bottled the porter

I bottled the "porter" this morning and mocked up a label for it. It's not really a porter but I am calling it that for the sake of simplicity.

I learned that you can dip the paper label in milk and that makes a great adhesive that comes off easily later in water. Neat trick.

Also both of my hop rhizomes have now sprouted. The Cascade broke topsoil about 2 wks ago and just saw the Kent Goldings this morning.

And as a nice bonus I dumpster dived about 25 excellent 16oz Sapporo bottles this morning. They were in good shape, and are soaking in disinfectant now for santizing and to loosen the labels.

Moosbeere-Apfelwein

Experimental micro-batches:

batch[4] = half-gallon batch of Apfelwein with 33% organic cranberry juice, left.
batch[5] = half-gallon batch of Apfelwein with 25% organic cranberry juice, right.

Also fired up the pressure cooker and sterilzed some more water and wort for future yeast starters or other uses.

Day off

Took my first day off in many months.

Accomplished these things:

* mowed yard
* watersealed toolshed and part of deck
* put up bookshelves
* bought some bulk malt (50# bag)
* brewed a 5gal batch: beer[3] port-o-LAN. Closer to stout than port, really
* made labels for all my batches
* picked up the freebie recycling bags from the City of Richardson
* figured out how the dingdang lawn sprinkler system works

A great, world-conquering day. I need one day like that every month and all would be well.

Dinner review: Tukta Thai

I've had two different cow-orkers goading me to to to TThai, so the Dear Wife and I finally went last night.

I was looking forward to it, since I've had some excellent salad rolls at Star of Siam (not recently!) and excellent pad thai and thai fried frice at the thai place that used to be at the NE corner of Spring Valley and Coit. It's since changed to Noodle Wave or something recently and haven't been back yet).

So I ordered thai fried rice and salad rolls. DW ordered some kind of beef dish.
Both were decent but not notable. I tried thai iced tea, and won't make that mistake again. Reminded me of licking a piece of pressure-treated lumber. The DW thought I was joking when I said it tasted like a patio deck. Until she tried it.

Two entrees, two drinks, one appetizer: $28.36 before tip.

Pros: many locals, BYOB, pleasant atmosphere, pleasant service and friendly (presumably thai) staff.
Cons: Kind of a crummy part of town. Food decent but not great.
Verdict: Not worth the hype, not worth the drive. I don't see us going back.

Located just off LBJ over near BoBo China (mentioned more for its sign visibility than culinary excellence).

Tukta Thai
9625 Plano Rd St 500
Dallas Tx 75238
214.342.0121

Like in the Fatherland

Bottled the hefeweizen; the cow-orker was a no-show. Sampled the Mild, although it's only been in the bottle for a week. Rough, but you can tell it will be nice enough.

After cleaning up I made a recipe for apfelwein, a hard cider. 5 gallons worth, and will take a month in primary.

Also picked up a bench capper.

Discount Tire fanboi

There are very few companies that have my complete devotion. One is NetFlix. Another is Discount Tire.

I bought my last set of Michelins from Discount Tire, and every experience since then has been fantastic.

You can find the tires you want, see where they are in stock, make an appointment, pay for them, and print your receipt. Then go to the store and they will be stacked up and ready for you. They also fixed my wrecked valve stem (my fault), plugged a nailhole (my fault), and, most important, made the wife feel comfortable and cared-for when she went in on her own to get her own tire plugged (giant nail, her fault).

Great business model, staffed with good folks. My highest recommendation. If you are in Richardson, the closest DT is off 75 and midpark.

Discount Tire (972) 231-7828 Make Appointment

3 W

13645 N Central Expresswy Dallas, TX 75243 Map

M-F 8:00-6:00 Sat 8:00-5:00

rain

Went out to check the rain gauge last night and it had overflowed at the 5.5" mark. This morning there was an additional .75", so we've had at least 6.25" in the last 24 hrs.

Walked around the house to look for standing water and saw none; I guess that is a good sign.