The Beer Thread

[James Ford]

First comments on that link:

If a woman as stunning as Charlize has to carry boxes of beer without any assistance from a man, than that goes to show you that it really is slim pickens out there! Why are these new breed of men so lazy?!
- Kara, San Francisco, 07/2/2012 06:09

the brewing dorks over at homebrewtalk.com were all over this today:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2097207/Super-Bowl-2012-Charlize-Theron-hardly-breaks-sweat-carries-case-beer-party.html

bells + DFH - works for me.
[/quote]

[sweetcell]

First comments on that link:

If a woman as stunning as Charlize has to carry boxes of beer without any assistance from a man, than that goes to show you that it really is slim pickens out there! Why are these new breed of men so lazy?!
- Kara, San Francisco, 07/2/2012 06:09

well that's easy - she wasn't wearing makeup, therefore she wasn't pretty, consequently she deserved to be carrying her own beer.

[slappy]

bells + DFH - works for me.

2nd box is Belvedere Vodka but it should still work for you.

[grateful]

Top 20 craft breweries, by sales volume:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/07/top-20-craft-breweries_n_1238076.html

[Yada]

Top 20 craft breweries, by sales volume:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/07/top-20-craft-breweries_n_1238076.html

James Ford doesn't approve of any of those brewers.

[slappy]

Top 20 craft breweries, by sales volume:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/07/top-20-craft-breweries_n_1238076.html

While it's interesting, most craft breweries aren't in it for the highest sales volume. So there's really not much to gather from the list as a consumer; other than confirming these are the beers you might have to dig through to get to rarer more obscure stuff. (Which may or may not be better than some of the beers of the listed breweries.)

[slappy]

Whiny the Complainer 
http://www.washingtonbeerblog.com/today-big-time-brewery-introduces-whiny-complainer/

[sweetcell]

beeradvocate.com is down.  i love how from the "503 Service Unavailable" error page there is a link back to beeradvocate.com... which leads to a 503 error.

i'm currently enjoying a Weedwacker (http://www.saintarnold.com/beers/weedwacker.html) - a kolsch made with hefeweizen yeast.  big thumbs up.

my own brewing efforts have been coming along nicely.  the first pic below is of my first two batches - on the left is a citrusy witbier, on the right (with the blowoff tube) is a belgian honey ale.  the witbier was bottled on sunday (second pic).

 

[K8teebug]

I just got supplies to start brewing beer!  Helped a friend brew an imperial stout on Saturday.  Can't wait!

Have you seen this website?

http://www.brewmate.net/

Pretty neat resource for the home brewer!

[i am gay and i like cats]

somehow . . . though i'm sure it tastes good . . . it still looks like a meth lab production.

[sweetcell]

Have you seen this website?

http://www.brewmate.net/

Pretty neat resource for the home brewer!

i've been using hopville (my recipes here), which is an online version of the same thing.  brewmate seems to have a few extra bells and whistles, like the count-down timer (which i have as a separate app on my phone, but could be nice to have everything in one spot).  i'll have to give this a spin.  price is right!

somehow . . . though i'm sure it tastes good . . . it still looks like a meth lab production.

i'm working in texas these days.  there is a brew supply store a few minutes away from the office here, so it's easier for me to stock up here than it is to go shopping back home where the stores are either in falls chuch or frederick.  last time at the shop i was looking for an erlenmeyer flask (AKA the beaker you used in chem lab) which is used for making yeast starters.  the pleasant old man behind the counter said that was the one piece of brewing equipment that he doesn't sell, because in texas it is considered meth-making equipment.  so you're not the only one making the association

[stevewizzle]

You got at it quick!  hopville is dope - looks like good recipes, did you develop them yourself?  pretty ambitious first two brews.

something we've recently started to do is throw in whirlfloc tabs with 5 minutes to go in the brew to increase clarity.  that bottle may clear up a little bit, but if you desire more of an translucent brew, i recommend it.

[sweetcell]

hopville is dope - looks like good recipes, did you develop them yourself?  pretty ambitious first two brews.

yeah, they're mine, in part.  both the wit and the grand cru were based on other's recipes (the latter being a take on papazian's "who's in the garden) but i added the partial mashes, modified the extract proportions, changed the hops and/or spices, etc.  i think i've gotten the hang of it and recipe calculators like hopville really help with keeping proportions in check.  the strawberry isn't mine, i inputed it on behalf of someone else who wanted the numbers... but now that i have it, i'm tempted to give it a go in a few months so i have it in time for summer.  so little time!  i'll be trying the "eurocrat" belgian dark before that.

one thing that i would change next time 'round is cutting back on/replacing some of the Citra hops in the witbier.  they're too damn strong and at bottling seem to take over the brew.  hopefully they'll mellow out with a little aging.

something we've recently started to do is throw in whirlfloc tabs with 5 minutes to go in the brew to increase clarity.  that bottle may clear up a little bit, but if you desire more of an translucent brew, i recommend it.

i didn't bother using whilrfloc with the first batch: it's a witbier, it's supposed to be hazy.  the yeast that i used = a low flocculation variety.  also, that pic was taken within minutes of bottling so nothing had settled down yet.

i'm really on the fence about color and transparency.  brewers seem to make a big deal about it but it strikes me as pointless obsession with appearances.  it's like saying a dog isn't good because its ears don't conform to some weird, arbitraty standard.  i'm not looking to win any competitions so it's not very high on my priorities.  on the other hand it's one more thing to obsess about, and gawd knows this hobby is all about obsessing!

the addition that i can't imagine brewing without is fermcap.  does an amazing job of preventing boil-overs and primary blowoffs/blowups.  but i'm sure you're already all over the stuff

[K8teebug]

I am a total newbie to the homebrew world.  I have alot to learn!

[stevewizzle]

i didn't bother using whilrfloc with the first batch: it's a witbier, it's supposed to be hazy.  the yeast that i used = a low flocculation variety.  also, that pic was taken within minutes of bottling so nothing had settled down yet.

i'm really on the fence about color and transparency.  brewers seem to make a big deal about it but it strikes me as pointless obsession with appearances.  it's like saying a dog isn't good because its ears don't conform to some weird, arbitraty standard.  i'm not looking to win any competitions so it's not very high on my priorities.  on the other hand it's one more thing to obsess about, and gawd knows this hobby is all about obsessing!

the addition that i can't imagine brewing without is fermcap.  does an amazing job of preventing boil-overs and primary blowoffs/blowups.  but i'm sure you're already all over the stuff

it's really one of those optimizing things.  when we started having others try our beers, we saw the difference in reaction when the aesthetics were more on point with the taste.  a hazy IPA gives off the impression that they are drink a very full beer, whether that's the case or not.  we didn't like that, so switched to whirlfloc.  all personal preference!

fermcap has not made it into the arsenal yet.  we've had such a small set-up that we end up having to watch the boil like a hawk, but that'll change soon.  upgrading to a propane burner and a 15 gal brewpot.  thanks for the heads up