Damage since last post:

New exhaust manifold
New exhaust gaskets
New oil pressure sensor
120k mile service

That's really about it. On a more pleasant note, a friend gave us a set of yak towers, another friend gave us a yak basket, and the bars should be arriving at REI soon. Even more cargo room is a happy thing.

Chupathingy V3b

7.5 # Light Malt extract
.25 # Roasted Barley
.25 # Flaked Barley
.75 # Crystal 150
1 oz Williamette Hops (Boil)
1 oz Cascade Hops (Finishing)
White Labs Irish Ale Yeast

Did this one a bit differently. Brewed for 90 minutes instead of 60, which after sparging gave me an original S.G. of 1.076. Let it ferment for 2 weeks, bottled at a final S.G. of 1.014. My calculations tell me that this one should be about 8% alcohol. Woo.

Bottled the random hefewiezen last week, at a final S.G. of 1.012. Tasted two so far. Big, dumb, and fruity. It'll be interesting to see how it develops.

Last night I also brewed an amber ale. Recipe was sent in an email, and I figured what the hell, I need to do an amber anyway. So off we go.

Isolated Thunderstorms Amber

7# Munich Malt Extract
.75# Crystal 75
.25# Victory
.25# Colorado 2 Row
1 oz German Tradition Hops (boil)
1 oz Tettnang Hops (@30 min)
White Labs British Ale Yeast

After boiling and sparging, the original S.G. was 1.056. Now I'm waiting for fermentation to start.

Last recipe, which I did as I was really wanting something different, is an oatmeal milk stout. Recipe may not be spot on, but I'll update when I find something better than my notes.

Oatmeal Milk Stout
6# Light Malt Extract
.75# Flaked Oats (Toasted for 75 min @325, turning every 15 minutes)
.5# English Crystal 60
.5# English Roast
.5# English Chocolate
1.5oz Goldings Hops (@boil)
.75# Lactose (@50 min)

Initial S.G. 1.058 after sparge. Racked to new 6.5 gallon carboy. Fermentation has been steady, but I'm worried about the yeast crap not getting stuck to the carboy and instead falling back into the wort. Oh, well. Cross your fingers with me.

That's it for this weeks update.

1. Chupathingy Stout
I got my inspiration for this from the Cushlomacree stout in the Joy of Homebrewing. My copy is about 20 years old, so I had to do a number of substitutions, and I also added some different grain to try to smooth it out.

7.5 # Light Malt extract
.25 # Roasted Barley
.75 # Crystal 150
1 oz Williamette Hops (Boil)
1 oz Cascade Hops (Finishing)
White Labs Irish Ale Yeast

This is a repeat for me, as the last batch was a little more popular than I was expecting. After the sparge, I was off the expected S.G. by about 4 thousandths. I got 1.038 rather than the 1.042 I was expecting. I may have diluted a little too far when I mixed with the cold water. We'll see how it turns out.

2. Random Hefeweizen

7 # Wheat Malt Extract
.5 # German Wheat
.5 # Crystal 40
.5 # Dexterine Malt
1 oz. German Select Hops (Boil)
White Labs Hefeweizen Yeast (WL300)

This is a first try. I'll update when it's drinkable. Original S.G. was 1.052, which should be plenty potent.

I also sampled my vit for the first time. Initial thoughts: big mouthfeel, pronounced orange and coriander notes, light to medium malt flavor. A couple more weeks should see this one getting good.

My mild British brown ale (bottled two weeks ago) seems to be aging nicely. The bitterness is starting to come to the fore, but the malt flavor is a little light. If it doesn't get stronger through the bottle conditioning, I may have to alter the recipe a touch.

The original run of Chupathingy stout is getting better every day. At the 2 week mark, it had developed some fairly strong banana esters, which were a little off-putting, but those disappeared within a week, and what's left is a smooth, strong stout with good barley and chocolate notes and a very pleasant finish. Too bad this one's almost gone.

Anyway, there's your update. You're welcome.

Then the alternator blew.
Then the catalytic converter broke into little pieces, and the exhaust manifold gasket blew.
Then they tried to replace the exhaust gasket, and found that one of the studs holding the exhaust pipe to the manifold is seized. That's gonna be expensive.

So, damage for the week:

New alternator
New catalytic converter
New muffler and tailpipe

On the plus side, I found a new coolant overflow reservoir cheap on eBay, and I'm going to put that in on Friday when I do the full service.

On the negative side, I ran over my phone and my iPod while I was testing the new alternator. Not so good. In fact, pretty close to epic fail.

New phone should arrive this afternoon, and I ordered a new hard drive for the iPod (everything else seems ok.)

Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed.

List of repairs done so far:

New tires (old ones didn't match the truck, or each other.)
New tie rod ends and rear tie rod tube
New washer jets, non-return valves, and hoses for windshield washer
Removed and cleaned windshield washer fluid reservoir (ick)
New battery
New starter
New oil cooler lines
Lots of new bulbs
Fixed rear wiper (which I promptly broke again(loose connection somewhere(parenthetical!)))
New ECM fixed cruise control and remote keyless
Rerouted hose for coolant reservoir (was intruding into battery tray)
Added battery hold down which was missing (!!!)
Adjusted steering stops to accomodate larger tires (almost finished with this)

Next on the list:
New struts for tailgate
Replace leaking coolant reservoir
Full fluid flush (steering, diffs, oil, coolant, etc)

Soon:
New Rovertym springs
Rovertym 2" body lift

Good times.