Playing lumberjack and black beer

There are four trees that are growing in a terrible spot so today I trimmed one of the trees that was acting like a trellis for the grape vines  and one of the smaller trees that had grown up through my power lines.  For cutting limbs and small trees my B&D battery powered chainsaw is a blessing.  It has an 18 volt battery and while not the most powerful saw in the world it works great around my place. I have a larger corded electric chainsaw but for small jobs not having to worry about the cord makes trimming and cutting a lot easier overall.  One thing I have noticed since going electric with most of my lawn tools is that a cord is not much of a problem with my lawnmower. I have a couple of patterns I use for mowing the yard that work very well for keeping the cord away from all the choppy parts.  But when you are cutting weeds or trees and have to use the tool in a more random pattern the cord can be a real pain to keep track of  and keep out of the way of your work.

I managed to get most of the grape vines either pulled down or trimmed back so they did not attack the power lines. It is nice to have grapes but keeping them trimmed back can be a lot of work if you don’t stay on top of their growth.  I think I’ll cut down the cherry tree that is close to the vines as that will open that area to more sun and stop providing a launch point for the grape vines to climb up and become a problem. I hope to have my dad come over and we can get the larger trees cut down without to much problem. I don’t mind tackling a small job by myself but these trees will need someone stronger than me to handle safely.

I’m just finishing up the black beer brewing and it will go into the fermenting bucket. It sure was nice to have a couple of cool days to get the brewing done inside. Sometimes I think about getting a larger brewing set up, but using the BIAB method and two pots to make a five gallon batch is about all the challenge I can handle strength-wise.  The way I’m doing all grain beers has a pretty cheap start up cost compared to some of the prices I see for larger specialty pots and such equipment.  I also prefer bottle carbonation compared to kegging the beer and using CO2 to carbonate. It’s a slower process but I figure if you are making your own beer,  speed is not your primary factor for doing it yourself.  Making your own beer can be cheap, simple and fun, it ain’t fast!  Please no hate mail if you choose to keg your beer! I’m only talking about my preference and not condemning anyone that uses kegging equipment for beer.

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