The Steamtug Blog

On the cusp of the 100th anniversary of the Titanic sinking, we decided it was such a lovely evening that instead of going to the pub, we should take the little yacht for a sail. So with eskies (cooler box) in hand, we boarded Adaqua and headed over to the yacht moorings where we recently moved Meridian, to begin her new life at the Western beach boat club. But as we approached and made ready to fend off and board, I had some trouble locating her. Where could she have gone??? (continue reading…)

After the visit of the Queen Mary 2 a couple of weeks ago, I have been monitoring her where abouts on the web, and was watching the “Bridge webcam”. Now is it only me, or is it the same picture of endless ocean stretching before her? (Who would know?) So I thought after all the adventures of Adaqua recently, that I should do one for her! (continue reading…)

Have you noticed?

Ever notice how you can be professionally trained in something, but nobody takes you seriously because your just a young “whipper-snapper” but then you get a couple of grey hairs, and can talk with confidence about any subject, and people hang on your every word like you’re an expert? I noticed this just last week when I was asked to do a talk by the Historical Society on the steam shovels of the Geelong Cement works. (continue reading…)

I’m about ready to give up all grain brewing after the disaster last week. I wanted to make a Russian Imperial Stout, a recipe that’s been on my mind for months now. It is very heavy with a huge grain bill, 500 gms molassis, 500 gms raw sugar, 250 grams chocolate. The mash went badly. I do it in the esky as I have given up on step mashing. It’s so much quicker and easier and gives the same result. But the rinsing sparge stuck and no matter what I did it wasn’t going to clear. So I tipped it out and found dry grain in the bottom (damn!) OK, fixed that problem. The final volume was supposed to be 21 litres and abv 8.8% but after sparging I ended up with 35 litres because the kilo of roasted barley would not let the wort run clear. (Maybe if I put through 50 litres? ha ha…) Then I could not get the temp high enough to boiler away such a volume and my aux heater, the old blow lamp played up burning my fingers etc. I put in raw hops flowers wet, so used some pellet and the remainder multiplied by 5 in weight. Then they would not come out of the brew kettle because they constantly blocked the outlet! Aaaarrrggghhhh!!!! Then the brew in the fermenter from last time that was going to be bottle while doing this gave a couple of bubbles so I decided that even though it had been stable, it looked like it was not ready, so no fermenter! I had to use another water container that was a bit smaller. The whole think took more than 7 hours, and I was drinking my pale ale the whole time, so when I was finished at 11pm I was too pissed to remember if I had put the yeast in as I had no recollection. Hmnmmm! I found the empty yeast packet on the floor next day, so it must be in there. Then the temp the next day and over the weekend went to 38 degrees,  far too hot for stable fermentation, and the little fermenter overflowed and put Krusen all over the incubator floor. It will probably end up the best beer I have made by fluke. (Actually it tastes alright going into the bottles….)

I have been so busy lately, that I have not had time to update my adventures. There has been the underwater hockey tournament, a BBQ in a sewerage plant, getting the water tanks installed in my yacht, and beer at Uncle Dave’s place. (continue reading…)

Since returning from Bathurst, I’ve been like a lizard drinking (flat out) trying to catch up on the beer production before the Christmas thirst hits. Combining this with a new job, organising an underwater hockey tournament and helping John get his yacht seaworthy, you could say I’ve been under the pump! (continue reading…)

I have barely slept at home over the past month. It’s been a busy time but how could I say “no” when faced with another exciting adventure; this time it’s the 98th Lake Goldsmith steam rally. It will soon be back to normal as I return to work on Friday after such a busy holiday! But as for now, I have sworn myself off beer for at least a week! (Hope I make it…) (continue reading…)

Don’t go looking for Adaqua down at the waterfront of Geelong, she’s not there! After battling mountainous seas, constant rain and almost running out of beer she has been left to think about her bad behavior on the other side of Victoria. After an interesting crossing of the open sea, across the top of Bass Strait she sits in a small, calm estuary, East of French Island in Westernport bay. (continue reading…)

Weekly Rant!

Before writing this, I was watching one of those old movies from 1960’s England. Why is it that I find these type of movie more entertaining than the modern American ones? They had not invented the super fancy visual effects that they can do now, so in those days they instead relied on things like an interesting and believable story line, some great acting (sometimes over the top to get the story across), eccentric characters and some wit thrown in to keep you interested! The modern American movies seem to be about some great special effect that they just invented so they build a flimsly, corny story line to demonstrate it. What ever happened to movies based on “Pulitzer” prize winning novels? (continue reading…)

Despite the cold and wet weather, this year’s Bathurst race was a close and exciting finish! We made the annual pilgrimage to the top of Mt Panorama, setting up our camp site among all the other die-hard race fans who were preparing for the beer, baked beans, burping, BBQ’s and the high octane action! (continue reading…)