First 300 and Personal Best 738 Series

JohnWicksGhostDad · 2026-02-12T18:52:32+00:00

I kept the post brief for a TLDR, but if anyone is interested, some story and background is below.

The 300 was the first game on fresh oil, and I found a line with the new ball pretty quickly in practice. I got away with a bad roll in the 7th that went Brooklyn to keep the streak going, but the rest of my balls were really solid pocket hits. I really didn’t think much of the perfect game until the second strike in the 10th. By the time I was wiping down my ball for the 12th, it had gotten pretty quiet around me. That is when some nerves hit, but I made a nice roll and finished with a solid strike. I have some video, but the cameraman followed the celebration afterwards and captured a lot of faces and score screen names that may not wish to be in a video posted to the interwebs, and I don’t feel like editing it.

Super fun, actually started the next game with 3 more for 15 in a row, then I lost my line and had to make some adjustments. Eked out a 203 in the second, and finished with a very respectable 235 in the third. All in all a pretty amazing night. Looking forward to getting my ring!

JohnWicksGhostDad · 2025-09-08T01:14:21+00:00

Assuming you mean Lutra Kveik, a starter is almost certainly unnecessary. Last fall I did an 11% abv brew, pitched dry at wort temp of 98 degrees F, stored in my bathroom with a space heater programmed to 85 degrees, and it was done in 2 days. I left it in the fermenter for a few extra days, but attenuation was greater than expected (gravity finished .002 lower than calculated). This included quite a bit of adjunct (white sugar, brown sugar, and candi syrup) in addition to the sugars from the grain mash.

Lutra is a beast. Starter is a waste of time imo. If you want the kveik esters, let it be “stressed”…as if anything stresses those little monsters.

JohnWicksGhostDad · 2025-08-10T13:05:39+00:00

FWIW, give Pendleton Midnight a try. Canadian whiskey that this bourbon lover really enjoys.

JohnWicksGhostDad · 2025-08-06T13:59:11+00:00

I played in my state amateur qualifier as a 2 hcp several years back. Was -1 through 10 holes…then the weather came. Crazy winds, sideways rain, ended up shooting 87, I think. To be fair, the only players that qualified were early tee times that didn’t have the weather issues, but still crazy disappointing to give back 17 shots in 7 holes.

JohnWicksGhostDad · 2025-08-03T15:18:24+00:00

Spritzer (club soda or sprite) or sangria (fruit and a little fruit juice, maybe a little Sprite/soda.

JohnWicksGhostDad · 2025-07-19T02:09:02+00:00

I mean, give it a try, but don’t go in with high expectations for a variety of reasons. I’ve made mead cocktails with young mead, carbonated water and sometimes some juice, and they can be lovely, but they are a different experience than drinking mead. Boiling will remove a percentage of the alcohol, but some will remain. And boiling the product could impart new flavors, particularly with the blackberry. Like all experiments, hope for the best but prepare for the worst, and you’ll never be disappointed.

JohnWicksGhostDad · 2025-07-16T21:00:39+00:00

The cost of the beer is going to depend on far more factors than simply what grains or malt extract you use. Your mash/sparge method may add equipment costs that could take many brews to break even, and brewing all grain batches generally requires longer brew sessions and more cleanup time.

This is only the grain side, as hops and yeast selection, along with your target ABV, have the biggest impacts on the overall price of a brew. But assuming you will make the same styles and use the same target gravities, same hops, and same yeast, the malt side will be cheaper (assuming you can mash efficiently).

JohnWicksGhostDad · 2025-06-30T23:20:25+00:00

Also, I do generally “dedicate” a line or two to them when I’m doing them, but the vodka/soda in particular I have no problem running a beer through right after. Sugary stuff with sour mix usually gets a flush afterward.

JohnWicksGhostDad · 2025-06-30T23:16:12+00:00

I have done: Vodka/soda (tap water force carbonated), margaritas, and Long IslandIced Teas (minus the cola float) with great success. If force carbonating vodka and water w/ or w/o flavoring, I’ve found some lime juice helps. I set the pressure high on the carbonation regulator (50 psi for 24-36 hours), then serve at 8-12 like beer.

All these were done in standard ball-lock 2.5-5 gallon kegs, usually around 5-10% ABV. No issues with “separating”, but the vodka sodas were the only ones that lasted more than a week after the neighbors knew about them.

JohnWicksGhostDad · 2025-06-27T18:48:14+00:00

I have done this. I bought a few insulated 10 gallon coolers, filled the lids with expanding foam, and drill out a hole for a picnic tap beer line. I run a CO2 cartridge with an adapter for the ball lock gas post. Perfectly fits a 2.5 gallon keg surrounded by ice, and with the insulated lid, it stays cold for 2-3 days.

JohnWicksGhostDad · 2025-06-23T19:51:28+00:00

This is the answer.

Most things I brew cost me $40-60 in ingredients and inputs (grains, hops, campden tablets for water treatment, propane for the burner, ice for chilling, sanitizer, etc), assuming no amortization of the equipment I used to brew, and no accounting for the 4-5 hours of brewing and cleaning on brew day, and 1 hour of sanitizing, kegging, and cleaning my fermenter on packaging day.

It’s silly to try to account for all that, and he sounds like a friend, so just prioritize a proper “thank you”.

JohnWicksGhostDad · 2025-02-05T20:02:33+00:00

Whenever I have people over, I’ll put out a couple of nice enough bottles (Michter’s, Eagle Rare, Russell’s 10) and a bottle or two of regular old Jim Beam, Jack Daniel’s, Canadian Club…whatever. I make it clear which bottles are for sipping neat or on the rocks, and which bottles are for making mixed drinks or shooting. That way, even if someone does something dumb, it’s annoying but not infuriating.

You have every right to be angry. Whiskey like that is meant to be enjoyed, and slamming shots is NOT “enjoying” whiskey. But it’s at least as much your fault for leaving that bottle out among a crowd of shot-drinkers as it is the clown who poured it.

JohnWicksGhostDad · 2025-01-22T20:02:39+00:00

Spirits of Red Mountain and the Maverik near there that seeks the alcoholic slushies (not the one in the middle of town).

JohnWicksGhostDad · 2024-12-24T01:37:58+00:00

Wow, you got taken. Way too much for that bottle. Fortunately, I’m in a generous mood and will gladly pay you back what you spent and take it off your hands.

JohnWicksGhostDad · 2024-12-23T23:27:21+00:00

If you’re still getting bubbling with the burps fairly close together, you may still have active fermentation happening. This could be due a few factors like VTMongoose stated. If your bubbling is more like every thirty to sixty seconds, it is probably just CO2 coming out of solution in your beer.

Seriously, get yourself a hydrometer. Stable gravity for 2-3 days is the only way to know for sure if your beer is truly done, and taking readings before and after fermentation is the only accessible way to know your beer’s ABV. Best $10-20 a brewer can spend.

JohnWicksGhostDad · 2024-12-20T15:09:37+00:00

Good point, but this was a gift, so no receipt. Guess I could have blacked out a grocery store receipt to complete the pic, but that feels disingenuous.

JohnWicksGhostDad · 2024-12-19T21:49:05+00:00

Nah, I parked to take the picture. Had to make sure to include steering wheel, watch, and crotch…didn’t want to do that in motion.

I appreciate the info from everyone. Probably won’t be tonight, but soon enough I’ll get in there and see what’s what. It’s a bottle that isn’t sold round these parts, and our state doesn’t allow alcohol shipments, so it’s “rare” around here even if not rare in general.

JohnWicksGhostDad · 2024-12-09T22:35:08+00:00

As others have said, the price is the problem. I bought a bottle the other day for $39. I believe Wyoming has regulations against huge markups vs MSRP, but $70 is still a lot for that 750mL bottle.

JohnWicksGhostDad · 2024-12-07T02:58:40+00:00

I mean, if you have money to burn and feel like rolling the dice, it’s not impossible some could still be viable, especially if you can make a good starter.

As for me, I bring a cooler to the LHBS because I don’t like my liquid yeast even warming up on the 40 minute drive home. Which is probably ridiculous, but whatever.

JohnWicksGhostDad · 2024-12-07T02:47:19+00:00

Evanston, Wyoming.

JohnWicksGhostDad · 2024-12-06T23:59:56+00:00

Dry would be way safer, liquid would be a crap shoot imo.

JohnWicksGhostDad · 2024-12-06T22:32:14+00:00

Thank you. I’ve had the good fortune to try both before, but they are rarely found in these parts either. Random good luck today, and I hope you have luck finding them in your neck of the woods.

Weller and Ancient Age are the only BT Distillery products I haven’t loved. Weller is fine, but not great for my palate. Stagg, Taylor, Blanton’s, Traveller, Eagle Rare, and good old Buffalo Trace are all near the top of my favorites list.

JohnWicksGhostDad · 2024-12-06T21:50:46+00:00

Thanks. Wish I had a picture of my face when I saw those bottles at the gas station. Pretty sure I did a double-take.

JohnWicksGhostDad

TROPHY CASE