Author Archives: Pat

Sunday Brew Day – Brown Ale

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I kicked off a batch of brown ale today. Another new recipe for me, but what the heck, it’s past time to broaden my horizons. Here’s the ingredients:

  • 2.4 pounds 90L Crystal Malt
  • 6.6 pounds light malt extract syrup
  • 10.35 HBUs Cascades hops
  • 9.1 HBUs Brewers Gold hops
  • 4.5 HBUs Willamette hops
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet
  • 1 pack Wyeast 1272 American Ale II yeast

And the procedure:

  1. Steep the grain for 30 minutes at 155 degrees F
  2. Bring to a boil and add the extract, Cascades, and Brewers Gold hops
  3. Boil for 1 hour total
  4. At 15 mins left in the boil add the whirlfloc tablet
  5. At 10 mins left in the boil, add the Willamette hops
  6. Chill, dilute to 5.25 gallons, oxygenate, and pitch yeast

A Day Of Running Around

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After getting back from the BMW club meeting I hit the road for points east, namely checking out a chocolate store, Doughmonkey, and a trip to Half Price Books to restock the to-be-read stack.

Doughmonkey was excellent. Lots of yummy varietal chocolates and other baked goodies. I picked up a couple bars of Patric Chocolate, some lemon pound cake, and a small, single serving chocolate cake.

After that I went over to Half Price Books to pick up some books. I got a couple more of Peter Hamilton’s Neutronium Alchemist series, filled in the last hole in my set of the Honor Harrington series, a couple more Jack McDevitt books, two heart healthy cookbooks because I really need to lower my cholesterol, and a copy of Long Way Round, the story of Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman’s around the world motorcycle ride.

Finally, a stop at Central Market for some breakfast and lunch type stuff.

BMWDFW Meeting

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I got up a little early this morning and went out to the BMWDFW club breakfast to meet some of these people. It was a fun morning, lots of good discussion, humor, and very little attitude.

I’m glad I took the time to go out there to see them and will be sending in my membership money soon…

The Dreaded PST Rust

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I sent the PST off to Meade today to get it repaired as it’s showing the dreaded “rust” on the front objective. Meade’s customer service was excellent, no hassle, no nothing. Just gave me my RMA number, shipping info, etc. I packed it up and sent it off at lunch today. I’m hoping to have it back in a couple weeks, but what with the sun being so inactive, it’s no big loss to be without it right now…

The Beemer Is Now Mine

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Just got back from the county tax office where I had to hand over some money and sign some more stuff in order to get the title transferred over to my name. The bike’s now legally mine and I’ll be riding the heck out of it to get used to it. Got a few errands planned for lunch today, etc.

It feels nice to have a title with no lien on it. Really nice.

Now I’ve just got to name it…

A Long Drive Home

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I got the tent taken down and packed away it and the rest of the stuff I brought so that I could hit the road early. It was a long, hard drive back, fighting a headwind most of the way. That headwind put my mileage in the toilet, which is really going to hurt the wallet, but so be it.

I got home at around 8:00 in the evening, safe and sound if a little bit tired.

T-ball Practice And Back To MITM

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We got up early and got Reese out to his t-ball practice. This is his second year of it and the improvement is amazing. It’s still loosely organized chaos, but not nearly as crazy as last year’s practices were. He’s getting the fundamentals down well. After we got back from the practice it was time for me to head back to MITM, and had to say goodbye again, which really stinks.

Back at MITM I set up the PST and opened it up for viewing. It seemed to be pretty popular.

Later on we headed out for dinner and got a surprise while we were there. It turns out that there’s an Orthodox church out there in the middle of the cornfields of rural southern Illinois. So we went over and met the priest, Fr. Paul, who showed us around the church. It’s about one hundred years old and was undergoing a refurbishment so there was scaffolding in place, but I think everyone enjoyed the visit. For most of them it was the first time in an Orthodox church.

We got back to the farm and I set up the dob to get the glass cooling down. After dark we did a little observing of the moon, Saturn, and Mars. There was too much ambient light to really get any decent views of deep sky objects, but everyone really liked what they could see so it wasn’t a real loss.

Up To Peoria To See Reese

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Heading up the road to Peoria to see Reese. I got in just before dinner time and I think he was as happy to see me as I was to see him. It was a quiet evening, just dinner and playing a little frisbee outside.

On The Road To MITM

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I had to take the Jeep this time because the Sportster isn’t up for it, or more to the point, I can’t take the abuse a long distance ride on it dishes out any more. I didn’t take the Beemer because I’m just not ready to do a long ride on it yet. It was probably a good thing that I didn’t because the 25+ MPH tail winds turned into crosswinds once I hit I-44.

I got in just before sunset, got my tent pitched, and headed over to the campfire to enjoy a tasty adult beverage or two.

I Bought A Motorcycle Today

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I picked up the cashier’s check and headed back over to pick up the RT this evening. It’s home, in the garage, looking good. The ride back was nice, it really handles the wind well and I’m starting to get used to it. It’s funny, I didn’t want to get off the highway. It’s like it was calling to me to just head to points elsewhere. Soon enough, soon enough…

Now I’ve got to brave the county tax office to get the title transferred. That ought to be loads of fun…

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