HP does have the edge and it can be used to clean your teeth, if you have run out of toothpaste and Irn Bru, which I suppose also gives it added utility.
Of course some folk swear by dried HP diluted with Irn Bru...
The "new season bok beer" is a pleasure I have yet to encounter. Always good to have something to look forward to before dementia finally resolves the rage.
Cheers guys - I'm away for the day.
When do you start the new job LaRit and will you be able to be online at work?
The least coveted prize in literature is traditionally awarded to novelists. However, the judges have made an exception for the former Prime Minister and his toe-curling reminiscences about a night of passion with Cherie. "That night she cradled me in her arms and soothed me; told me what I needed to be told; strengthened me," he wrote in A Journey. "On that night of 12 May 1994, I needed that love Cherie gave me, selfishly. I devoured it to give me strength. I was an animal following my instinct..."
""On that night of 12 May 1994, I needed that love Cherie gave me, selfishly. I devoured it to give me strength. I was an animal following my instinct..."
swifty -- not the greatest laugh, but the best i found on me morning stroll thru the papers ... still it's good to know he's getting some sort of 'justice' ... Cider-season approaches , firewood, veg garden, must go to ' work '.
Allready under way. 56 Gallon barrel full to the gunnels two weeks ago. Purely organic method, and the first time we've attempted to make some fally down scrumpy.
Estimated abv 7.2. Fermentation over, so next summer we are either going to have a load of cider vinegar, or just be legless for weeks on end.
Morning everyone, exam went as well as expected, which is to say it was a disaster, but never mind the relief of finishing almost makes up for the fact that I will have to resit in April if I don't want to have wasted my time.
jen -- at least you got there. Well done for that! swifty -- puuting anything else with my cider would be like a whisky coke made with a single malt ...
Well Dave, we are all novices at this game. Use of tinternet to glean any pearls of wisdom so far has led us to the following:
Leave the barrell open to the air to start fermentation. Air bourn yeast will hopefully kick start the process. [It did] leave open for two to three days [by this time a lovely foam is spewing out the barrell].
Put Bung in. Leave till next year - keeping an eye on temperature.
Our chief brewer did take the SG, (don't know what it was), and predicted the 7.2.
None of us have discussed 'Sulfiting' as an option yet. Maybe I should raise this process at the next brewers convention down the pub tonight !
tascia -- Andrew Lea's book is pretty much the bible on craft cider-making, do you know it ?
I used to do it all in one go into the barrel, and bottle at SG 1008 to 1025 (explosive....).
Now I rack off from a plastic container, leaving behind the brown foam and the sludge , into oak or plastic .It'll still be fermenting so the foolproof way is an airlock . Bung firmly when it's stopped fermenting .
The more air-contact the more risk of vinegaring !
"...leaving behind the brown foam and the sludge... It'll still be fermenting so the foolproof way is an airlock. Bung firmly when it's stopped fermenting..."
Good advice for the Duke there, mate - if that doesn't sort his "post-drink up guts" out, I don't know what will.
What a great web site - Thanks for that link. A good few hours reading through that lot before taking newly gleaned knowledge to the Master Brewers Convention tonight !
tascia -- thought you'd appreciate it ! Andrew is the worldwide (anglosphere) cider-making authority. With the amount of energy invested picking washing crushing your 350 odd kg of apples, I'd recommend his c£10 book to get it right :)
Around here ( opposite jersey ) we drink very little straight from the barrel, but bottle and crown-cork in 'champenoises', where it re-ferments to evolve further in taste and sparkle. Nothing like most of what the brits call cider -- which is glucose syrup and applejuice concentrate and water, and would get you into trouble with trading standards here !
Traditional cider-makers used to hang a leg of mutton or a side of beef in the fermenting vat to boost the nutrient levels. The meat broke down slowly in the acid juice, releasing soluble amino nitrogen which the yeast could use for growth. The supposed requirement of a few dead rats in every vat is a more colourful manifestation of the same idea!
I always thought the addition of a rat or two ee was for tourists only. An urban myth !
You lot in the UK think you've got problems with Blair's sexual references. Over here, we've got mummified-Mekon lookalike ex-president Giscard claiming to have shagged Lady Di. Now that really is due cause to be a little bit sick in your mouth.
Berlin calling....just spent the day at the Bauhaus - completely wunderbar. Have been route marched about the city by the daughter and am now totally knackered and lolling on bar with free wifi. Hope all well. Speak soon
You are right Dave, a book is so much handier. So I've just bought a copy to pass on to our Master brewer. Mainly because I know he will prefer reading a book, rather than the web site.
After reading his web site, I do believe that now our cider is in the hands of the microbes. It could go either way. May the Gods of alcohol production smile sweetly upon us !!
Good luck Jay - you will be in full swing by now, though, I think.
And Benelyn - when I was a teenager we used to drink bottles of benelyn to get high. Was sniggering the other day in Boots when I saw a suitably long-haired teenager asking for two bottles of it because he had a "really bad cough".
Hah.
Dave - I love French cidre. Knocks the socks off slimy old Strongbow et al, flavour wise. Are you making any calva? ;o)
That should have read lolling in rather than on bar - the on bit comes later... Che k point charlie is a hoot. If you're a bit onthe sad side and prepared to stump up 13 euros you can get your passport stamped with the old GDR and yank stamps!
I'm ashamed to say i always wanted to visit Berlin before the Wall came down and have found the idea less appealing since it did.(Am obviously glad that it did though.)Managed Vienna in the late 80's when it was a sleepy but affluent neutral backwater full of cream cakes and ferocious old ladies.Got stared a lot at which i put down to my stylish dress sense.We drove to the Hungarian border which was still im effect sealed then.Obviously weren't allowed to cross it.Vienna though had it's 'ghosts' which i put down to it's lost Jewish population.Anyways i hope you're having a good time.'Ich bin ein Berliner'!( I don't speak German but apparently mythology has it that when JFK said those words it sounded like 'I am a jelly doughnut')
thaum I detect a pattern here ! Tip: go to the car park, let their tyres down, then drive home. Acheivement value = 0, but you'll enjoy your evening more ;-)
In the buildup to the Iraq War, Tony Blair was given a briefing on the Gulf region. An analyst refered to the Mossadeq chapter, and Blair apparently asked, "Who is Mosadeq?"
BW - where I am at the moment is wanting to crack a few colleagues' heads together!
Know that feeling very well.For short term relief there's a lot to be said for the 'don't get mad get even' school of thought.Just make sure you don't get caught.
Don't know whether you can play links at work but when you're able see what you think about THIS.Personally prefer the Marley original but in this relativley recent clip Clapton proves he's no pushover.
Just finished bastard w*rk (only 3.5 hrs after I was supposed to). Expect desperate phone calls tomorrow, when I am not supposed to be working. And utter chaos on Monday morning.
Meanwhile my boiler is on the fritz and I haven't been able to get it fixed because of the w*rk issues.
All me mates are down the pub and I've missed the bus.
Yes, I was referring to his "novel", but apparently he was actually claiming it in real life too. It was a while ago, but it's still a revolting concept.
@Sheff
13 euros?!
I paid 5 euros for a DDR day entry and exit visa and six different stamps on a card last year! Guy at a table in full Volpo uniform by the Brandenburg Gate.
Evening all. Astonishing as it may seem to you, I find myself without a high-powered social engagement on a Friday night for the first time in about seventeen years! The countess was devastated that she had to cancel our discreet dîner pour deux at one of her family's castles, but I understand that if a Pekinese gets a slight chill on the chest then it can be quite serious, so I don't blame her at all. Unfortunately, all my usual chums are either in Antigua, Paris, Marrakech or El Salvador for the weekend so I'm at a bit of a loose end. It's an ill wind etc - so here I am!
I understand that congratulations are in order to Jennifer, Jay and LaRit for various educational/work related activities - so very well done, you chaps!
Here's a song for all the feminists here who aren't quite feminist enough for Cif (you know you are, and so does bitey!) It's Different For Girls
Ah, half-time in both games. (Ospreys are winning, hooray! Munster needs it. Tommy Bowe try - garn, ya Ulsterman!)
Scherfig, how terribly distressing that your countess has a sick puppy, and that all your other well-bred compadres are unavailable. I do hope you can console yourself with a few delicate sips of champers and perhaps some foie gras or caviare.
One of my fave choons - Joe Jackson was one of the most under-rated musicians of the 80s. Not to mention him not being included with all his brother in the Jackson Five.
. . .
What?
Hehehehe
OK - on a similar-ish vein, if we are going all 80s ish, let me lay this sax on you.
Hey, heyhabib, how are you? 'appen they got dominoes on t'internet. Have you tried that?
Yeah, BB, Joe Jackson was great. Although apparently MartynInEurope wasn't even aware that he was black, never mind in the Jackson Five! (Or even that he was from Portsmouth.)
thauma, I never eat foie gras (it's so passé darling). And I heard that they force-feed the kittens with mashed sardines through a huge balloon so that their livers actually explode. It's terribly cruel.
I know, Scherfig, I was making a similar point myself the other night ... and then hypocritically admitting to occasionally having pâté de foie gras.... ;-)
My husband calls it "tortured duck" and won't touch the stuff, and lectures me on my attitude and non-harming etc... but then in the summer he will spend his time chasing flies and killing them, so I think we are about evens in the hypocritical buddhist stakes.
Hi BB , from tortured duck to other factory-farmed etc meat, I trust Mr BB is a vegetarian ? Just picked up on the home-schooling at waddya, sounds most interesting !
Dave - no he isn't a vegetarian but we do try and buy "happy" meat, even though it means we eat less of it cos it is more expensive. I am the evil one with the foie gras though...
The lad is a vegan and lectures us at least once a day.
BB - Eating less of it is a good idea at any rate ! Despoiling half the world to provide cow pig and chicken feed for the 'rich' is unsustainable .
The Cheap Food argument is dépassé. That applied when say 30% of household income was on basic nosh, now it is far less AND also vastly inefficient and inferior.
We tried that argument with the lad, or a variation on it. When he first started his vegetarian ways at the age of about 9, and would complain about the poor lamb being taken away from its mother, we used to take the piss and say "Aww... that poor little baby carrot. It was all happy in the ground with its mummy and daddy til some evil person came along and wrenched it up, and now you're eating it..."
Hello everyone: at least someone is attempting to de-construct the lunacy of American foreign policy: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann--hari-obamas-robot-wars-endanger-us-all-2106931.html
Just had quick skim to catch up - Congrats - Jenni, La Rit and hopefully Jay too, I assume he turned up for his exam.
Shaz - glad son arrived intact though I never doubted he would. Hope he enjoys his stay as well as giving to others.
I'm putting in a word for Martyn - I was upset by his remarks to/about Paul - particularly as I had never encountered any racism in his comments previously.
I don't always understand his comments but I don't think he is a nasty guy.
Paul accepted his apology and that, for me, finishes it
The world is mad my friend - unfortunately we - those who should be the doctors with the cure - are too timorous to come forward with the necessary remedy.
This election season is truly depressing here in the US. Across the country, there are people who are batshit crazy, whose beliefs are somewhere to the right of Genghis Khan, who have a serious shot at winning their races.
People who believe that abortion and the morning-after pill should be illegal, people who are convinced that flouridated water is a government plot, that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was unconstitutional, that AIDS is a hoax (and, if they do actually believe that it exists, they think condoms do nothing to stop its spread).
A few weeks ago Tybo was talking here about his books - I mentioned children of 'Christians' being punished as therapy.
I first became aware of this when working with a very damaged little boy. Research led me to a movement in US known as 'Christian Domestic Discipline '. This has arrived here.
I call it child and wife beating but the proponents call it spanking - between husband and wife it reads as sexual violence by agreement - fine between adults so why dress it up ar religion?
One of the pastors says he believes in breaking the spirit of a child before the age of 12 months - so they won't defy God - which means the beatings start in babyhood.
I don't know how widespread this is but I can understand how people treated this way from babyhood lose the ability to think for themselves.
I once saw a programme about spanking children for God. The parents would go and hit the child regularly during the course of the day, as you say, to try and "break their spirit".
I can't remember the last time I saw something so utterly repugnant and distressing. These poor little kids would cower and start to whimper as soon as they saw the parent - usually the father, enter the room. Fucking animals.
Actually, scrub that, because it is unfair to animals.
It isn't just Christian fundamentalism, though. It's American fundamentalism -- and just like the Xian ones, the ironic bit is that they are totally wrong about what the country is meant to be.
It is very scary - things are being turned on their heads and are presented as both rational and inevitable whereas they are travesties of the original intentions and values.
Talking to these people is a nightmare. The parents of this little boy were convinced they beat him out of love and copassion - every second word they spoke was "Jesus". Each mealtime they laid an extra place at table 'incase Jesus called in ' - they seemed to genuinely believe they were doing the right and loving thing for their child.
Political extremists are the same - even when they are damaging themselves and their children - reason doesn't touch them.
Montana -- very intellectual stuff about the various ideological fundamentalists, but until you can restrain yourself from very low attacks on Confused and Unhappy Martyn and delayed-adolescence Napoleon Karamazov, you have shown that even the politically "enlightened" can be personally imperfect ?
There is a lot of misdirected aggression around . . .
Montana --I can't be bothered to trawl back and find the most awful post you made to Nap, but it was as evil as Martyn's to Paul. More so , because Nap is very young for his age and it would have hurt more .
So, you've forgotten what you said .
You were not drunk, but you might just as well have been . Writing a load of aggressive shit, and then forgetting it , is pretty goddam irresponsible .
I do remember pretty much what I said to Nap. Still don't feel bad about it. He's not really all that young -- 22 or somewhere thereabouts -- plenty old enough to have a bit more empathy and a hell of a lot less snobbishness about people who are in circumstances not very much different from his own.
He's always making excuses for himself -- why he can't get a job, why his life is the way it is -- but then feels perfectly justified in looking down his nose at others in similar circumstances.
He reads Russian literature, so his problems are beyond his control, but those nasty chavs -- it's their own damn fault that they can't get work. You are aware that he has said that on here -- quite frequently. He did learn quickly not to actually refer to these people he so despises as "chavs", but the attitudes are still there.
His hypocrisy and lack of self-awareness are breath-taking and his age is no fucking excuse -- he's an adult, not a child.
"Paul accepted his apology and that, for me, finishes it"
That's alright, Leni, I hope you don't mind if it doesn't "finish it" for me?
"I can't be bothered to trawl back and find the most awful post you made to Nap, but it was as evil as Martyn's to Paul. More so , because Nap is very young for his age and it would have hurt more ."
I don't for one moment mean to suggest that Nap's employment issues are his own fault. I just think he ought to consider that other people might have reasons every bit as valid as his own.
heyhabib " Dave, don't be a dick. " You are missing the point sunshine, I wasn't looking for a fight with Montana, I was just having a respectful disagreement with her .
My point is that very few people are perfectly formed Adults at the age of 22, 32, 62, whatever, and young Nap is but a poor suffering human being .
I was in a bar last night, bloke was sat next to me, black shirt, black shorts, whistle round his neck. I thought hang on this cunt's about to kick off
Dave "You are missing the point sunshine, I wasn't looking for a fight with Montana, I was just having a respectful disagreement with her ."
"You were not drunk, but you might just as well have been . Writing a load of aggressive shit, and then forgetting it , is pretty goddam irresponsible ."
And played the many and famous tunes of "Aqua" in his stolen BMW for the fourteen scary minutes before the blood diamonds were freighted away by ex 1er-RPIMa operatives. Right on brother !
Ah well, Montana has forgotten the most deeply unpleasant thing she last said to Nap, so it never happened ! Frankly it was vicious . And as Montana is rather proud about her outspokenness, it was quite in character .
But I'm not going to waste some life trawling for that particular example in google.
BW -- I think you've had even more to drink than me. Why the language ? I think montana goes over the top sometimes, I give an example, that"s not a flame-war between Montana and me , so what"s your prob ,?
Not a flame war, Dave? You're saying that I was "vicious" and that that is entirely in character for me, but you're refusing to back up/substantiate the accusation in any way.
You are an outspoken lady who when you go into the attack, you go full out .
Agreed ?
I described just one of your attacks, on Nap, as 'vicious', which does not mean that for now and forever more that I consider YOU as a vicious and evil person . One action does not necessarily define anyone for life, thank God .
I could probably do a 'vicious" attack on someone we all hate, doesn't make me a vicious person for ever ?
Oh, I get what dave in france/ frog2 is doing ! He's BORED.
Montana's post was whippingly, slap accross the face harsh, but fair considering the boy's repugnant comments about people < 100 IQ and = poor.
Dave said "Martyn calling someone who disagreese with him a house nigger is the same as Montana calling a kid a fucking idiot for calling his working class peers cunts".
Jesus frog, why did you do that to yourself ?
Send that cider over here. It's wasted on the French.
I described just one of your attacks, on Nap, as 'vicious', which does not mean that for now and forever more that I consider YOU as a vicious and evil person . One action does not necessarily define anyone for life, thank God .
Really? 'Cos that's not how things have been reading to me. For one thing, you originally included Martyn in the list of my recent victims. Perhaps the reminder of what it was he'd said made you realise that he wasn't exactly an innocent target, because you seem to be wanting to forget about that now.
And this (emphasis added):
Frankly it was vicious. And as Montana is rather proud about her outspokenness, it was quite in character.
reads to me like you think that I am generally of a vicious character.
dave from france That was somewhere in between pusillanimous and vacuous; frankly I'm not sure which I'd be the least proud of. Suggest you go away and rethink your strategy for taking Queen.
LaRit,
ReplyDeletecongratulations on the job. Welcome back to the rat race ;)
Nursing a rather nasty hangover. We won a darts league match against local rivals and got drunk as a lord on the new season bok beers.
If anyone has internet paracetamol and a roll with square sausage and brown sauce I would be much obliged.
HP or Daddies?
ReplyDelete@deano:
ReplyDeleteHP, obviously. There is only one brown sauce.
@13thDuke:
LOL, get well soon, mate.
HP does have the edge and it can be used to clean your teeth, if you have run out of toothpaste and Irn Bru, which I suppose also gives it added utility.
ReplyDeleteOf course some folk swear by dried HP diluted with Irn Bru...
The "new season bok beer" is a pleasure I have yet to encounter. Always good to have something to look forward to before dementia finally resolves the rage.
Cheers guys - I'm away for the day.
When do you start the new job LaRit and will you be able to be online at work?
@deano:
ReplyDeleteIt’s also good for cleaning dirty coins and bringing the shine back to tarnished metal. And it tastes lovely.
Truly a wonder amongst condiments.
True some twats put Irn Bru on their sausage sarnies - but not me! I is a civilised animal both when drunk and when sobering.
ReplyDeleteWon't be long to lunchtime Duke a man of your pedigree knows in his heart of hearts what the answer is.......enjoy you know it makes sense.
"Truly a wonder amongst condiments."
ReplyDeleteA wonderful and mightily just accolade Swifty - you ought to moonlight in copy for advertisers.
Really must fuck off now.
laters.
Hope Jay? is demob happy!!
Thanks for the support swifty/deano. What was it Sinatra said?
ReplyDeleteI feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day.
Tony Blair in line for Bad Sex Award Tony Blair's memoirs have been nominated for the Literary Review's Bad Sex Award.
ReplyDeleteThe least coveted prize in literature is traditionally awarded to novelists. However, the judges have made an exception for the former Prime Minister and his toe-curling reminiscences about a night of passion with Cherie.
"That night she cradled me in her arms and soothed me; told me what I needed to be told; strengthened me," he wrote in A Journey. "On that night of 12 May 1994, I needed that love Cherie gave me, selfishly. I devoured it to give me strength. I was an animal following my instinct..."
@dave:
ReplyDeleteBrilliant, that snippet is definitely just what the doctor ordered for the Duke…
Fuck, it makes me want to puke, and I've not even been drinking...
""On that night of 12 May 1994, I needed that love Cherie gave me, selfishly. I devoured it to give me strength. I was an animal following my instinct..."
ReplyDeleteIm trying to revise for fucks sake!
Feeling a little like the Duke this morning after a good win at pool last night.
ReplyDeleteHobgoblin being the culprit - those little trolls certainly sneak up on you. I'm sure one beat me about the head last night.
Just had a greasy makeover, was almost feeling human, till I read that vile post from Dave. Now stomach not quite as settled as it was !
Good luck Jay, and get offa here and do some revision.
ReplyDelete@Jay:
ReplyDelete”…get offa here and do some revision…”
Nah, just give in and spin Civ 5 up mate, go on, you know you want to, “just one more turn won’t hurt”…
Raised fist from here, Jay.
ReplyDeleteswifty -- not the greatest laugh, but the best i found on me morning stroll thru the papers ... still it's good to know he's getting some sort of 'justice' ...
ReplyDeleteCider-season approaches , firewood, veg garden, must go to ' work '.
Cider-season approaches..
ReplyDeleteAllready under way. 56 Gallon barrel full to the gunnels two weeks ago. Purely organic method, and the first time we've attempted to make some fally down scrumpy.
Estimated abv 7.2. Fermentation over, so next summer we are either going to have a load of cider vinegar, or just be legless for weeks on end.
@dave:
ReplyDeleteCider, is it? I’m a fan of the occasional kir breton, I must say. Bonne récolte!
tascia-- bloody hell that's fast fermentation .
ReplyDeleteWhat is the SG now ?
Have you thought of Sulfiting ?
Morning everyone, exam went as well as expected, which is to say it was a disaster, but never mind the relief of finishing almost makes up for the fact that I will have to resit in April if I don't want to have wasted my time.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to Jay and congrats to La Rit.
Hi Jen - relief all round.
ReplyDeletejen -- at least you got there. Well done for that!
ReplyDeleteswifty -- puuting anything else with my cider would be like a whisky coke made with a single malt ...
tascia
ReplyDeleteA few weeks agon Sheff advised me that you can make an interesting tincture by distilling Benylin.
Any comments ?
Well Dave, we are all novices at this game. Use of tinternet to glean any pearls of wisdom so far has led us to the following:
ReplyDeleteLeave the barrell open to the air to start fermentation. Air bourn yeast will hopefully kick start the process. [It did] leave open for two to three days [by this time a lovely foam is spewing out the barrell].
Put Bung in. Leave till next year - keeping an eye on temperature.
Our chief brewer did take the SG, (don't know what it was), and predicted the 7.2.
None of us have discussed 'Sulfiting' as an option yet. Maybe I should raise this process at the next brewers convention down the pub tonight !
Jen. Have faith - good luck !
ReplyDelete@Jay.
ReplyDeleteGet on with it !
;-)
tascia
ReplyDeleteI'm just the messenger here; it's a Sheffield concept by origin.
Kicks the living shit out Buckfast by all accounts though.
Hello Jen! Congrats on getting through it, now just forget about it for a bit.
ReplyDeleteAnd good luck Jay!
(If you're still mooching about on tinterwebz instead of WORKING)
(heheheheh)
BW - Maybe we can get Sheff to bring a sample down with her next month. Could wipe out the entire UT following with it though !
ReplyDeleteSheff - got any hanging about ?
tascia -- Andrew Lea's book is pretty much the bible on craft cider-making, do you know it ?
ReplyDeleteI used to do it all in one go into the barrel, and bottle at SG 1008 to 1025 (explosive....).
Now I rack off from a plastic container, leaving behind the brown foam and the sludge , into oak or plastic .It'll still be fermenting so the foolproof way is an airlock . Bung firmly when it's stopped fermenting .
The more air-contact the more risk of vinegaring !
Jen! o/
ReplyDeleteWell done getting through the exam. Who knows, perhaps you did better than you think!
GL to Jay.
Re the nauseous Blair passage - I reckon it was ghost-written by Bracken. :-p
Well done LaRit! & props to Jen for getting thru the exam, all the best for Mr Reilly.
ReplyDeleteHope some of the UT luck rubs off, as I'm down to my last 10 days of work. Tax rebate finally arrived, so won't starve, 'til November...
Have been weaning meself off the blogs, don't miss it as much as I'd thought...
I might be in the Midlands around the 6/7th, BW gig in Leamington then?
@dave:
ReplyDelete"...leaving behind the brown foam and the sludge... It'll still be fermenting so the foolproof way is an airlock. Bung firmly when it's stopped fermenting..."
Good advice for the Duke there, mate - if that doesn't sort his "post-drink up guts" out, I don't know what will.
Turm - yup, piss-up starting Sat 6th, BW's gig on Sunday 7th.
ReplyDelete@ Dave
ReplyDeleteWhat a great web site - Thanks for that link. A good few hours reading through that lot before taking newly gleaned knowledge to the Master Brewers Convention tonight !
tascia -- thought you'd appreciate it ! Andrew is the worldwide (anglosphere) cider-making authority.
ReplyDeleteWith the amount of energy invested picking washing crushing your 350 odd kg of apples, I'd recommend his c£10 book to get it right :)
Around here ( opposite jersey ) we drink very little straight from the barrel, but bottle and crown-cork in 'champenoises', where it re-ferments to evolve further in taste and sparkle. Nothing like most of what the brits call cider -- which is glucose syrup and applejuice concentrate and water, and would get you into trouble with trading standards here !
From the Andrew Lea site:
ReplyDeleteTraditional cider-makers used to hang a leg of mutton or a side of beef in the fermenting vat to boost the nutrient levels. The meat broke down slowly in the acid juice, releasing soluble amino nitrogen which the yeast could use for growth. The supposed requirement of a few dead rats in every vat is a more colourful manifestation of the same idea!
I always thought the addition of a rat or two ee was for tourists only. An urban myth !
@ Dave
ReplyDeleteOne last question on the subject - is there more information in his book than is available on his web site ?
He is a prolific publisher !!
tascia -- maybe it IS all on the site, but I don't regret at all having the book. Just so much handier.
ReplyDeleteCider-making is actually more complicated than winemaking and brewing, -- a fascinating hobby with a veryserious purpose, what more could you want ?
You lot in the UK think you've got problems with Blair's sexual references. Over here, we've got mummified-Mekon lookalike ex-president Giscard claiming to have shagged Lady Di. Now that really is due cause to be a little bit sick in your mouth.
ReplyDeleteBerlin calling....just spent the day at the Bauhaus - completely wunderbar. Have been route marched about the city by the daughter and am now totally knackered and lolling on bar with free wifi. Hope all well. Speak soon
ReplyDeleteYou are right Dave, a book is so much handier. So I've just bought a copy to pass on to our Master brewer. Mainly because I know he will prefer reading a book, rather than the web site.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading his web site, I do believe that now our cider is in the hands of the microbes. It could go either way. May the Gods of alcohol production smile sweetly upon us !!
Posting from an iphone which is a first for me.
ReplyDeleteAfternoon Sheff - glad you are enjoying the trip!
ReplyDeleteSpike --- you refering to Giscard's 'novel' ? some time ago, he still making innuendo ,?
ReplyDeleteBonne chanceTascia, I might say, but best to eliminate as much of the 'luck' as possible !
Out now to do some barrel-washing and sterilising,12° here ...
Well done Jen!
ReplyDeleteGood luck Jay - you will be in full swing by now, though, I think.
And Benelyn - when I was a teenager we used to drink bottles of benelyn to get high. Was sniggering the other day in Boots when I saw a suitably long-haired teenager asking for two bottles of it because he had a "really bad cough".
Hah.
Dave - I love French cidre. Knocks the socks off slimy old Strongbow et al, flavour wise. Are you making any calva? ;o)
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ReplyDeleteThat should have read lolling in rather than on bar - the on bit comes later... Che k point charlie is a hoot. If you're a bit onthe sad side and prepared to stump up 13 euros you can get your passport stamped with the old GDR and yank stamps!
ReplyDeleteMmm... lolling...
ReplyDeleteThis feels like my life. Or perhaps MIE's.
ReplyDeleteNot a word of it thaum. You're always somewhere.
ReplyDeleteSheff
ReplyDeleteI envy you
I would love to go back to Berlin now the Wall is no more.
Have a bratwurst mit zenf for me, Gnadige Frau!
Sheff
ReplyDeleteI'm ashamed to say i always wanted to visit Berlin before the Wall came down and have found the idea less appealing since it did.(Am obviously glad that it did though.)Managed Vienna in the late 80's when it was a sleepy but affluent neutral backwater full of cream cakes and ferocious old ladies.Got stared a lot at which i put down to my stylish dress sense.We drove to the Hungarian border which was still im effect sealed then.Obviously weren't allowed to cross it.Vienna though had it's 'ghosts' which i put down to it's lost Jewish population.Anyways i hope you're having a good time.'Ich bin ein Berliner'!( I don't speak German but apparently mythology has it that when JFK said those words it sounded like 'I am a jelly doughnut')
BW - where I am at the moment is wanting to crack a few colleagues' heads together!
ReplyDeletethaum
ReplyDeleteI detect a pattern here ! Tip: go to the car park, let their tyres down, then drive home. Acheivement value = 0, but you'll enjoy your evening more ;-)
In the buildup to the Iraq War, Tony Blair was given a briefing on the Gulf region. An analyst refered to the Mossadeq chapter, and Blair apparently asked, "Who is Mosadeq?"
ReplyDeleteThauma
ReplyDeleteBW - where I am at the moment is wanting to crack a few colleagues' heads together!
Know that feeling very well.For short term relief there's a lot to be said for the 'don't get mad get even' school of thought.Just make sure you don't get caught.
No can do, BW, I could not get on site this morning due to an expired parking pass. (Of all days! It expired in fucking June and today they notice!)
ReplyDeleteSo I am beating my head against the wall at home.
Ta Paul - I'm a fan of the 'give them enough rope' strategy....
ReplyDeleteThauma/BW
ReplyDeleteDon't know whether you can play links at work but when you're able see what you think about THIS.Personally prefer the Marley original but in this relativley recent clip Clapton proves he's no pushover.
See y'all later!
Nice one, Paul. Actually it's the deputy I feel like shooting.
ReplyDeleteThaumaturge in country song shocker.
ReplyDeleteActually this suits my mood better.
ReplyDeleteJust finished bastard w*rk (only 3.5 hrs after I was supposed to). Expect desperate phone calls tomorrow, when I am not supposed to be working. And utter chaos on Monday morning.
Meanwhile my boiler is on the fritz and I haven't been able to get it fixed because of the w*rk issues.
All me mates are down the pub and I've missed the bus.
*sulks*
Too late to catch up with them Thaum?
ReplyDeleteThanks, Paul.
ReplyDeleteBB - pretty much - it's either a long trek in the cold or ringing a taxi and besides the mister (poor bastard) is coming back in about an hour or so.
ReplyDeleteMust vent spleen before then ... hmm ... any good threads?
Aha! Here's a good angry song.
ReplyDelete@Dave
ReplyDeleteYes, I was referring to his "novel", but apparently he was actually claiming it in real life too. It was a while ago, but it's still a revolting concept.
@Sheff
13 euros?!
I paid 5 euros for a DDR day entry and exit visa and six different stamps on a card last year! Guy at a table in full Volpo uniform by the Brandenburg Gate.
Right, so is anyone up for this London drink? Thurs. 28 or Fri. 29 would be ideal for me.
ReplyDeleteEither of those dates will do for me, Spike, if it's an evening thing.
ReplyDeletePhilippa! When are you in London?!
ReplyDeleteCan't make it, Spike. :-(
ReplyDeleteEvening all. Astonishing as it may seem to you, I find myself without a high-powered social engagement on a Friday night for the first time in about seventeen years! The countess was devastated that she had to cancel our discreet dîner pour deux at one of her family's castles, but I understand that if a Pekinese gets a slight chill on the chest then it can be quite serious, so I don't blame her at all.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, all my usual chums are either in Antigua, Paris, Marrakech or El Salvador for the weekend so I'm at a bit of a loose end. It's an ill wind etc - so here I am!
I understand that congratulations are in order to Jennifer, Jay and LaRit for various educational/work related activities - so very well done, you chaps!
Here's a song for all the feminists here who aren't quite feminist enough for Cif (you know you are, and so does bitey!) It's Different For Girls
Evening Scherfig! I daren't click the link as we are listening to the rugby and frankly it's not looking good for Cardiff.
ReplyDeleteI have recovered my equanimity but the mister is very unhappy.
Aye, Scherfig, I hate it when people let you down. Happen, I were all set for t'game of skittles and dominoes tonight.
ReplyDeleteAh, half-time in both games. (Ospreys are winning, hooray! Munster needs it. Tommy Bowe try - garn, ya Ulsterman!)
ReplyDeleteScherfig, how terribly distressing that your countess has a sick puppy, and that all your other well-bred compadres are unavailable. I do hope you can console yourself with a few delicate sips of champers and perhaps some foie gras or caviare.
Chin up, darling.
Evening Scherf
ReplyDeleteOne of my fave choons - Joe Jackson was one of the most under-rated musicians of the 80s. Not to mention him not being included with all his brother in the Jackson Five.
.
.
.
What?
Hehehehe
OK - on a similar-ish vein, if we are going all 80s ish, let me lay this sax on you.
Only the very young and the very beautiful can be so aloof...
Hey, Heyhabib!
ReplyDeleteSkittles?
Feckin cribbage, mate.
Love cribbage! Especially 'one for his knob'.
ReplyDeleteHey, heyhabib, how are you? 'appen they got dominoes on t'internet. Have you tried that?
ReplyDeleteYeah, BB, Joe Jackson was great. Although apparently MartynInEurope wasn't even aware that he was black, never mind in the Jackson Five! (Or even that he was from Portsmouth.)
thauma, I never eat foie gras (it's so passé darling). And I heard that they force-feed the kittens with mashed sardines through a huge balloon so that their livers actually explode. It's terribly cruel.
I know, Scherfig, I was making a similar point myself the other night ... and then hypocritically admitting to occasionally having pâté de foie gras.... ;-)
ReplyDelete... in case you hadn't noticed.
ReplyDeleteIf there is such a thing as reincarnation, I will come back as a goose in the south west of France just to learn me...
ReplyDeleteMy husband calls it "tortured duck" and won't touch the stuff, and lectures me on my attitude and non-harming etc... but then in the summer he will spend his time chasing flies and killing them, so I think we are about evens in the hypocritical buddhist stakes.
ReplyDeleteHi BB , from tortured duck to other factory-farmed etc meat, I trust Mr BB is a vegetarian ?
ReplyDeleteJust picked up on the home-schooling at waddya, sounds most interesting !
Hic !
Dave - no he isn't a vegetarian but we do try and buy "happy" meat, even though it means we eat less of it cos it is more expensive. I am the evil one with the foie gras though...
ReplyDeleteThe lad is a vegan and lectures us at least once a day.
My thoughts on vegetarianism:
ReplyDeleteCertain varieties of potato are smarter than cows.
'Nuff said.
BB - Eating less of it is a good idea at any rate ! Despoiling half the world to provide cow pig and chicken feed for the 'rich' is unsustainable .
ReplyDeleteThe Cheap Food argument is dépassé. That applied when say 30% of household income was on basic nosh, now it is far less AND also vastly inefficient and inferior.
Back to Basics !
Montana
ReplyDeleteWe tried that argument with the lad, or a variation on it. When he first started his vegetarian ways at the age of about 9, and would complain about the poor lamb being taken away from its mother, we used to take the piss and say "Aww... that poor little baby carrot. It was all happy in the ground with its mummy and daddy til some evil person came along and wrenched it up, and now you're eating it..."
Didn't convince him though.
Dave - yep, back to basics. :o)
Your lad is too damn smart for his own good, BB.
ReplyDeleteHello everyone: at least someone is attempting to de-construct the lunacy of American foreign policy:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann--hari-obamas-robot-wars-endanger-us-all-2106931.html
Oh, and this from the NYT:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/15/opinion/15krugman.html?ref=opinion
How long is it going to take the "Red Top" readers to realize they are being well and truly shafted?
LOL Montana!
ReplyDeleteChekov - how long is it going to take?
Well, when it starts to affect the price of Stella and whether or not X Factor is on the telly I suppose.
Where is Leni? I need a dose of "common sense"!
ReplyDeleteHallo All
ReplyDeleteJust had quick skim to catch up - Congrats - Jenni, La Rit and hopefully Jay too, I assume he turned up for his exam.
Shaz - glad son arrived intact though I never doubted he would. Hope he enjoys his stay as well as giving to others.
I'm putting in a word for Martyn - I was upset by his remarks to/about Paul - particularly as I had never encountered any racism in his comments previously.
I don't always understand his comments but I don't think he is a nasty guy.
Paul accepted his apology and that, for me, finishes it
I be here chekhov.
ReplyDeleteThe world is mad my friend - unfortunately we - those who should be the doctors with the cure - are too timorous to come forward with the necessary remedy.
@Chekhov:
ReplyDeleteThis election season is truly depressing here in the US. Across the country, there are people who are batshit crazy, whose beliefs are somewhere to the right of Genghis Khan, who have a serious shot at winning their races.
People who believe that abortion and the morning-after pill should be illegal, people who are convinced that flouridated water is a government plot, that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was unconstitutional, that AIDS is a hoax (and, if they do actually believe that it exists, they think condoms do nothing to stop its spread).
They have a very real chance at winning!!
Scary doesn't even begin to describe it.
Scares the fuck out of me.
Montana
ReplyDeleteA few weeks ago Tybo was talking here about his books - I mentioned children of 'Christians' being punished as therapy.
I first became aware of this when working with a very damaged little boy. Research led me to a movement in US known as 'Christian Domestic Discipline '. This has arrived here.
I call it child and wife beating but the proponents call it spanking - between husband and wife it reads as sexual violence by agreement - fine between adults so why dress it up ar religion?
One of the pastors says he believes in breaking the spirit of a child before the age of 12 months - so they won't defy God - which means the beatings start in babyhood.
I don't know how widespread this is but I can understand how people treated this way from babyhood lose the ability to think for themselves.
Hello Leni: I don't know what the cure is, once you realize that the lunatics have taken over the asylum!
ReplyDeleteLeni
ReplyDeleteI once saw a programme about spanking children for God. The parents would go and hit the child regularly during the course of the day, as you say, to try and "break their spirit".
I can't remember the last time I saw something so utterly repugnant and distressing. These poor little kids would cower and start to whimper as soon as they saw the parent - usually the father, enter the room. Fucking animals.
Actually, scrub that, because it is unfair to animals.
chekhov
ReplyDeleteWe are taking the sedatives ourselves and letting the lunatics run the place.
It is difficult to understand how we let this happen - now it has it is going to be very difficult to gain control.
The nasties are running the world - reason is murdered , irrationality rules.
Leni:
ReplyDeleteIt isn't just Christian fundamentalism, though. It's American fundamentalism -- and just like the Xian ones, the ironic bit is that they are totally wrong about what the country is meant to be.
Montana
ReplyDeleteIt is very scary - things are being turned on their heads and are presented as both rational and inevitable whereas they are travesties of the original intentions and values.
Talking to these people is a nightmare. The parents of this little boy were convinced they beat him out of love and copassion - every second word they spoke was "Jesus". Each mealtime they laid an extra place at table 'incase Jesus called in ' - they seemed to genuinely believe they were doing the right and loving thing for their child.
Political extremists are the same - even when they are damaging themselves and their children - reason doesn't touch them.
It's like a collective hysteria or psychosis.
Montana -- very intellectual stuff about the various ideological fundamentalists, but until you can restrain yourself from very low attacks on Confused and Unhappy Martyn and delayed-adolescence Napoleon Karamazov, you have shown that even the politically "enlightened" can be personally imperfect ?
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot of misdirected aggression around . . .
Montana --I can't be bothered to trawl back and find the most awful post you made to Nap, but it was as evil as Martyn's to Paul. More so , because Nap is very young for his age and it would have hurt more .
ReplyDeleteSo, you've forgotten what you said .
You were not drunk, but you might just as well have been . Writing a load of aggressive shit, and then forgetting it , is pretty goddam irresponsible .
Dave,
ReplyDeleteI do remember pretty much what I said to Nap. Still don't feel bad about it. He's not really all that young -- 22 or somewhere thereabouts -- plenty old enough to have a bit more empathy and a hell of a lot less snobbishness about people who are in circumstances not very much different from his own.
He's always making excuses for himself -- why he can't get a job, why his life is the way it is -- but then feels perfectly justified in looking down his nose at others in similar circumstances.
He reads Russian literature, so his problems are beyond his control, but those nasty chavs -- it's their own damn fault that they can't get work. You are aware that he has said that on here -- quite frequently. He did learn quickly not to actually refer to these people he so despises as "chavs", but the attitudes are still there.
His hypocrisy and lack of self-awareness are breath-taking and his age is no fucking excuse -- he's an adult, not a child.
"Paul accepted his apology and that, for me, finishes it"
ReplyDeleteThat's alright, Leni, I hope you don't mind if it doesn't "finish it" for me?
"I can't be bothered to trawl back and find the most awful post you made to Nap, but it was as evil as Martyn's to Paul. More so , because Nap is very young for his age and it would have hurt more ."
Dave, don't be a dick.
And just to clarify --
ReplyDeleteI don't for one moment mean to suggest that Nap's employment issues are his own fault. I just think he ought to consider that other people might have reasons every bit as valid as his own.
Habib
ReplyDeleteI have no quarrel with you whatever your decision.
Frog.
ReplyDeleteEvidence.
Otherwise it's bullshit.
As well you know.
Dave, I should explain. It is entirely acceptable to criticise someone for their belief systems and be criticised in return.
ReplyDeleteIf you feel it is reasonable to criticise someone for the colour of their skin, then we part ways, full stop.
heyhabib " Dave, don't be a dick. " You are missing the point sunshine, I wasn't looking for a fight with Montana, I was just having a respectful disagreement with her .
ReplyDeleteMy point is that very few people are perfectly formed Adults at the age of 22, 32, 62, whatever, and young Nap is but a poor suffering human being .
He is a lost soul, but not Evil, surely ?
Habib - skin colour ? No interest ! People, full stop.
ReplyDeleteNo wait... there it is !!!
ReplyDeleteOwn goal ??? REF !
ReplyDeleteI was in a bar last night, bloke was sat next to me, black shirt, black shorts, whistle round his neck. I thought hang on this cunt's about to kick off
ReplyDeleteFor any other lovers of Gram.
ReplyDeleteDave
ReplyDelete"You are missing the point sunshine, I wasn't looking for a fight with Montana, I was just having a respectful disagreement with her ."
"You were not drunk, but you might just as well have been . Writing a load of aggressive shit, and then forgetting it , is pretty goddam irresponsible ."
People full stop, eh?
Bitterweed, not a good time , leave it.
ReplyDeleteheyhabib
ReplyDeleteOK, just got your last. Suggest you step away from any crap too. OK Mate ?
mail me
ReplyDeleteok
ReplyDeleteMontana 01.46 -- Many of Nap's posts surely annoyed ME as much as they did you .
ReplyDeleteDifferent reactions, that's all :)
He is a lost soul, but not Evil, surely ?
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty damn sure I never said he was Evil. Not even evil.
Let it go Monatana.
ReplyDeleteEvidence base = non existant.
Hard for some though.
I love the persistant insinuation of moral equivalence though.
ReplyDeleteIt's the sort of nihilism we see applied by Stewie off Family Guy.
Okay, BW. I was actually going to look for the "evidence" myself, but then I decided it wasn't worth it.
ReplyDeleteThat's the fucking truth right there MW
ReplyDeleteBTW
Andrew Brown says only religion could have inspired Bach's masses.
And then you read that Vaughan Willims said "an atheist could write a mass to equal any other".
Tricky for the knob-heads, that one.
Here come the knob heads...
ReplyDeleteMontana " I'm pretty damn sure I never said he was Evil. Not even evil. "
ReplyDeleteYeah , but you've conveniently forgotten what you did actually say. It was very destructive .
Shit like that just could drive a fragile personaliiity over the edge .
Well, I think RVW was probably a bit brighter than Andrew Brown, don't you?
ReplyDelete@dave from france
ReplyDeleteAgain: No evidence. No conversation.
What was actually said ?
Context and dialogue please. Verbatim.
Otherwise you're just pissing about, in which case there's better fora for ya: Cunt is Frozen.
Go on ?
I read on wikipedia that frog2 had supported various central african genocides.
ReplyDeleteAnd played the many and famous tunes of "Aqua" in his stolen BMW for the fourteen scary minutes before the blood diamonds were freighted away by ex 1er-RPIMa operatives. Right on brother !
ReplyDelete"Where am de knob head gone ?"
ReplyDelete- Damascus P Cockermouth
Ah well, Montana has forgotten the most deeply unpleasant thing she last said to Nap, so it never happened ! Frankly it was vicious . And as Montana is rather proud about her outspokenness, it was quite in character .
ReplyDeleteBut I'm not going to waste some life trawling for that particular example in google.
NN to all !
BWEED ---- frog2 and blood diamonds and centralafricandiamonds, could you please send me some of what you're smoking ?
ReplyDeleteMy life ain't too easy at the mom, and could do with some light relief !
No kidding !
Night then Barel Von Vorderman, your investigations are complete. Long live Vichy France !
ReplyDeleteHic ?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBW -- I think you've had even more to drink than me.
ReplyDeleteWhy the language ?
I think montana goes over the top sometimes, I give an example, that"s not a flame-war between Montana and me , so what"s your prob ,?
keyboard warrior , tough guy . . . ?
ReplyDeleteYou obviously have 'problems' .
Not a flame war, Dave? You're saying that I was "vicious" and that that is entirely in character for me, but you're refusing to back up/substantiate the accusation in any way.
ReplyDeletePeople who live in glass houses, Dave...
ReplyDeletedave/frog I always thought you were a good guy, why are you doing this?
ReplyDeletedave
ReplyDeleteAre you thick?
No. I've just re-read your post at 00:59 - funnny
You basically accused her of finding fun in crushing people. Then later
"Montana --I can't be bothered to trawl back and find the most awful post you made to Nap, but it was as evil as Martyn's to Paul."
Prove it; or why torment Montana like that ?
Are you dim ? Or is it just a bad night for you, as you suggest ?
Montana , Madame,
ReplyDeleteYou are an outspoken lady who when you go into the attack, you go full out .
Agreed ?
I described just one of your attacks, on Nap, as 'vicious', which does not mean that for now and forever more that I consider YOU as a vicious and evil person . One action does not necessarily define anyone for life, thank God .
I could probably do a 'vicious" attack on someone we all hate, doesn't make me a vicious person for ever ?
Woops, maybe we're all having a bad night ? Just a thought .
ReplyDeleteOh, I get what dave in france/ frog2 is doing ! He's BORED.
ReplyDeleteMontana's post was whippingly, slap accross the face harsh, but fair considering the boy's repugnant comments about people < 100 IQ and = poor.
Dave said "Martyn calling someone who disagreese with him a house nigger is the same as Montana calling a kid a fucking idiot for calling his working class peers cunts".
Jesus frog, why did you do that to yourself ?
Send that cider over here. It's wasted on the French.
Bad night ? Slap yourself man.
ReplyDeleteReally. Sorry about the syntax but you are totally bollocksed me old chum.
ReplyDeleteNow let it lie.
BW -- OK I thought M was unduly harsh, and at 00.59 I mistakenly took it up with Montana .
ReplyDeleteWrong time of night !
I described just one of your attacks, on Nap, as 'vicious', which does not mean that for now and forever more that I consider YOU as a vicious and evil person . One action does not necessarily define anyone for life, thank God .
ReplyDeleteReally? 'Cos that's not how things have been reading to me. For one thing, you originally included Martyn in the list of my recent victims. Perhaps the reminder of what it was he'd said made you realise that he wasn't exactly an innocent target, because you seem to be wanting to forget about that now.
And this (emphasis added):
Frankly it was vicious. And as Montana is rather proud about her outspokenness, it was quite in character.
reads to me like you think that I am generally of a vicious character.
dave from france
ReplyDeleteThat was somewhere in between pusillanimous and vacuous; frankly I'm not sure which I'd be the least proud of. Suggest you go away and rethink your strategy for taking Queen.
ok
ReplyDeleteNight all. You Tube awaits !
ReplyDeletex
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