Following on from my previous entry - the homebrew brewed out in about 4 days. My friend said that you can tell when it has finished brewing because the carbon dioxide stops bubbling out the fermentation lock. Another perhaps more accurate way to determine that the brew is ready for bottling is to use a hydrometer.

From here we performed the following steps:

1. Check all the bottles for mould by pearing inside the neck of the bottles. It is important to check not only the bottom of the bottle but also the sides as mould can ruin your beer.
2. Use a ratio of 1 teaspoon of sterilisation powder to 1 litre of water and pour the liquid via a funnel into each bottle. Then rinse the bottles out with water.
   
3. To initiate the second fermentation process, put 1 level teaspoon of sugar in each bottle. This process is where the beer gets its fizz.
4. Cap the bottles. I was recommended to use a bottle-capper but I do know of others who successfully use the screw tops that came with their beer bottles.
5. Store the bottles in a stable, warm enviroment, such as a hot water cupboard for 2-3 months. I initially stored mine for 2 months but found that when I opened them, a lot of the beer fizzed out the top and was wasted. If this happens, the beer needs to be left longer, perhaps for an additional 2 weeks, and then tested again until they don't fizz out any longer.
6. Now your beer is ready to enjoy!

N.B. You will need to get a beer glass in order to truly enjoy your homebrew beer and you will also need to learn how to pour your beer properly. This is because there is sediment that settles at the bottom of the bottle and which you don't want to drink (it tastes awful!).

As some of you may be aware, this recipe is licensed under a Creative Commons License, which means you can copy and use it any way you like, as long as you attribute me as the author. As an side, these generous folk have also opensourced their beer making process.

On Saturday afternoon, with the help of a friend I made homebrew beer for the first time (for those of you who are unawares, it's not illegal to make homebrew in New Zealand). The homebrew kits come with instructions but my friend, who is an experienced homebrewer, knew a better methodology that results in a better tasting beer.

For future reference and for the benefit of my readership, here are the steps we followed (these instructions are for making a 23 litre homebrew):

1. Place the fermentation lock inside the fermentation vessel. Then mix 1 teaspoon of sterilising powder with 2 litres of water and pour into the fermentation vessel.
   
2. Swirl and rinse out the sterilising liquid from the fermentation vessel and then rinse out the fermentation vessel and fermentation lock with water. Using the same method, clean all the homebrew equipment (i.e. the brewpot, cutlery, measuring containers, your hands, etc). It's imperative that all your equipment be sterilised prior to making the brew! After rinsing out the fermentation lock with water, fill a wine glass with sterilising liquid and place the fermentation lock inside the mouth of the glass balanced on the rim with its bung in the liquid (this is to ensure the fermentation lock remains sterilised).
   
3. Fill the brewpot with 1.5kgs of sugar and 1 litre of water and place on a stove element. Turn the element up to half heat and allow the sugar to slowly melt into the water. We want the liquid in the brewpot to get just slightly warmer than body temperature.
4. Fill a sink with hot water and place the homebrew can on its side in the hot water - this is to warm up the malt in the can so we can more easily pour it into our brew.
   
5. Pour the malt into the brewpot and mix slowly until the malt is completely dissolved into the liquid.
6. Pour 19 litres of cold water into the fermentation vessel and then pour in the contents of your brewpot.
7. Pour the yeast sachet over top of the liquid in the fermentation vessel and seal up the lid and put in the fermentation lock.
8. Place in your brewing fridge or brewing cupboard and leave for 4 days. In our case we used an old fridge (that wasn't turned on!) with a heat pad underneath the fermentation vessel.

Translation (German): 'What did I bake in the Knapp bakehause'.
I've been so busy over the last week-or-so - mainly preparing a public lecture for last Sunday. Over that time I baked a few items, namely some ginger crunch, a couple of chocolate cakes, and I just finished baking some oat cookies. All of my critics, of which I am foremost, thought the fruits of my labours were great.

Update: I forgot to mention that I also made some caramel corn.

How about some anecdotal evidence? When I am out witnessing my lips are so numb from the cold that I find trouble speaking. Last Thursday, after opening the shower window to let out some of the moisture, the steam that had condensed and formed into droplets on the window froze before it had an opportunity to drop onto the ground! When the wind is cutting through you like a knife, would you find it easy to think about anything else? ;-)
On a more positive note, Miho, our friend Mariko and myself went to a Danish bakery today called Copenhagen Bakery and were greeted with a taste sensation. I had a Steak & Cheese pie and a Mixed Berry pie and Miho and Mariko had a Panini each. If you're a local and haven't been yet, I'd highly recommend it.

We invited some good friends over on Monday night to help us devour the two crayfish we'd received from my fishing trip on Sunday morning. After liasing with Mum I prepared them as follows: I boiled them until red, cut them in half down the middle of their belly and cleared out the 'poo sack'; put some cheese on top and grilled them. We also garnished them with a special sauce, which consisted of a tablespoon of flour, half a cup of milk, half a cup of cream, and a cube of melted butter. The 'taste sensation' was absolutely divine. I also had a third attempt at making an apple pie and this time I 'hit the jackpot'! Our guests also said the apple pie was 'delicious'.