Tasting 3.5 Year Old Budweiser

So Passover is coming up and my wife says to me, "Are you finally going to get rid of the old cans of Budweiser you keep saving for beer-can chicken? They must be stale by now". As I am sure you know, beer is chametz, and as such, must be consumed, destroyed, or sold to a non-Jew before Passover.

In the past, I had "sold" the Budweiser ceremonially by putting it in with our other non-discarded grain products. I could never drink the stuff, being a certified Beer Snob, and somehow I kept forgetting to use it to make beer-can chicken. Every time I needed beer for chicken, I reached for whatever I was drinking at the time.

So, as a zymurgilogical* experiment, I decided to crack open and consume one of my Budweiser cans, which according to the handy "born-on date" stamp, was 3.5 years old. It had been stored on the floor of my basement, in a plastic crate, at a near constant temperature of about 70 degrees.

Here are my observations:

The pour:
Fizzy, lots of head. Good straw color, perfectly clear. Fierce bubble formation (dirty glass?)
Nose:
Hardly any smell at all. Slight notes of rice. Surprisingly, no metallic odor.
Taste:
Hardly any. The good news is that the can did not impart any noticeable flavor to the beer (I think the cans are plastic coated these days). Any trace of hops that was in the original beer, which would have been very little, is now completely gone. The stuff tasted just a little bit more beer-like than Zima. There is a hint of malt, some sweet rice, and a bunch of carbonation. Lots of mouth fizz.
Finish:
Slight rice sweetness. Very little aftertaste.

Overall, I was surprised and pleased with the results of my experiment, and I can offer this conclusion: if you don't like beer that tastes too much like beer, cellar some Bud for a few years to take the edge off. Serve cold, with a slice of lemon.

The other can was used to make beer-bread.

*Zymurgy is the science of beer.

Chery to export 3 models down-under (AU)

Chery is now invading the Australian market with 3 new models. The vehicles won't be imported directly by Chery but Ateco, the exclusive importer for Ferrari, Citroen, Peugeot, FIAT, Alfa Romeo and Maserati for Australia. The deal has been three years in the making, with a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in November 2005.

Sales figures stand at 261,000 in China last year with 120,00 exports. Chery is set to introduce 38 new vehicles within the next 5 years. The QQ (Chevrolet Matiz clone), QQ6 (Chevrolet Matiz sedan) and the Tiggo SUV (2nd generation Toyota RAV4) will arrive this year.

Chery started producing cars back in 1999, in August 2007 they built their millionth car. Chery has a production capacity of 650,000 units and plans to lift that number up to 1 million annually.
“We believe that China represents the future as a source of automotive products which makes this association with Chery a very exciting development for Ateco,” Mr Neville Crichton, Ateco Governing Director had said.

So that got me thinking, will Chery come over into the UK anytime soon despite them testing their cars here? Another thing I forgot to mention, they were right-hand-drive cars.

Hyundai i800 on sale in June (UK)

Updated: 24/04/08

Forget about the popular Volkswagen Caravelle, if you want value for money, then this is just your type of MPV.

The Hyundai i800 (H-1 in oversea markets) is a 8 seater minivan and will go on sale in the UK with a starting price tag of £17,000 rising to £20,000, so expect to see value for money. High grades will see a satellite navigation system, leather seats, parking sensors, ICE for rear passengers and multi-zone air conditioning.

Under the hood will be a 2.5-litre turbodiesel engine developing around 168bhp and 289lb ft of torque. Expect a 5.1 metre mono-cab commercial variant called the i50M later on in the year.

Dear readers, please excuse my hiatus. During the last 16 days, the PC I’m using has become unresponsive. Please bear with me as I’m sorting out the problem

Thank you

Video: Dumb Bronco Tricks

Another low-effort post on my part. Snarky comment: maybe better to clean off windshield before ramming your way out of your parking space. Watch to the end for the money shot, radiator fluid bleeding out onto the garage floor.


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Classic Restoration Project Vehicles For Sale on eBay!

We have added a couple of vehicles that would be absolute choice classic car/truck restoration projects to eBay auctions... a 1950 Chevrolet 4100 split-windshield dump truck capable of hauling over 5 tons, and a 1969 Ford Thunderbird with a 429 Thunder Jet engine and a Positrack 9 inch rear end!

Both vehicles can be seen at the shop and are available online for bidding at eBay.

Or click on the photos of either classic to see its eBay listing:

1950 Chevrolet 4100 split-windshield 5.5 ton gravel dump truck with turn signal accessory kit and floor start pedal switch. I (Doug, the webmaster) was actually hoping to nab this for myself, but the owner has decided to put it up for auction. The cab body, doors, fenders, grill and front bumber assembly all seems to be in very good shape with only minor dents to bang out. Unfortunately, there is no title, though we might be able to get one as it had been abandoned for over 3 years.


1969 Ford Thunderbird with a 429 Thunder Jet engine and PosiTrack 9 inch rear end. This classic coupe is a rare find with what I view as considerably straight body lines. Most of the chrome trim appears to be there, including some of the more rare chrome trim parts. Although there is some rust, I honestly think that it is minimal for such a find. The trunk floor seems to be rotted out, but the rest of the body parts look restorable with a little muss and fuss. Plus, it has a clean title. It even starts (although we have no key), runs, drives and stops!

Looking For A Good Home...
Hopefully, these units will find a good home. We could have parted them out ourselves, but we are hopeful that someone will want to invest the time and money required in making them real show-stoppers, again. However, we have no restrictions on thier sale, as we know there are many Ford racers who might want that 429 Thunder Jet engine and 9 inch rear end, as well.

Other Vehicles For Sale:
Syd's Eastside Auto Parts always has a selection of used vehicles listed for sale online in the Used Cars & Trucks For Sale section of the website, if you aren't interested in investing a ton of money and time to restore an older classic car or truck, but would like to find a good running vehicle.

UPDATE (April 4th, 2008):
Although neither vehicle sold last week, there was quite a bit of interest in both of them. We might be selling the Thunderbird to a private party soon, and we are looking into getting a title for the abandoned Chevrolet 4100 dump truck.

Thanks to all who expressed an interest in these vehicles or even just checked them out!

-Syd's Eastside

Protect yourself From Car Repairs Scams

Things have changes significantly since the early days of the automobile. What was once relative simple machinery (seen from today’s point of view), it has developed to become a very complex system that makes a car what it is.

This has some benefits, as into modern cars more and more technology and features are added, but also a series of drawbacks. When it comes to repairing your own car, things have become more complicated. Modern vehicles have many computers that effectively control everything a car does and a lot of electric schemes and that is why repairing your car in your own back yard is not feasible to almost anyone with a car newer than 15 years old .

Because cars nowadays very complex. Everybody recommends going to a large repair shop when something goes wrong. But in the same time some car repair shops are more likely to take advantage of their customers' ignorance.

No one expects you to become a car mechanic overnight, but if you are ignorant about your car and car repairing, mechanics in some car repair shops can take advantage of your ignorance.

In addition, spending months in the court of justice arguing against the shop that has repaired your car is not the way you want to spend your time, I would presume. There are couple ways to protect yourself and your wallet from car repair shop owners that try to take advantage of people when it comes to their cars.

Before you go to the repair shop, do some research about every service center you are considering going to. Check out the shop through ever means available to you, such as word-of-mouth, the Internet (people can post on their blogs or in forums their experience with car repair shops), or other resources (a very valuable resource for finding information about a certain company is the Better Business Bureau).

These resources (including the Better Business Bureau) can be found both online and offline and they are valuable as they offer you a convenient way to check a business's standing and whether there are any unresolved complaints against them. Also, talk to your friends and relatives to find out what car shops they go to and if they are satisfied with the mechanics and the prices.

Second, ask for recommendations. If you do not even know where to start, or you would rather go to a shop with which someone you know has had personal experience, you can ask around for recommendations.

For example, a friend’s recommendation that he has brought his car to the same mechanic for ten years and is satisfied with the work done is a very convincing argument. When you go to a repair shop you have never gone before, be sure to ask many questions.

This is perfectly normal and they will see that you are very interested in their services and your car. You should ask about their prices, their guarantees or warrantees, how much experience their mechanics have, whether they have won any awards, and how they handle customer complaints and other similar questions.

As important, it is to show an interest in your car. Do not leave it alone with the mechanics, stay with them when they look at it to be sure that they look everywhere and in this way, you can avoid them making you to pay for things they never fixed on your car.
Finally, when they tell you what the problem is, request to see the problem. This is in fact your legal right and it is just another method to avoid being abused by the repair shop.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/cars-articles/protect-yourself-from-car-repairs-scams-365605.html

Video: Insane Motorcycle Guy

Effing nuts.


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