What is more exciting than a list? A list about a table! YEAH!!! Here are all the beers that I collected for my table, not all of them were used:
Sierra Nevada Celebration, Summit Winter Ale, Leinie’s Honey Weiss, Summit Hefeweizen, Summit Scandia, Summit EPA, Leinie’s Summer Shandy, Leinie’s Ocktoberfest, Leinie’s Creamy Dark, Heineken, Paulaner, Stroh’s (super old), Anchor Steam Beer, Anchor, Leinie’s Sunset Wheat, Tilburg, Newcastle, Various Sam Adam’s Brewmanster’s Collection, Miller Lite Blonde Ale, Corona Light, Duvel (new and old), Harp, Gosser Dark, Session, St. Pauli Girl, Michelob Golden Draft, New Glarus Spotted Cow, Left Hand, Pyramid Hefeweizen, North Coast Stock Ale, Old Summit cap, Summit Ocktoberfest, Blue Moon, Red Stripe, Old Speckled Hen, Rolling Rock, Killian’s, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Redhook Seasonal, Sam Adam’s Seasonal, Bass Ale, Corona, Amstel, Shiner Black Lager, Bell’s, Summit IPA, Summit Pilsener, Summit, Summit Maibock, Sierra Nevada (blue), Arcadia Ales, Point, Hen’s Tooth, Tecate, Thomas Hardy’s Old Ale, New Holland, Bud Select, Kirin Ichiban, Stella Artois, Carlsberg Elephant, Spire, Sleeman’s Honey Ale, Young’s, Acme IPA, Miller Lite, Sam Adam’s, Sam Adam’s Light, Goose Island, Finnegan’s, Bell’s Oberon, Big Sky, Sierra Nevada EPA, Premium Grain Belt, Schell’s (blue, black, & green), Rochefort 10,
I’m a poor college student, just like everyone else around me. Lately, I’ve found myself with a little extra money in my bank account. This troubled me, because I knew that if I had extra money laying around, I was going to do some thing stupid and just throw my money away like an idiot. Logically then, I needed a way to get rid of this money before I started spending like a mad man. Luckily for me, the fine folks over at Surly Bikes have folks like me in mind and created the Karate Monkey.
For a while, I had decided that I needed a bike that could get me around when my current bike cannot. The bike I have now is fine. It’s a single-speed freewheel roadbike. So, it’s fine for cruising around campus when the weather is nice, and that’s it. What I wanted was a geared bike for longer rides, or for hauling groceries or brewing supplies. I also wanted a bike that could get me around in the winter. I wanted a bike that I could use in lieu of the bus, basically a car on two wheels. I decided that I needed a mountain bike. A little research and I had discovered the phenomenon of the 29er, or 29 inch wheels. These are monsters of mountain bikes, designed to roll over anything, anywhere, anytime.
A little more research, this time with a little less drooling, and I found Surly’s Karate Monkey. The bike is a do-it-all. It’s set to be a single speed or geared, for cantilever or disc brakes, for skinnies or fat tires, and has eyelets for racks. This bike is it. It is the perfect balance of their Puglsey frame’s tank-ness, and their Cross Check frame’s speed. This was the bike I needed.
I pondered for weeks if this was right, if I really needed a new bike. I decided that I didn’t, but that I love bikes and this one would be with me for a while. I justified it as an investment. 
Cars are coffins, right? Well, I won’t be dead for a while, so I should be able to get my money’s worth.
I found a dece super-store of bikes online, jenson usa. There I was able to figure out exactly what type of components I would need to build my dream bike using their custom build page. After that, I scoured their catalog to find the pieces that were the best deals and in stock. I was able to find a remaining Shimano XTR front dérailleur so that my rear wheel can ride at the front of the rear fork. Others tend to rub the large tires. A couple days of pacing, some advice from an aficionado friend, a few clicks later and I had made the biggest purchase of my life. The bike was on its way.
Last monday I received the frame and half the parts. I diligently played with what had arrived, piecing together what I could. The frame was bare. Magnificent, strong, yet fragile, scared if it’s new owner, cold to my touch. That night, I dropped the frame off at Freewheel Bikes to have the headtube and bottom bracket milled and faced. I have to say, the guys at Freewheel were life savers. They took my bike and prepped it good in no time what so ever. I was actually a little sad because I had a frame but nothing to put on it until the rest of the parts came. I took advantage of this time to place a coat of anti-rust spray on the interior of the steel frame.
Finally Thursday arrived along with the final half of my components. Unfortunately, I didn’t get off work until Freewheel had closed. So I was forced to put more of the components together in anticipation. Once morning had arrived, I brought the frame back to freewheel to have my headset and fork installed, along with the bottom bracket and crankset. Half an hour and $100 later, all that was left was to slap the pieces on. The walk home was an odd mixture of pride and giddiness. Half of me wanted to skip and sing “I’ve got a golden ticket,” what the other half said “come on baby! Be cool now. We’re gonna be like a bunch of Fonzies. What’s Fonzie like? That’s right, cool.” After crossing the bridge, a fellow Surly owner, riding his crosscheck, spotted my monkey and complimented my choice. Unfortunately he was riding down University the wrong way, so he may be a douche.
Either way, I continued my journey home and finished assembling the beast. The final product: 
As you can see I was also able to find yellow bar grips so that my bikes are matching. Maybe one day, I’ll be known as that kid with the blue and yellow bikes. Everything went together smoothly except for the shifters. The front is a bitch to shift, and I had a hard time adjusting the position of the largest and smallest gears. The rear doesn’t want to move all the way to the largest gear, even though I’m using 9 speed shifters and have limiting screw turned to the max. The only other problem is that the front brake disc seems to sit crookedly in between the calipers. I’m not sure if the wheel or the brake is off, but the result is that I have to run the calipers wide to prevent rubbing. This means I have to pull further to engage the full pads, and I don’t think they are engaging fully. I plan on getting a new set of shift cables to replace the stocks. I address both issues then.
- Frame: 18″ Karate Monkey, Hüsker Blü
- Wheels: Shimano hubs laced to Mavic A317, 32 spoke
- Tires: Maxxis Ignitor, 29s
- Crank: Shimano Deore mtn tripl
- Cassette: SRAM 9 spd
- Front Dérailleur: Shimano XTR
- Rear Dérailleur: Shimano Deore
- Seat/post: some garbag
- Headset: Cane Creek S3
- Stem: Truvativ, 100mm, 88/92º
- Bar: Truvativ flatbar, 3º bend
- Brakes/Shifters: Shimano XT dual duties
- Grips: Yeti Hardcore, bright yellow
Maybe I should finally try and get that courier job that I’ve dreamed of since HS. Novara single speed in the summer, geared Karate Monkey in the winter. Who knows?
Filed under: Bikes, Misc | Tags: 29er, Battlestar Galactica, Bike, Gin, pizza rolls, surly, Tonic
Many people have asked me, “Foam, what in God’s name do you do on Friday nights?” Well, the truth is, no one actually asks me that. But, if you were curious, I spent last Friday night building my bike, watching Battlestar Galactica, eating pizzarolls, and drinking G&Ts (Gin and Tonics). What a living.
Filed under: Events | Tags: beer, fun, funsagefestluck, Music, potluck, sausage
Last weekend marked a monumental day in ‘Merican history. Last Saturday was the first ever Funsagefestluck of all time. For those of you who are unaware, a funsagefestluck is a day-long extravaganza combining funball, a sausage fest, and a beer potluck. Let us address each component individually:
Funball is a weekly event where those who enjoy fun play with some form of ball. Most commonly, it has been a kickball, but the possibilities are limitless. Ultimate frisbee was once attempted, but poor attendance prevented an actual game. Four square was once played as well, but it was more of a circle than a square. Unfortunately, this sport has never been successfully documented, so many remain skeptical of it’s “fun.”
A sausage fest is quite simple: A bunch of dudes–okay, women are usually welcome–gather around a grill and eat as many meat products as they can consume. It is preferable if these meat products are in sausage form. For the most recent sausage fest, Johnnie D’s mother graced us with many a sausage, 30 to be exact. (“I heard, motherfucker had, like, thirty goddamn dicks.”) Also, Deuce brought back 3 full sides of ribs from his pop’s house. We round out our massive meat monopoly–I suppose it would actually be a duopoly, but I like alliteration–with a #10 can of baked beans, 3 bags of chips, various condiments and some good ol’ sauerkraut.
This was a special sausage fest, as it also included live music from the world renowned group, Joe-Bob Honky and Silent Train. The banjo-tuba duet busted out an impressive list of tunes, including some CCR, Johnny Cash, The Beatles, Cake, and They Might Be Giants.
Their rendition of the theme from Rawhide was especially awesome, as it included Johnny D on Yeas. Their show ran in three sets, covering over an hour, probably 45 minutes worth of music. Excellent job guys.
The night then concluded with a beer potluck. A beer potluck is a hallowed tradition, or at least, a hell of a lot of fun. The idea is that everyone brings a six pack of beer. Womanly drinks are unacceptable. No coolers, no bacardi whatchamacallits, no smirnoff alcopops, no way. Jack hammers, however, are acceptable if you bring enough. Otherwise, this is an beer-only shindig. Everyone’s six packs are thrown into coolers of ice, and shared amongst the masses. With six beers for every person, there is no fear of running out of drinks. Because everyone chooses their own beer, party goers have the advantage of variety. Don’t like IPA? Drink a stout, porter, witbier, hefeweizen, they’re all gonna be there. Potlucks are also accompanied by music, yelling, an assortment of drinking games, probably rockband, an large amounts of debauchery. I thought of this format when I unveiled my first beer over a year ago. Since then, my beer unveilings and potlucks usually go hand in hand (this is to ensure people have something to drink if mine sucks ass). This past potluck saw the unveiling of my Old Speckled Hen clone. I’ll leave a review of that for a future post.
Old Speckled Hen 3/29/08
Recipe:
Steep grains in 0.5Gal water @ 150ºF for 20 minutes.
Strain into brew pot, sparge with 0.5 Gal 150ºF water.
Bring to a boil then add: 5.25 lb. of Light DME, 0.5 lb. cane sugar, 0.25 lb. wheat DME, and 1 oz.
Challenger Hops.
Boil for 45 minutes, then add: 0.5 oz. East Kent Goldings, 0.5 oz. Challenger, and 1 tsp. Irish moss.
Boil for 15 minutes and add 1 oz. East Kent Goldings.
Boil 1 minute, then cool. Strain into carboy.
Add water to reach 5 Gal total volume. When temperature is below 80ºF, add Wyeast 1084 Irish ale yeast.
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Recipe Specifications:
Original Gravity: 1.051-10.53
Final Gravity: 1.010-1.012
IBU 32
SRM 12
ABV: 5.2%
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Observations:
0.5 Gal of water was too shallow and left the specialty grains touching the bottom of the pot. I steeped the 1 Gal water for 20 minutes in brew pot in mesh bag and poured sparge water through bag.
Northern brewer only sells DME in 1 and 3 lb. bags, so I haphazardly converted weight to volume units by measuring the number of cups in a 3 lb. bag. I counted about 9 cups in a 3 lb. bag, but pouring was a bitch and I confused my self halfway through, so that might be wrong and my beer might be a little stronger than expected. I estimated the light DME to be 15.75 cups, the cane sugar to be 9/8 cups, and the wheat DME to be 0.75 cups.
If I were a smarter man, I would have been heating the gallon of water to be added right before the boil so I wouldn’t have had to heat the whole thing back up before starting the 60 minute clock. Unfortunately, I am an idiot.
First Boil: 8:45 pm
Again, NB only sells hops in 1 oz. packets, so I substituted 1 oz. Challenger for the 45 minute hop addition.
Flavor Hop Addition: 9:29 pm
Aromatic Hop Addition: 9:43 pm
Cool start: 9:45 pm
Start temp: 212ºF
Cool end: 10:19 pm
Final Temp: 68ºF
———
Results:
Initial Gravity: 1.047-1.048
Temperature: 68ºF
Corrected Gravity: 1.048-1.049
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Fermentation:
The beer was left in primary until it was bottled. This was not ideal, as secondary fermenting was instructed.
Final Gravity: 1.012
Temperature: 78º
Corrected Gravity: 1.014
Approximate ABV: 4.5%
Kegged on: 5/16/08
Pressure: 35 PSI @ 76º
Fermentation time: 49 days
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