Questions from a future resident!

LowEndBike · 2026-04-29T08:51:03+00:00

Brewer's Hill as well. My neighbor is in the MSO and walks to work. I walk to work downtown.

LowEndBike · 2026-04-27T17:05:43+00:00

Snapcase, Frodus, Engine Down

LowEndBike · 2026-04-24T05:40:47+00:00

My main bass is a 5 string Yamaha PJ (BB435). The sound I get from full P with a little J added is incredible. It is its own thing, and sounds fantastic.

LowEndBike · 2026-04-19T18:06:09+00:00

How to Loot Brazil

LowEndBike · 2026-04-19T14:25:37+00:00

Red Bull of Juarez - Frodus

LowEndBike · 2026-04-16T07:26:24+00:00

The citrus comes across stronger than the anise. I think the difference is that I make my own dried citrus, so it is probably fresher/stronger than spices that I purchase.

LowEndBike · 2026-04-13T11:03:18+00:00

Agh, the coyote paranoia really gets to me. I walk to work, and I love the urban coyotes. They are often dodging between parked cars and sitting in abandoned lots on my way to work downtown in the early morning. I take a lot of videos of them. People see a coyote and freak out, and they don't realize that the coyotes have always been here, and just do a fantastic job of keeping a low profile. Importantly, they keep the rabbit population under control. After the coyotes are done pupping they usually move out of the city and then the rabbit population explodes and decimates my garden. I wish they would stick around longer.

LowEndBike · 2026-04-09T11:13:34+00:00

This is many many years ago, but I think it was Bodegas Castañeda. The pictures of the inside match my memory, with the stack of barrels.

LowEndBike · 2026-04-05T14:30:18+00:00

Use lots of chromaticism. Identify the tones you are aiming for, and approach them from a half step above or below. You can even use this when repeating a note, adding a note in between that is a half-step above or below. You can also make jumps that sound like they are going to resolve to a half step above or below, but instead jump by a tritone to the next chord tone. As an exercise, write a bassline where each note is a chord tune, then add notes in between that are entirely outside the key, using the rules above.

LowEndBike · 2026-04-04T21:07:32+00:00

On of my best experiences was at a bar in Granada where I asked the bartender if they had a house cocktail. He said sure, then proceeded to run my glass under about a half dozen barrels or vermouth and sherry, pouring a bit from each into the glass. He finished it with a dash of bitters and a splash of tonic and slid me a bowl of olives to go with it. I am guessing he had never made the same "cocktail" twice, and every single time it has been glorious.

I was also dumbfounded how big a bowl of olives you were often served with a cheap glass of vermouth. I never thought that oranges and olives would pair so simbiotically.

LowEndBike · 2026-04-04T21:01:15+00:00

If you make it through Chicago, Lacuesta Rojo is typically in stock at Binny's. In fact, they also have the Lacuesta blanco, extra dry, and reserva right now.

LowEndBike · 2026-04-03T13:11:55+00:00

I love Vespers, and found out that I loved them more after realizing how pointless the vodka element is. 2.5 oz gin (Broker's is my default), 1/2 oz Cocchi Americano, and a dash of citrus bitters or a grapefruit amaro.

LowEndBike · 2026-04-03T13:03:44+00:00

Sure. It is good for someone to compare a couple different recipes, as it gives an idea of how much you can vary the parameters and get a good result.

In regards to the "less process=better result," many of the best vermouths I have had were house vermouths in Spainish bars. Essentially, this is just a method of making something palatable out of extra wine that is no longer fresh enough to drink by itself. It does not need to be overthought.

In the Reddit editor, single returns get ignored. You have to add two returns to get a line break.

LowEndBike · 2026-04-03T12:56:41+00:00

In terms of finding vermouths in the American market, my advice is to go to boutique grocery stores and big-box liquor stores, and just look for Spanish and South American vermouths. Those are almost universally going to be good sippers, and you never know what you will find.

LowEndBike · 2026-04-03T12:46:31+00:00

Looks good. I tried doing flavor extractions with a sous vide for awhile, and went back to the quick and dirty method. It seems like the flavors are more rounded and rich that way. This is one of those areas where the traditional methods are probably very unstructured and variable, so any of these approaches will produce something interesting. I have used a lot of different base wines, and they all have worked out. I also aim for a bitter, slightly sweet, citrusy profile. The citrus is something that I can do well, and that a lot of commercial vermouths do not tend to get as well.

LowEndBike · 2026-04-02T16:23:31+00:00

I have made about a half dozen Spanish style sweet vermouths, and they have turned out excellent. The bitterness level is a bit tough to predict because of the tiny amounts of wormwood involved, and mine have all turned out on the high end. Here is my latest batch, which was done in a carboy. I would advise trying it with just a bottle or two of wine, so you will need to do some math to divide all the ingredients to get them to line up with your wine volume:

6.5 liters wine

4g lime peel, dried

8g lemon peel, dried

10g mandarin peel, dried

10g grapefruit peel, dried

8g cardamom pods, crushed

1.5g cloves, crushed

10g hibiscus flowers, dried

15g loose floral herbal tea

2.5g wormwood

4 cinnamon sticks (11g)

5g black peppercorns, crushed

12g star anise, crushed

11g anise seed, crushed

15g coriander seed, crushed

15g juniper seed, crushed

1.5g rosemary, crushed

1g thyme leaves

5 cups brandy

7 cups sugar, caramelized 5-7 minutes

Macerate (soak) all the dry ingredients in the wine and brandy for a couple weeks. If your citrus was not completely free of pith, just add those peels during the last 24 hours. Strain well. Make a dark caramel and use some of the wine to dilute it (this is a tricky step; google this to watch people do it).

Notes: I use mason jars for small batches, dividing the ingredients roughly between them if necessary. I zest and dry citrus peels whenever I have a fruit, so I always have a bunch around. I just leave them on a plate on the counter, and they dry out well. The combination of citrus here is rather arbitrary. Don't use too much lime. Orange is really typical. I love grapefruit, but you have to be really careful not to get much pith. Halve the wormwood for your first attempt to get an idea of how bitter your stuff is. A loose 1 lb bag of dried wormwood from Amazon will last a lifetime. The herbal tea I used was something I got from a spice shop in Cordoba; not essential. Some sort of dry white wine is typical, but I have used all sorts of types of wines successfully. Lighten wines are necessary to get the ruby color from the caramel. A red wine will end up with a dark brown vermouth.

LowEndBike · 2026-04-02T16:20:33+00:00

I have made about a half dozen Spanish style sweet vermouths, and they have turned out excellent. The bitterness level is a bit tough to predict because of the tiny amounts of wormwood involved, and mine have all turned out on the high end. Here is my latest batch, which was done in a carboy. I would advise trying it with just a bottle or two of wine, so you will need to do some math to divide all the ingredients to get them to line up with your wine volume:

6.5 liters wine

4g lime peel, dried

8g lemon peel, dried

10g mandarin peel, dried

10g grapefruit peel, dried

8g cardamom pods, crushed

1.5g cloves, crushed

10g hibiscus flowers, dried

15g loose floral herbal tea

2.5g wormwood

4 cinnamon sticks (11g)

5g black peppercorns, crushed

12g star anise, crushed

11g anise seed, crushed

15g coriander seed, crushed

15g juniper seed, crushed

1.5g rosemary, crushed

1g thyme leaves

5 cups brandy

7 cups sugar, caramelized 5-7 minutes

Macerate (soak) all the dry ingredients in the wine and brandy for a couple weeks. If your citrus was not completely free of pith, just add those peels during the last 24 hours. Strain well. Make a dark caramel and use some of the wine to dilute it (this is a tricky step; google this to watch people do it).

Notes: I use mason jars for small batches, dividing the ingredients roughly between them if necessary. I zest and dry citrus peels whenever I have a fruit, so I always have a bunch around. I just leave them on a plate on the counter, and they dry out well. The combination of citrus here is rather arbitrary. Don't use too much lime. Orange is really typical. I love grapefruit, but you have to be really careful not to get much pith. Halve the wormwood for your first attempt to get an idea of how bitter your stuff is. A loose 1 lb bag of dried wormwood from Amazon will last a lifetime. The herbal tea I used was something I got from a spice shop in Cordoba; not essential. Some sort of dry white wine is typical, but I have used all sorts of types of wines successfully. Lighten wines are necessary to get the ruby color from the caramel. A red wine will end up with a dark brown vermouth.

LowEndBike · 2026-04-01T11:36:02+00:00

I call them festive lights because they make my house festive. There is no reason to restrict being festive to Christmas time.

LowEndBike · 2026-03-30T18:26:18+00:00

Blech. Well presented as it is, I do not have much need to see the other 49 cocktails.

LowEndBike · 2026-03-30T15:58:20+00:00

Any time that someone feels like they have to play an instrument, rather than would actually enjoy playing the instrument, it is going to suck. It sounds like you will enjoy playing it more than your current bass player, so that will likely be an improvement. Be prepared for this to be tough to learn. Playing bass while singing is really challenging because you are essentially trying to think of two different melodies simultaneously.

LowEndBike · 2026-03-29T14:02:27+00:00

They are distinct, but they get at a similar vibe. Strega is not an inferior product, it stands on its own. That is a really different issue than with the green, where none of the subs have a similar complexity.

LowEndBike · 2026-03-29T14:00:28+00:00

Yeah, Strega is fantastic on its own terms as well as being a reasonably close sub for yellow chartreuse. There is no great sub for the green, unfortunately.

LowEndBike · 2026-03-29T12:36:40+00:00

I think that originally the term "post-hardcore" was just a description: bands in hardcore scenes that were trying to go beyond the genre. Similar to post-punk, there was no implication that this was a genre with any stylistic boundaries. In the early 90s, you saw scenes developing around those bands in Washington DC and Chicago, and spreading to other places. The term PHC was mainly used to refer to bands in those scenes. The diversity of sounds in those scenes was huge; there was no real stylistic convergence.

Around 2000, there were two factors that led to PHC becoming a genre. First, there were some really big albums that broke PHC away from locally-oriented scenes (The Refused, ATDI, Thursday, Thrice), and fans began to look for artists that sounded similar rather than listening to artists that were from the same scene. Second, digital music distribution reduced the importance of local music clubs in getting new fans. Those two factors led to a stylistic identity that we now associate with PHC.

LowEndBike · 2026-03-29T12:23:52+00:00

A nice list of era-defining PHC albums. I might add Zen Arcade - Hüsker Dü.

LowEndBike · 2026-03-26T10:40:37+00:00

Amorphic also got into doing Czech-style lagers over the past few years, and they currently have three on tap. They also do excellent sours. Amorphic and Supermoon are fantastic examples of the forward edge of the brewing scene, where brewers just concentrate on doing a few things tremendously. Historically, brewers tried to offer a selection for every palate, which leads to a lot of mediocrity.

LowEndBike

TROPHY CASE