Archive - Sep 2010
September 23rd
Starting a New Hard Cider Season
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 09/23/2010 - 12:50Last Saturday, September 18th, we started our third season of hard cider making. We didn't start brewing hard cider until October in 2008, so we ended up only making two batches that year. In 2009, we got off to a better start on September 14th, and brewed five batches. We will see what this year's ciders turn out like.
Generally, we've found that using a Trappist yeast works really nicely, and adding two cups of maple syrup when we start the second fermentation gives a nice little boost to flavor, the fizziness and the alcohol content. So, this year, we have a gallon of maple syrup waiting, and our first batch has been started with Trappist yeast.
For Christmas last year, my wife bought me a hydrometer and so I hope to be tracking the sugar content of the different ciders as we brew them through out the year. The ciders you buy at a cider mill change through out the season as different apples are used. Conventional wisdom is that cider press later in the season has a higher sugar content. However, I've always thought the first cider of the season tastes sweeter. This year, I'll measure the different batches. The first batch started with a specific gravity of 1052.
We generally get our sweet apple cider from Beardsley's Cider Mill. If you bring your own container during weekend afternoons they can usually fill it up for you with unpasteurized sweet cider.
Beardsley's has expanded this year. There little shop is now larger, and they are making their parking lot a little larger. I suspect more of this is for people coming to buy apples, and apple pies, but they do a brisk business in cider for home brewers as well.
It was a nice day when I picked up the first batch of cider. There were a couple of other people there picking up cider for home brewing, or at least thinking about it. We compared notes.
Then, I drove over to Maltose Express to pick up the Trappist yeast. The leaves were just starting to turn color on a few of the trees along the way, and there were various signs for upcoming fall festivals along the road.
This year, we have another carboy, so we can experiment with additional batches if we have the time and energy. Last year, we tried a batch of pear cider. A lot of friends liked it, but it was a bit astringent for my taste. After it aged for a year, it has mellowed, but I'm still undecided about whether I'll try pear cider again this year.
So, have you been making hard cider? How has it been going? What has worked well? What hasn't? Let's share experiences.
September 22nd
Podcamp Reflections - #PCCT
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 09/22/2010 - 17:44We are rapidly approaching PodcampCT and if you are quick, you may still be able to register for the early bird reduced price. As we approach the day, the discussions continue to flourish about exactly what PodcampCT should be like.
A Nation That Cares
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 09/22/2010 - 09:17Yesterday, @SmallTownMommy tweeted "If Linda McMahon doesn't stop calling me, I am going to start campaigning against her." People responded that McMahon could have solved the budget deficit with all the money she is spending on calls and direct mail or at least solved Connecticut's unemployment problem.
Yet what is more concerning is the comment that one person said, "At this point I am less concerned with who 'wins', as long as they ALL STOP CALLING!" I suspect political strategists are well aware of this sort of response. Crowd the airwaves with meaningless noise about the election to the extent that people get turned off and only the hardcore politicos vote. It is damaging our democracy.
You can also see this in the majority of the posts tagged #ctsen on Twitter this morning coming from a McMahon operative who dominates the 'discussion' by focusing on 'lying' and 'death tax'. The McMahon noise is annoying just about everywhere.
This relates to two recent threads on DeliberateCT. I quoted President Obama when he spoke about the effect of the Citizens United Ruling at the Blumenthal fundraiser in Greenwich.
right now, all across the country, special interests are planning and running millions of dollars of attack ads against Democratic candidates. Because last year, there was a Supreme Court decision called Citizens United. They’re allowed to spend as much as they want without ever revealing who’s paying for the ads. That’s exactly what they’re doing. Millions of dollars. And the groups are benign-sounding: Americans for Prosperity. Who’s against that? (Laughter.) Or Committee for Truth in Politics. Or Americans for Apple Pie. Moms for Motherhood. I made those last two up. (Laughter.)
Here in Connecticut, we have our own benign sounding organizations. We have the Partnership for Connecticut's Future. They describe themselves as:
a grassroots organization of citizens, businesses & community leaders, working to foster greater awareness of economic issues among Connecticut voters.
I'm all for grassroots organizations fostering greater awareness of economic issues, so I thought I would try to find out who these people are. Clicking on the Who We Are page, I found the same verbiage as they had on Facebook. I did not find any references to staff, board, funders, or individual participants on the website. It took a lot of searching before I could find out who really is behind the Partnership. John Rathgeber, president and CEO of the Connecticut Business & Industry Association wrote in the Fairfield County Business Journal
This an exceptionally advantageous time for business leaders and organizations to become politically active. To encourage you to become involved, CBIA and some of the state’s largest chambers of commerce have formed the Partnership for Connecticut’s Future
Yes, this sure looks like a classic astroturfing operation where fostering greater awareness of economic issues isn't as "bipartisan" as it might seem. There is a specific awareness CBIA wants to foster, and this bipartisan approach may illustrate why we need a third party and true nonpartisan approaches.
The attack ads and endless robocalls, by candidates from both major parties are damaging our democracy. Besides obscuring important issues, it drives up apathy. Matt Zagaja wrote about this in his response to Former Governor Lowell Weicker's op-ed in the Hartford Courant about minor parties. Zagaja wrote Apathy, Not Laws, Barrier to Independent Candidates.
At the same time, Gallup is reporting Fifty-eight percent of Americans believe a third major political party is needed because the Republican and Democratic Parties do a poor job of representing the American people.
So, what sort of debates will we have? One of the big debates is sponsored by the Hartford Courant. Yet there are bigger debates about the Harford Courant. Its creditors are debating what how it should be restructured out of bankruptcy, and the FCC is considering whether or not it should remain exempt from limits about cross ownership that allows the Courant and the Fox affiliate to be owned by the same entity.
Fox itself has its shares of issues as it critics ask how it can be fair and balanced as it contributes to the GOP and is currently in at least two lawsuits against Democrats. Here in Connecticut, there is concern about whether the debate audiences will be stacked and whether all the candidates on the ballots will have a chance to debate.
In Maryland, there was a tragic accident which ended not only the hope to participate in a U.S. Senate debate, but also the life of Green Party candidate Natasha Pettigrew. Ms. Pettigrew was hit and killed on her bicycle by a woman driving a Cadillac Escalade SUV. According to an article in the Huffington Post, the driver did not even stop because she "thought she hit a deer or a dog and didn't want to stop in the early morning hours."
A friend on Facebook described this as "a personal tragedy symbolic of our ongoing national environmental tragedy". Yet it is more than just symbolic of our ongoing national environmental tragedy. It symbolizes the callous uncaring attitude of those who think driving a Cadillac entitles them to harm the environment, people, or even animals.
We need to become a nation that cares again, a nation that stops in the middle of the night if we hit a person, or even if we hit an animal. We need to become a nation again that values democracy and cares about who gets elected more than we care about those annoying noise machines.
Wordless Wednesday
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 09/22/2010 - 07:12
September 21st
Woodbridge Board of Education Explores Achievements and Infrastructure
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 09/21/2010 - 10:53Monday night, the Woodbridge Board of Education, at its regular monthly meeting explored several aspects of achievement as well as the state of the Beecher Road School building infrastructure.
The meeting started off with an executive session where the board conducted an exit interview with outgoing Principal Mary Lou Torres. Principal Torres has been an important part of the Beecher Road School administration and is moving on to a new position starting in October. While the primary focus of Beecher Road School is the success of the elementary school students, good educational programs recognize that we all remain students throughout our lives, and celebrates the successes of not only the young students, but also the students that are part of the staff.
Early on in the meeting, Principal Torres, assisted by sixth grade teacher Nancy White spoke to the board about the Tri-State Consortium.
The Tri-State Consortium is a learning organization devoted to assisting its member public school districts in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey in using student performance data to develop a rigorous framework for systemic planning, assessment, accreditation, and continuous improvement.
Last year, the Tri-State Consortium visited Beecher Road as part of the administration's ongoing effort to improve the quality of education at the school. The consortium recognizes the successes of the school and made recommendations about areas where the school could improve. A key area that they focus on is professional development and professional learning communities. Beecher Road School does well with its profession development, and Principal Torres' successes are a good example of this.
Following the discussion of the Tri-State Consortium report, there was a lengthy discussion of the results of last year's Connecticut Mastery Tests (CMT). The test results are usually reported in the context of schools in similar districts, called a District Reference Group (DRG).
Woodbridge scored well in its DRG as well as compared against the state as a whole. In terms of the No Child Left Behind Act, Woodbridge made Adequate Yearly Progress. However, for a high performing school district like Woodbridge, adequate may not be enough, and the board discussed how the CMTs fit into a larger framework of student assessment and other methods of analyzing the CMT scores so that the district can continue to learn from its previous experiences and improve the quality of education that is provided.
The presentation of the CMT results was the last one that Principal Torres and Ms. White will give together as Principal Torres moves on. Her service to the school district was recognized and the board moved on to the next item on the agenda.
Beecher Road School was built in phases starting in 1960, with important parts of the infrastructure being nearly fifty years old. There are major concerns about the boiler, sections of the roof and the air quality in sections of the school. A building committee has been investigating what it would take to update the infrastructure, including getting sections of the school to meet new building code standards and be more energy efficient. Such a project will be expensive and the board sought to understand which parts are most urgent, and which parts might be deferrable until we are in a better economic time.
The long board meeting continued with addressing its regular business, including correspondence, approving financial reports and hearing reports from various committees. During public comment, one parent spoke up expressing his thoughts about the CMT scores. The meeting ended with the board settling in to its continued discussion about the long term goals of the board.
Woodbridge Board of Education meetings typically occur on the third Monday of each month and are open to the public to observe and comment. Citizens are encourage to attend and participate.
(Cross posted at the Woodbridge Citizen)
