Kölsch

Kölsch.....the word is an appellation.  Only brewers in the city of Cologne (Koln), Germany following certain guidelines may use the name, (just like Champagne is only Champagne when made in the Champagne region of France) although that name protection doesn't seem to extend to the United States, where it has become the generic term for the pale, softly hoppy beer that is just barely not a lager. Kölsch is crisp, but not sharp; balanced, but not excessively bitter.  The aroma has a slight hint of furitiness with a dryish palate with a hint of creaminess due to the small amount of wheat used.  

I chose to brew a Kölsch because our weather here in the PacNW has taken its turn towards winter.  It's not cool enough to brew a traditional lager......so a cool crisp Kölsch will be very session-able while working in BKG.

Busted Knuckle Nectar

Ingredients:

7# American 2-Row

2# American Wheat

1/2# Munich Light

60 minute mash at average temperature of 150F

60 minute boil

1oz Perle  60 min

1/2oz Tettnanger 30 min

1/2oz Tettnanger  10 min

OG:  1.054

My Original Gravity was a little high due to my lower final wort volume.  I think this should be a great quaffable brew.  Come over in 2 weeks and lets enjoy a pint!

 

1972 Honda Z50 Mini-Bike

Marie thinks I'm crazy.....you can make your own opinion (just don't tell me) haha.....I picked up this cute little mini- bike this past week.  I have always wanted this bike and sure enough I got one!  Of course it doesn't run.......but it will.  I want to get this little bugger running and enjoy riding it to the mail box and teaching Marie to ride it as well.  After we enjoy it I want to totally tear down and restore it back to it original condition.  I think this will be a fun winter project.....and it doesn't take up too much room in the garage. 

The Honda Z50 was brought to market in 1967....it didn't make it to the US until 1969.  Honda produced this bike until 1999.  The powerplant is a 50cc air-cooled, single cylinder, four-stroke engine.  The tranney has 3 semi-automatic gears.  This is a super cute mini!  I can't wait to ride it.

Stay tuned for the success. 

Flippn'

Buy low and sell high.....right?  I have made a couple bike purchases in the last few weeks.  I have been lucky in that I haven't had to do any work to the bikes......just buy and resell.  I found these from a local guy who has lots of other bikes.  I hope to keep working with him in the future.  I have also bought some classic parts from him and sold on Ebay. 

1977 Suzuki GS 400

1979 Kawasaki KZ 650

I just picked up this bike a few days ago.  I'm not going to flip this one quick.  I would like to bring it back to life because it's such a classic.  It's a 1976 Honda CB 750 Super Sport.  It's a one owner bike with 7500K on the odometer. 

My new motorcycle carrier...it's nice not dragging a trailer.

The Harvest Ale is bottled!

Just before bottling

I bottled my 3rd annual Harvest Ale (Indian Red) last night.  I ended up dry hopping with THB hops the last 4 days.  I used approximately 4.5 ounces that I had previously dried.  I really liked the color and the hop bittering was just right.  For an Indian Red it wasn't too over-powering with bitterness.  Like I said, I bottled it and didn't keg.  I chose to bottle because after all the whole leaf hop additions I was only left with 4 gallons.  My last batch (Rye Not?) I kegged....which was my first brew to ever keg.....and I finished it with in 2 weeks (with the help of my neighbor, hopefully the Indian Red will last a bit longer).  I put the majority of the brew in 12 oz bottles with the exception of 4 22oz bottles.  My Brewthers....be expecting a brew mail in the very near future!

Dry hop addition....4.5oz

BKG Update:

By now I thought the CB550 would be finished and already sold.  Well, I opened a can of worms.  I started cleaning the chrome pitting....it was going well, then I had a thought of stripping it down and power coating the wheels and frame.  In order to do this everything must come off! 

It's easy taking things off....you just have to remember where they go!

I decided that I was going to make my own custom seat pan.

Really not hard, just takes some metal sculpting, bending, and cutting.

I have contacted a local Powder Coating business and they quoted me a fair price.  I hope to finish up the seat pan and fabricate in a rear fender.  They are going to sandblast the wheels, frame, and swing arm then powder coat everything gloss black. 

Splendor in September

Just a quick post with some pictures from our early September days. They are quickly fleeting...Hard to believe that summer is coming to a close. Cleaning has been high on the priority list. Marie is in the mood to clutter-bust.

The boys will not be happy to see rain return... they are constantly catching mice and snakes...and driving Marie bonkers.

Our volunteer pumpkin patch.

Fish Tacos

Fried green tomatoes and falafel.

Lefty wants some of our biscuit/egg breakfast. It feels soooo good to sit  in the sun on a Sunday morning.

Spicy Avocado Chicken Enchiladas... delicious!

Too many good food pictures to post...and I have forgotten to take a few lately. Been stealing lots of ideas from Mag's Pinterest pages... can't wait to cook some yummy meals for mom/dad/brad in NC at the end of the month.

Finally picked our corn. It was beautiful. We left it on the stalk a bit too long, so it was getting tough/dry... hoping the creamed corn will be okay.

Our pumpkin patch harvesting. We even had a few delicata squash and sweet dumpling squash come up! Can't wait to cook those.

Still cool enough that we love taking a good hot bubble or salt bath in the evenings.

We miss the heat of the east coast/south.  Sending hearts, hugs, and kisses your way. xoxox <3

Birthday Bash in Bend

Connor turned 33 on 8-22-13.  We took a little trip to Bend, Oregon to celebrate!

Saw a little live music - a hillbilly country band. Really good dancing music. They even covered a John Denver song!

Cheers to the birthday boy!

This breakfast was amazing...

At some point, we decided to try the Bend Ale Trail...and walk to visit as many breweries as we could. We didn't get to all 10, but I think we got an honorable mention by hitting 6 of them. (5 in one day!)

Bend Brewing Co. Desert Hefe and Ching Ching Sour

Pool at Silver Moon Brewing. Seriously. Connor kicked my butt. He is a shark. And I was chum. 

Boneyard Beer - samples of all. The Fuego Rojo was SPICY!

McMenamins Old St. Francis. Very neat old school turned hotel/restaurant/brewery.

Moonlight/Star-gazing Canoe Trip - With Wonderlust Tours.  Honestly so beautiful...and educational too!

A perfect ending to a perfect night!

On our way home we stopped for some hiking.

The view from the lake.

A closer view of Mt. Hood.

It was a power-packed weekend. True Tucker-style.  We have been talking about going for 4 years... glad we finally checked this one off the list.  Connor did finally get his birthday cake too... Tres Leches (a la Joy the Baker).  We wished all of you could have been here to share. Luckily, Connor and I ate a slice for you! (Not so luckily for our butts/guts...)

Laboring for THB and BKG

THB meets BKG......I need to expand!

Most people I know were probably relaxing this weekend and definitely NOT working.....that's how it should be!  Well, I needed to get some items accomplished off my to-do-list (as Marie would put it), so I must labor on Labor Day!

My hops needed picking, I wanted to brew an Indian Red, my newest moto needs attention, and Marie and I needed to do some house/garage cleaning.

First.....the hops.....

not a good idea to hold......very itchy

about 24 ounces.....down from last year.

I layered them between 3 HVAC air filters to dry...

My hop dryer.....a box fan is behind the filters.....I dried for 24 hours

24 ounces wet dried to 9.2 ounces....this is 4.5 in the bowl

The brew......

I thought an Indian Red would be a good fit for my hops.  My varieties are Chinook and Cascade.....their characteristics are perfect for an amber colored slightly hoppy ale.

I made my own recipe....I didn't want too much over the top hoppy-ness so I was a little mellower than usual.  I used hops from my local homebrew suppy store for bittering and flavoring.  I was going to blast my hops at flameout for aroma and then another addition after fermentation.  Who knows???  It may be great, palatable, or just disappointing. 

Recipe for the interested:
8# 2 Row
2# Munich Lt
1# Crystal 60
.5# Crystal 75
1# Carapils

1oz Chinook  60
.5oz Centennial 15
.5oz Centennial 5
4.5oz THB hops 0
4.5oz THB hops Dry Hopped

Yeast: 1056
OG: 1.068

crushed grains......

rinsing the crush....

great smelling hops.....

Fermentation is on it's way! Only 4 gallons of brew....the whole leaf hops really soaked up some wort.

Next up......BKG

2 weeks ago I came across anther sweet deal on CL.  I am a sucker for Hondas....especially 70's era CB's.  This one is a 1976 Honda CB 550 F.  The "F" means 4 cylinders.....yes it's a beast for its day.  You are basically straddling a 4 cylinder 550cc engine.......a vintage crotch rocket.

This is what it looked like when I went to check it out...the previous owner used it for a touring bike.

I stripped off the rear luggage rack and the wind jammer (wing shield).

these carburetors need lots of love!!!

  So basically I thoroughly cleaned the carbs, purchased a battery and spark plugs, hooked up new fuel lines with filters.  I threw a little hot sauce down her throat and she started right up!  I ended up riding  it around the street for a few minutes.  I diagnosed a few other things I need to work on.....so hopefully by next weekend I can get her advertised and sold. 

BKG Inventory Update:
Bobbie....needs some work on the charging system
CL Scrambler....sold Saturday night
DR 250 dirt bike... (oh I forgot....I traded the Honda XL500 dirt bike for the Suzuki 250) sold Sunday.
CB360...trying to sell, damn scammers, spammers, and flakes on CL.
CB500 Twin......still need to find time to rebuild....maybe this winter.

That's it folks!