The Blog Devoted to All Things Medieval; Weapons, Armor, Knights, Castles, Books and More ———–Never Give a Sword to a Man who can’t Dance - Old Celtic Saying
I have just started twelve new batches of Mead (the front two rows in the picture).
I have been reall wanting to get a good handle on the different types of yeasts and how they affect both the taste of mead and the fermenting cycle so what I did is make all of the variables identical including temperature, honey, water, sanitation and everything else except for the yeast. So, now I will be able to track comparatively speaking how each type of yeast develops, how long they take and how they taste.
It should be an interesting experiment that will yield some good results. If there is no noticeable difference between many of the batches I will be able to identify which type of yeast matures into a good mead the fastest.
Interesting Notes within the first couple of days. Some of the yeast are off to a great start and some are slower. Some yeast have already started quite a nice leeds accumulation and some have not. There is also a marked difference in color across the various batches.
Some info:
Type of honey used is wildflower directly from an apiary.
All Equipment sanitized using Easy Clean
Must santized with Potassium Metabisulfate and allowed to sit for 24 Hours
After waiting period yeast energizer and nutrient added, then yeast pitched
There is an interesting project going on in Colorado and it is still in the early stages of development.
An outfit called Middle Age Productions is trying to bring to reality an authentic middle ages castle and village and use it as a real fairground and tourist attraction. Think of it as something Disney would make -where you are fully immersed in the experience.
It seems like a really cool project and they have a lot of great ideas - even some plans and blueprints. What they are envisioning is a permanent, and authentic, medieval faire ground which I think is a really great idea. If you have ever been to a medieval faire you know what I mean by this. This type of faire ground is usually, in my experience, a temporary thing that gets set up for a few months in the summer or fall and then kind of disappears.
Having a permanent, year round, and authentic structure would be a great tourist attraction. But I do have some suggestions for them. First off they should contact Medieval Manor corporate Headquarters. A Medieval Manor franchise would be a great addition to their site. Secondly I think they should move it out of Colorado. No offense to the state but there are just too many cold months in the year out there. The attraction is going to spend way too much time covered in snow. I just can’t picture the king on skis. (maybe the jester)
Anyhoo, I really shouldn’t criticize, after all how far am I in my plans to build a medieval castle? Theyr’e at least doing it!
The name of the company is Medieval World USA and you can check on what they are doing and learn more about the project at their website Medievalworld.us
The New Age of Conan Game (Hyborian Adventures) has some unique features about it. And one of them is the crafting system.
When it comes to games and game playing I am a real packrat. I love to accumulate things and I love to make new things. I enjoy collecting up and questing after unique armor and weapons. For me that is more than half the fun of any game. It’s better than all the fighting!
One unique thing about the new Conan game is the crafting skill of architect where you can make buildings, castles, keeps, catapults, trebuchets and even whole cities. It seems to be pretty cool to me and it will be a lot of fun.
So, if you are probably never going to build a castle in real life you can still experience the thrill of building and owning your own castle in the virtual world of Hyboria! Who’s to say which is more real?
Here is an amazon link to the game and below is a video that shows crafting and the architect skill.
