been busy lately ...

So I haven't wrote anything for a while. Some of it because I have been too lazy to bother, and some of it because, well, we have just been busy the past few days.

Dad has had me searching for an old classic car to replace the Mustang he sold because "we never took it anywhere". Now down to two vehicles, his truck and "my" Challenger (grin), he has a perceived void. Right now, even with but two vehicles, only the truck sees "regular" use. Sooo .... he wants a nostalgia vehicle to sit unused to, I reckon.  ; )

I have found him many possibilities over the past few months, but he always finds something wrong with it. I found a 65 Ford Galaxie earlier in the week, and Dad set it up with the gentleman to go look at it.

We got there and the thing looked every bit as solid as the picture

showed it to be. I looked it over and the car was solid.

Very little rust at all and what there was was only surface, so can easily be fixed. It's all original, has a 390 c.i. power plant, 3 speed on the column, and the interior looked as cherry as it did 46 years ago. This thing has been well cared for.

After looking it over, a test run was necessary. It has a pull to the right (probably just needs an alignment) but otherwise rides like it is on glass. What a smmoooootth riding car!

Dad made the man an offer and the deal was made. I drove it home (mostly along the interstate) and it just purred along nicely. No issues!

I pulled "my" Challenger out of the garage and went about parking the Galaxie in it. I pulled in as far as I felt comfortable (there is a 4-tiered shelving unit on the back wall) and the ass end was still sticking out. I checked and realized I could pull forward about 6" more, which is about what was needed.

That thing is 17' long and there is no room to walk around it when in the garage, without moving stuff around, which there isn't a lot of *extra* room in the garage to do so. It's a 20' X22' garage and it's packed pretty darn full.

Once that was parked, it was time to drink a few. I had been trying my Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat clone over the past couple weeks, but it just didn't seem done bottle conditioning as the flavoring addition at bottling time, was just too overbearing. I had set a six of 'em in the fridge to cool for a couple days and try again.

We tried them and they were finally "ready".

It was a nice clear pour, and quite possibly the clearest beer I have brewed yet. The flavoring was no longer as prominent as it had previously been. I gave Melissa a taste of it, and she said she could actually drink one of those of her own on occasion.

I also had a couple of the original lying around to do a side by side comparison. I never poured it to compare color, but the taste was what I was most concerned with.

The original had more of a sweetness to it. Mine still had "some" of that, but it had mostly mellowed out, which was what I was shooting for, but to match it better I should've tried them the previous week.

However, Melissa said she preferred mine to the original. I kind of liked it a  bit better that way as well (but then I may have a bias).

Yesterday, we went out to register the Galaxie only to find the tag office is closed on Wednesdays. Doh!

We also ordered a carport that will allow "my" Challenger to go back in the garage and the Galaxie will live under the carport. More importantly, I will be able to walk around inside the garage again as the Challenger is a  bit smaller.

Last night I bottled up my Highland's Gaelic Ale clone. It went pretty smoothly and the gravity sample had a nice flavor to it. I really hope this one comes out well as it is one of my favorite beers.

Sometime today, I guess, we will head out and title and tag the Galaxie. Later tonight, we are going to a "bike night" over in Knoxville. Tomorrow night, I am going to a show.

Busy, busy, busy! but I like it. I now have an empty carboy, have ingredients to do the next two batches, the "need" to brew,  but just cannot seem to find the time to do it.   LoL