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Random Record Pick is a way to organize and archive an always-growing collection of vinyl records. Each record is randomly picked from a shelf or crate or dusty corner of my house, a photo is taken of the cover, and then the entire record is played all the way through, even if it’s terrible.
This right here. This song. This recording I did in my cold cold cold kitchen. It’s 58 degrees in here. This one is a re-do of a song from 2 years ago. This song, in fact. If you go and read about that first version, you’ll see that I thought I wasn’t done with it yet. That it needed work. That I would, in fact, keep working on it. I did not. I quit it. Until a couple days ago.
For the new version. The one you have here. The one you are listening to and reading about. This one. This new version is based on Ramblin’ Jack Elliott’s version of “The Roving Gambler.” Go listen to it. If you don’t. If you think you just do not have time. Well. Then. Okay. But I think you should, for what it’s worth.
So, I rewrote my song like that song. It’s a version of a version of a version into infinity. This version has some of the same words as the original version of mine. Only a few. It also has some of the same words as “The Roving Gambler.” That’s okay. It’s folk music. Or, it’s music. You’re allowed to take and steal and use and call your own. It’s okay. Trust me. I have an industry card. It says that on the back. I flip it over and look all the time.
Okay. No get to bed with your lover. Or your lonesome self. It’ll be okay. Alright? I mean. I’m telling myself it’ll be okay. See? It’ll be okay. Hear those pigeon calls?
TV, churches, dog deserve
the…the…the
American Dream when
God loses.
Watch fraud!
Gay hypnosis kills
the innocent.
I had big plans for this homebrew. BIG PLANS. I was going to trot it out on Thanksgiving for everyone to sip on during dinner and through the weekend. My brother is really into hard cider, so I figured he might like this apple-steeped beer.
It’s another BBS recipe (of course, I don’t do ANYTHING ELSE), except I didn’t use the apples they suggested, I just used what we had in our bottom fridge drawer. I think it was one Honey Crisp and one Gala. Or maybe a Pink Lady or a Cripps Pink. Anyway, it was two of those. I probably should have used a green apple, or something less sweet, though, because…
The beer SUCKS. Well, on the first sip you initially think, “Oh, hey, I taste apples, this is going to be good,” but then one second later, “Uh, oh, ah…GET OUT OF MY MOUTH.”
I’m probably being too critical. It definitely isn’t good, though. It tasted medicinal. Just, not good. I tried two, one after two weeks in the bottle and one after three. BOTH BAD. They look good, though. It’s a dark beer with a reddish hue and a nice frothy head. I wish it tasted like it looked.
Anyway, I’m disappointed because I didn’t have this for Thanksgiving. FAILURE. But I’m just going to stick the other seven bottles down in the basement and let them sit until next fall and then try one and hope that some aging does something, anything. ANYTHING.
Next homebrew review up…Prohibition Ale.
It was starting to get cold a few weeks ago, so I decided to do this BBS porter homebrew recipe. I’ve really been getting into darker beers lately with the sun going down around 4pm. They seem to warm me more than, say, an IPA or something like that.
This one turned out great. It took an extra week of bottle conditioning to get the right amount of carbonation (the first one I opened after 2 weeks was completely flat and the second after 3 weeks was only a little better), but now it tastes really great. Chocolatey with a nice dry finish. This is probably one of the more successful homebrews I’ve done. Kind of wish I had more than 5 left.
Only issue I had when I brewed this one was a blow off on the second day of fermentation. I use a blow-off tube for the first week before switching to an airlock, which usually keeps the stopper from popping off when there’s a really active fermentation. Not this one, though. The porter went nuts. No telling how long the stopper was off, but, as far as I can tell, the beer wasn’t damaged at all and NO ONE HAS BEEN POISONED YET.
Next review up…Apple Crisp Ale.
Music Vomit 