Hey Blog, how've ya been?

A lot has happened since the last time I threw some words at ya. Here's the cliff notes:

Had a baby boy, changed jobs, moved to Minnesota.

How's that for life changing events? Well in the new world I now find myself in, there is plenty of exploring to be done, so I'll start blogging more often....hopefully.

Special Beer for a Special Boy

So tomorrow is the "early" judgement day. I plan on bottling the beer I made special for the birth of my baby boy. I have special labels designed, so I'll hand out handcrafted ale instead of cigars when he's born. There's no way I could brew another batch and have it be ready by his birth, so I sure hope this one turns out good! The recipe is for an IPA (India Pale Ale, and coincidentally the initials of our baby) that I modified for batch size and alcohol content. Used 2 types of hops that I've never used before and had 5 hop additions (again, Miller Lite's triple hopped brewed marketing campaign is bullshit!) Should yield 36 bottles of delicious 6.3% ABV yumminess. But final alcohol level and bottle yield will have to be determined tomorrow. I really hate bottling, so if it comes up with less than 36 bottles, I won't mind :) Hopefully it's worthy of sharing, otherwise I'm gonna have a lot of beer to myself!

This will all have to happen after I get back from Cub Scout Leader training. I've been warned that I'll need lots of caffeine to make it through 5 hours of "common knowledge" training.

Car Surgery

I love my car but damn this is ridiculous. I'm so used to simple 4 cylinder cars, ones that I've worked on so many times that I know them like the back of my hand. Simple tasks like changing spark plugs took 5 minutes! Not on this car.



5 hours. Remove intake manifold to replace spark plugs, remove rear valve cover to replace with newer version that doesn't leak oil. Replace power steering hose with one that doesn't leak fluid. Spent $300 in parts, and saved about $600 by doing it myself. Pretty big job but I'm glad it's done, even though I am completely sore today! The human body isn't meant to stretch like that for extended periods of time. I'm just thankful that the car started right up when it was all put back together. Runs like a champ again!

It's on like donkey kong

Finally! After a couple months of being without a bike, as my trusty red Soma went to SF via ebay, here's what many beers, err hours in the garage have done.

Start: 84 Nishiki Prestige frame and a pile of misc parts.


Finish: Complete and road tested!



This ended up being a mix of 3 different bikes I bought off of craigslist/ebay, which were parted out for profit :) Some of the parts were purchased new, and the saddle is leftover from the Soma bike. Hopefully this hot weather and increase in light rail fees won't discourage me from commuting again, but either way, it's time to get back on the road and lose my "sympathy pregnancy" weight :)

All Alone

My wife and son are on their way to Oklahoma, and I've got the rest of the week off of work. Hmmm...what's a boy to do?

I've got a Lowe's card, lots of beer, and a hankering to do some home improvement :)

Not-so-extreme makeover time!

Bottling Day

After 3 weeks fermenting/conditioning/dry hopping, it's time to bottle!

The gross looking carboy is lifted onto the counter. The proteins and yeast have settled to the bottom (called trub), and the leftover krausen stuck to the top.


The beer is siphoned into the bottling bucket, which rests for a few minutes to let any remaining sediment settle, and priming sugar is added for carbonation.


Using used bottles that have been cleaned and sanitized, they are filled and capped with this medieval torture device.



End result is a bunch of beer that will sit at room temperature for 2 weeks to carbonate. The remaining yeast in the beer will eat the priming sugar that was added to the bottling bucket and carbonate the beer.


Now the problem is that the carboy is now empty....time for another batch!

Spring time car time

I used to be pretty anal about keeping my cars clean. Used to wash every weekend and wax once a month. Well I've been lazy the past few years, and my poor Maxima has been suffering. No wax since last spring, and last wash was before our Flagstaff trip (my car's first time in snow!). The snow grit and grime and build up of dust was disgusting. I've been wanting to detail it but never had the time. Until today.

4 hours later, I have a shiny car again! It was not enjoyable like it used to be, but I'm happy its done. Pretty boring I know.