Sunday, November 29, 2015

Bicycle Upgrayedd 2

With the success of the last bike upgrade, I decided I wanted to do it again! I figured I already got a good reliable bike for getting around, so why not get a rough-and-tumble bike that I can jump curbs with and not worry about breaking?
When I saw this bike at a rummage sale, I knew instantly it was the one.  Seeing that it's already the same color as my other bike, has good features, looks barely used and only $10? oh you know it!
Huffy Trail bike from rummage sale

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Scrap Attack: Autumn Harvest

Even though I'm not actually growing plants, I still have a harvest post.  Why's that? well, let's just say scrap alchemy doesn't only apply to metallic items!
In the land of too-small-backyards and near-perfect weather, the opportunity for fruit trees overgrowing peoples' property lines leaves an opportunity for free food.  In other words, I get the best deals on Earth.
I haven't seen any decent examples of pears or apples growing in southern California, probably because it doesn't get cold enough here, but I found these cute little ones on the ground.  Once they became squashy they were tasty, though several remained hard.  On the right are some pineapple guavas, which were good except for mold inside a few.
pears and pineapple guavas

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Winter Rye Ale Update -- Bottling Day

The color and flavor is spot on
You could almost pass this off as Rye Whiskey
After a good 2 weeks of fermenting + 1 week of settling, it was time to bottle my latest batch of beer. I was hoping to jump the gun on bottling after only the 2 weeks of fermenting, but as you can see in the above photo, the extra week of settling made a significant difference in the clarity of the brew.

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Right time for some more Beer -- Winter Rye Ale -- Brew Day

Grain
The grains needed for a warm winter
Last week I decided that it was time to revive making beer at my new house thanks to some financial leeway, the change of seasons, and some extra free time. I decided it would be more efficient to scale back up to doing 5 gallon batches.