Thursday, August 19, 2010
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
Because I'm me I wanted to figure out a way to visualize the sun's position throughout the day. The graphic is what I came up with. It shows from what direction the sun will be shining, and at what elevation, on the hour for my location on May 5, 2010.
The two really small triangles that just look like lines are the direction the sun will rise and set. They look like lines because the angle is only 0.1 degree. I think it's interesting that the sun rises north of east and sets north of west.
The point of view of the graphic is looking to the southwest.
I created the graphic in SketchUp and got the sun positional data from the U.S. Naval Observatory.
The two really small triangles that just look like lines are the direction the sun will rise and set. They look like lines because the angle is only 0.1 degree. I think it's interesting that the sun rises north of east and sets north of west.
The point of view of the graphic is looking to the southwest.
I created the graphic in SketchUp and got the sun positional data from the U.S. Naval Observatory.
Sunday, May 02, 2010
I was like a kid in a candy shop yesterday and stocked up on some good beer. The letter grades are from beeradvocate.com.
Lagunitas' Maximus Imperial IPA B+
Green Flash Brewing's West Coast IPA A-
Great Divide's Yeti Imperial Stout A
Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout A-
The funny thing is after I got home I only drank my homebrew. I hope to try a couple of them this evening.
Lagunitas' Maximus Imperial IPA B+
Green Flash Brewing's West Coast IPA A-
Great Divide's Yeti Imperial Stout A
Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout A-
The funny thing is after I got home I only drank my homebrew. I hope to try a couple of them this evening.
Saturday, May 01, 2010
Miscellany
I have always wanted to try shooting a bow. A few weeks ago I happened to look in a program guide from the county forest district and saw they had a free introductory class, so I signed up. It is this afternoon and is an hour and a half long. If I like it I might think about looking for a target bow on craigslist.
A few weeks ago I got Google's Android phone the Nexus One and love it. An interesting thing is watching the reaction of iPhone users that try it out. Every one of them was really amazed at the thinness of it, the nice solid feel it has, and how fast and responsive it was when checking out the different apps. I think I will make a post sometime describing the apps I use the most.
At work over the years I've had to occasionally use SQL Server to edit or add a value in a table for an application, export a table to get some statistics on application use, change the value in an existing SQL string, light stuff like that. This week I've had to actually design queries, write stored procedures, and design reports to use in some internal web apps and it's been a lot of fun. Fortunately for me my brewing friend at work is also a SQL developer and has been invaluable in pointing me in the right directions.
So far this year my lawn is looking amazing. I still need to put some work in on my flower beds though. Mostly weeding and recutting the borders. I've decided not to plant tomatoes this year. It's usually more cost and effort than the few tomatoes I get each year are worth. I am going to look for something else to plant that might be a little less temperamental. I have to see if the space I have would work for eggplant. I love eggplant.
The routine used to be once I settled into the family room for the evening to relax and watch TV Mitch would go upstairs to the bedroom and after 10 minutes realize he was lonely and I could hear him whimper at the top of the steps. After 10 minutes of that half the time he would realize the solution would be to come back downstairs, the other half he would fall asleep. To fix that I got a couple baby gates at a church yard sale. I have three paths to get upstairs from my family room. One is sealed off just by closing a set of pocket doors I have from my family room to the living room. I have a baby gate that stays in place by pressing against the door frame from the laundry room hallway to the dining room. The other baby gate is free standing so it is easy just to move around and I keep it in the main hallway leading to the front door.
I bought the 4x4, 2x4's, cement mix and carriage bolts a few weeks ago to make a support for my hop plants but I still have not put it together. I think today is the day I do that. I got the grass cutting out of the way Thursday evening.
When I was visiting the fam a few months ago I tried the FURminator on Mitch that Tim and Lisa got for Cody. It worked so great on Mitch that I ordered one that night from Amazon while I was still visiting. It also works amazingly on Amy's Rottweiler, but a friend at work borrowed it to try on his German Shorthaired Pointer and it did nothing for her coat. They have a list of dogs that it will and will not work for on their website. German Shorthairs were on the will work list but with an asterisk saying the hair within that breed varies from dog to dog and it may or may not work. The list is in the FAQ section of their website. I would link to it but it is a Flash app. Most retail places sell it for about $60, but Amazon has it for $30. Worth every cent.
Probably the biggest thing I missed most about not having a house cleaner come in every other week was scrubbing the kitchen floor. Also thanks to Tim and Lisa I discovered the Hoover FloorMate. There are three modes of operation. First is dry vacuum mode. You do this first to pick up all the dry crumbs, dog hair, etc. You empty out the catch bin and then switch to the wet scrub mode. The brushes lower to contact the floor, and water with cleaning solution is dispensed. Once the floor is scrubbed you switch to squeegee vacuum mode. The brushes stop and lift off the floor and a squeegee lowers to contact the floor and it vacuums up any remaining water. It works really well. For light touch ups I sometimes just use hot water only without cleaning solution. I found the best price ordering from Walmart.com.
Last year I got a new roof. I think this year I am going to get a new furnace and air conditioner. I think there is still a 30% tax credit available from the feds which will be nice. I also want to get an estimate to paint my aluminum siding white, but I don't know if I will do that this year or not. I think it will be about 1/3 of the cost of installing new siding.
I have always wanted to try shooting a bow. A few weeks ago I happened to look in a program guide from the county forest district and saw they had a free introductory class, so I signed up. It is this afternoon and is an hour and a half long. If I like it I might think about looking for a target bow on craigslist.
A few weeks ago I got Google's Android phone the Nexus One and love it. An interesting thing is watching the reaction of iPhone users that try it out. Every one of them was really amazed at the thinness of it, the nice solid feel it has, and how fast and responsive it was when checking out the different apps. I think I will make a post sometime describing the apps I use the most.
At work over the years I've had to occasionally use SQL Server to edit or add a value in a table for an application, export a table to get some statistics on application use, change the value in an existing SQL string, light stuff like that. This week I've had to actually design queries, write stored procedures, and design reports to use in some internal web apps and it's been a lot of fun. Fortunately for me my brewing friend at work is also a SQL developer and has been invaluable in pointing me in the right directions.
So far this year my lawn is looking amazing. I still need to put some work in on my flower beds though. Mostly weeding and recutting the borders. I've decided not to plant tomatoes this year. It's usually more cost and effort than the few tomatoes I get each year are worth. I am going to look for something else to plant that might be a little less temperamental. I have to see if the space I have would work for eggplant. I love eggplant.
The routine used to be once I settled into the family room for the evening to relax and watch TV Mitch would go upstairs to the bedroom and after 10 minutes realize he was lonely and I could hear him whimper at the top of the steps. After 10 minutes of that half the time he would realize the solution would be to come back downstairs, the other half he would fall asleep. To fix that I got a couple baby gates at a church yard sale. I have three paths to get upstairs from my family room. One is sealed off just by closing a set of pocket doors I have from my family room to the living room. I have a baby gate that stays in place by pressing against the door frame from the laundry room hallway to the dining room. The other baby gate is free standing so it is easy just to move around and I keep it in the main hallway leading to the front door.
I bought the 4x4, 2x4's, cement mix and carriage bolts a few weeks ago to make a support for my hop plants but I still have not put it together. I think today is the day I do that. I got the grass cutting out of the way Thursday evening.
When I was visiting the fam a few months ago I tried the FURminator on Mitch that Tim and Lisa got for Cody. It worked so great on Mitch that I ordered one that night from Amazon while I was still visiting. It also works amazingly on Amy's Rottweiler, but a friend at work borrowed it to try on his German Shorthaired Pointer and it did nothing for her coat. They have a list of dogs that it will and will not work for on their website. German Shorthairs were on the will work list but with an asterisk saying the hair within that breed varies from dog to dog and it may or may not work. The list is in the FAQ section of their website. I would link to it but it is a Flash app. Most retail places sell it for about $60, but Amazon has it for $30. Worth every cent.
Probably the biggest thing I missed most about not having a house cleaner come in every other week was scrubbing the kitchen floor. Also thanks to Tim and Lisa I discovered the Hoover FloorMate. There are three modes of operation. First is dry vacuum mode. You do this first to pick up all the dry crumbs, dog hair, etc. You empty out the catch bin and then switch to the wet scrub mode. The brushes lower to contact the floor, and water with cleaning solution is dispensed. Once the floor is scrubbed you switch to squeegee vacuum mode. The brushes stop and lift off the floor and a squeegee lowers to contact the floor and it vacuums up any remaining water. It works really well. For light touch ups I sometimes just use hot water only without cleaning solution. I found the best price ordering from Walmart.com.
Last year I got a new roof. I think this year I am going to get a new furnace and air conditioner. I think there is still a 30% tax credit available from the feds which will be nice. I also want to get an estimate to paint my aluminum siding white, but I don't know if I will do that this year or not. I think it will be about 1/3 of the cost of installing new siding.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
I am really excited about the HBO miniseries "The Pacific" that starts tomorrow night (Sunday 3/13/10) at 8:00 PM central. I called my cable company last week and had them turn on HBO just so I could watch the miniseries. It is only $15 per month. I don't know if I will keep it after the miniseries is over. I'll see how much I watch it.
"The Pacific" is like "Band of Brothers", but instead of the war in Europe it tells the story of the war in the Pacific theater. It was produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks with Dreamworks.
Being who I am I have already created a Google Earth map with all of the locations that will be in the 10 part series so I will have a better geographical context while I am watching. If you are going to watch it and want the Google Earth .kmz file let me know and I will e-mail it to you.
The Pacific trailer #1
The Pacific trailer #2
"The Pacific" is like "Band of Brothers", but instead of the war in Europe it tells the story of the war in the Pacific theater. It was produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks with Dreamworks.
Being who I am I have already created a Google Earth map with all of the locations that will be in the 10 part series so I will have a better geographical context while I am watching. If you are going to watch it and want the Google Earth .kmz file let me know and I will e-mail it to you.
The Pacific trailer #1
The Pacific trailer #2
Monday, March 01, 2010
I went pheasant hunting for the first time this weekend. I shot 3 of the 9 birds we took. I cooked up two pheasant and 1 chucker for dinner tonight. I just pan fried them with a flour/egg/bread crumb coating. Very good. Like chicken only better.
The picture above is near the end of the hunt and we were trying to look for tracks. The dog did an amazing job of sniffing them out.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Here is the Toyota page where you can enter your VIN number to see if your car is included in ANY recall or service campaign.
I had a tough time reading the one on the windshield in my poorly lit garage. It is also on an easy to read sticker with bar codes in the driver's door frame.
My Toyota is in the clear!
I had a tough time reading the one on the windshield in my poorly lit garage. It is also on an easy to read sticker with bar codes in the driver's door frame.
My Toyota is in the clear!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Friday, January 08, 2010
Note to self: If I needed to replace my GPS today I would probably get the Garmin Nuvi 1450.
Amazon has it for about $310.
Amazon has it for about $310.
Update 2/24/10: I think I've changed my mind and I still would get the Garmin Nuvi 755T I mentioned last month.
Saturday, January 02, 2010
I've been practicing using GIMP to correct the green eye effect dogs get when you take their picture with a flash.
Before
After
You can't just use the red eye removal tool that a lot of image manipulation programs have, like Irfanview, because the reflection from a dog's eye isn't red, and the program is looking for red color in a person's eye.
Before
After
You can't just use the red eye removal tool that a lot of image manipulation programs have, like Irfanview, because the reflection from a dog's eye isn't red, and the program is looking for red color in a person's eye.
One of the big reasons I stayed home for Christmas finally happened this morning. The sump pump hose outside froze shut and when I woke up this morning the pump was running continuously. It has happened a few times before when we have really wet weather followed by a few days of really cold weather. It takes a few days for the excess ground water to dissipate.
So before I even had my coffee I was outside in 2 degree cold trying to remove the frozen hose so I could bring it to the kitchen sink to thaw it out with hot water. Of course little bits of dirty ice got on the kitchen floor and counter. I think it took me a little more than an hour before I finally got the thawed out hose reattached.
The dirty ice bits on the floor were not as big a deal as they could have been since I bought my Hoover Floormate. I just used it in wet vacuum mode and it sucked up everything. I use it quite a bit. I mostly use it in dry vacuum mode to pick up dog hair and crumbs on the floor. I've used it a few times with just hot water in the tank for spot cleaning little messes, and I've used it once with the cleaning solution to do the entire floor. I pull it out at least a couple times a week. The wet vacuum mode is great when Mitch tracks snow in from the backyard. Even when the floor looks clean I'm always surprised by the grey color of the water in the waste tank.
I watched X-Men Origins: Wolverine last night and recommend it if you want a fun mindless popcorn movie.
We tried Five Guys burgers a month or so ago. The hamburgers are some of the best out there and the portions are HUGE. I rarely order French fries, but we split an order just to give them a taste. Even splitting them we couldn't finish them without jacking my blood sugar sky high. Amy had a great idea: I froze the rest in a zip lock bag to use later for hash browns. This morning I did just that and it worked out great! I put some Smart Balance in a hot pan and then the fries and cooked those for 10 minutes or so, and then moved them to one side and cooked my eggs. The fries reheated better than I thought. The outside crisped up really nice and the inside was nice and hot.
Even though it is only 4 degrees outside Mitch is panting from getting overheated laying in his sunbeam. The cloudless day has the temperature in my southern-facing family room up a little over 4 degrees.
So before I even had my coffee I was outside in 2 degree cold trying to remove the frozen hose so I could bring it to the kitchen sink to thaw it out with hot water. Of course little bits of dirty ice got on the kitchen floor and counter. I think it took me a little more than an hour before I finally got the thawed out hose reattached.
The dirty ice bits on the floor were not as big a deal as they could have been since I bought my Hoover Floormate. I just used it in wet vacuum mode and it sucked up everything. I use it quite a bit. I mostly use it in dry vacuum mode to pick up dog hair and crumbs on the floor. I've used it a few times with just hot water in the tank for spot cleaning little messes, and I've used it once with the cleaning solution to do the entire floor. I pull it out at least a couple times a week. The wet vacuum mode is great when Mitch tracks snow in from the backyard. Even when the floor looks clean I'm always surprised by the grey color of the water in the waste tank.
I watched X-Men Origins: Wolverine last night and recommend it if you want a fun mindless popcorn movie.
We tried Five Guys burgers a month or so ago. The hamburgers are some of the best out there and the portions are HUGE. I rarely order French fries, but we split an order just to give them a taste. Even splitting them we couldn't finish them without jacking my blood sugar sky high. Amy had a great idea: I froze the rest in a zip lock bag to use later for hash browns. This morning I did just that and it worked out great! I put some Smart Balance in a hot pan and then the fries and cooked those for 10 minutes or so, and then moved them to one side and cooked my eggs. The fries reheated better than I thought. The outside crisped up really nice and the inside was nice and hot.
Even though it is only 4 degrees outside Mitch is panting from getting overheated laying in his sunbeam. The cloudless day has the temperature in my southern-facing family room up a little over 4 degrees.
Friday, January 01, 2010
For Christmas I planned on driving to Ohio on Christmas Eve morning but at the last minute aborted because of the big ice storm over Illinois and Indiana. It was a huge bummer, and I also missed out on the 5+ gallons of fresh IPA Tim had on tap from Original Gravity Brewing.
Amy was flying to her Mom's on Christmas day and was going to kennel Bella, and since I was going to be here the whole week I saved her some money and am dog sitting. For the most part she is a good guest. When the neighbors' dogs are out I have to put her on the leash in the backyard because she will just run back and forth along the fence and bark.
I didn't have any food in the house because I wasn't planning on being here, so the first thing I did is went to the store to get some fun Christmas Eve food as well as some staples. I also swung by a Redbox and picked up three movies. Amy came over in the late afternoon and helped me make hummus and baba ganoush and then we watched District 9.
Christmas Day I purposely did nothing except lay on my couch and watch movies all day and eat hummus and baba ganoush. It wasn't the same as being with family, but it was kind of a nice change of pace.
I ended up watching seven movies over the Christmas weekend:
District 9
Inglourious Basterds
Angles and Demons
Wrong Turn at Tahoe
Maiden Heist
Tyson
The Hangover
It was a short and quite week at work. Friday is New Years day and I took off New Years Eve day, so I only had three days of work.
Last night I got the movie Up, made another batch of hummus, had a wedge of Roquefort, and a bottle of really good sparkling wine (Gloria Ferrer Sonoma Brut).
For New Years Day (today) I got a pork loin and sauerkraut that I will start in the crock pot soon, and will of course be watching the Buckeyes play in the Rose Bowl. As of right now we are four point underdogs against Oregon.
I'm not sure what else I have planned for today. I still have the other half of my French press of coffee to drink, and I haven't brought the newspaper in yet. I may or may not do some laundry. It is very very cold here today. Two degrees right now. I might swing by a Redbox again and get another movie.
Happy New Year!
Amy was flying to her Mom's on Christmas day and was going to kennel Bella, and since I was going to be here the whole week I saved her some money and am dog sitting. For the most part she is a good guest. When the neighbors' dogs are out I have to put her on the leash in the backyard because she will just run back and forth along the fence and bark.
I didn't have any food in the house because I wasn't planning on being here, so the first thing I did is went to the store to get some fun Christmas Eve food as well as some staples. I also swung by a Redbox and picked up three movies. Amy came over in the late afternoon and helped me make hummus and baba ganoush and then we watched District 9.
Christmas Day I purposely did nothing except lay on my couch and watch movies all day and eat hummus and baba ganoush. It wasn't the same as being with family, but it was kind of a nice change of pace.
I ended up watching seven movies over the Christmas weekend:
District 9
Inglourious Basterds
Angles and Demons
Wrong Turn at Tahoe
Maiden Heist
Tyson
The Hangover
It was a short and quite week at work. Friday is New Years day and I took off New Years Eve day, so I only had three days of work.
Last night I got the movie Up, made another batch of hummus, had a wedge of Roquefort, and a bottle of really good sparkling wine (Gloria Ferrer Sonoma Brut).
For New Years Day (today) I got a pork loin and sauerkraut that I will start in the crock pot soon, and will of course be watching the Buckeyes play in the Rose Bowl. As of right now we are four point underdogs against Oregon.
I'm not sure what else I have planned for today. I still have the other half of my French press of coffee to drink, and I haven't brought the newspaper in yet. I may or may not do some laundry. It is very very cold here today. Two degrees right now. I might swing by a Redbox again and get another movie.
Happy New Year!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
I let my on-line subscription to www.consumerreports.org lapse for a couple years, but I just renewed it last week. This post is more of a note to myself on what laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent, and dish soap (for washing by hand) I am going to buy next based on their latest reviews.
Laundry detergent
Tide 2X Ultra for Cold Water
Simplicity Hypoallergenic Non-Toxic 2X
Dishwashing detergent
Cascade Complete with Bleach Hydroclean Action Powder
Dish Soap (washing by hand)
Dawn Direct Foam
Liquid Fabric Softener
Ultra Gain Joyful Expressions
Laundry detergent
Tide 2X Ultra for Cold Water
Simplicity Hypoallergenic Non-Toxic 2X
Dishwashing detergent
Cascade Complete with Bleach Hydroclean Action Powder
Dish Soap (washing by hand)
Dawn Direct Foam
Liquid Fabric Softener
Ultra Gain Joyful Expressions
Thursday, November 12, 2009
I went duck hunting for the first time last week and have been meaning to make a post about it. Until I get to a full-blown post describing the day's adventures here are a few pictures to tide you over.
Tom setting out the decoy spread before sunrise.
Armed and dangerous.
Our only duck of the day. Unfortunately I didn't shoot it.
Tom let me take the duck home though.
It dressed down to 1.3 pounds and turned out very nice.
Amy came over to help roast it that night, and we also made Alton Brown's French onion soup. It turned out good too.
Tom setting out the decoy spread before sunrise.
Armed and dangerous.
Our only duck of the day. Unfortunately I didn't shoot it.
Tom let me take the duck home though.
It dressed down to 1.3 pounds and turned out very nice.
Amy came over to help roast it that night, and we also made Alton Brown's French onion soup. It turned out good too.
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
Friday, September 04, 2009
I took today off from work to make it a four day weekend and to paint my garage door. I started the day by leaving the house at 8:30 AM to have breakfast and read the paper at McDonalds. After that I stopped at the library and picked up the movies Crossing Over and In Bruges.
The main reason for going out was to swing by Home Depot. I had exterior primer and paint left over from painting the trim a couple years ago, so I took it back and had them put it on their paint shaker for me. I also picked up some sand paper.
I got home and set up camp in the driveway. I tied Mitch up in the shade, plugged the radio in, poured a big glass of Diet Pepsi, and set out all of the gear I needed.
I first ran my palm sander over the entire door and then washed it down with a towel and water. After it was dry I cut in the edges with a brush. When that was done I washed my brush and then poured primer into my roller pan and finished up applying the primer.
The primer needs at least 16 hours to cure before applying the top coat, but that's OK because now I am tired.
It is 4:30 PM, I just got out of the shower and I'm trying to decide what to do next. The first Ohio State game of the season is on ESPN tomorrow at 11 AM CDT. I was going to make a pot of chili and corn bread for the game, but now I don't feel like cooking. I think instead I will get a frozen Home Run Inn pizza (my favorite!) and maybe a few other nibbles to have on hand.
I don't know whether to get up and get the top coat on the garage door right away tomorrow before the game, wait until after the game, or just do it on Sunday or Monday. I guess I'm leaning towards doing it first thing in the morning. Maybe I will just cut in with the brush and then wash up. That is the hard part. Using the roller is easy and only takes 20 minutes.
I picked up dog poop and got the grass cut Thursday night when I got home from work, so I don't have to worry about fitting that in this weekend.
The main reason for going out was to swing by Home Depot. I had exterior primer and paint left over from painting the trim a couple years ago, so I took it back and had them put it on their paint shaker for me. I also picked up some sand paper.
I got home and set up camp in the driveway. I tied Mitch up in the shade, plugged the radio in, poured a big glass of Diet Pepsi, and set out all of the gear I needed.
I first ran my palm sander over the entire door and then washed it down with a towel and water. After it was dry I cut in the edges with a brush. When that was done I washed my brush and then poured primer into my roller pan and finished up applying the primer.
The primer needs at least 16 hours to cure before applying the top coat, but that's OK because now I am tired.
It is 4:30 PM, I just got out of the shower and I'm trying to decide what to do next. The first Ohio State game of the season is on ESPN tomorrow at 11 AM CDT. I was going to make a pot of chili and corn bread for the game, but now I don't feel like cooking. I think instead I will get a frozen Home Run Inn pizza (my favorite!) and maybe a few other nibbles to have on hand.
I don't know whether to get up and get the top coat on the garage door right away tomorrow before the game, wait until after the game, or just do it on Sunday or Monday. I guess I'm leaning towards doing it first thing in the morning. Maybe I will just cut in with the brush and then wash up. That is the hard part. Using the roller is easy and only takes 20 minutes.
I picked up dog poop and got the grass cut Thursday night when I got home from work, so I don't have to worry about fitting that in this weekend.
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Monday, August 31, 2009
I harvested my first season of hops tonight and I got way more than I expected. I was thinking an ounce, maybe two if I was lucky. I got 5.5 ounces!
I expect the weight to go down after they are dried, but I have no idea by how much.
I have a box fan on a stand. I pointed the fan straight up, and then took a window screen, spread the hops out on the screen, and put the screen on top of the fan. They should be dry by tomorrow morning.
After I was done picking the hops my fingers were coated with a wonderfully aromatic yellow sticky film from the fresh resin in all the cones.
I expect the weight to go down after they are dried, but I have no idea by how much.
I have a box fan on a stand. I pointed the fan straight up, and then took a window screen, spread the hops out on the screen, and put the screen on top of the fan. They should be dry by tomorrow morning.
After I was done picking the hops my fingers were coated with a wonderfully aromatic yellow sticky film from the fresh resin in all the cones.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Tonight I finally got around to watching The Wrestler. It is the best movie I have seen in a long time. Mickey Rourke was amazing. He deserved all of the best actor nods and wins he got for the role. I can't wait to see his next movies.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
I just racked the beer I brewed last week and I think it is going to be very good. My basic recipe now is 6 pounds of dry malt extract, 1 pound of specialty grains steeped for an hour, usually crystal malt, and Safale US-5 yeast. Then I adjust the hops to what I want. This batch I wanted to be on the lower end of the hop spectrum and keep it on hand for people new to craft beers so they won't be turned off by a really hopped up beer. I designed the recipe to come in at 31 IBU's (International Bittering Units). The Safale US-05 is supposed to have been cultured from the Sierra Nevada brewery. It is very crisp and clean and just gets out of the way.
After I tasted a sample this morning I wanted to dry hop it in the worst way, but like I said I want this to be an approachable beer for people just starting out. I think I might brew this same recipe next weekend and just nudge the hops up a smidge, and dry hop it.
This is also the first batch I brewed where I put all of my hops in a mesh paint strainer. This resulted in a very clear beer and I think might help reduce the chances for off tastes.
Also because there were no solids in the beer I could finally see how much yeast was generated. I scooped out 4 cups of yeast hulls from the bottom of the fermentor!! All of that from an 11 gram yeast packet.
Brad's Summer APA
Brewed 7/3/09
IBU's: 31
1 lb crystal malt steeped 30 minutes
6 lbs Light Dry Extract
0.60 oz Cascade [5.40 %] (60 min) Hops
0.70 oz Columbus [12.20 %] (60 min) Hops
1.00 oz Amarillo [8.20 %] (5 min)
Safale US-05
After I tasted a sample this morning I wanted to dry hop it in the worst way, but like I said I want this to be an approachable beer for people just starting out. I think I might brew this same recipe next weekend and just nudge the hops up a smidge, and dry hop it.
This is also the first batch I brewed where I put all of my hops in a mesh paint strainer. This resulted in a very clear beer and I think might help reduce the chances for off tastes.
Also because there were no solids in the beer I could finally see how much yeast was generated. I scooped out 4 cups of yeast hulls from the bottom of the fermentor!! All of that from an 11 gram yeast packet.
Brad's Summer APA
Brewed 7/3/09
IBU's: 31
1 lb crystal malt steeped 30 minutes
6 lbs Light Dry Extract
0.60 oz Cascade [5.40 %] (60 min) Hops
0.70 oz Columbus [12.20 %] (60 min) Hops
1.00 oz Amarillo [8.20 %] (5 min)
Safale US-05
Thursday, July 09, 2009
This is what my four hop plants look like so far. I need to figure out a better support system for next season.
This is a little frame I made out of PVC pipe, four elbows and two T's. The T's are what the elastic of the paint straining bag are looped around. I put all of my hop additions into the strainer bag, and then when I am done with the boil I just pull the bag out and I am left with very very clear wort.
I got a package of two bags for $4 at Home Depot. They are made for professional painters to pour their five gallon buckets of paint through before they use it in a spray gun or if the paint gets bits and pieces in it.
For my purposes the bags will be reusable for a good number of times. I just turn it inside out, rinse it really well, wring it out and hang it to dry.
This is a little frame I made out of PVC pipe, four elbows and two T's. The T's are what the elastic of the paint straining bag are looped around. I put all of my hop additions into the strainer bag, and then when I am done with the boil I just pull the bag out and I am left with very very clear wort.
I got a package of two bags for $4 at Home Depot. They are made for professional painters to pour their five gallon buckets of paint through before they use it in a spray gun or if the paint gets bits and pieces in it.
For my purposes the bags will be reusable for a good number of times. I just turn it inside out, rinse it really well, wring it out and hang it to dry.
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
I picked up a bottle of Don Miguel Gascón Malbec 2008 yesterday but have not tried it yet. It has a number of pretty good reviews on-line. If I had to assign a letter grade to what most reviewers said about the wine I would say it is averaging around a B+, maybe an A-, and especially for the price.
I was too full from a chicken dinner yesterday and I don't want to open it until I am ready to enjoy it without distraction, so I will wait to uncork it until then.
I was too full from a chicken dinner yesterday and I don't want to open it until I am ready to enjoy it without distraction, so I will wait to uncork it until then.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Went out for some beers last night with some work friends to Two Brothers Brewery. Our waitress was very chatty and it came up that she used to work at a winery. We started talking wine, and one thing she said was that Argentinean malbec's are an excellent bargain right now and very delicious. They have almost become the national varietal of Argentine. I plan on picking up a bottle this weekend when I do my grocery shopping and will let you know what I think. If you try a bottle let me know what you think.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
For what it's worth, if I had to replace my GPS today I would get the Garmin Nuvi 755T. It is on Amazon.com for about $320.
Monday, May 25, 2009
A few months ago I watched the Good Eats episode where Alton Brown makes sauerkraut. There is almost nothing too it and I decided I wanted to give it a try. Since then I have been looking for the perfect glass crock to make it in. Last night I think I found it at Wal-Mart, so I picked that up and a couple heads of cabbage and attempted my first batch of sauerkraut today.
This is what it looked like after being in the crock for about 30 minutes.
My finger is pointing to the level of liquid so far. The glass of water sitting in the crock is to provide pressure to help squeeze out the liquid from the cabbage and to keep the cabbage submerged to avoid contact with the air.
This is what it looked like after four hours.
All of the cabbage is now covered by liquid. In order to fit the lid on I put a smaller glass of water on top. The glass is sitting on top of a little glass saucer. I tried it with just the saucer but the cabbage was buoyant enough to lift it up to surface level.
I am supposed to keep it cool (65 – 70 degrees) and skim off the blooms that will form every couple days for two weeks. It sounds like after the first couple weeks no more blooms will form and I let it sit for another two weeks for a total of four weeks.
I used to be able to get real sauerkraut at Bobak's when they had a local store. It is so much better than the sauerkraut that is just cured with vinegar. I can't wait to see how it turns out. Very excited. If it works and I like it I don't think I will buy sauerkraut anymore. It will keep for six months in the fridge, and it would be no big deal to whip up a batch every few months.
This is what it looked like after being in the crock for about 30 minutes.
My finger is pointing to the level of liquid so far. The glass of water sitting in the crock is to provide pressure to help squeeze out the liquid from the cabbage and to keep the cabbage submerged to avoid contact with the air.
This is what it looked like after four hours.
All of the cabbage is now covered by liquid. In order to fit the lid on I put a smaller glass of water on top. The glass is sitting on top of a little glass saucer. I tried it with just the saucer but the cabbage was buoyant enough to lift it up to surface level.
I am supposed to keep it cool (65 – 70 degrees) and skim off the blooms that will form every couple days for two weeks. It sounds like after the first couple weeks no more blooms will form and I let it sit for another two weeks for a total of four weeks.
I used to be able to get real sauerkraut at Bobak's when they had a local store. It is so much better than the sauerkraut that is just cured with vinegar. I can't wait to see how it turns out. Very excited. If it works and I like it I don't think I will buy sauerkraut anymore. It will keep for six months in the fridge, and it would be no big deal to whip up a batch every few months.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I love my Toyota Matrix! I was able load up my lawnmower with lots of room to spare. It's surprising that a little car has so much functional room
The transmission/gearbox that drives the front wheels of the mower locked up. This morning I spent some time seeing if I could take it out myself and replace it, but I got to a point where the next step could have left me with a bunch of parts laying on the garage floor and not knowing how to put them back together. So I took a couple of eight foot 2x4's, laid them on my bumper as a ramp and rolled the lawnmower right into the car with no problems.
I took it to Sears and it turns out the truck only picks up lawn mowers to take to the shop on Thursdays, and the kid said it usually takes two weeks after that. Looks like I am going to have to borrow a neighbor's mower a couple times.
The gearbox froze up early last year or late the year before that, and I just took the drive belt off and used it as a manual mower. It is a little heavier than a non-self-propelled mower, but it wasn't too bad pushing it. But the last week or two my knee has been a little tender and pushing the mower up the few steep inclines I have was not comfortable, so I figured I better get the mower fixed. It's also nice having the self propelled working when it is 95 degrees and humid in the middle of summer.
The transmission/gearbox that drives the front wheels of the mower locked up. This morning I spent some time seeing if I could take it out myself and replace it, but I got to a point where the next step could have left me with a bunch of parts laying on the garage floor and not knowing how to put them back together. So I took a couple of eight foot 2x4's, laid them on my bumper as a ramp and rolled the lawnmower right into the car with no problems.
I took it to Sears and it turns out the truck only picks up lawn mowers to take to the shop on Thursdays, and the kid said it usually takes two weeks after that. Looks like I am going to have to borrow a neighbor's mower a couple times.
The gearbox froze up early last year or late the year before that, and I just took the drive belt off and used it as a manual mower. It is a little heavier than a non-self-propelled mower, but it wasn't too bad pushing it. But the last week or two my knee has been a little tender and pushing the mower up the few steep inclines I have was not comfortable, so I figured I better get the mower fixed. It's also nice having the self propelled working when it is 95 degrees and humid in the middle of summer.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
I don't print very much on my home ink jet printer, and as a result I think I end up wasting more ink it gums up in the cartridge than I actually use for printing.
I have always used the printer manufacturer's ink cartridges, but when I went to the get new ink a month or so ago I thought I would try refilled cartridges. The lesser quality was immediately noticeable. The edges of each letter was blurry and I could see the ink bleeding along the little paper fibers. Not recommended.
Because of all this I have decided I am going to buy a low end laser printer. As far as I know the dry toner powder will not dry up and clog like ink jet ink, or at least I think it would last much much longer than the ink does. My requirements:
1. It must have built-in networking so I can plug it directly into my router and send print jobs to it from any of my computers around the house.
2. I would very much like it to have automatic duplexing so I can print on both sides and save paper, but I am not 100% committed to this.
3. I am going back and forth on whether to just get a black and white printer or a color laser printer. I don't know if the quality of the color output of a low end color laser printer will be as good as the color laser I am used to at work or an ink jet. For what I mostly print I don't know if the extra money for color is worth it either. I'm probably leaning towards just black and white, but I'm still open to color. I will have a better idea once I see some sample prints at the store and price out the cost of the color toner.
A toner cartridge costs more than a set of ink cartridge, but on a per sheet cost it is much cheaper. It's something like $0.08 per page for an ink jet and $0.02 per page for a laser. The printers I am looking at are in the $200 range. The brands I am interested in are Brother, Samsung and, of course, HP.
I have always used the printer manufacturer's ink cartridges, but when I went to the get new ink a month or so ago I thought I would try refilled cartridges. The lesser quality was immediately noticeable. The edges of each letter was blurry and I could see the ink bleeding along the little paper fibers. Not recommended.
Because of all this I have decided I am going to buy a low end laser printer. As far as I know the dry toner powder will not dry up and clog like ink jet ink, or at least I think it would last much much longer than the ink does. My requirements:
1. It must have built-in networking so I can plug it directly into my router and send print jobs to it from any of my computers around the house.
2. I would very much like it to have automatic duplexing so I can print on both sides and save paper, but I am not 100% committed to this.
3. I am going back and forth on whether to just get a black and white printer or a color laser printer. I don't know if the quality of the color output of a low end color laser printer will be as good as the color laser I am used to at work or an ink jet. For what I mostly print I don't know if the extra money for color is worth it either. I'm probably leaning towards just black and white, but I'm still open to color. I will have a better idea once I see some sample prints at the store and price out the cost of the color toner.
A toner cartridge costs more than a set of ink cartridge, but on a per sheet cost it is much cheaper. It's something like $0.08 per page for an ink jet and $0.02 per page for a laser. The printers I am looking at are in the $200 range. The brands I am interested in are Brother, Samsung and, of course, HP.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
My first hop plant poked out of the ground today! It is the Centennial variety. The warm weather being forecast the next couple of days should help coax the other three plants to show themselves if they are still viable. It looks like a mini hop cone at the top, and all of the leaves have that distinctive hop look. How fun!
Saturday, April 18, 2009
I've been aware of neti pots for a while but never gave them much thought. About a month ago I was sitting in my doctor's waiting room and I noticed there were a few neti pots in boxes on the counter for sale. I have the highest respect for my doctor, so the fact that he had them for sale made an impression on me, but not enough to do any more looking into it. This morning I read a story that a scientific study was released that said using a neti pot has health benefits, and especially for people with allergies. That did it. I went to my local Walgreens, plunked down $11 and left the store with my very own neti pot. I tried it as soon as I got home and I think I really like it. I've had minor sniffles from seasonal allergies for the last couple of months. Immediately after trying it I felt like my sinuses were wide open and I could breathe very easily. Also I haven't had to blow my nose today after I used it.
It looks like a small tea pot. You mix up some salt with warm water, lean over a sink, put the tip of the pot in one nostril and then tilt your head so the water streams into your nose and exits the other nostril. One weird thing is that it takes a couple seconds after you start pouring for the water to come out the other side because the sinuses have to fill up first. I didn't realize they were that big. After you stop pouring it also take a couple seconds for all of the water to empty out of your sinuses. Also kind of a weird feeling. Then you do the same thing in the other nostril.
After leaving the drugstore I stopped and got a car wash at one of those do it yourself places, got some gas for the lawnmower, cut the grass, filled up the bird bath, hung my bird house, brushed Mitch, and applied Rain-X to my car's windows. When I came in from working outside the electricity was out. I took about two hours for it to come back.
I think I am going to watch Goya's Ghosts on on-demand tonight.
It looks like a small tea pot. You mix up some salt with warm water, lean over a sink, put the tip of the pot in one nostril and then tilt your head so the water streams into your nose and exits the other nostril. One weird thing is that it takes a couple seconds after you start pouring for the water to come out the other side because the sinuses have to fill up first. I didn't realize they were that big. After you stop pouring it also take a couple seconds for all of the water to empty out of your sinuses. Also kind of a weird feeling. Then you do the same thing in the other nostril.
After leaving the drugstore I stopped and got a car wash at one of those do it yourself places, got some gas for the lawnmower, cut the grass, filled up the bird bath, hung my bird house, brushed Mitch, and applied Rain-X to my car's windows. When I came in from working outside the electricity was out. I took about two hours for it to come back.
I think I am going to watch Goya's Ghosts on on-demand tonight.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
I got my four hop rhizomes planted today. The spray paint markings on the grass are leftover from the underground utility location service. You can see the popsicle sticks in the picture I used to mark which rhizomes I planted where. From west to east I planted, in alphabetical order, Cascade, Centennial, Chinook, and Willamette (rhymes with damn it).
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
After about a year of critically tasting beers I've definitely decided that my absolute favorite beer is an American IPA called Furious from the Surly Brewing Company in Minnesota.
I have only had it on tap in bars, but it also comes in 14 ounce cans. If you should happen to see this can at your favorite carry-out do yourself a favor and buy as many of them as you can afford. (I think their cans are very ugly, and if I didn't know what was inside would not bother picking up the can for further inspection.)
I have only had it on tap in bars, but it also comes in 14 ounce cans. If you should happen to see this can at your favorite carry-out do yourself a favor and buy as many of them as you can afford. (I think their cans are very ugly, and if I didn't know what was inside would not bother picking up the can for further inspection.)
Thursday, March 26, 2009
The Greyhound Brewery has selected the following hop varieties to plant on its estate hop field:
Cascade
Centennial
Chinook
Willamette
Cascade
Centennial
Chinook
Willamette
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
I added this song to my Zune a couple weeks ago and I am embarrassed to admit how many times per day I listen to it while bouncing in my chair at work.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
The guy at work that is an all-grain brewer invited me and a couple other brewing friends to his place Saturday morning to hang out while he brewed a batch. I stayed just up until the start of the boil because after that point all-grain and extract brewing are the same. The all-grain process is easier than I thought it would be, but for now I think I am more than happy with the results of my extract beers. It was neat to see though, and at some point I will probably step up to all-grain. He was an extract brewer for 10 years before going to all-grain.
He lives in Evanston which is close to a barbeque place I have been wanting to try called Smoque. I haven't tried it up until now because it is about an hour drive one way. This place is all about the meat, and is probably some of the best I have ever had. If your idea of barbeque has lots of sauce on top then this is not your place. Their pork and brisket are dry rubbed and then smoked for 12 and 15 hours respectively. It is an almost perfect balance of the meat flavor, smoke, salt, and seasoning. They only have one sauce and it is served on the side. It is a fairly thin vinegar-based sauce with a nice sweet twang. The first few times I dunked the whole piece of meat on my fork into the sauce before realizing that was not the right balance. It turned out dipping just the bottom fifth of the piece of meat provided the right amount of balance, and I didn't dip every bite. I dipped maybe every third bite. To summarize the meat, it was smoked so perfectly you really do not want to cover it up with sauce. I liked just a little bit of the vinegar sauce to cleanse my palate so the next two bites of plain smoked meat seemed like the first bite all over again.
The platter I got came with coleslaw and two sides. The slaw needed a little more dressing, but was still a nice fresh counterpart to the meat. The barbequed baked beans were on the sweet side, but not objectionably sweet side, and they had a lot of flavor and nice big chunks of perfectly cooked down onions. The mac and cheese was very good but the serving size was a little on the small side. It was baked in its own little tin foil cup.
Overall I will go back and give it a solid B+, and it would not be much of stretch to give it an A-. The place is very small and when I walked in the line was huge. If I lived a lot closer I probably would have said to heck with it and left, but since I was in the area I stuck it out. The line actually moves very fast and I was there about 15 to 20 minutes. Not too bad.
I had my cable service upgraded to digital and switched from traditional POTS service to getting my phone service from the cable company on Thursday, and I am loving it more than I thought I would!
I have already watched three movies using the free on-demand service. Unless there is a really big movie that I want to see as soon as possible on DVD I think the on-demand service will take care of most of my movie needs. So far I have watched 21, Walk Hard, and Grind House.
When the phone rings the caller ID info pops up on the TV screen. That is pretty cool.
I can look at future shows on the program grid, and if I want to make sure I tune to it when it comes on, I just click a button and a little reminder pops up on the TV telling me it is time to turn to that channel! I even went out to Friday night's schedule a week away and set a reminder.
I also LOVE being able to look at the program guide and still be able to see and hear the program I am watching in the upper right corner. With my previous service when I opened the guide the sound and picture disappeared.
One of the older fence posts in the back yard snapped from the high winds we had a couple nights ago. I need to call the fence guy and have him come out to dig out the old "stump" and set a new one. For now I braced it up by nailing a 2x4 at the top of the post and secured it at the ground by pounding a stake in front of it. It's not going anywhere now so I have time to get the guy out here. I will try and wait until it warms up a bit. Hopefully in the next week or two.
I have been thinking about replacing my furnace and air conditioner for the last couple years. I'm glad I waited because I saw in the news today that I will be able to get a $1,500 tax credit under the stimulus package to do that. There will also be money available for renewable energy upgrades. Once I get a new roof installed in the spring I would be interested in looking at adding a little bit of solar capacity to the house. I have thought about installing just a few panels on the roof and the switches and wiring to get it patched into the house, and then down the road add additional panels as prices drop and efficiency increases.
The siding on the house looks dingy and needs to have something done to it. I am going to look into having it painted rather than residing the house.
Everything is still in place to refinance my mortgage. My banker said things are taking longer than normal because of the huge increase of everyone refinancing at the same time because of the low rates.
I have Monday off for President's Day. I just have a few easy chores on the list for today; pick up dog poop in the back yard, this week's laundry, a trip to the grocery store, empty the dishwasher and clean up the kitchen. I also bought wind deflectors for the rear windows on my car a few weeks ago, but have been waiting until the weather warms up to install them.
He lives in Evanston which is close to a barbeque place I have been wanting to try called Smoque. I haven't tried it up until now because it is about an hour drive one way. This place is all about the meat, and is probably some of the best I have ever had. If your idea of barbeque has lots of sauce on top then this is not your place. Their pork and brisket are dry rubbed and then smoked for 12 and 15 hours respectively. It is an almost perfect balance of the meat flavor, smoke, salt, and seasoning. They only have one sauce and it is served on the side. It is a fairly thin vinegar-based sauce with a nice sweet twang. The first few times I dunked the whole piece of meat on my fork into the sauce before realizing that was not the right balance. It turned out dipping just the bottom fifth of the piece of meat provided the right amount of balance, and I didn't dip every bite. I dipped maybe every third bite. To summarize the meat, it was smoked so perfectly you really do not want to cover it up with sauce. I liked just a little bit of the vinegar sauce to cleanse my palate so the next two bites of plain smoked meat seemed like the first bite all over again.
The platter I got came with coleslaw and two sides. The slaw needed a little more dressing, but was still a nice fresh counterpart to the meat. The barbequed baked beans were on the sweet side, but not objectionably sweet side, and they had a lot of flavor and nice big chunks of perfectly cooked down onions. The mac and cheese was very good but the serving size was a little on the small side. It was baked in its own little tin foil cup.
Overall I will go back and give it a solid B+, and it would not be much of stretch to give it an A-. The place is very small and when I walked in the line was huge. If I lived a lot closer I probably would have said to heck with it and left, but since I was in the area I stuck it out. The line actually moves very fast and I was there about 15 to 20 minutes. Not too bad.
I had my cable service upgraded to digital and switched from traditional POTS service to getting my phone service from the cable company on Thursday, and I am loving it more than I thought I would!
I have already watched three movies using the free on-demand service. Unless there is a really big movie that I want to see as soon as possible on DVD I think the on-demand service will take care of most of my movie needs. So far I have watched 21, Walk Hard, and Grind House.
When the phone rings the caller ID info pops up on the TV screen. That is pretty cool.
I can look at future shows on the program grid, and if I want to make sure I tune to it when it comes on, I just click a button and a little reminder pops up on the TV telling me it is time to turn to that channel! I even went out to Friday night's schedule a week away and set a reminder.
I also LOVE being able to look at the program guide and still be able to see and hear the program I am watching in the upper right corner. With my previous service when I opened the guide the sound and picture disappeared.
One of the older fence posts in the back yard snapped from the high winds we had a couple nights ago. I need to call the fence guy and have him come out to dig out the old "stump" and set a new one. For now I braced it up by nailing a 2x4 at the top of the post and secured it at the ground by pounding a stake in front of it. It's not going anywhere now so I have time to get the guy out here. I will try and wait until it warms up a bit. Hopefully in the next week or two.
I have been thinking about replacing my furnace and air conditioner for the last couple years. I'm glad I waited because I saw in the news today that I will be able to get a $1,500 tax credit under the stimulus package to do that. There will also be money available for renewable energy upgrades. Once I get a new roof installed in the spring I would be interested in looking at adding a little bit of solar capacity to the house. I have thought about installing just a few panels on the roof and the switches and wiring to get it patched into the house, and then down the road add additional panels as prices drop and efficiency increases.
The siding on the house looks dingy and needs to have something done to it. I am going to look into having it painted rather than residing the house.
Everything is still in place to refinance my mortgage. My banker said things are taking longer than normal because of the huge increase of everyone refinancing at the same time because of the low rates.
I have Monday off for President's Day. I just have a few easy chores on the list for today; pick up dog poop in the back yard, this week's laundry, a trip to the grocery store, empty the dishwasher and clean up the kitchen. I also bought wind deflectors for the rear windows on my car a few weeks ago, but have been waiting until the weather warms up to install them.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
I got to the DMV before it opened this morning and was home with my new license by 8 AM.
I rented Saw V to watch tonight.
I haven't had White Castle in forever and I have been craving them so I swung by there for lunch.
Went to Meijer to get some fun Super Bowl food. I ended up with a 10 inch frozen Home Run Inn pizza, fixings for chili, and a two pound hunk of Jennie O turkey ham that was on sale for $2 per pound.
On the way home from Meijer I was going to stop by the carwash to get the thick layer of salt from the car, but there were at least 10 cars in line so I will try some other time. Maybe I will see if it is open 24 hours and go back late tonight.
When I got home I threw together the chili and put it in a crock pot on low.
I drove 24 city miles today and averaged 31 MPG.
I'm going to take some laundry from the dryer and move another load from the washer and then settle in with the movie and hope I don't get too freaked out.
I rented Saw V to watch tonight.
I haven't had White Castle in forever and I have been craving them so I swung by there for lunch.
Went to Meijer to get some fun Super Bowl food. I ended up with a 10 inch frozen Home Run Inn pizza, fixings for chili, and a two pound hunk of Jennie O turkey ham that was on sale for $2 per pound.
On the way home from Meijer I was going to stop by the carwash to get the thick layer of salt from the car, but there were at least 10 cars in line so I will try some other time. Maybe I will see if it is open 24 hours and go back late tonight.
When I got home I threw together the chili and put it in a crock pot on low.
I drove 24 city miles today and averaged 31 MPG.
I'm going to take some laundry from the dryer and move another load from the washer and then settle in with the movie and hope I don't get too freaked out.
Friday, January 30, 2009
This is where I think I will leave my ScanGauge II for now.
It is sitting inside a little compartment with a fold-down door. I have most of the cable tucked in behind the ScanGauge, and you can see the cable that leads to the OBDII connector coming out of the left side. It is snaked up over the steering wheel column and then down to the connector.
There is a little punch-out in the back of the compartment. Once it warms up I am going to take remove the punch-out and run the cable through the back of the compartment and to the connector so you won't be able to see the cable at all.
I have improved my gas mileage by almost 25% since I've started using the ScanGauge.
Tomorrow morning (Saturday) I plan on leaving the house at 7 AM to get my drivers license renewed. I hope getting there first thing in the morning will let me miss standing in a long line.
I have started my federal tax return and have only entered my W2, my mortgage interest and property tax and I owe/am owed right around zero, which is fine by me. I don't think the rest of what I still have to enter will make much of a material difference.
It is sitting inside a little compartment with a fold-down door. I have most of the cable tucked in behind the ScanGauge, and you can see the cable that leads to the OBDII connector coming out of the left side. It is snaked up over the steering wheel column and then down to the connector.
There is a little punch-out in the back of the compartment. Once it warms up I am going to take remove the punch-out and run the cable through the back of the compartment and to the connector so you won't be able to see the cable at all.
I have improved my gas mileage by almost 25% since I've started using the ScanGauge.
Tomorrow morning (Saturday) I plan on leaving the house at 7 AM to get my drivers license renewed. I hope getting there first thing in the morning will let me miss standing in a long line.
I have started my federal tax return and have only entered my W2, my mortgage interest and property tax and I owe/am owed right around zero, which is fine by me. I don't think the rest of what I still have to enter will make much of a material difference.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Just a quick update post.
This morning, Saturday, an appraiser came out to do an appraisal on the house because I am refinancing. It will drop my rate by 1.125%.
Before the appraiser showed up Mitch threw up. A chunk of Nylabone with sharp edges came out, so I think that is what was irritating his stomach. It brought back memories of Goliath who seemed to throw up about every month or two and always first thing in the morning, and usually when I was still more asleep than awake. A nice way to start the day.
Today I also FINALLY got around to cancelling my traditional land line phone and ordering VoIP from my cable company. That will also save me a bunch of money. I am also upgrading from traditional analog cable to digital cable and got a bunch of extra channels that I have been wanting, and I will still be paying less per month than I was paying with cable and a land line separately. Some of the channels I am looking forward to are:
Biography Channel
Science Channel
National Geographic Channel
Two Sundance film channels
Seven Starz movie channels
Seven Encore movie channels
BBC America
49 music channels
There are also a bunch of supposedly free on-demand channels, but I don't know too much about those yet. They say there is a library of thousands of movies and most of them are free, but they don't say what kind of movies or how old. I'll let you know.
My ScanGauge and tire pressure gauge arrived today. I used it a little bit when I ran some errands tonight. It updates much more quickly than the fuel mileage display in my van did. The van's display refreshed maybe every 1 to 1.5 seconds. The ScanGauge seems to update almost continually. As a result you get much more feedback on how your throttle control affects fuel mileage. The air pressure gauge is the best I have used. It makes a very good leak-free seal and beeps when it has a reading. It has a built-in flashlight right under where the valve stem goes in. That will be very handy when I am checking the pressure in the garage at night.
Amy stopped over this afternoon after visiting a patient and we watched Astronaut Farmer. The movie was just OK. Entertaining but not great.
I went to the library tonight to return a couple DVDs, Meijer to get a few groceries, and Office Max to get a copy of TurboTax. It is $15 cheaper at Amazon (not counting shipping) so I guess I will order it from them.
I checked out the audiobook version of Thunderstruck by Erik Larson from the library and ripped it to my Zune. Now I have to figure out when and where to listen to it all. It is 10 CD's worth.
This morning, Saturday, an appraiser came out to do an appraisal on the house because I am refinancing. It will drop my rate by 1.125%.
Before the appraiser showed up Mitch threw up. A chunk of Nylabone with sharp edges came out, so I think that is what was irritating his stomach. It brought back memories of Goliath who seemed to throw up about every month or two and always first thing in the morning, and usually when I was still more asleep than awake. A nice way to start the day.
Today I also FINALLY got around to cancelling my traditional land line phone and ordering VoIP from my cable company. That will also save me a bunch of money. I am also upgrading from traditional analog cable to digital cable and got a bunch of extra channels that I have been wanting, and I will still be paying less per month than I was paying with cable and a land line separately. Some of the channels I am looking forward to are:
Biography Channel
Science Channel
National Geographic Channel
Two Sundance film channels
Seven Starz movie channels
Seven Encore movie channels
BBC America
49 music channels
There are also a bunch of supposedly free on-demand channels, but I don't know too much about those yet. They say there is a library of thousands of movies and most of them are free, but they don't say what kind of movies or how old. I'll let you know.
My ScanGauge and tire pressure gauge arrived today. I used it a little bit when I ran some errands tonight. It updates much more quickly than the fuel mileage display in my van did. The van's display refreshed maybe every 1 to 1.5 seconds. The ScanGauge seems to update almost continually. As a result you get much more feedback on how your throttle control affects fuel mileage. The air pressure gauge is the best I have used. It makes a very good leak-free seal and beeps when it has a reading. It has a built-in flashlight right under where the valve stem goes in. That will be very handy when I am checking the pressure in the garage at night.
Amy stopped over this afternoon after visiting a patient and we watched Astronaut Farmer. The movie was just OK. Entertaining but not great.
I went to the library tonight to return a couple DVDs, Meijer to get a few groceries, and Office Max to get a copy of TurboTax. It is $15 cheaper at Amazon (not counting shipping) so I guess I will order it from them.
I checked out the audiobook version of Thunderstruck by Erik Larson from the library and ripped it to my Zune. Now I have to figure out when and where to listen to it all. It is 10 CD's worth.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
This might be the Macintosh that brings me back to Apple!
Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard
Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Fun stuff. Anyone that knows me (I measure Mitch's daily dog food ration to the gram) won't be surprised to hear that when I found a digital tire pressure gauge with resolution to the tenth of a pound rather than the standard half a pound I ordered it. Other places have it for over $30, but amazon.com has it for $16.
I also ordered the ScanGauge II. It plugs into the OBDII port on your car and gives you real-time readings of dozens of values from your car's onboard computer. It can also read error codes and reset the dreaded "Check Engine Soon" light.
I think I will mount it like this.
These are the values it can display:
Maximum Speed
Average Speed
Maximum Coolant Temperature
Maximum RPM
Driving Time
Driving Distance
Fuel Used
Trip Fuel Economy
Distance to Empty
Time to Empty
Fuel to Empty
Fuel Economy
Fuel Rate
Battery Voltage
Coolant Temperature
Intake Air Temperature
Engine Speed (RPM)
Vehicle speed (MPH)
Manifold Pressure (not available on some vehicles)
Engine Load
Throttle Position
Ignition Timing
Open/Closed Loop
A friend at work got a coffee roaster for his birthday. I have not tried any coffee he has roasted yet, but if I like what I taste when he brings me some I think I am going to buy a roaster and start roasting my own. Green coffee beans cost a little less than half of quality roasted coffee, and green coffee will keep for two years. I think I could cover the price of the roaster after about 15 pounds of coffee. This is the roaster my friend has. This website also has a really nice selection of beans.
The batch of beer I bottled on the first of the year turned out really good. It is an APA with all Northern Brewer hops. I think this will be the last of the single-hopped batches I make. Now that I have a feel for what different types of hops contribute and what I like, I will start customizing recipes to suit my own tastes. I also think the APA style, hopped to the higher end of the scale, is going to be my signature beer and what I brew most. When I am in the mood for an IPA I will pick up some at the store or visit Tim-In-Law and drink his homebrew. To get the bitterness (IBU's) just right you have to add the right amount of hops at the right time in the boil. An amazing tool for that is BeerSmith. I used it on this last batch of beer and worked out perfectly.
My standard recipe going forward will be six pounds of light dry malt extract, a pound of crushed crystal malt, and a blend of American hops (Cascade, Simcoe, Columbus, Centennial, etc.) that bring the IBU's to between 40 and 50.
I also ordered the ScanGauge II. It plugs into the OBDII port on your car and gives you real-time readings of dozens of values from your car's onboard computer. It can also read error codes and reset the dreaded "Check Engine Soon" light.
I think I will mount it like this.
These are the values it can display:
Maximum Speed
Average Speed
Maximum Coolant Temperature
Maximum RPM
Driving Time
Driving Distance
Fuel Used
Trip Fuel Economy
Distance to Empty
Time to Empty
Fuel to Empty
Fuel Economy
Fuel Rate
Battery Voltage
Coolant Temperature
Intake Air Temperature
Engine Speed (RPM)
Vehicle speed (MPH)
Manifold Pressure (not available on some vehicles)
Engine Load
Throttle Position
Ignition Timing
Open/Closed Loop
A friend at work got a coffee roaster for his birthday. I have not tried any coffee he has roasted yet, but if I like what I taste when he brings me some I think I am going to buy a roaster and start roasting my own. Green coffee beans cost a little less than half of quality roasted coffee, and green coffee will keep for two years. I think I could cover the price of the roaster after about 15 pounds of coffee. This is the roaster my friend has. This website also has a really nice selection of beans.
The batch of beer I bottled on the first of the year turned out really good. It is an APA with all Northern Brewer hops. I think this will be the last of the single-hopped batches I make. Now that I have a feel for what different types of hops contribute and what I like, I will start customizing recipes to suit my own tastes. I also think the APA style, hopped to the higher end of the scale, is going to be my signature beer and what I brew most. When I am in the mood for an IPA I will pick up some at the store or visit Tim-In-Law and drink his homebrew. To get the bitterness (IBU's) just right you have to add the right amount of hops at the right time in the boil. An amazing tool for that is BeerSmith. I used it on this last batch of beer and worked out perfectly.
My standard recipe going forward will be six pounds of light dry malt extract, a pound of crushed crystal malt, and a blend of American hops (Cascade, Simcoe, Columbus, Centennial, etc.) that bring the IBU's to between 40 and 50.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
I got back this afternoon (Sunday) from a really nice Thanksgiving holiday with my family. It started Tuesday after getting home from work. I packed up the car and got to bed somewhat early. I wanted to get to sleep earlier but I ended up turning off the lights between 10:00 and 10:30.
I set my alarm for 1:40 AM, showered, made coffee, let the dog out, and started driving around 3:00 AM. This lets me miss all of the holiday drivers and worked out pretty well. I got to Toledo around 9:00 AM.
The new car was great on the highway and I was really able to load it up with stuff. One large greyhound and the requisite lounge area and space for him to standup, his kennel, two suitcases, laptop bag, wort chiller, stainless steel brew kettle, 15 gallon garbage can, 3' long plastic instrument sanitizing trough, and 14 bottles of homebrew.
Took a little power nap once I got to Mom and Dad's and hung out with Dad and my nephew and just relaxed. Mom got home in the late afternoon if I recall and then I followed them to the daycare to pick up my niece and then on to my sister and brother-in-law's place.
We drank homebrew, had snacks and then Tony Packo's (rhymes with smack oh, not taco) hot dogs for dinner. Tim and I made a beer run anticipating the good beer stores would be closed on Thanksgiving Day.
The weekend before Thanksgiving I made a batch of dough, punched it down a few times and then froze it. Thanksgiving Day morning I used it to make hard rolls for dinner. Tim's deep fried turkey was probably the best he's done yet. Every thing else also turned out perfect and was delicious as usual. I know I am biased but I think my family has the best Thanksgiving food!
Tim and Lisa had to work Friday morning and while they were gone the rest of us decorated the house, picked up a cake, and set out presents for Tim's month-early surprise birthday party. We got him everything he needed to start homebrewing!
That night some of their friends came over to give him a birthday present and then we proceeded to eat pizza and drink a lot of good beer and had a great time.
Saturday morning I guided Tim in brewing his first batch of homebrew. It was a Brewer's Best IPA kit and everything went smoothly. It should be ready to drink for Christmas. Afterwards he picked up an extra ounce of hops to dry hop next week when he racks it to the secondary fermenter.
After that we went out to lunch at a neat place in downtown Toledo. Then we went to the homebrew shop to get a few things Tim needs to connect the new Corny keg he got to dispense his homebrew and I got a few hundred bottle caps. After that we went to an army navy surplus store to see if I could find a new parka (I didn't) and then to Anderson's for a wreath for Lisa.
Saturday night we just chilled out and had a blast playing with the kids. Katelyn is at an especially fun age to play with. I also loaded into my car over 150 beer bottles that Tim has been saving for me! He didn't think we would be able to get them all in my car but we did. And they traveled very well. None of them shifted and there was no rattling which I expected a lot of. Now I have to scrub the labels off from over 150 beer bottles. I will be able start to brew more regularly with the extra bottle capacity so I will always have fresh beer waiting in my basement.
I got up early this morning so I could start driving back and try to miss the winter weather that was promised later in the day, and to try and beat everyone else coming back home from the holiday. It worked and I didn't encounter any traffic jams at all.
I unloaded the car as soon as I got home, but didn't do any unpacking, or decide where I am going to store my bottles while they wait to be cleaned and filled. I took a little nap and then showered, set up Mitch's cage and did some general neatening up downstairs. I am going to brush my teeth soon and try to get to bed early in case I need to get up early and shovel snow.
I set my alarm for 1:40 AM, showered, made coffee, let the dog out, and started driving around 3:00 AM. This lets me miss all of the holiday drivers and worked out pretty well. I got to Toledo around 9:00 AM.
The new car was great on the highway and I was really able to load it up with stuff. One large greyhound and the requisite lounge area and space for him to standup, his kennel, two suitcases, laptop bag, wort chiller, stainless steel brew kettle, 15 gallon garbage can, 3' long plastic instrument sanitizing trough, and 14 bottles of homebrew.
Took a little power nap once I got to Mom and Dad's and hung out with Dad and my nephew and just relaxed. Mom got home in the late afternoon if I recall and then I followed them to the daycare to pick up my niece and then on to my sister and brother-in-law's place.
We drank homebrew, had snacks and then Tony Packo's (rhymes with smack oh, not taco) hot dogs for dinner. Tim and I made a beer run anticipating the good beer stores would be closed on Thanksgiving Day.
The weekend before Thanksgiving I made a batch of dough, punched it down a few times and then froze it. Thanksgiving Day morning I used it to make hard rolls for dinner. Tim's deep fried turkey was probably the best he's done yet. Every thing else also turned out perfect and was delicious as usual. I know I am biased but I think my family has the best Thanksgiving food!
Tim and Lisa had to work Friday morning and while they were gone the rest of us decorated the house, picked up a cake, and set out presents for Tim's month-early surprise birthday party. We got him everything he needed to start homebrewing!
That night some of their friends came over to give him a birthday present and then we proceeded to eat pizza and drink a lot of good beer and had a great time.
Saturday morning I guided Tim in brewing his first batch of homebrew. It was a Brewer's Best IPA kit and everything went smoothly. It should be ready to drink for Christmas. Afterwards he picked up an extra ounce of hops to dry hop next week when he racks it to the secondary fermenter.
After that we went out to lunch at a neat place in downtown Toledo. Then we went to the homebrew shop to get a few things Tim needs to connect the new Corny keg he got to dispense his homebrew and I got a few hundred bottle caps. After that we went to an army navy surplus store to see if I could find a new parka (I didn't) and then to Anderson's for a wreath for Lisa.
Saturday night we just chilled out and had a blast playing with the kids. Katelyn is at an especially fun age to play with. I also loaded into my car over 150 beer bottles that Tim has been saving for me! He didn't think we would be able to get them all in my car but we did. And they traveled very well. None of them shifted and there was no rattling which I expected a lot of. Now I have to scrub the labels off from over 150 beer bottles. I will be able start to brew more regularly with the extra bottle capacity so I will always have fresh beer waiting in my basement.
I got up early this morning so I could start driving back and try to miss the winter weather that was promised later in the day, and to try and beat everyone else coming back home from the holiday. It worked and I didn't encounter any traffic jams at all.
I unloaded the car as soon as I got home, but didn't do any unpacking, or decide where I am going to store my bottles while they wait to be cleaned and filled. I took a little nap and then showered, set up Mitch's cage and did some general neatening up downstairs. I am going to brush my teeth soon and try to get to bed early in case I need to get up early and shovel snow.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
I finally got around to snapping a few pictures of my new car today while I was out doing errands.
It was the first time I put gas into it and I was so thrilled that it only took 8.5 gallons to top it off.
Lots of extra room in the garage now.
Here you can see the window wind deflectors I installed in action. I can be cruising down the road with my window open like that and no rain comes inside.
It was the first time I put gas into it and I was so thrilled that it only took 8.5 gallons to top it off.
Lots of extra room in the garage now.
Here you can see the window wind deflectors I installed in action. I can be cruising down the road with my window open like that and no rain comes inside.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Lots of updates to write about over the last few weeks.
Probably the biggest is I had to buy a new (to me) car. The van was pretty sound overall, but I took it in to have a few things fixed and it turned out the repairs were going to be a couple thousands dollars. I have had it for almost nine years and it had 140,000 miles on it so I didn't feel bad about getting rid of it. I definitely got my money's worth out of it. In city diving I was getting around 20 MPG, sometimes less, so I was also very excited to have the excuse to bump up my fuel economy too.
My list of required must-haves was pretty short. I don't think I've seen a car that doesn't have air conditioning in the last decade so that was kind of an assumed requirement. Automatic transmission. It had to have cruise control and it had to be able to haul Mitch, his collapsed cage, a couple big suitcases and a few extra boxes, bags, etc. More than 99% of the time it will just be hauling me around and commuting to work so nothing flashy, reliability was important, and looking to minimize purchase price.
I didn't have a specific fuel economy rating in mind but I was expecting something at least in the high 20's. Obviously low miles and late model is good but also didn't have an exact cutoff in mind. Wanted a stereo system with an audio input jack on the front to plug in my MP3 player but that is something you can always add yourself for not too much time or money.
I loved the Scion xB. It is HUGE inside. However the xB's prior to 2006 or 2007 didn't have cruise control as an option, and the later model xB's had cruise control but they also put bigger engines in them which really dropped the fuel economy; almost to the mileage of the old van! So unfortunately the xB was out.
I test drove a Honda Fit and I was comfortable behind the wheel, but at the same time I felt like I was ducking my head and was being forced to lean to the right away from the side of the car even though I did have enough room. Just something subconsciously didn't work for me. With the back seats folded down it did have a good amount of cargo space, but I could do better.
Long story short I ended up going with a 2007 Toyota Matrix with only 3,400 miles. It is basically a new car. I love it! Very fun to drive especially compared to driving a van for almost the last decade. It feels very big inside for a small car. Tons of room for cargo when the seats are folded down, and the front passenger seat also folds flat so you can get some really long things in the car and still close the hatchback. It is rated at 29/34 MPG but I have not calculated how I am doing so far.
I already bought some wind deflectors for the windows from the WeatherTech factory showroom (no shipping costs!) and love those. I went with this brand because everyone on the internets had good things to say about them AND more importantly they installed without using adhesive tape like a lot of the other brands. I also bought their all weather floor mats for the front. They fit perfectly. I highly recommend their products.
The stock Toyota radio that came with it does not have a front input jack so I have been looking at my options for that but that is not urgent for me. I have also been looking at, and hearing really good things about, the ScanGauge. It plugs into the OBDII computer port of your car and lets you monitor pretty much everything the computer monitors in real time as well report error codes that make the dreaded "Check Engine Soon" idiot light come on. The primary feature I want it for is for keeping an eye on real time and average mileage since my car doesn't display that, but all the other stuff would be really fascinating too.
Enough car stuff. The other big change is my hair style. I have started shaving my head. My forehead has been slowly creeping back to meet my bald spot and I wanted to beat it to the punch. I have gotten mostly positive feedback and I feel pretty comfortable with it.
My Norelco electric razor I've had for probably six or seven years finally died and I replaced it with another Norelco. It performs even better than my first one! This one is designed to be rinsed out under hot water every day so you are always using fresh clean blades. I would buy it again in a second.
I have a three pound pot roast in the slow cooker with potatoes, onions and carrots for dinner tonight.
I have a batch of beer that I need to bottle today. That will bring me up to three batches (15 gallons) that is conditioning in my basement. I've met another homebrewer at work that kegs his beer and doesn't need bottles so he is saving his empties for me so I can get my bottle collection up to four batches worth. Tim-In-Law has also been working on increasing my bottle count. Four batches of bottles is about 200 bottles or eight cases!
I have almost a pound of Centennial, Cascade and Northern Brewer hops in the freezer for upcoming batches. My last two batches have been single hop batches so I can get a feel for what each type of hop contributes. My next batches will probably be an all Cascade an all Northern Brewer batch.
I'm in the process of getting quotes for a new roof on the house. I'm not looking forward to that expense.
Probably the biggest is I had to buy a new (to me) car. The van was pretty sound overall, but I took it in to have a few things fixed and it turned out the repairs were going to be a couple thousands dollars. I have had it for almost nine years and it had 140,000 miles on it so I didn't feel bad about getting rid of it. I definitely got my money's worth out of it. In city diving I was getting around 20 MPG, sometimes less, so I was also very excited to have the excuse to bump up my fuel economy too.
My list of required must-haves was pretty short. I don't think I've seen a car that doesn't have air conditioning in the last decade so that was kind of an assumed requirement. Automatic transmission. It had to have cruise control and it had to be able to haul Mitch, his collapsed cage, a couple big suitcases and a few extra boxes, bags, etc. More than 99% of the time it will just be hauling me around and commuting to work so nothing flashy, reliability was important, and looking to minimize purchase price.
I didn't have a specific fuel economy rating in mind but I was expecting something at least in the high 20's. Obviously low miles and late model is good but also didn't have an exact cutoff in mind. Wanted a stereo system with an audio input jack on the front to plug in my MP3 player but that is something you can always add yourself for not too much time or money.
I loved the Scion xB. It is HUGE inside. However the xB's prior to 2006 or 2007 didn't have cruise control as an option, and the later model xB's had cruise control but they also put bigger engines in them which really dropped the fuel economy; almost to the mileage of the old van! So unfortunately the xB was out.
I test drove a Honda Fit and I was comfortable behind the wheel, but at the same time I felt like I was ducking my head and was being forced to lean to the right away from the side of the car even though I did have enough room. Just something subconsciously didn't work for me. With the back seats folded down it did have a good amount of cargo space, but I could do better.
Long story short I ended up going with a 2007 Toyota Matrix with only 3,400 miles. It is basically a new car. I love it! Very fun to drive especially compared to driving a van for almost the last decade. It feels very big inside for a small car. Tons of room for cargo when the seats are folded down, and the front passenger seat also folds flat so you can get some really long things in the car and still close the hatchback. It is rated at 29/34 MPG but I have not calculated how I am doing so far.
I already bought some wind deflectors for the windows from the WeatherTech factory showroom (no shipping costs!) and love those. I went with this brand because everyone on the internets had good things to say about them AND more importantly they installed without using adhesive tape like a lot of the other brands. I also bought their all weather floor mats for the front. They fit perfectly. I highly recommend their products.
The stock Toyota radio that came with it does not have a front input jack so I have been looking at my options for that but that is not urgent for me. I have also been looking at, and hearing really good things about, the ScanGauge. It plugs into the OBDII computer port of your car and lets you monitor pretty much everything the computer monitors in real time as well report error codes that make the dreaded "Check Engine Soon" idiot light come on. The primary feature I want it for is for keeping an eye on real time and average mileage since my car doesn't display that, but all the other stuff would be really fascinating too.
Enough car stuff. The other big change is my hair style. I have started shaving my head. My forehead has been slowly creeping back to meet my bald spot and I wanted to beat it to the punch. I have gotten mostly positive feedback and I feel pretty comfortable with it.
My Norelco electric razor I've had for probably six or seven years finally died and I replaced it with another Norelco. It performs even better than my first one! This one is designed to be rinsed out under hot water every day so you are always using fresh clean blades. I would buy it again in a second.
I have a three pound pot roast in the slow cooker with potatoes, onions and carrots for dinner tonight.
I have a batch of beer that I need to bottle today. That will bring me up to three batches (15 gallons) that is conditioning in my basement. I've met another homebrewer at work that kegs his beer and doesn't need bottles so he is saving his empties for me so I can get my bottle collection up to four batches worth. Tim-In-Law has also been working on increasing my bottle count. Four batches of bottles is about 200 bottles or eight cases!
I have almost a pound of Centennial, Cascade and Northern Brewer hops in the freezer for upcoming batches. My last two batches have been single hop batches so I can get a feel for what each type of hop contributes. My next batches will probably be an all Cascade an all Northern Brewer batch.
I'm in the process of getting quotes for a new roof on the house. I'm not looking forward to that expense.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
I have today off for the Columbus Day holiday which gave me the opportunity to take Mitch to the vet this morning for his annual check-up and shots. I scheduled to take him in Thursday morning to have his teeth cleaned because he is starting to get some gum irritation.
Last night a friend from work invited me over to eat a bunch of game birds he shot. There were just four of us, but he cooked about 15 quail, 15 pheasant, and a couple chuckers.
We started out with about a dozen skewers of pheasant breast on the grill with an Asian soy/sesame marinade and some pheasant legs with barbeque sauce as an appetizer.
Then he brought out the tray of roasted quail. Quail was a tie for my favorite this evening. After a bit he brought a tray with the roasted pheasant and chuckers. These had been dry rubbed with a spicy Cajun spice blend.
While I was still working on my chucker he brought out a large pheasant pot pie. This was the other favorite of the night. He made it in a regular 9" pie pan. Huge.
For dessert they baked a cherry pie. All of it was delicious.
They made three of the huge pot pies and sent one home with me along with a few quail.
I took Mitch along and he seemed to enjoy himself too. They were worried that their young and extremely energetic and non-stop motion German shorthaired pointer hunting dog would be too much for the calm laid back Mitch. They were just fine together.
Last night a friend from work invited me over to eat a bunch of game birds he shot. There were just four of us, but he cooked about 15 quail, 15 pheasant, and a couple chuckers.
We started out with about a dozen skewers of pheasant breast on the grill with an Asian soy/sesame marinade and some pheasant legs with barbeque sauce as an appetizer.
Then he brought out the tray of roasted quail. Quail was a tie for my favorite this evening. After a bit he brought a tray with the roasted pheasant and chuckers. These had been dry rubbed with a spicy Cajun spice blend.
While I was still working on my chucker he brought out a large pheasant pot pie. This was the other favorite of the night. He made it in a regular 9" pie pan. Huge.
For dessert they baked a cherry pie. All of it was delicious.
They made three of the huge pot pies and sent one home with me along with a few quail.
I took Mitch along and he seemed to enjoy himself too. They were worried that their young and extremely energetic and non-stop motion German shorthaired pointer hunting dog would be too much for the calm laid back Mitch. They were just fine together.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Everything is in place. Kettle is on the fire coming up to temperature. Steeping grains are in the mesh bag. Yeast pack has been smacked. Liquid malt extract is in a hot water bath. I think I am going to open up another homebrew that I put in the fridge last night and sip that while I am waiting for my water to heat up.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Friday evening and three beers under my belt. Drawing the water I will brew with tomorrow so it can sit overnight and dechlorinate. Will get everything set out that I will need tomorrow so I can get brewing as soon as I have had my coffee and breakfast.
Tried one of my homebrews that I bottled last weekend. It is maltier than I expected but still good. Drinkable. I think another week of conditioning will carbonate it a bit more and bring out some more of the hop bitterness. I used two cans of amber malt extract. Tomorrow I have a can of amber and a can of light. I like the trial and error aspect of this hobby.
I am going to a friend's house Sunday to eat some pheasant he shot. He likes really weak beer, but I will still take a couple homebrews with me even though I don't think he will like them.
Talked to Tim-In-Law for a bit and am jealous of the load of great beer they they have for tonight. I am really interested in trying the Racer 5 IPA they tried and said is awesome.
OK, I have the stereo tuned to 104.3 FM and it is time to go get everything ready for tomorrow morning.
Tried one of my homebrews that I bottled last weekend. It is maltier than I expected but still good. Drinkable. I think another week of conditioning will carbonate it a bit more and bring out some more of the hop bitterness. I used two cans of amber malt extract. Tomorrow I have a can of amber and a can of light. I like the trial and error aspect of this hobby.
I am going to a friend's house Sunday to eat some pheasant he shot. He likes really weak beer, but I will still take a couple homebrews with me even though I don't think he will like them.
Talked to Tim-In-Law for a bit and am jealous of the load of great beer they they have for tonight. I am really interested in trying the Racer 5 IPA they tried and said is awesome.
OK, I have the stereo tuned to 104.3 FM and it is time to go get everything ready for tomorrow morning.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
I wasn't quite sure how to keep track of which bottle of homebrew is which, and then I had a good idea: I will write the date I bottled each bottle on the bottle cap with a Sharpie. It is so simple I don't know why I didn't think of it before.
But that didn't take care of the problem of remembering the specifics of each batch (i.e. ingredients, unusual or different techniques that may have changed the outcome, etc.) We bought a little notepad for this, but you can run of space on a page, it can get dropped in a pale of ale, etc. So I had a second follow-up idea to the first idea above: I am going to use this entry to keep track of each batch of beer by bottle date.
I will just keep adding information to this entry rather than adding a new entry with every batch.
Brew Log
Brad's Summer APA
Brewed 7/3/09
IBU's: 31
1 lb crystal malt steeped 30 minutes
6 lbs Light Dry Extract
0.60 oz Cascade [5.40 %] (60 min) Hops
0.70 oz Columbus [12.20 %] (60 min) Hops
1.00 oz Amarillo [8.20 %] (5 min)
Safale US-05
Hop Scare IPA (kit from Midwest Homebrewing Supply)
brewed 4/26/2009
1 lb caravienne malt, steeped 30 minutes at 155 degrees
6 lbs liquid gold malt
2 lbs dry light extract
1 oz Warrier hops, 15.4% alpha, 60 min
0.5 oz Amarillo hops, 8.2% alpha, 30 min
0.5 oz Amarillo hops, 8.2% alpha, 15 min
1 tsp Irish moss 15 minutes
2 oz Cascade hops, 5.4% alpha, 4 min
Wyeast American Ale II Activator pack
Bottled 1/2/2009
6 pounds light DME
1 pound crystal malt 60L
norther brewer hops
1 ounce 60 min
1 ounce 40 min
1 ounce 10 min?
1 ounce dry hopped
Safale US-05
Bottled 11/15/08
Brewed on 10/25/2008
1 pound US crystal malt 30 Lovibond steeped 20 minutes at 165 degrees
5.3 pounds DME
1 ounce centennial - 60 minutes
.5 ounce centennial - 40 minutes
.5 ounce centennial - 30 minutes
1 ounce centennial - 15 minutes
1 teaspoon Irish moss - 15 minutes
1 ounce centennial dry hopped into secondary fermentor when racking after first week
2 7 gram packets of Cooper's Ale Yeast pitched dry directly into wort without proofing
Used wort chiller for first time. Cooled down to 70 degrees in about 20 minutes
11/1/2008 – Estimated bottling date of batch brewed on 8/11/2008.
OG 1.050
2.5 ounces Simcoe hops, continuous addition. 0.5 ounces dry hopped in secondary fermenter.
3.3 pounds Briess CBW non-diastatic unhopped golden light LME
3.3 pounds Briess CBW non-diastatic unhopped sparkling amber LME
Steeping grains: 1 pound Briess 60L crystal malt 6 row
1 teaspoon Irish moss - 15 minutes
1 pound Briess victory malt
Wyeast Northwest Ale yeast.
Primed with cane sugar.
Bottled 10/4/2008 – Ad hoc recipe. ~5.5% ABV
6.6 pounds amber LME
0.5 pounds light DME
1 ounce Cascade bittering
0.5 ounce Kent Golding bittering
1.5 ounce Kent Golding flavor
1 pack Munton's dry yeast to the primary, and another pack to the secondary when fermentation stopped.
Aerated the wort this time. Poured hot wort into primary fermenter with a bag of commercial ice.
After one week of bottle conditioning my first impression is that this turned out almost like a hopped up stout. Using all amber extract is too much for my tastes. It is still good though.
Bottled 8/22/2008 – Mead, basic dry. 10.4% ABV 12 pounds mesquite honey, Pasteur Champagne Red Star yeast, acid blend (citric/tartaric/malic)
Bottled 8/10/2008 – First solo batch. Used a Brewer's Best American Micro Style Pale Ale. 1.5 ounces Cascade hops, bittering 1.5 ounces Willamete hops, flavor. Added the yeast before the wort was properly cooled. I think it was about 130 degrees. Added a second packet of yeast to the secondary fermenter when fermentation stopped a few days after racking.
Bottled 6/7/2008 – Batch brewed at Bev-Art
But that didn't take care of the problem of remembering the specifics of each batch (i.e. ingredients, unusual or different techniques that may have changed the outcome, etc.) We bought a little notepad for this, but you can run of space on a page, it can get dropped in a pale of ale, etc. So I had a second follow-up idea to the first idea above: I am going to use this entry to keep track of each batch of beer by bottle date.
I will just keep adding information to this entry rather than adding a new entry with every batch.
Brew Log
Brad's Summer APA
Brewed 7/3/09
IBU's: 31
1 lb crystal malt steeped 30 minutes
6 lbs Light Dry Extract
0.60 oz Cascade [5.40 %] (60 min) Hops
0.70 oz Columbus [12.20 %] (60 min) Hops
1.00 oz Amarillo [8.20 %] (5 min)
Safale US-05
Hop Scare IPA (kit from Midwest Homebrewing Supply)
brewed 4/26/2009
1 lb caravienne malt, steeped 30 minutes at 155 degrees
6 lbs liquid gold malt
2 lbs dry light extract
1 oz Warrier hops, 15.4% alpha, 60 min
0.5 oz Amarillo hops, 8.2% alpha, 30 min
0.5 oz Amarillo hops, 8.2% alpha, 15 min
1 tsp Irish moss 15 minutes
2 oz Cascade hops, 5.4% alpha, 4 min
Wyeast American Ale II Activator pack
Bottled 1/2/2009
6 pounds light DME
1 pound crystal malt 60L
norther brewer hops
1 ounce 60 min
1 ounce 40 min
1 ounce 10 min?
1 ounce dry hopped
Safale US-05
Bottled 11/15/08
Brewed on 10/25/2008
1 pound US crystal malt 30 Lovibond steeped 20 minutes at 165 degrees
5.3 pounds DME
1 ounce centennial - 60 minutes
.5 ounce centennial - 40 minutes
.5 ounce centennial - 30 minutes
1 ounce centennial - 15 minutes
1 teaspoon Irish moss - 15 minutes
1 ounce centennial dry hopped into secondary fermentor when racking after first week
2 7 gram packets of Cooper's Ale Yeast pitched dry directly into wort without proofing
Used wort chiller for first time. Cooled down to 70 degrees in about 20 minutes
11/1/2008 – Estimated bottling date of batch brewed on 8/11/2008.
OG 1.050
2.5 ounces Simcoe hops, continuous addition. 0.5 ounces dry hopped in secondary fermenter.
3.3 pounds Briess CBW non-diastatic unhopped golden light LME
3.3 pounds Briess CBW non-diastatic unhopped sparkling amber LME
Steeping grains: 1 pound Briess 60L crystal malt 6 row
1 teaspoon Irish moss - 15 minutes
1 pound Briess victory malt
Wyeast Northwest Ale yeast.
Primed with cane sugar.
Bottled 10/4/2008 – Ad hoc recipe. ~5.5% ABV
6.6 pounds amber LME
0.5 pounds light DME
1 ounce Cascade bittering
0.5 ounce Kent Golding bittering
1.5 ounce Kent Golding flavor
1 pack Munton's dry yeast to the primary, and another pack to the secondary when fermentation stopped.
Aerated the wort this time. Poured hot wort into primary fermenter with a bag of commercial ice.
After one week of bottle conditioning my first impression is that this turned out almost like a hopped up stout. Using all amber extract is too much for my tastes. It is still good though.
Bottled 8/22/2008 – Mead, basic dry. 10.4% ABV 12 pounds mesquite honey, Pasteur Champagne Red Star yeast, acid blend (citric/tartaric/malic)
Bottled 8/10/2008 – First solo batch. Used a Brewer's Best American Micro Style Pale Ale. 1.5 ounces Cascade hops, bittering 1.5 ounces Willamete hops, flavor. Added the yeast before the wort was properly cooled. I think it was about 130 degrees. Added a second packet of yeast to the secondary fermenter when fermentation stopped a few days after racking.
Bottled 6/7/2008 – Batch brewed at Bev-Art
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
I have been really interested in trying Anheuser-Bush's first ale (as far as I'm aware) called Budweiser American Ale. I finally saw it in the store yesterday and picked up a six pack right away.
It is easily the best beer AB has ever produced, but it is just an OK beer compared to all of the other great beer out there. The carton says it is dry hopped with Cascade hops but I can just barely detect their aroma, and I detect no hop flavor. The hop bitterness is nice without being too overwhelming for people used to insipid macro lagers.
It wasn't dry, but it also wasn't overly malty or heavy. It had a nice body and mouth feel.
Another nice touch is the bottles have pry off caps rather than twist offs which means I can reuse the bottles for my homebrew. I expected to have to throw them away. A nice surprise.
Finally, a six pack was $7.50. For just $0.50 to a $1.00 more you can buy a really outstanding beer. If it was priced more like their other beers in the $6 range I might be more tempted to pick some up every now and then when feeling the pains of a bad economy, but at that price I don't think it's a beer I will be seeking out.
So overall it is a decent and approachable beer, but nothing too interesting. My hope is it will give people that normally just drink Budweiser-type lagers their first experience of a nice hoppy ale and be a "gateway drug" to the better beers that are out there. I am also hoping it will be showing up on tap in bars and restaurants that normally just have Bud on tap. If that was the best choice and I was feeling like a beer I would order one. If they just had Bud, Miller, etc. I would probably just pass.
It is easily the best beer AB has ever produced, but it is just an OK beer compared to all of the other great beer out there. The carton says it is dry hopped with Cascade hops but I can just barely detect their aroma, and I detect no hop flavor. The hop bitterness is nice without being too overwhelming for people used to insipid macro lagers.
It wasn't dry, but it also wasn't overly malty or heavy. It had a nice body and mouth feel.
Another nice touch is the bottles have pry off caps rather than twist offs which means I can reuse the bottles for my homebrew. I expected to have to throw them away. A nice surprise.
Finally, a six pack was $7.50. For just $0.50 to a $1.00 more you can buy a really outstanding beer. If it was priced more like their other beers in the $6 range I might be more tempted to pick some up every now and then when feeling the pains of a bad economy, but at that price I don't think it's a beer I will be seeking out.
So overall it is a decent and approachable beer, but nothing too interesting. My hope is it will give people that normally just drink Budweiser-type lagers their first experience of a nice hoppy ale and be a "gateway drug" to the better beers that are out there. I am also hoping it will be showing up on tap in bars and restaurants that normally just have Bud on tap. If that was the best choice and I was feeling like a beer I would order one. If they just had Bud, Miller, etc. I would probably just pass.
I went to the homebrew shop on Sunday to get ingredients to brew an IPA next weekend and I am pretty excited about what I got.
The centerpiece of the batch is three ounces of Simcoe hops plugs! Their alpha acid content is 13.2%.
I also stepped up from dry yeast and got a Smack-pack of Wyeast Laboratories Northwest Ale strain. This is a link to the details of the yeast strain.
For steeping grains I got a pound of 60 Lovibond crystal malt and a pound of victory malt. I tasted a few grains of the victory malt before he crushed it and it has a very pronounced toasty bread taste. Lovibond is a measure of grain's darkness. The higher it is the darker it will make the beer. Crystal malt has a nice sweetness to help offset my Simcoe hops.
Finally I got a 3.3 pound can of amber liquid malt extract (LME) and one can of light LME.
On Saturday I finally bottled the batch of beer that my family drove 4 hours to help me brew 6 weeks ago on August 23, 2008. It is tasting really good and it is going to be really difficult for me to wait until this weekend to try a bottle. Friday after work I will bring a bottle up from my beer cellar and put it in the fridge so it will be ready to inspire me while I am brewing Saturday morning.
The centerpiece of the batch is three ounces of Simcoe hops plugs! Their alpha acid content is 13.2%.
I also stepped up from dry yeast and got a Smack-pack of Wyeast Laboratories Northwest Ale strain. This is a link to the details of the yeast strain.
For steeping grains I got a pound of 60 Lovibond crystal malt and a pound of victory malt. I tasted a few grains of the victory malt before he crushed it and it has a very pronounced toasty bread taste. Lovibond is a measure of grain's darkness. The higher it is the darker it will make the beer. Crystal malt has a nice sweetness to help offset my Simcoe hops.
Finally I got a 3.3 pound can of amber liquid malt extract (LME) and one can of light LME.
On Saturday I finally bottled the batch of beer that my family drove 4 hours to help me brew 6 weeks ago on August 23, 2008. It is tasting really good and it is going to be really difficult for me to wait until this weekend to try a bottle. Friday after work I will bring a bottle up from my beer cellar and put it in the fridge so it will be ready to inspire me while I am brewing Saturday morning.
Monday, September 22, 2008
As a treat to myself for a productive weekend of yard work and chores I went to Whole Foods Sunday evening to try a new beer.
I picked up a 22 ounce bottle of Dreadnaught Imperial IPA from Three Floyds Brewing Company for $12. It turns out my instincts were good because it is the 17th highest rated beer on Beer Advocate! I didn't end up drinking it because I wasn't 100% in a beer mood and didn't want to waste it. Maybe I will save it for Friday night to enjoy while watching the presidential debates.
I also picked up a six pack of Mad Hatter IPA from New Holland Brewing Company. This is what I ended up having Sunday evening and I loved it! Might be my new favorite. At $8.50 I consider it to be a bargain. I almost walked out with a different six pack but I noticed that they had twist offs and I can't use those to bottle my homebrew, so I picked up my second choice and really lucked out. I can't wait for Tim-In-Law to try it and see what he thinks. I think it will compare well with his favorite Arrogant Bastard.
I picked up a 22 ounce bottle of Dreadnaught Imperial IPA from Three Floyds Brewing Company for $12. It turns out my instincts were good because it is the 17th highest rated beer on Beer Advocate! I didn't end up drinking it because I wasn't 100% in a beer mood and didn't want to waste it. Maybe I will save it for Friday night to enjoy while watching the presidential debates.
I also picked up a six pack of Mad Hatter IPA from New Holland Brewing Company. This is what I ended up having Sunday evening and I loved it! Might be my new favorite. At $8.50 I consider it to be a bargain. I almost walked out with a different six pack but I noticed that they had twist offs and I can't use those to bottle my homebrew, so I picked up my second choice and really lucked out. I can't wait for Tim-In-Law to try it and see what he thinks. I think it will compare well with his favorite Arrogant Bastard.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
I've decided it would be better to make one post here rather than countless tearful phone calls to friends and family.
I have been diagnosed with bruxism.
I have been in regular contact with health care professionals and they are doing their best to help me. It is not contagious.
My head is still swimming with what this means, how my life will change, and if people are going to think of me differently.
It would mean the world to me if you see me in the store, at work, etc. to just treat me normally. Tell me about what is going on in your life, how your job is going, what you did over the weekend.. Don't cross the street and pretend you didn't see me. I am still the same person I was yesterday, just with a new cross to bear.
Thank you in advance for your support.
I have been diagnosed with bruxism.
I have been in regular contact with health care professionals and they are doing their best to help me. It is not contagious.
My head is still swimming with what this means, how my life will change, and if people are going to think of me differently.
It would mean the world to me if you see me in the store, at work, etc. to just treat me normally. Tell me about what is going on in your life, how your job is going, what you did over the weekend.. Don't cross the street and pretend you didn't see me. I am still the same person I was yesterday, just with a new cross to bear.
Thank you in advance for your support.
