What's Behind Door #2

Public Enemies Columbus Merchandise
WWW.PublicEnemiesColumbus.Com

I mentioned yesterday something about our garage doors.

This is what a normal operating garage door hinge looks like.

And this is what a hinge looks like when it is not operating normally.

Notice the ass backward arm thingy. How, you may ask, did the arm thingy get all ass backward. The answer? Not a freaking clue. I climbed a ladder and figured that if it got that way by flipping in must be able to flip back, right? Yea- you would think that.

But when I try flipping it to the correct direction all I would do is break the upper part of the door in half. IN order to move it the bendy part will have to be moved to the left lowering it and breaking the door further (farther?).

A second bad thing is that this is keeping the garage door open by about three feet. Our builder is looking into it and I'm looking for an exorcist!

Then in the other part of the weekend I was brewing up a batch of Hazelnut Brown Nectar with a new 5 gallon Stainless Steel brew pot. This was going to be "the perfect batch". I had everything all set. I had figured out how to keep my mash (steeping grains) at 155 degrees for 45 minutes. Just put the pot of wort in the oven set at 155 once I hit the strike temp.

Problem was. I can only set the oven down to 170. CRAP!! toss that idea out the window. So I must babysit the pot for 45 minutes. The temp rose and fell between 145 and 160. Electric stoves are NOT the perfect brewing machine. I was always 10 minutes behind the true temperature. What I need is an insulating blanket to wrap the large pot in once I hit the temp.

BUT - the real fun was about to happen and I'm glad DJ was gone.

At the end of 45 minutes I was feeling satisfied that this was the best mashing (steeping) process yet and now my job is to sparge (rinse) the grains with 170 degree water (all these temps are actually critical for PH and enzyme conversion and so forth).

I carefully lift the grain bag out of the water. Gently put my strainer under the grains and prepare to pour exactly 2 quarts of 170 water over the grains.

tic

PLOOSH!!!

Like a fat man doing a belly flop the entire strainer and 4 pounds of grain implode into the pot creating a tsunami of sticky, hot, brown liquid that engulfs the stove, the range fan, spreads to the counter and is now trickling onto the floor.

It seems my strainer was just a little too small for my new pot. OH, it fits nice when no one touches it but bump it and PLOOSH!! In fact it plooshed four times (the last three were not as violent as I was still holding the bag). I ended up wedging knives into the handles and make it use it's own weight to keep it in place.

Once that small nightmare was over and I was able to start boiling it I could start the massive clean-up. I was hoping FEMA was still around but they never showed.

But still I had problems. A large five gallon brew pot will not come to a boil on our stove so I had to transfer everything to a 4 gallon pot which seemed easier.

And all was fine after that! Now I am thinking of an appropriate name for this beer.

One last beer thing.

I bottled an English MILD last night. I have never tasted an English MILD so I did not know exactly what to expect. I knew it was very low in alcohol and while dark in color was not a heavy thick beer. It's called a session beer, the kind that people overseas drink all night in English pubs.

Once I filled 48 bottles and capped them I had leftovers so of course I poured a glass.

WOW - what a tasty brew!!!! Sort of smokey, toasty malty with hints of molasses. Very mellow. I can't wait for a few weeks to go by and the contents all merge into a real beer. Remember, beer is like wine and needs to age (well, real beer, not macro swill like Bud and Miller).

If you have had any of my beers you are drinking very very young beer that needs a few more months of aging to be in their prime. That Double Chocolate? Should be in it's prime in another 6 weeks. Too bad I only have 6 left! LOL
=============================
Amazing Race Standings

No huge changes as everyone was either 1 or 2 off. Jenny is the only contestant to NOT have their #2 pick gone. BTW - you will receive -15. -10 and -5 points IF you pick 1st or 2nd or 3rd correct.

Standings - least points wins

Collette 9
Jenny 9
DJ 10
Mark 11
Andy 12
Rod 12

==================
Many people are finding it interesting about Brett Favre and the story breaking about him calling the Detroit Lions and telling them how to beat the Packers. The Lions are not denying it and the Packer players are not jumping to defend Brett saying he would not do it.

Then there is the thing about Brett calling Tony Romo and telling him to play through the pain of a broken finger (he didn't). When reporters asked Aaron Rogers if he had gotten a call he laughed and no.

Then I heard an interview with a couple players about Brett being a "team" guy that basically said he never did ANYTHING with the team. He ate with friends and had his own shower and never attended team events.

Now don't get me wrong - I like Brett but there seems to be some sour grapes.

Aaron Rogers is 5th in the league in QB ratings with a 98.8. OF course this is only after seven games but Brett only had a QB rating that high once in his career.

I'm very happy Brett is having a good year with the Jets, he deserves to have a large market watch him and give him his due although they are seeing a lot of interceptions (only one QB has more).

But, I'm also very happy the Packers have Rogers. I think Thompson made the right decision.
Rod