Of water and wort: Butcherknife Brewing Co.

Butcherknife Brewing Co. founders Mark Fitzgerald and Nathan Johansing began serving small home-brewed batches of beer in 2011, donating a large percentage to local charities and fundraisers. Now theyve opened up full time in a 4,000-square-foot brewery with a tap room complete with large tasting room and two garage doors opening to a patio at 2875 Elk River Road.

Right now, were producing 60 kegs every 20 days, Fitzgerald says, adding that their beer can be found at 21 locations in Steamboat, including 15 bars and restaurants downtown. But the majority of our beer is sold through bottles and cans.

The brewery prides itself on its recipes, attention to detail and good ol Steamboat water. Its the best water in Colorado, he says. Our location provides us first use off the Continental Divide, which means pure, clean water in the heart of every batch. It also helps to have someone with Johansings stripes on board; he earned his masters degree in brewing from the Siebel Institute of Technology and Doemens Academy in Munich, Germany.

Were thrilled to finally be able to deliver our beer to Steamboat, Fitzgerald says, adding that they plan to deliver more than 1,000 barrels in Butcherknifes first year of operation.

Brotherly beer: Storm Peak Brewing Co.

Its 3,832 vertical feet from the top of Storm Peak to the tasting room of its new namesake brewery at 1744 Lincoln Ave. west of town, and youll be thinking of its wares every turn of the way.

Founded by Colorado natives and brothers Wyatt and Tyler Patterson, the seven-barrel, three-employee brewhouse enjoyed its grand opening Aug. 2. Brewed in a 2,000-square-foot facility with tap room and bar up front, its beers explore a range of styles from light, crisp golden ale to darker black ale and a range of seasonal styles in between.

Were focused on tap room sales and creating an atmosphere where people can enjoy our product and spend some time with us, says Wyatt, whose other brother, Zach, and father, Erik, are also partners in the business. Our equipment is all in the open so people can see the materials and machinery in action.

So far, patrons enjoying the fruits of its tap room have kept any larger-scale distribution plans on hold. The company is selling every drop it makes before it even leaves the premises. Our plan is to grow organically, says Wyatt, who has brewed beer with his brother for years. Eventually well start distributing, but for now its hard enough just keeping enough on hand in the tap room. But were proud to call Steamboat home, and we love sharing our passion for beer with as many people as possible.

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Steamboat Living: Fermenting business: 2 new beer breweries open doors

Photo by Jonathan Sharpe

Last Tuesday, I stopped by Motor Supply to check out its patio, renovated earlier this year. The makeover includes a wall of overhead doors, making it open-air-optional, and perfect for al fresco dining when weather permits, as it did on this early fall evening.

Starting in familiar territory, I tried a cocktail and the butchers board of housemade charcuterie both of which were excellent, as expected.

Looking for more info on restaurants, food and drink in Columbia SC? Visit free-times.com/restaurants.This weeks Bite is another appetizer from the dinner menu, and an example of how things are going these days at Motor Supply under executive chef Wes Fulmers leadership. Fulmer seemed relaxed as he made his rounds through the patio, checking on customers. When he stopped by my table, he was quick to give credit to his culinary team for coming up with this dish of seared scallops, crisp-roasted brussels sprouts, fingerling potatoes and carrots with a bacon and herb aioli.

Fulmers passion for charcuterie was on display when he answered a few questions about how long it takes to cure the lonza and coppa on the butcher board, and the intricacies of knowing when its ready (hint: you have to squeeze it). He said the prosciutto his crew is curing may be ready before the end of this year. Jonathan Sharpe

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Scallops Appetizer at Motor Supply Company Bistro

Question: I am trying to get a lead on how to repair the steps that go from my kitchen sliding-glass door to my fenced-in patio. The steps have a big crack at the bottom. As a result, the steps are almost suspended from the house. Ive tried to get someone to come to my house for an estimate, but the places I called said my repair is too small for them. Where can I go?

Alexandria

Answer: Clayton Perry, business development manager for Concrete Jack, a concrete-leveling company based in Williamsburg (855-603-6321; http://www.concretejack.com), took a look at the picture you sent. The view isnt wide enough for him to see the whole picture, but the steps appear to be level. So his hunch is that the steps are stable. That means the patio must be sinking, a situation he finds frequently. Nine times out of 10, the underlying soil wasnt compacted right, he said. Another possibility is that you have a drainage problem that is washing away the base of the patio.

You could plug the gap by stuffing soil or a concrete mix under the steps. But if the patio has sunk, that would leave the drop between the bottom step and the patio greater than between the other steps. Even a relatively small difference in these distances creates a trip hazard, which is why the 2012 Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code allows only a three-eighths-inch difference in tread height. So the best solution is to raise the height of the patio.

The picture shows that your patio is brick. If the bricks rest on a concrete slab, Concrete Jack or another concrete-leveling company could inject something under the slab, raising it to the original height.

Concrete Jack, which uses high-density polyurethane foam or a sand-cement grout, has a minimum charge of $750 in Northern Virginia. A-1 Concrete Leveling Northern Virginia, based in Herndon (703-481-6868; http://www.a1concretelevelingnorthernvirginia.com), also does small jobs. It injects a crushed-stone slurry, typically for around $800 to $1,500, depending on the size of the job.

If the bricks rest on sand, the best solution is to pull them up and redo the base, making sure to compact it well before the bricks are reinstalled. Many landscapers are set up to do this.

Question: We put in a concrete driveway a dozen years ago that soon started chipping off. The contractor returned our money, but we are left with a driveway that is part crumbling concrete. Short of jackhammering it all up and starting over, what can we do to make this smooth and presentable?

Herndon

Answer: Unfortunately, there is no way to fix your driveway. Something clearly was wrong with the concrete mixture, such as too much water or too little cement. Surface spalling, which can be caused by ice damage, improper timing of troweling during construction or use of de-icers afterward, can be repaired by topping the concrete with an overlay that consists of cement, fine sand and a polymer, similar to white glue. But there is no cure when the damage goes deeper.

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How to repair cracked concrete steps

Masked thugs armed with a baseball bat and shovel terrorised a student house.

The two men smashed their way through patio doors at the home on Bandy Fields Place in Higher Broughton, Salford.

They then stormed the property and cornered two of the residents, a man and woman both aged 19.

The man was jabbed twice in the head with a shovel as he stood trapped with his housemate. He was later treated for minor injuries.

The other students barricaded themselves into the living room and the intruders gave up and left.

They did not take any money and no demands were made during the attack, at around midnight on Monday, October 27.

After they ran up the road, they paused to smash the windscreen of a nearby car.

The offenders are described as white men in their 20s and wearing dark clothing. Both had their hoods up and had their faces covered during the incident.

Det Con Sue West, of Swinton CID, said: At this stage, we are exploring a number of ideas as to why this particular address was targeted. No property was stolen, and no demands were made.

We have spoken to several witnesses who were there at the time, but we need more people to come forward if they believe they saw two men matching the above description in the area at the time. If you saw anything, or can offer any information to assist, no matter how insignificant it might have seemed at the time, please get in touch. Your call could help us take these men off the streets.

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Thugs armed with baseball bat and shovel terrorise student house

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UPVC Patio Doors, Sliding Patio Doors - Just Doors UK

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Aluminium patio doors, aluminium sliding doors, aluminium ...

Meet Lojjik, a college student and wikiHow Admin and Booster, who has been active in the community for over 7 years. He has started 30 articles, patrolled over 47,000 edits, and contributed to wikiHow code as an engineering intern. He also enjoys helping with administrative backlogs, writing, and working on content to improve readability, particularly in articles introductions. Hes most proud of his work on How to Reduce Glare when Driving at Night, which has been featured and translated into 5 different languages. He says that, in the wikiHow community, the fusion of friendly people with an ideology of knowledge philanthropy gives him a sense of belonging, a desire to stay connected and keep growing the project. To new editors, he says: Don't worry about making mistakes. Everything is fixable. If you think you can leave an article better than the way you found it, I'd encourage you to do just that. A little bit goes a long way toward achieving our mission!

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How to Install a Patio Sliding Door (with Pictures) - wikiHow

Sometimes the best views in life are those right outside in your own backyard. Whether you have a small yard or wide open spaces out back, patio doors bring a little glimpse of the outside in while keeping the elements, like heat and cold, out where they belong. When we started designing our patio doors, we made it our mission to deliver a strong,energy efficient,and easy-to-installpatio doorthat would enhance the look and feel of the entire home. We accomplished what we set out to. With a variety of styles available, you're sure to find aCroft patio doorto fit your home and lifestyle. Building on Crofts lifelong tradition of providing the highest quality windows and doors and then backing them up with the quality, reliability, and strength of the company itself, you can be certain that when you choose Croft for your patio doors, youll be getting the best in the industry with a product that is built to last a lifetime. With Croft, every patio door is built to the same exacting specifications and is a testament to the strength of the Croft product.

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Blacksburg welcomed a popular name in pizza to the downtown scene on Saturday evening.

Mellow Mushroom, a well-known, eclectic pizzeria franchise, opened its doors on Oct. 25 for their Friends and Family VIP event. Around 350 Shroomers were invited to attend the event, including Mayor Ron Rordam, who assisted Mellow Mushroom owners Leslie and Jeff Knapp in a ceremonial ribbon cutting signifying the official opening of the restaurant.

The money received from the event on Saturday was donated by Mellow Mushroom to the Giving Tree Food Pantry in Christiansburg.

Knapp, owner of the new Mellow Mushroom in downtown Blacksburg, introduced the famous pizzeria to Hickory, North Carolina four years ago after visiting the original location in Atlanta, Georgia.With the opening of her second Mellow Mushroom restaurant, Knappexpects to be doing a lot of traveling back and forth to manage the two locations.

We fell in love with the food and the concept. It became a family favorite of ours," Knapp said.

For times when Knapp is not in Blacksburg, a general manager will be hired to run day-to-day operations. Its unclear how many jobs the new location will create, but Knapp says that corporate, for opening, because it can get a little hectic, (will) look at anywhere between 100 to 125 (new employees).

Mellow Mushroom features pizza, hoagies and calzones and offers vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options. Prices range from $6.95 for lunch specials and up to$26.99 for a large specialty pizza.

In addition to the variety of pizza options, the restaurant will offer 60 different types of beer on tap, with an additional 40 types in bottles, with a fair amount in rotation, said Jeff Knapp, Leslies husband. They are also expecting to sell growlers of their craft beers.

Knapp, a Virginia Tech alumni, sought to plant a Mellow Mushroom in Blacksburg nearly three years ago, finally breaking ground for the location of the project last May.

We wanted (to introduce) a place that could serve students as well as young professionals, families and alumni returning to this area, Knapp said. (Blacksburg) is like our second home.

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Mellow Mushroom opens its doors in Blacksburg

Original hardwood flooring, whitewashed brick and a kitchen with a 1950s OKeefe & Merritt oven add to the vintage appeal of this updated bungalow abode found in the heart of Abbot Kinney. Through French doors, interiors flow freely onto a patio setting that receives shade from a great avocado tree. A detached garage moonlights as an alternate living space and home office.

Location: 1744 Washington Way, Venice, 90291

Asking price: $1.565 million

Year built: 1925

House size: 952 square feet, two bedrooms, one bathroom

Lot size: 4,204 square feet

Features: Original hardwood floors, French doors, custom built-ins, updated kitchen with OKeefe and Merritt oven, dining area, formal living room with stack fireplace, patio, avocado tree, garage

About the area: There were 50 homes sold in the 90291 ZIP Code over the last 90 days at a median sale price of $1.52 million, according to Redfin. The median list price for that area is $1.75 million.

Agent: Tami Pardee, (310) 907-6517, Pardee Properties

To submit a candidate for Home of the Day, send high-resolution color photos via Dropbox.com, permission from the photographer to publish the images and a description of the house to neal.leitereg@latimes.com.

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Home of the Day: Venice Beach bungalow with vintage appeal