COVID Quarantine : Dymaxion Hellstar 5.0 Recipe

The Belgian Quad (Boxer Rumble) continues to ferment away. The airlock still bubbles, and when I look under the blanket, it is still quite foamy. I won't bottle it until the yeast has exhausted itself in the secondary.

still bubbling

As usual, if you just want the recipe, please go to the end.

Next weekend is the annual Big Brew celebration for homebrewers. As an AHA member, I'm debating if I want to join in, as I still haven't bottled Boxer Rumble, and we also have the rest of my Smoldering Cupid as well as Pat's Intensive Purposes. 

I'm half-thinking of trying the Quarantine IPA recipe or maybe just brewing a batch of either Smoldering Fire or Dymaxion Hellstar 5.0. 

I haven't done Dymaxion Hellstar 5.0 for a while. It's my Starfruit IPA recipe, and I know I still have some starfruit in the freezer.

First off, I should explain my beer names. Most of them are car related; Blown Turbo Seal, Duryea 13, and Boxer Rumble are all examples of the car related ones. Others are related to beers I brew for special occasions, usually for something related to my #404Family, that is, my Capitals Season Ticket Holder "family." We go out of town for various things, such as Hershey Bears games or out of town Caps games or even road trips together. So beers like #404Family Hershey Road Trip and #404Family Komrade Stanley are for those. 

Dymaxion Hellstar 5.0 was supposed to be a #404Family beer, in commemoration of a Roanoke road trip to the Deschutes brew pub there. That was the whole point of the starfruit; Roanoke is the Star City, and the starfruit was the ingredient that went along with that. But, for whatever reason, the road trip failed to materialize, but the beer was brewed. It needed a new name. 

Buckminster Fuller, a prominent scientist known for the geodesic dome shape, also believed in the dymaxion ideal of minimal energy input for maximum advantage. He attached the term to a multitude of things, including a house, a journal, a sleep schedule and, yes, a car. It was not a pretty car. That's where Hellstar and 5.0 come in. 

not a pretty car at all; in fact, considered a death trap (from wsj.com)

My first Dymaxion Hellstar recipe was a half-assed attempt to do something similar to the old DuClaw Brewing beer I loved so much, Hellrazer. I did intend to use starfruit in the original, but they weren't in season, and so I just went with the rest of the recipe, intending to use the same recipe later, just adding starfruit. Except, I wasn't happy with how it turned out. 

So, I retooled it, and tried again. With starfruit.

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Yum? #brewday #homebrew

A post shared by Karen (@kiirenza) on Aug 25, 2018 at 9:14am PDT

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They look so serene, just floating there...

A post shared by Karen (@kiirenza) on Aug 25, 2018 at 9:41am PDT

I kept the hops pretty much the same as the first recipe, but I redid the grains. The new version was a lot better, and that's where the "5.0" comes in. 

When I first started autocrossing, it was in 1993. My boyfriend at the time had a pretty plain looking car he'd bought new, and because it was a coupe, a lot of people obviously thought the driver (him most of the time, but me occasionally, and even my brother once) had stuck 5.0 badges on it, when it still had them.

1992 Ford Mustang LX 5.0 sleeper

This is the car I learned to autocross in, and learned to drag race in. I did a 12.73 at 75-80 Dragway in this car. I put this car sideways on Clemsonville Rd, goofing off by myself. My brother devastated a trash talker at a former place of work with this car. I still have a soft spot in my heart for Fox-body coupes because of this car. 

I digress. The 5.0 for Dymaxion Hellstar 5.0 just denotes a better, more powerful version, just like the Ford Mustang LX 5.0 was a better, more powerful version of the 4-cylinder Mustang LX.

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Chunks of starfruit in the secondary #homebrew

A post shared by Karen (@kiirenza) on Sep 3, 2018 at 11:09am PDT

So, without further talk, here's the recipe for Dymaxion Hellstar 5.0.... if you can find the magic ingredient of starfruit!

Dymaxion Hellstar 5.0

Ingredients List

• 1 lb Caravienne, crushed
• 1 lb Carapils, crushed
• 3.3lb CBW Pilsen Light liquid malt extract (2)
• starfruit (5 or about 5lb total)
• 1oz. Galena hops (2)
• 1oz. New Zealand Motueka hops (3)
• White Labs California Ale yeast (WLP001)
• 5oz. of priming sugar (corn sugar)

Bring ~2.5 gallons of water to between 145-150F. Using a cheesecloth bag, steep the grains for 30 minutes. Squeeze the grain bag as it is removed. 

Bring the wort to a boil. While stirring, add the liquid malt extract and two starfruit (~1.5lb), sliced. If necessary, return to boil.

Set a timer for 60 minutes. Quickly add 1oz of Galena hops and start the timer. After 15 minutes, add another 1oz of Galena hops. After 15 more minutes (total of 30 minutes elapsed), add 1oz of New Zealand Motueka hops. After 30 more minutes (at the end of the 60 minutes), remove the wort from heat and start cooling in sink by surrounding the brewpot with ice. 

While the wort is cooling, sanitize the primary fermentation bucket, siphon, thermometer and any other utensils that will be used. Add about 1.5 gallons of cool water to the fermentation bucket. Once the wort is about 80-90F, use a siphon to transfer it to the fermenting bucket. Avoid adding the dregs (hops) from the bottom of the pot. Add cool water to bring the total volume to about 5 gallons, then stir with sanitized paddle or spoon to make sure wort and water are mixed. Check the specific gravity; it should be about 1.045-1.055.

Once the wort is below 80F (check with a sanitized thermometer), pitch the yeast, then close the fermenting bucket. 

After ~7 days at 68-72F, use a sanitized siphon to transfer the beer to a sanitized secondary fermenting vessel. Take a sample to check the specific gravity. Avoid transferring the dregs from the bottom of the bucket. Add in ~3 starfruit (2-3 lbs) that have been cut up into slices or cubes. Seal the secondary vessel (cover with a blanket if necessary). Specific gravity should be about 1.010-1.015.

After ~5-7 days at 68-72F, transfer the beer to a bottling bucket. Boil 5oz. of priming sugar in 2.5cups of water; cool and then add to the beer. Mix with a sanitized spoon or paddle. Sanitize and dry all bottles to be used, as well as the caps if not using swing-top bottles. Fill each bottle just to where the neck of the bottle begins, then cap. You can check the specific gravity one more time; it should still be in the 1.010-1.015 range.

Let the bottles stay in a cool (68-72F) and dark area for at least a week and a half for carbonation. It's better to wait at least two weeks before refrigerating any of the beer and enjoying it. 

Let me know if you try the recipe! And check out my previous post that includes information about basic equipment if you need it!

If you find that Maryland Homebrew doesn't ship to your address for some reason, and you don't have a homebrew shop local to you so you want to order materials via Amazon, here's a shopping list for you to get started. Please try to shop local, though; you can't be guaranteed that things you buy via Amazon will be fresh!

• Basic Equipment (mostly reusable with rewashing/sanitizing)
• Flip-top bottles
• 5 gallon stainless steel pot
• Brewer's Best Deluxe Kit (includes fermenting bucket, glass carboy for secondary fermenting, bottling bucket, auto-siphon, hydrometer, thermometer, airlock, paddle, bottle capper, and more)
• Hop Socks
• Star San sanitizer
• Ingredients
• Caravienne, crushed
• Carapils/Dextrine, crushed
• CBW Pilsen Light liquid malt extract
• starfruit (you're on your own with this one!)
• Galena hops
• New Zealand Motueka hops
• White Labs California Ale (WLP001)
• Priming Sugar

COVID Quarantine : Separating Work and Play

One of the most exhausting things about working at home is making sure to separate work from personal life. As a teacher, especially a department chair, I already know how difficult it is to create borders in a digital world. Checking work email while at home was something I finally put a stop to during this school year.

Then the governor's orders came down, and school closures through April 24 have me checking work email, text messages from administrators and students, and more. After a near mental breakdown during the first week of closure, where I ended up barely getting out of bed for five days straight, I made some personal commitments where I will not check or respond to work emails or texts. I have been adamant about these personal boundaries over the past three weeks, to the point of refusing to accept meeting times that would interfere.

I've also started looking at ways to expand that separation to dividing personal and pseudo-work, as well. Since I was accepted into the Subaru Ambassador program in late 2016, I've been using my Triskelion Racing Facebook page, as well as my personal Twitter and Instagram as part of my brand ambassadorship. Earlier this week, I took the opportunity to separate out that as well.

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A #sexysaturday post of the rear of the #WRX. Once upon a time, the @wdcr_scca would have an area at the @washautoshow, and members from a variety of motorsports - from TSD rally, autocross, time trials, roadracing and HPDE - would bring cars to showcase. This particular photo is from the 2011 show. @subaru_usa @subarumotorsportsusa #Subaru #SubaruAmbassador #autocross #funwithcars @sccaofficial @iagperformance

A post shared by Karen (@subarukaren) on Apr 11, 2020 at 7:52am PDT

Help save lives by donating critically needed blood! Sign up now at https://t.co/qAVEd5o9Ch! @AnnapolisSubaru #SubaruAmbassador pic.twitter.com/HDdCswkA7b

— Subaru Ambassador Karen (@KarenSubaru) April 7, 2020

Go ahead and give the accounts a follow on Instagram and Twitter!

Maybe next, I'll start working on some things for my Etsy page, considering I should have a lot more free time (and, sadly, less income) this summer.

COVID Quarantine : Start of Week Four at Home

That title just seems weird to write, but here we are. Governor Hogan first declared a state of emergency and closed schools for two weeks on March 12.

At the direction of the @MdPublicSchools Superintendent, all schools throughout Maryland will close from Monday, March 16 through Friday, March 27. During this time, all school buildings and school buses should be cleaned and disinfected to prevent spread of the virus.

— Governor Larry Hogan (@GovLarryHogan) March 12, 2020

Maryland, at the time, was also discouraging "large" public gatherings (over 250 needed to be canceled or postponed).

Now, anything over 10 is worth a fine or imprisonment. And a shelter in place was enacted; only essential activities (including outdoor activities such as hiking or biking) under social distancing are allowed.

This week, I'll start remotely teaching in earnest. Last week was just a "touch base with students" sort of thing, and for three days this coming week and four days next week, MCPS teachers will wrap up third marking period.

I'm kind of looking forward to a "fireside chat" with my forensics students.

The firepit will become an educational tool!

I gave them a choice for their next unit, since the last day of school before the imposed shutdown was an end-of-unit test. They chose "arson investigation." I am totally going to burn stuff. 

The anatomy class wants me to do a webcam heart dissection, but I'm struggling with finding a locally sourced heart. I wish grandpop was still around with the slaughterhouse in Baltimore. 

Great-granddad and grandpop Kraus had a stall at Lexington market in Baltimore

After a week of despair and depression that derailed things for a bit, I've been somewhat productive the past two weeks. I managed to change the oil in both the Crosstrek and the WRX. 

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Oil change for the #Crosstrek today. #subaru #SubaruAmbassador #kartboy #wfh @subaru_usa

A post shared by Karen (@kiirenza) on Mar 27, 2020 at 12:48pm PDT

I brewed a beer today, a Belgian Quad that will be named "Boxer Rumble."

I took on a challenge initiated by Brooks Laich on Instagram, and have stuck with it through the first week.

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A post shared by Brooks Laich (@brookslaich) on Mar 29, 2020 at 11:14am PDT

It's weird knowing that I haven't put gas in either the WRX nor the Camaro in almost a month. Since going out to Washington County for my younger niece's first birthday party, I have put only about 200 miles on the WRX, and most of that was the day I went to Northwood to pick up a Chromebook so I could do work stuff on a work machine.

So, with more "free time" on my hands, maybe I'll blog more.

Meh, don't hold your breath.

Going Pro

Today was a professional day at work, which means that 90% of the staff say they are teleworking.

It's just a day off, really.

I had to go in though. I'm one of the gradebook advisors, and the only one who actually got training, so I need to be on site for at least part of the day to answer questions and deal with any issues that came up. Still, I left just after 1:30, and on the way home, I realize, "Hey! I should move that honey beer to the secondary!"

So, that's what I did.


The beer tastes interesting right now. It starts off as just a flat beer taste, but then there's this sweetness to it afterwards. I'm guessing the sweetness is due to the honey addition, but it doesn't have the marshmallowy taste of the meadowfoam. That's okay though. I think it's going to taste really good, and with an approximate ABV of 7.9%, it'll have some punch to it. However, right now, it doesn't taste very "heavy," and that makes it even more interesting.

The color is different than what I've brewed previously, too. Both the beer and the head have a slight reddish or pinkish shade to them that reminds me a bit of Troegs Crimson Pistil.

I'll bottle it in about a week, and then it's the long wait for the bottle conditioning for the carbonated taste. Maybe I should look into a kegging system! ;)

Wandering in the Snow

Yesterday, I awoke to surprising news -- Montgomery County closed schools!

I thought we'd maybe get a delay, but didn't anticipate closure with the bulk of the "bomb cyclone" storm being off the coast. The Eastern Shore was supposed to be hammered, but anything on the western shore of the Chesapeake wasn't expected to get much.

So, that notification of closure when I checked my phone at 5:30AM was a pleasant gift. I went back to sleep and didn't get up for another few hours. :)

Snow all up in my grill

While Pat headed out to his tool route around noon, I puttered around and didn't do much of anything until I had to head over to my audiologist appointment for my first followup. She didn't tweak anything, but I go back in two weeks to make another report. At that point, I might get a new program to counteract the too-frequent tinnitus in my left ear. Depending on how that goes, I might not actually need the right side device. 

$5500, but at least they also act as wireless ear buds and as a hands-free device

I've had them for two weeks now, and I'm still meh on them. I guess they are doing what I need them to do, but I'll wait and see how things go at the Caps game on Sunday and at my own hockey game on Monday. 

So, after the audiology, I figured I'd run some errands until Pat returned home so that the WRX wasn't in the way in the driveway. I grabbed a bunch of bags of clothes and stuff that we'd had sitting around forever, waiting for someone to take them to Goodwill, and after I dropped them off, I decided that it was time to wander. 

I went to my usual go-to spot off Ilchester Road, only to find that they are doing some kind of construction on the Patapsco River crossing and the trailhead is closed. Sad, I parked the car, and contemplated what I wanted to do, as it was very brisk and near sunset. 

the car is filthy; it'll get washed at some point, I guess

I decided to head back towards Montgomery Road, but turned left onto Landing Road, since I knew it had to parallel the river. Sure enough, only a mile or so down the road, I encountered a trailhead. I parked, and started wandering through the cold, still forest for about a half-mile before I turned around to come back. When I actually looked at the trailhead information, I learned that it's the Cascade Falls Trail, and that it is a loop. Depending on which part of the loop you take, it's either 0.9mi or just over 2mi. It can also link up with the trail I was trying to use (Grist Mill Trail). 

I got a few interesting photos with my phone before I left. It was bitterly cold, so I didn't linger too long, and my gloves aren't tech-gloves, so anytime I wanted to take a photo, I had to expose my fingers. That wasn't fun. 

This stream was amazingly not frozen over

There was this random area that was decorated with ornaments. Maybe there was a wedding or something else out here recently?

The trail was easy to find.

Little bird tracks everywhere

Sunset snuck up on me

 It was a short interlude, but it was needed. I have to do this more often. My psyche demands it. 

Dam, I Caught A Fish!

Since I've returned from the roadtrip, I've been feeling blah. I guess it's a bit of a wanderlust hangover, knowing that the end of the roadtrip signals the beginning of the school year, and when I need to go back to work. So, yesterday, I made the effort to get out of the house by going fishing before heading down to Kettler Capitals Iceplex for a skating session for season ticket holders.

Pat has started calling the Weverton Cliffs area on the Potomac the "community pool," and sure enough, there were some people wading when I got to the end of the first path out to the river. I don't understand the people who wade and swim in areas where I lose a ton of lures (and their associated hooks), but that's their problem. Anyway, I moved a bit upstream, and with my Under Armour Bozeman boots, had no problem traversing some marshy area to get out to a group of rocks to fish from.

It ended up being a frustrating two hours of fishing. Early on, I had a fish on a Whopper Plopper that escaped. I switched over to a swimbait, and had a hit.... that evaporated when the line broke; I could clearly see the dark shape swim off with my lure. I had another one on a swim bait that again escaped during a leap into the air.

I should have brought a cup. I could have at least come home with a ton of crayfish.

How many crayfish can you find in this photo?

Just before I was ready to leave, I was visited by Mr. Sneaky-snake. I'd seen this snake swim by maybe a half-hour earlier, and then it came back to poke around in the rocky area directly in front of me. It decided to swim up and poke its head out just feet from where I was standing.

I actually hissed at it to make it go away

My first thought was that it was a copperhead, but Pat says it could have been a "northern watersnake." It was a bit pale brown compared to all of the northern watersnake photos I could find. But, when it swam, it was completely underwater, which I don't think is characteristic of copperheads. I didn't get close enough to see the shape of its head.

The trip down to Arlington for the skating session was awful. Traffic was more miserable than usual, and then of course both Elizabeth and I miss out on winning cool prizes by only a few numbers. We had 273165 and 273265, and 273163 and 273267 were called. :( We consoled ourselves at the former World of Beer location just a block or so away, before calling it a night.

So, this morning, I woke up wanting revenge on the fish who'd escaped me.

I decided to try my luck at Taylor's Landing, and chose poorly. Ninety minutes in, and nothing. No nibbles, just several lost lures.

Giving up there, I drove out to Dam 4. Last time I'd done these two in conjunction, I'd caught nothing at Dam 4, but a smallmouth and a walleye at Taylor's Landing.

My first spot, I was vying with two idiots that if I didn't know any better, I'd just call them frat boys. Loud, obnoxious, and just trying to be disruptive. I just kept casting, and didn't say a word. They quickly got tired of trying to antagonize me, but they'd clearly scared the fish away. When I was sure they'd left the area (and so wouldn't think they'd "won"), I moved further downstream from the dam.

I cast for about fifteen minutes with nary a nibble. I moved further downstream and tried again. Nothing. I moved a total of four times before I found a place with fairly calm water, albeit a huge log about five feet off shore. It was going to make casting interesting if I wanted to reel in directly in front. I opted to cast so that I was bringing in the bait at an angle to the log, and hopefully missing it.

Now, I'd been trying everything I had. Topwater (Zara Puppy and Whopper Plopper). Swimbait (Reaction Innovations Little Dipper and BPS Sassy Sally). TRD Finesse Worms. Nothing was getting even sunfish bumps. So, I went back to my old school setup -- the Spider Classic hook with a BPS Sticko Split-tail worm (minnow color).

The second cast, I felt something, and figured it for a sunfish (which I'd seen chasing some of my bait on the way in). I was wrong.

I'm probably the only person who is disappointed to catch a walleye

It was a skinny little thing, and came in just over eleven inches. Figures, considering I now have a stringer to keep the larger ones! I tossed it back and kept casting, only to lose the lure a few moments later.

I put on a swimbait and promptly caught another walleye; again, it wasn't quite twelve inches. All I could think was that Pat was going to be upset that I'd caught two walleye, and couldn't keep either one.

The swimbait was pretty beat up after the walleye (as usual), so I swapped it out for another one. A few more casts, and I'd gotten it hung up on a log (not the one I could clearly see) twice, bad enough that the hook was slightly bent. It was getting close to six, and I was thinking I should go home, but I wanted one more cast. Just one more.

I tossed out the line, then actually started walking downstream as I reeled it in, to try to avoid both the visible log as well as the one I'd gotten hung up on the past two casts. Then it hit, hard. I knew it had to be a smallmouth. I set the hook and reeled for all I was worth. When I saw the fish, I thought, OMG, it's a monster.

A good 14-15" fish, and a hell of a fighter

I think it looked like a monster right off because of how skinny the walleye were. Still, this fish was feisty, and it was hard for me to even get it off the hook. It was thrashing so much, the swimbait flew off, and I was nervous I'd end up with the naked hook in my hand. Obviously, it calmed down enough that I was able to grab it by the lip and remove the hook.

Since I was pretty satisfied by that last cast, I packed it up afterwards and headed home. Pat scowled at me when I returned, but I will put money on us going fishing this weekend, and him outdoing me. :) Though I might catch more walleye.... ;)

Two Days

This was a nasty, hot weekend. I guess that's why Pat didn't really feel like driving anywhere. We'd confirmed he still had a bike rack that fit his old B13 Sentra SE-R and figured that it should work on either the Camaro or the WRX. But I think he was also trying to sell a Snap-On hutch, so needed to stick around for that.

Anyway, not much going on, just ready for school to be over. My first year as resource teacher was a bit rockier than I thought it would be. I'm ready to move on to the summer, some professional development, and planning ahead for next year. What can I do different? Where can I emulate Greg Letterman, my legendary RT from when I started teaching twenty years ago?

So, I mowed the lawn today -- Pat laughs about this -- and finally finished knocking down the jungle in the back. If it ever cools off a bit, we can get the fire pit going again and get rid of more of the large branches that are all over back there. I also posted some duplicate Lego minifigs and excess Caps freebies on eBay, and already sold the minifigs. I guess it was a productive weekend.

In the meantime, I just have to get through the next two days before "summer" starts; really, it's only a day and a half as the ILT members have a "retreat" at the Discovery building Tuesday afternoon. Sure, I have to work twenty "SSE" days, but I don't really have to deal with people, so it's not so bad. I'll clean up the book room, the department office, move stuff into my new classroom, enter department orders, and basically do a lot of grunt work while I'm on campus. There will be days off campus with other RTs, but most of the SSE days will be real manual labor, at least for me. It'll be good to take my mind off everything.

I'll leave with this -- one of the chili pepper plants that Pat cultivated over the winter and then planted at the end of March (once the snow and ice stopped) has started putting out peppers. Yum.

Hot stuff!

Just over a month until the road trip with Mom.... can't wait!