Yuneec Breeze Update: Ball in My Court

Last week (on 5/5/17) I sent another email to Yuneec.  It was a reply.  Simply:

"Hello, any help on this issue?"

Because I felt like I'd been forgotten.   Later that day, they replied:

Update for Case XXXXX - "Fwd: Case # XXXXX Created: Breeze disconnected and crashed" Hello,­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ Thank you for contacting Yuneec! Please follow these listed instructions in order to retrieve the telemetry from your iOS device so we can analyze your last flight: Power on your iOS device and connect it to your computer using your lightning cable and open iTunes. Select your iOS device from the connected devices panel in iTunes and click on the Apps category. Scroll down until you find the "File Sharing" heading Click and drag the "Flight Logs" folder to your desktop Create a ZIP File from the copied Flight Logs folder and reply to this email with the ZIP File attached. For assistance with creating a ZIP File, please see the following link: Making a ZIP File. If you need any additional assistance, please don't hesitate to contact again. Technical Support | Yuneec USA Inc. 5555 Ontario Mills Parkway Ontario, CA 91764 Toll-Free: 844-898-6332 www.yuneec.com

I'm a little concerned...this email doesn't end with

Thank you for being a part of our Yuneec family.

Have a Yuneec day!

as their previous emails.  Maybe they are mad at me?

Rocketbook Everlast Review

I was a previous backer of the Rocketbook Wave.  When I saw the KS for the Rocketbook Everlast, I scanned the page, glanced at the video, and thought to myself  "Cool, they've improved the cover for the Rocketbook so it doesn't wear as quickly."  I'm a big fan of the Wave and the Waves that I previously owned had a couple issues.  The covers had a tendency to wear after a while--not to affect the functionality, but left me sort of wishing that I had found a cover or something so it didn't look bad.  But then I thought--that probably wouldn't nuke very well...  

Rocketbook Wave--with a little wear on the cover

 The other issue I had was--after several uses, the pen indentions from regular use.  I don't press down super hard, but not overly soft either, hence you could always sort of see the previous notes and drawings--ever so slightly.  Again not really affecting the functionality, but kinda annoying.

Showing some ghosting from previous notes

I just received my Everlast this weekend.  I was very disappointed when I unwrapped it to see that the Rocketbook was significantly thinner and had what seemed to be a third of the sheets that my original Rocketbook had.  I did not really follow this Kickstarter as closely as I should have and I actually began taking notes in it at work today.  There's not a gram of paper in this friggin' thing, is there?  I just went to this page and found that not only is it NOT paper, that the dang thing will erase with water OR mild heat (such as the heat produced by friction from the Frixion pens).  I'm glad I read the KS page before nuking my Everlast!

Well, that answers the question about why so few sheets.  Won't need them!  So far, Rocketbook Wave and especially the Rocketbook Everlast are great products!

My Yuneec Breeze Review--Subject to Change

Several weeks ago (4/22/17) I lost wifi contact with my Breeze. This has happened multiple times previously when I flew it over 150 feet high. Please note the specs say that it will go to 250 feet, and I feel that 150 feet is well within acceptable limits. In the past, I experienced no problems...it just came back after hovering for a short time as it is supposed to do. On this particular day, it would not respond so following the instructions in the manual, I pushed the home button (first try) then afterwards the "land here" button. The drone was about 25-30 feet up, and perhaps 10 - 15 feet away. Instead of returning or landing, the Breeze drifted erratically for a few seconds, and then as if I was controlling it, it flew directly into a telephone pole and crashed. The propeller guards did not protect the propellers as was claimed they would do in the description, and the home button also did not work as was claimed. I called Yuneec (U.S. offices) the following Monday. After waiting on the caller count to go from "you are caller number 30" down to 15 or so then back up to 21, I was about ready to hang up when it offered me a callback, which I took. I received a return call about 30 minutes later. The customer service tech personnel asked several questions and was polite enough to listen to me describe the situation with the unit. Afterwards he said he would send me an email with instructions how to use iTunes to download the flight log from my iPhone so I could send it to them. I assumed this would allow them to determine what was wrong. Shortly after that I did get an email that said

"Dear Customer,
Thank you for contacting Yuneec USA Inc. Customer Support. This message is to inform you that we have opened a case for you, case number #xxxxx. If you need any further assistance regarding this case, please contact our customer support at (844)-898-6332 and reference this number.
If you are receiving this message in response to your email submitted, a member of our customer care team will respond to your case within 1-3 business days. Our business hours are Mon-Fri 8am-5pm PST. It is our goal to provide exceptional customer service and I hope you received just that. Thank you for being a part of our Yuneec family. Have a Yuneec day! To update this case, please just reply to this email."

For the record, I've flown this drone about 2-3 dozen times (each at one full battery--about 15 minutes) so I know how it performed previous to this incident. I have flown it in various but similar conditions within the scope of reasonable use (i.e. not in the rain or high winds, etc.). I really liked this drone and was careful with it. I had previously flown it closer to its specified limits and it did fine, so when I say that it malfunctioned, or it acted erratically, that's based upon experience from the 30+ times i'd flown it before and how it responded and performed on those previous occasions. Also, I own a iPhone 6s with the latest iOS operating system, the Breeze Cam mobile app is up to date, and I check the firmware each time, so the Breeze firmware is also up to date.

I waited for three days for the instructions and nothing came so I replied to ask about how to download what they asked for. Still no info or contact back from Yuneec. I am 100% willing to update this at a later time if Yuneec responds to me.

Bottling beers

Last weekend Kathy and I bottled the Churchill Summer Quencher and this week the kids helped me bottle my other batch, Hob's Lick Tan Ale (which has more of an amber appearance.  Now I have one brew almost ready to drink and one which will be ready soon. One trick I use is to make one bottle of each batch a clear bottle. Corona or something similar is good for this. By making a clear bottle you can look at it and tell when the yeast are done and have dropped to the bottom as sediment. This will mean your beer is carbonated and ready to chill and quaff!

The Churchill was not quite 100% ready but I split a bottle with Kathy anyway. She said it was good and I agree it's not bad for a quick first rush batch of the year.

Adding Hops to Hob's Lick

Added two ounces of UK Fuggles hops to Hob's Lick. I have come to figure that this beer is woefully underhopped and will not have as much bitterness as it should. Ah well, can brew more better...

Specific Gravity readings...

Specific Gravity in very simple terms is the measure of sugar in a liquid. When beer is fermented, the yeast convert the sugar into alcohol and CO2. Since all beers are different there is no real number for the Final Gravity of the beer. It's only 1.000 if it's water. There is always a bit of unfermentable sugars in the brew. So the trick is you can't bottle until it's done. If it can be any number in the range of 1.005-1.015, you might ask how do you know when it's done. If you bottle before fermentation is complete it can lead to exploding bottles (which means loss of beer which is alcohol abuse).  The trick? Check your beer several times and if it remains the same gravity, it's pretty much done. You have to check it over the course of a week to be sure.  My Churchill Quencher reads 1.025 and the Darker beer which I've renamed Hob's Lick Tan Ale is reading 1.019.

Dry Hopping the Churchill

I added one ounce of Nugget hops when I racked the Churchill from the primary to the secondary fermenter.  It seems to be doing well.

Churchill going well

The lighter American ale I brewed Sunday seems to be well underway.  All looks great in brewland.

It doesn't look like I'll have beer ready for the 4th of July, but it won't be long afterwards.

Churchill Quencher

Since my awesome long-time friends, the Churchills came on brewday to
visit me, I'm calling this batch Churchill Quencher.

Ingredients:
6 # dry extra light malt extract
1 oz. U.S. Fuggles hops
1/4 tsp. Irish Moss
1 pkg. Safale-5 American Ale Yeast.

This batch was meant to be a mild summer thirst quencher.  I made some
modifications to the usual general recipe for this style which is what I always do.  The U.S. Fuggles hops are usually used to give a woody or flora aroma to your beer rather than for bittering.  I wanted mild, so I used the low IBU (International Bittering Units) hop to give the beer less of a bitter bite thinking this might appeal more to my wife (who usually likes mixed drinks or fruity wine coolers).  Usually for
this style the body would also be fairly light, but I used 6 pounds of DME (Dry Malt Extract) instead of 3 or 4 so it may prove to be a bit more full bodied than a standard light American ale.  I used dry ale yeast because the Liquor Barn I stopped at did not have liquid yeast
like I am used to getting.  I will note that for future.  I added the hops for the full boil.  I did note that I scorched the malt a little. I'm hoping it doesn't affect the flavor much.  I read a comment online which said a good practice is to get the water up to boiling and add your extract after you turn off the heat, then once it's dissolved,
you can bring it back to a boil.  I'll try this technique next time.

I have some pellet hops I'm going to drop in when I rack to secondary perhaps this weekend (this is known as dry-hopping).  I must comment again how much I love my wort chiller.  It's a great help for cooling the wort down quickly.  This batch is now resting quietly next to the
Post Brown Sludge (PBS for short).  I did not note any ~20 hour vigor from the yeast in the Churchill, but I shall peek in on it after work.

Rack to secondary

I racked my dark ale to a secondary fermentor. It looks clear and tasty.

A lighter batch

This batch brewed this morning went about like the previous one two weeks ago. This one had extra light dry malt extract as a base with U.S. Fuggles hops for bittering. Fuggles are usually used for aroma and they are not super strong for bittering. I am going for a light American ale.

I have some other pellet hops I'm going to use later when I rack it to the secondary to give the beer a mild woody and fruity aroma. This time I used safale dry ale yeast.

Fermenting vigorously

Looks like all is well so far. I'll wait until Sunday to check it and see if its ready for the secondary fermenter.

We have liftoff!

Everything is good with the ale. Fermentation is starting as of last evening and looks good.

Yeast dead?

At 8am I observed all the liquid yeast culture looking very dormant at the bottom of the carboy. In a panic, added the dry lager yeast that came with the kit. At around 10am, still no activity. Shook the carboy a little to give some aeration.

Post Brown Sludge Ale

Beer Name: Post Brown Sludge Ale
Attempted Style: Medium American Ale


Ingredients:
1 c. corn sugar
1 lb. Unhopped Extra Dark Dry Malt
3.3 lb can Munton's Hopped American Style Light Lager Extract
0.5 oz. Citra AA 13.9 Whole hops 30 minutes
0.5 oz. Citra AA 13.9 Whole hops 15 minutes
2 tsp. Irish Moss 15 minutes
1 vial Whitelabs East Coast Ale Yeast WLP008
1 packet Muntons dry lager yeast

Notes: I purchased four used glass carboys at an estate sale.  The previous owner had been making wine, but each bottle contained brown sludge that looked fairly hazardous (as well as all his fermentation locks were dry...). I cleaned out all four of them and I used one for primary fermentation.

6/8/14:
Heated 3.5 gal water to boiling.  Added Malt Extracts and corn sugar.  Boil for 60 minutes adding Citra for 30 minutes of boil time and 15 minutes of boil time.  Added Irish Moss for last 15 minutes of boil.  Strained out hops, cooled wort with chiller.  Added cooled wort to 1 gal. tap water in glass carboy. Finished filling to within 6 inches of top with cold tap water.  Added yeast straight from refrigerator to wort without bringing to room temp.
OG: 1.050.

Grumpy

Alice was grumpy today as it took several tries to fire her fuel injected v-twin up from a short winters nap. I ran an errand down to Meijer's to make a return. It was flurrying a bit but I did not have to dust off my seat before heading back. Note: last ride of the winter without my Colorado chaps to keep the wind chill off my legs.

Decembeer Ambeer

After class today, I brewed an amber ale.  Well, that's what I was shooting for.  I had several goals I wanted to accomplish with this last batch of the year.

• use my new wort chiller
• use a large amount of flavor and aroma hops
• use a Belgian yeast strain.

I started with 4 gallons of water in my brew pot and these two specialty grains:

• 1 .0 # crystal malt (40L)
• 0.5 # wheat flakes

After the wort came close to a boil, I strained out the grains and added the following at 4:10pm:

• 3.0 # amber DME
• 3.0 # light DME
• 1.0 oz. Columbus Whole Hops (13.0 AA)

In the last 15 minutes at 4:55pm I added:

• 1.0 oz. Columbus Whole Hops
• 1.5 tsp. Irish moss

In the last 10 minutes of the boil, at 5pm I added:

• 1.0 oz. Columbus Whole Hops

In the last 5 minutes of boil time, at 5:05pm I added:

• 1.0 oz. Fuggles Pellet Hops (3.5 AA)

In the final minute of boil, at 5:09pm I added:

• 1.0 oz. Columbus Whole Hops

I stuck the wort chiller into the brew pot and transferred brewpot to the sink.  I started the wort chiller and to my observation it took very little time to cool down the wort.  After it was cool, I removed the wort chiller and began the process of sparging out all those hops.  After removing half the hops, my strainer was full and I had nowhere to put the remaining hops so I trashed them.  After sparging the second half of the hopped wort I noted that the hops had absorbed quite a large amount of the liquid.  It was alarming how much liquid was absorbed, and how much tap water I had to sparge into the fermenter in order to fill it to the proper level.

Next time I may use a hop bag so I can squeeze out the water with sanitized hands.

After getting all the wort into the fermenter I looked at the temp and it was 76 degrees, so I pitched the yeast immediately.  The yeast I used was:

• White Labs WLP570 Belgian Golden Ale Yeast

I cleaned up and the entire process took me approximately 2.5 hours.  I also did some video this time and should have that uploaded to Youtube in the near future.

In a couple days after primary fermentation (estimate 12/11 or 12/12), I'm gonna add:

• 1 oz. of Spalt hop pellets.

A couple days before bottling (estimate 12/25 or 12/26), I'm gonna add:

• 1 oz. of Spalt hop pellets.

Belboh Hybrid Ale...first tasting

I tried a bottle of the Belboh last night.  It was pretty good.  Its still a bit hazy and needs to condition some more, but it should finish up nicely!

I may be brewing an amber in a couple days.  I am dying to try out the new wort chiller!

I couldn't really think up a great label for this beer because it's style is kinda strange, so I just picked some graphics and winged it.  Like I did with the brewing of this beer!

For that person who's expressed disappointment that this blog is all about me, my family, my life, and what I'm doing, please feel more than free to not visit.  I'm not holding a gun to your head.  We don't want you here anyway. Hahahahahaha!!!

Straight No Chaser - 12 Days (original from 1998)

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

My birthday present came today!

I am so excited!  I was ready to take a month or so off from brewing.  You know, just chill and enjoy the fruits of my labors up to this point so far.  After all, I still have some Brett's Beard Bitter Ale, some New Steel Pale Ale, some Nut Up or Shut Up Brown Ale, and just bottled my BelBoh Ale which is not even ready to drink!  But now that the wort chiller that Kathy got me for my birthday has come in the mail, I am dying to try it out!

The motivation behind any brewing process or ingredient is flavor (or sometimes aroma, or being pleasing to the eye, but mainly flavor).  In The Complete Joy of Home Brewing 3rd Edition, it states:  "After the hot wort has been put into your fermenter, you may have to wait many hours, perhaps overnight, before the wort drops to temperatures suitable for pitching yeast.  Be forewarned that this procedure can result in beers that have a flavor character reminiscent of sweet corn (really dimethyl-sulfide).  It is best to chill as quickly as possible." (Papazian, 2003).

The wort chiller sends a flow of cold water (contained within this copper slinky) spiraling through your 212°F wort which will cool it down below 78°F--the proper temperature for pitching yeast.  This can be done in 15 to 30 minutes now!  I'm ready to brew again!