Ben Saunders is at it again..
Unbelievable, this chap Ben Saunders is attempting another record setting Arctic expedition. I posted in 2004 about this guy and his first trek to the North Pole which I thought was an amazing interview, but this time he’s trying again but with a much bigger challenge. Ben is attempting to trek to the North Pole from Canada by himself with no gear/supply drops, under his own power (no dogs) and if that isn’t hard enough he’s trying to do it in 30 days. He hasn’t started yet, but should be in a matter of days, you can watch his journal (which he’ll be blogging on daily, WHILE he’s treking!) at http://north.bensaunders.com/journal/.
Also, here’s a great video of the cat talking about the next expedition.
Ben Saunders from Ben Saunders on Vimeo
Brew #36: Altbier
Wendie and I brewed up an Altbier brew yesterday afternoon. The brew session went well except that I was off by about a gallon for the final volume. I used a blend of Nugget and Cascade/Nugget for the bittering hops so I had to “wing it” with regard to how much bitterness I would be getting.. the taste of the sample was really good so I have high hopes for this one.
Alt Bier
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Brewer: Josh Gum
Style: Dusseldorf Altbier
Batch: 5.00 gal, MashedCharacteristics
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Recipe Gravity: 1.066 OG
Recipe Bitterness: 47 IBU
Recipe Color: 16° SRM
Estimated FG: 1.017
Alcohol by Volume: 6.7%
Alcohol by Weight: 5.2%Ingredients
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Belgian pilsener 7.50 lb, mashed
American vienna 2.00 lb, mashed
American Munich 2.00 lb, mashed
CaraMunich 0.75 lb, mashed
German carafa 0.12 lb, mashedNugget 0.75 oz, whole, 60 minutes
Cascade 0.50 oz, whole, 60 minutes
Tettnanger 0.50 oz, whole, 30 minutes
Tettnanger 0.50 oz, whole, 5 minutesGerman Ale yeast 1.00 unit, 1L starter yeast
Irish Moss 1.00 unit, clarifyingNotes
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Recipe Notes:
Mashed at 150 for 60 minutesBatch Notes:
Missed my final volume by a gallon, but the beer came out tasting very nice. I used the “Special Blend” of hops from my friend Brehk so there is no way to tell exactly what bitterness levels the hops added.. no way to recreate this for certain. The OG came out to 13.5brix (1.054). Less that 12 hours later, the beer is fermenting away at 68F.
Xbox 360 geekness..
Wendie and I were visiting some friends and I was introduced to the Call of Duty 4 on the Xbox 360… and, I got hooked immediately. First Person Shooter games have come a loooong way since I’ve last played around with them (circa Quake 2). COD4 is freaking sweet on Xbox Live! As you can guess, it was the start of my search for a good deal on an Xbox 360.. I wasn’t expecting to find a sweet deal for at least a few weeks on Craigslist, but yesterday afternoon an Xbox 360 Premium (has a harddrive, headset, wireless controller, etc) with a game popped up for $240 and the guy was very keen on selling it immediately.. I jumped on that deal, and we bought COD4 as well as a year subscription to Xbox Live afterwards so I’m rollin’ now.
If you’re on the Xbox Live, shoot me an email or leave your GamerTag as a comment and I’ll add you to my friends list!
Playing around with Colors! on the DS
This art program, Colors, on the DS is really kicking ass, what great fun!
Here are the first three practice pieces I’ve finished with this software. If you click the link beneath each one you will be taken to a site where you can view me creating them. (find the java applet at the bottom of the page)
