The Beer Thread

[sweetcell]

i don't do any temperature control, i don't do yeast starters, i use excessive hops and fruit, i dry-hop in the keg, i don't own a half decent thermometer, and i could care less how efficient my brewery system is. sweetcell is probably throwing up as he reads this, but he also probably understands where i'm coming from. you gotta work with what you're given.

nah, not throwing up, and yes i completely understand where you're coming from.  i have no doubt that you are still brewing awesome beer (haven't had yours in forever).  breaking it down:
- i don't do any temperature control: of all the things you wrote, this is the only one that made me scratch my head.  unless you're using belgian yeasts, or your place is pretty cold, you'll get the best flavors profiles from the yeast if you control temps.  a water bath with ice can be incredibly effective.  it's what i use.
- i don't do yeast starters: plenty of other ways of getting enough yeast in there.
- i use excessive hops and fruit: there is no suck thing
- i dry-hop in the keg: as long as you're not clogging your dip-tube, i can't imaging what the problem would be.
- i don't own a half decent thermometer: how do you monitor your mini-mash?
- and i could care less how efficient my brewery system is: nobody should.  if you're not efficient, use a dollar more of malt.

i still bottle everything.  i somewhat perversely enjoy the process.  i would switch over to kegging tomorrow if i had space for a kegarator.  actually, i'd switch some of my beers over.  sours and long-aged beers would still be bottled.

[stevewizzle]

temperature control is for the birds actually, seattle indoor temps don't fluctuate too much, so i figure the +/- 5 degrees isn't so bad. might be totally off base, but i haven't noticed a major flaw in quality yet.

i no longer clog the diptube! i've cleaned out dozens of diptubes and poppets before i've learned my lesson.

i recently realized that my thermometer seems to be way off of calibration. i checked it maybe 6 months ago and it was accurate, but lately i think it's been off. thinking about getting something way more precise.

i think it's dumb that i don't bottle my sours, but having ~2 gallons on a keg isn't that much sour beer to go through.

[walk,on,by]

I just acquired a growler of founders harvest ale. Drank half, already. The end. 

[Dejecty-hatch lııllı|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|̲̅̅=̲̅̅|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|llıl]

3 gallon batches with a mini-mash and mostly extract-driven recipes.

What's a Mini-mash?
I need to get over extracts, but I do like doing all grain
 seems like you really making it from scratch


I have been seriously thinking about going up to 3 gal batches, but I've got to get a new boil pot and carboy and finding space has really got me down

What size pot would be best for 3 gallon batches?

i don't do yeast starters,

is that liquid yeast?
I've had good luck with the dried yeast

dry-hop in the keg,

is this in addition to the hops during the boil or do you only dry hop?

picobrew is awesome

it is pretty slick
Right now you can get it for $499, but that's way out of my budget at the moment

kegging has it's own challenges.

I know and as for space that would be even worse as I'd need to get some sort of mini fridge

[Space Freely]

Founders Breakfast Stout seems to taste extra good this year. What do y'all think?

Lagunitas Born Yesterday is the best mass produced wet hop ale I've ever had. Better than Founders, better than Victory, better than Sierra Nevada. Pick up a six pack and drink immediately.

I don't care where Alpine Pure Hoppiness was brewed. It's a damn good beer. Pick up a six pack when you can.

[Dejecty-hatch lııllı|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|̲̅̅=̲̅̅|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|llıl]

Founders Breakfast Stout seems to taste extra good this year. What do y'all think?

Had a 4 pack this week and loved every drop, can't recall it tasting any different than last year
one of my favorites now

[stevewizzle]

Founders Breakfast Stout seems to taste extra good this year. What do y'all think?

Lagunitas Born Yesterday is the best mass produced wet hop ale I've ever had. Better than Founders, better than Victory, better than Sierra Nevada. Pick up a six pack and drink immediately.

I don't care where Alpine Pure Hoppiness was brewed. It's a damn good beer. Pick up a six pack when you can.

PH fades faster than BY, and is twice the price, but it's a damn fine DIPA.

the amount of fresh hopped beer i drank this fall was absurd. BY was somewhere near the top of the list of favorites. breakside, laurelwood, fremont, bale breaker, and ft george all made unreal fresh hopped beers.

[stevewizzle]

3 gallon batches with a mini-mash and mostly extract-driven recipes.

What's a Mini-mash?
I need to get over extracts, but I do like doing all grain
 seems like you really making it from scratch

mini-mash... it's somewhere between a grain steep and brew-in-the-bag. i steep 2 or 3 lbs of crushed grain (mostly specialty like marris otter or munich) for an hour at 150 degrees F.

I have been seriously thinking about going up to 3 gal batches, but I've got to get a new boil pot and carboy and finding space has really got me down

What size pot would be best for 3 gallon batches?

5 gallon pot is fine.

i don't do yeast starters,

is that liquid yeast?
I've had good luck with the dried yeast

yea, i use dry yeast, too. wyeast smack-packs aere like a mini-yeast starter. a yeast starter just means you introduce the bugs to sugar early so they start growing in population. it makes it easier/faster for fermentation to occur on a larger scale.

dry-hop in the keg,

is this in addition to the hops during the boil or do you only dry hop?

yeah, i do heavy hopping late in the boil (10 minutes through cooling stage) and then dry hop in a stainless steel mesh cylinder.

[Julian, Bespoke SEXPERT]

I also couldn't tell any difference in this year's breakfast stout versus prior years but I have, admittedly, an uncultured beer palette.

[Yada]

Founders Breakfast Stout seems to taste extra good this year. What do y'all think?

I don't think it tastes any different than previous batches, I just think one forgets how amazing it is from season to season. I'm slowly working through a case but would have to say it's in my top ten if not top five go to beers.

Also, I was drinking Miller High Life out of a champagne flute at Roses Luxury this week. 

[Julian, Bespoke SEXPERT]

Speaking of beers that taste way different than previous iterations: Hardywood's 2015 Gingerbread Stout. I liked this in past years but had one this weekend and its fucking terrible. Tasted like tar. I could barely finish the thing.

[Space Freely]

Founders Breakfast Stout seems to taste extra good this year. What do y'all think?

I don't think it tastes any different than previous batches, I just think one forgets how amazing it is from season to season. I'm slowly working through a case but would have to say it's in my top ten if not top five go to beers.

Perhaps you are right. Several people on Beer Advocate commented that this year's batch was especially good, but that's just completely subjective opinion I reckon. I think too often I get caught in the whole whale culture. And since Breakfast Stout is pretty widely available for several months of the year (in VA and DC anyway), it ends up getting slightly taken for granted, at least by me. Perhaps i'm digging it so much because the last one I had was atop Old Rag Mountain.

I was drinking a Hennepin the other day, and thought to myself, damn I should be drinking this far more often than I do. But I don't, because I typically have this "need" to grab a little bit of any highly regarded seasonal or limited release that comes along (or bring home beer unavailable here from a trip...thank goodness I haven't become a trade regular!) and that's what I end up drinking.

[Space Freely]

Speaking of beers that taste way different than previous iterations: Hardywood's 2015 Gingerbread Stout. I liked this in past years but had one this weekend and its fucking terrible. Tasted like tar. I could barely finish the thing.

Before I ever tasted that beer, I bought a pile of bottles at the release party for it, several years ago. Then I tasted it, and I hated it. Forced me to do the only beer trading I've ever done. I pulled off some pretty amazing trades for the bottles I got. Since then they've started brewing way more of it, doubt it would have much trade value.

I'm also sitting on a bottle of 2014 Bourbon GBS. People seem to love it, I bought it simply out of curiosity. Not sure I want more than an ounce of three. Seems like a good candidate to bring to a dinner we're going to in a couple of weeks.

[Dejecty-hatch lııllı|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|̲̅̅=̲̅̅|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|llıl]

and there goes Ballast Point for $1 billion

[Yada]

and there goes Ballast Point for $1 billion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyKdCmxjYDE