| Author |
Message |
    
Joel Gallihue
Junior Member
Username: Gallibrew
Post Number: 43
Registered: 02-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 11, 2004 - 03:37 am: | 
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Hey I commute every day and it can be hard to get psyched to hop (he he) in the car. My wife inadvertantly "weeded" some of my hops and for shoots and grins I looped a little bit of vine over my rear view mirror ... just to put my mind on something other than traffic. (Washington DC metro area traffic can be worse than anything Dante ever wrote about)
Sooo anyway ... I noticed how well parched the hops were after work and it occured to me, I'm driving an excellent solar dehydrator. My car has a black interior, so I get a killer dry sauna every day after work. I'm really blessed!
Lots of data about hot car warnings on internet so I know a study found that within 20 minutes the air temperature in a previously air-conditioned small car (mine is a Civic) exposed to the sun on a 35 C day (95º F) exceeded 50 C (122º F). Within 40 minutes the temperature soared to 65.5 C (150º F).
I think the best temp for drying hops is 110 or so ... so that may be a little much but hey now I'm thinking about solar mashing in my car.)
So anyone want to talk me out of carpooling with a tray full of hops? Anyone have generic solar gain ratios for car glass, on-hand just laying around in case the topic comes up during idle chat? :-)
Gallibrew |
Vance Barnes
Advanced Member
Username: Vancebarnes
Post Number: 911
Registered: 03-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 11, 2004 - 03:43 pm: |
|
I've heard of solar stills but never solar mash tuns. I'me sure somebody is brewing off the grid. Maybe in an earthship out in the desert.... |
Scott Folsom
New Member
Username: Sfolsom
Post Number: 10
Registered: 03-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, August 12, 2004 - 03:54 am: |
|
Hey Joel, I'm in Alexandria, and you're right 'bout DC traffic. I can't stand it, so I Metro most of the time. I'm orginally from California, and I think DC may actually be worse than LA for traffic.
I'd throw a few cones in the back seat just to see what happens to them. If anything your car will smell nice for a few days... |
Joel Gallihue
Junior Member
Username: Gallibrew
Post Number: 46
Registered: 02-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 18, 2004 - 08:21 pm: |
|
Scott,
Lucky you to have a metro commute. I did throw a few cones in back and the ones that rolled under the seat dried better than the onese that got sun. I think they only need a few hours and I need to check to see how far over 110 the car goes. I'm guessing I could car-kiln some hops during a brew session, so I can monitor. I'll keep fooling about until someone gets hurt. :-)
Joel |
Brews and Views Archive 2004 
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