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Get Rid of Oil

Considering what has happened recently with a certain oil well in a certain ocean, this oil article was inevitable. This article doesn’t deal with getting rid of oil on that kind of scale, though it seems that if you just wait long enough it will disappear into the vastness of the ocean thus allowing you to just declare, “Mission Accomplished!” and go home. You shouldn’t do that around your house, even if you do live near the ocean. Though if you follow the steps laid out in this article, you should have a good start on how to deal with your oil problem.

Beer After a Year: Batch Three

Batch Three
The Recipe

9.25 Gallons Reverse Osmosis Water
16.5 Pounds Rahr 2-Row Malt Barley
1 Pound Crystal 60
2 Pounds Corn Sugar
Cluster Hops 2oz-60m, 30m= 4oz
Cascade .75oz-15m, 10m, 5m, 0m= 3oz
Crystal .750z-15m, 10m, 5m, 0m= 3oz
GEK  .750z-15m, 10m, 5m, 0m= 3oz
Warrior .750z-15m, 10m, 5m, 0m= 3oz
Wyeast American Ale 1056
Mash Temp:152
Brewhouse Efficiency: 60%
OG: 1.085 FG: 1.01
ABV: 9.84%
Yeast Pitched: 8/15/09 Racked: 8/24/10 [...]

Beer After a Year: Batch Two

Batch Two
The Recipe

6 gallons Reverse Osmosis Water
Northern Brewer Amber Malt Extract 6 Pounds
Northern Brewer Gold Malt Extract 6 Pounds
Corn Sugar 2 Pounds
Cluster Hops 2oz-60m, 30m= 4oz
Cascade .75oz-15m, 10m, 5m, 0m= 3oz
Crystal .750z-15m, 10m, 5m, 0m= 3oz
GEK  .750z-15m, 10m, 5m, 0m= 3oz
Warrior .750z-15m, 10m, 5m, 0m= 3oz
Wyeast American Ale 1056
OG 1.063 FG 1.01 ABV 6.96%
Yeast Pitched: 7/25/09 [...]

Beer After a Year: Batch One

Batch One
The Recipe

Reverse Osmosis Water 6 gallons
Northern Brewer Liquid Amber Malt 9.5 Pounds
Cascade Hops 2oz Kettle
Glacier Hops 1oz finishing
Glacier Hops 1oz dry hop secondary
Orange Zest-two oranges worth in with the dry-hops
White Labs Liquid English Dry Ale Yeast
OG 1.063 FG 1.015 6.3% ABV
Yeast Pitched: 6/23/09 Racked: 7/01/09 Bottled: 7/08/09
3/4c priming sugar
Original Tasting Notes: July 20, [...]

Beer After a Year: A New Project

Every thing has a beginning and for me and my new life as an amateur brewer, Batch One was it. This wasn’t my first batch of beer, of course. The year I turned twenty-one in 1999 (and a few years after) included dozens of excursions into the brewing arts. But it was always done sort of [...]

Chatoe Rogue

I continue to be impressed with Rogue Brewing. This beer, their Oregasmic Ale, was made from barley and hops that they grew themselves. If this sounds familiar, I did the same thing last year. Admittedly, my beer didn’t turn out as good as this (because the barley germination rate was awful), but I was headed down [...]

Squirrel Control

Yes, I’ve eaten squirrel. The first time (that I remember) was over at a childhood friend’s house. We had built a clubhouse, of sorts, out of scrap-wood and tarps. We spent a good deal of time out in the woods behind his house around a campfire, smoking stolen cigarettes and drinking warm beer.  The evenings often [...]

Skunk Control

I’ve lucked out so far, in that I have never been directly sprayed by a skunk. Which is amazing really considering my childhood, which often included walking around in the wilderness in the darkness of night. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had some close encounters. For a while, they were a real problem around my parent’s [...]

Wasp Control

While I was brewing up a batch of Durum Wheat Saison in my garage the other day I noticed a wasp flying in and out of the opened garage door. I wondered what she was up to until a few days later I noticed little mud balls on my glass carboys which had been fermenting in [...]

Gopher Control

Gophers like to dig holes. They spend most of their lives underground, and that’s just great, except when they dig into your flower bed, or worse, the foundation of your house! It can be difficult to control gophers, but I have collected for you a huge pile of ideas and resources that will [...]