sets the input to DTV/Cable, and turns on the cable box. The volume controls are configured for the AV receiver, and everything else talks to the cable box.

Press “Watch Netflix”, and it sets the AV receiver to “DVD”, turns on the AV switch, sets the AV switch to input 3, and wakes the Roku Netflix Player. The volume controls do what they’re supposed to, and everything else talks to the Roku like you would expect.

So far, my only complaint is that the configuration software is total garbage. Every task must be completed through a setup wizard. Making small adjustments requires way more work than it should. It’s obnoxious. Fortunately, you only have to do it once.

Overall, a good purchase. Less mess, more ease of use.

A Prairie Home Companion

Cheryl and I were in the audience for tonight’s live broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion. We’re not the most dedicated of listeners, but we jumped at the opportunity to see the show in person. We weren’t disappointed. It was a fun evening and a memorable experience.

One of the things that struck me was how laid back the production was. The show is heard by 4 million listeners on 380 radio stations. I expected more announcements and audience cues. We were told nothing – not even to turn off our cell phones.

If you’ve heard the radio show and seen the movie, the live performance is not unlike what you might expect. Garrison Keillor arrived on stage a few minutes before airtime to warm up the audience, and then, without much ado, the broadcast began. And from there, what you heard was what we saw, except it’s a whole different experience in person.

We really enjoyed ourselves — it was a great show.

Tim Russert, 1950-2008

It’s hard to believe Tim Russert is gone. He was more than a journalist. He was a fixture and an institution. The political universe will be forever deprived by his absence.

Roku Netflix Player

Most Netflix subscribers are familiar with their “Watch Instantly” feature. It allows unlimited access to a growing library of movies and TV shows, streamed over the Internet at no additional charge. This is stupefyingly awesome, except for two limitations: (1) no one really likes watching movies on a computer, and (2) it requires Windows (we use Macs). The Roku Netflix Player addresses both of these problems. Ours arrived today.

This compact set-top-box plugs into your TV (composite, component or HDMI), and uses your wired or wireless network to stream video directly from your “Instant” queue to your living room. It requires a high speed Internet connection and an Unlimited Netflix account. It’s easy to setup and even easier to use. Video quality is outstanding, with no noticeable difference from DVD quality.

The price tag, just $100, makes it damn near irresistible. If you’re getting your money’s worth out of your Netflix subscription, the Roku Player is well worth the investment.

Edit: Two hours later, and the gadget buzz has already worn off. I’m getting an error: “Unable to connect to Netflix”. Are they having trouble accommodating the influx of new users, or is something broken? Is this a sign of things to come? I’ll be seriously bummed if it is.

Another Edit: It’s working fine now.