Tailbone update…

So, I’ve recovered from a recent unpleasant abcess in my tailbone area but my tailbone pain remains.. doesn’t really surprise me. I’m taking a break from acupuncture because while it really helps me feel better, it’s not a fix for the tailbone itself and I want to keep trying things.

I’ve had an appointment with a local physical therapist who is known in the area for her outstanding work with people having back pain. The appointment went really well, she found that my hips are torqued one direction and rotated a little forward which causes my left side to be slightly rotated and out of alignment. She found several ligaments and muscles were out of whack (tight, sensitive, stressed out) trying to compensate for the misalignment of my hips. My sacrum moves how she expected but my tailbone was having a little lateral movement when I sit which she suspects is the cause of the pain.The procedures she performed were basically to relieve the ligaments and stretch on particular muscles such as the pectineus, the obturator, and the piriformis. She also provided Wendie and I with directions on how to do some of these procedures at home as well as several stretches for me to strengthen my core muscles. I’m getting some instant pain relief and a side benefit is starting to exercise some more, I’m really pleased with the results so far and I’m going to keep after it to see how this works.

Brew #5 : Noname Pale Ale

Sunday morning Wendie and I brewed up a batch of a custom pale ale. I’m a big fan of the dark stouts and porters but wanted to brew something a bit lighter for those who don’t like the bitterness of the darks..

1. Steep 8oz. 10L Crystal and 8oz. Flaked Rye in 5.5gallons of 160F water for 30min.

2. Remove steeped grains, add 1tsp Gypsum, bring water to a boil.

3. Turn off heat, dissolve 7lbs Pale Malt Extract into brew water, turn on heat and bring to a boil.

4. Once boiling, add 1oz. Warrior hops and boil for 20min.

5. Add 1oz. Cascade hops, boil for 15min.

6. Add 1oz. Cascade hops, 1tsp Irish Moss, and boil for 30min.

7. Chill brew to under 80F, pitch yeast in primary fermenter and pour in the brew. For some reason I came up about 2gallons of water short in the primary so I had to boil up water, chill it, and add to primary. I think because it was so windy I just boiled off quite a bit of water. I took a measurement of the Original Gravity to be 1.045.

Check out the “cold break” in primary fermentation, it looks like egg flower soup.. yummy!

2/19 : Racked to secondary, beer is light yellow and tastes pretty good! SG is 1.010.