Joiner's Musings

 I have been brewing beer for about 1 1/2 years and have been playing it relatively safe, not wavering much from the kit recipe. Cooper's Real Ale is probably the best kit beer I have tasted in a long time and it was my first batch but again I stuck to the recipe. Very smooth, no bitterness or aftertaste whatsoever. The first photo is of an air trap for beer or wine making Today I bottled Cooper's IPA and while I have enjoyed the IPA I have not found it "hoppy" enough. True IPA is very hoppy and if you want to know what a true IPA tastes like avoid the big brewery stylized beer made for the masses and stick to the smaller craft breweries who tend to do it right. I decided to do a little research on dry-hopping and discovered that if I wanted a more hoppy beer I could do one of two things, boil the hops into the wort at the beginning or adds hops to the secondary. I decided on the latter and bought a small pouch of pelleted Cascade hops and added them to the se...

This is a 2011 WRX or "Rex" as it is sometimes referred to. I had an opportunity to drive it as I mentioned in my last post and it has stimulated my interest in getting my 1982 Audi into the shop to get those needed repairs. Here is a photo of the Coupe, a 1982 version, taken about a year ago,  which Audi marketed in North Americana between 1982 and 1987 and still in reasonably good shape. I have always considered it my retirement project and have always envisioned  my wife and myself touring about Nova Scotia  in the summer months. Enjoy!

 Well, if you want speed on the cheap this is probably it. 0-60 in 6.7 seconds. My son picked this up this week as part of a graduation present to himself after trading in an Audi A4 which was no slouch itself. The WRX is a 5-speed and it is fast, kind of that press-you-into-the-back-of-your-seat fast, just like V8s in the old days only this is a flat four 265HP beast that goes scary fast. That combined with 235-45/17s makes it really stick to the road. Oh, and the hood scoop is functional. I had a chance to drive it today and I cannot remember anything that I have driven in the past that matches the power and tenacity of this little 5-door car. And the colour, a classic World Rally blue, really sets it apart from run-of-the-mill cars these days. I am sure my son will really enjoy his new acquisition.