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DIY with a Purpose

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  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2015-11-17 07:41
    koehler wrote:
    The only problem with current American micro-brewery scene is that it is 99% about ales.
    That's a problem? :)

    Actually, the micro-brewery scene is also very much into porters and stouts, which is even better!

    -Phil
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2015-11-17 09:53
    These days businesses come and go in a flash. But I found some indication that breweries and hotels are amongst some for the more durable enterprises in today's world - some are 400 years old.

    http://www.businessinsider.com/oldest-companies-on-earth-2014-8
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_companies

    Why bother with the fast paced competition of electronics when you can have an enduring occupation without constant change and revision?

    Of course, the enterprises survive well. But I am not so sure the management endures well. Every occupation has its hazards.
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    koehler,
    The only problem with current American micro-brewery scene is that it is 99% about ales.
    Problem? Sounds perfect.

    One can get the regular yellow fluid by the tanker load the world over. It's time for a backlash against it.
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    koehler wrote: »
    The only problem with current American micro-brewery scene is that it is 99% about ales.

    After 20 years on the west coast, where my alcohol intake has steadily declined to basically zero I finally figured it out earlier this year. Only Lager I could find locally was Dos Equis. Even though its not a premium beer, it helped drive home the reason for my drinking problem.

    Now that I'm on the East coast, and can sneak across the Peace Bridge, I can get back to some fine Canadian brews, and recover from this decade long dry spell.
    If you're sneaking across the peace bridge you are a long way from the East coast.
  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    edited 2015-11-17 15:45
    I guess that depends on how you define "long way". :)

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Bridge
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2015-11-17 17:32
    The Peace Bridge? Isn't that at Niagra Falls?
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    edited 2015-11-18 01:56
    The Peace Bridge? Isn't that at Niagra Falls?

    Yes it is, unless there is another Peace Bridge or it has been moved.

    Well, sort of. The Peace Bridge is south of the falls across the Niagara River between Fort Erie Ontario and Allentown NY. The Rainbow Bridge is near the falls.
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    Publison wrote: »
    I guess that depends on how you define "long way". :)

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Bridge

    Must be at least 350 miles to the closest Atlantic Ocean beach so it meets my definition of long way.

  • koehlerkoehler Posts: 598
    edited 2015-11-18 04:46
    kwinn wrote: »

    If you're sneaking across the peace bridge you are a long way from the East coast.

    LOL, you're being rather pedantic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Coast_of_the_United_States

  • Seeing quality tools get ruined makes my blood boil!
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2015-11-18 10:00
    Back to beer....
    the USA seems to be the world's largest importer of beer at something like 31% of the world's imported beer. Imported beer has about 13% of the U.S. market share.

    So why go to Canada? Maybe one should just become a beer importer or at least locate a local supplier. One can easily import yeast for their preferred brew and DIY. Yeast seems to be the foundation ingredient in ales, lagers, and so on, with hops adding another dimension to flavor.

    I am a bit disappointed to see that Mexican beer is the leading import beer to the USA. But I suppose proximity and cultural loyalty have something to do with that.
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2015-11-18 10:41
    I find the beer economy very strange.

    As an item of global trade it makes no sense. It big, it's heavy, it has low intrinsic value being basically water! It's easy to make wherever you are. Most of what we trade in is that large scale industrially produced tasteless yellow fluid. Why for goodness sake?

    My feeling is that importing beer makes no sense unless it's coming from somewhere like Belgium, The Czech Republic or Britain where they know what they are doing.

    Mind you importing British beer is a bit daft. Like Moms home made apple pie a proper beer does not travel well.

    Luckily something approximating a proper beer does make it as far as Scandinavia:

    spitfire_makeover.jpg
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2015-11-18 13:10
    Yeast may travel very well, and cost far less to import.
    http://www.whitelabs.com/yeast/wlp007-dry-english-ale-yeast

    Just add the other ingredients and you have home-made beer "just like home".

    Use quart jars for storage, not bottles. Why? Jars can be washed in a dishwasher; bottles are hard to wash. It seems there are green glass canning jar available to protect the beer from sunlight. http://www.freshpreserving.com/products/heritage-collection

    If imported beer makes no sense to you, imported bottled water might drive you over the edge. How is it that a liter of water can be sold for more than a liter of gasoline -- and the premium is justified because it is imported?

    In a world of global warming, shouldn't we put a stop to wasting fuel on shipping such product as a luxury item?

    http://icelandicglacial.com/
    https://www.sanpellegrino.com/us/en/?utm_campaign=always+on&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=bing&utm_content=Google%7CNon+Branded%7CBottled+Water+(15)%7CBroad&utm_term=bottled+water+sale

    Of course, making bottle water available in a natural disaster should be excluded from such a ban. But we really should just mandate that local government provide safe drinking water distribution.
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    Loopy,
    Yeast may travel very well, and cost far less to import....Just add the other ingredients and you have home-made beer "just like home".
    You are going to have to ship the hops as well.

    There is a story around these parts that a Finnish guy worked for the Guinness brewery in Dublin a very long time ago. When he came back to Finland he just happened to have some of the special "secret" yeast used in brewing Guinness. That yeast lives on and is still used to by one of Finland's largest beer companies.

    You only have to ship a hand full of yeast once !

  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    Heater. wrote: »
    You only have to ship a hand full of yeast once !

    Yup, as any sourdough breadmaker knows. The gift that keeps on giving!

  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2015-11-18 16:21
    It's funny that a discussion about beer is so lively in a microcontroller forum.

    The most interesting builder in the world: "I don't always program chips, but when I do, they're Parallax."
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    There's a lot of controllers in the brewing process now a days :)
  • erco wrote: »
    It's funny that a discussion about beer is so lively in a microcontroller forum.

    The most interesting builder in the world: "I don't always program chips, but when I do, they're Parallax."

    IMHO, the better beer to be imported from Mexico.
    http://www.dosequis.com/Videos/dos-equis-commercials

  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    Publison wrote: »
    IMHO, the better beer to be imported from Mexico.
    http://www.dosequis.com/Videos/dos-equis-commercials

    Nice to see you posting, Jim. I wasn't sure how a beer-related thread would fly with you moderator types! :)

  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    edited 2015-11-18 23:15
    erco wrote: »
    Publison wrote: »
    IMHO, the better beer to be imported from Mexico.
    http://www.dosequis.com/Videos/dos-equis-commercials

    Nice to see you posting, Jim. I wasn't sure how a beer-related thread would fly with you moderator types! :)

    Well, it IS on topic. :)

    We may have to sink it though. You know, for the youngsters.

  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    Publison wrote: »
    We may have to sink it though. You know, for the youngsters.

    You mean youts, or young 'uns?

  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2015-11-19 05:30
    Heater. wrote: »
    There's a lot of controllers in the brewing process now a days :)

    Any examples?

    BTW, if you ever visit Parallax headquarters in Rocklin, you might stop in at the Finnish Temperance Hall as well.

    A bit of Rocklin history.....
    " Released from the strictures of Finland's state church, and craving relaxation after hard days in the quarries, some Finns developed worrisome drinking problems. Concerned family members established Rocklin's Finnish Temperance Society and built Finn Hall for social functions in 1905."

    Did you mean the Finn controllers?
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    koehler wrote: »
    kwinn wrote: »

    If you're sneaking across the peace bridge you are a long way from the East coast.

    LOL, you're being rather pedantic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Coast_of_the_United_States

    Guilty as charged if you base the verdict on what wikipedia says.
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2015-11-19 20:39
    Loopy,
    Any examples?
    Not off hand but visit any brewery and you will see.

    Even the home brewers are in on it http://www.brewpi.com/

    Interesting bit of history you have there. I hope I can check out the Finn Hall in the coming months.


  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    Heater. wrote: »
    There's a lot of controllers in the brewing process now a days :)

    I wonder if PropBeer would taste better than ArduBeer.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2015-11-23 13:38
    Brewpi? Some do say that one never buys beer, merely rents it.

    At the 5-6 gallon batch level, I just don't see why one might need to involve microcontrollers.

    I just wish someone would successfully develop a robot that cleans bathrooms.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    I just wish someone would successfully develop a robot that cleans bathrooms.

    Roomba, a mere floor vac, requires a fair amount of user maintenance. Far from a button push to a clean house. Scooba, the floor mop, was ridiculous, nearly as labor intensive to use as manually mopping a floor.

    A bathroom cleaning robot would require even more user maintenance and cleaning, and given the likely filth level, would get real grody real fast. Yuck!

    Another factoid to consider. Many Roomba users actually moved furniture around (some have even redecorated) to suit the robot's maneuverability and cleaning patterns. Less of an option in a bathroom, where toilets, sinks and bathtubs tend to be bolted to floors & walls.

    There have been numerous articles on how crazy owners get attached to their Roombas, putting costumes on them and taking them on vacation. Not sure if that same emotional bond would take place with a bot which may have PP on its wheels!

    http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~beki/c35.pdf
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2015-11-23 13:40
    The hair my dog sheds might quickly kill a Roomba. And so far, I haven't seen a Roomba that does stairs. I have to sweep the hallway and stairs outside my room daily to keep the other tenants happy or dog hair begins to go everywhere.

    I am quite attached to my dog and certainly would rather be attached to him rather than a Rooma. Get a life people. A Roomba is not an initmate home appliances. And I really want to blush at the term 'initmate home applicance'. Where are we going with this? Is mankind in trouble?

    A robot that successful cleans public bathrooms could make the inventor very rich. But it absolutely must restock toliet paper along with all the other chores.
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