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Any other craft beer drinkers/homebrewers here?


SheepNutz

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I'm a huge fan of many craft microbrews and imports, and I was wondering if anyone else here is. My favorite style is probably India Pale Ale, but I also like porters, stouts, weizens, belgians, dubbelbocks, lambics, you name it. I know Rooster enjoys a good IPA, and pup likes a few fruit lambics.

 

I'm also a beginning homebrewer, and I was wondering if anyone else here homebrews? I just put my first batch of beer (an India Pale Ale) in bottles. It's been fermenting three weeks already, and in 3 more it'll be ready to drink. It already tastes pretty darn good though. Maybe I'll make a special batch of homebrew to take to fragfest!

Edited by SheepNutz
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I like beer. I want to start brewing my own too. I enjoy a good pilsner or lager. I really like the lighter ales.

 

I am a huge fan of Trappist beers as well, try Maudite or El Fin for a good American alternative. Oh, and I tried a microbrew I hadnt had before and it tasted great...BJ's brewhouse blonde. It emulates a Kolsche (not as popular as other German beers) and I like it!

 

 

 

http://www.unibroue.com/products/bieres.cfm

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Cool...I'll check it!

 

What's your favorite overall sheepz? I would say Chamais Grande Reserve.  :D

You mean Chimay Grand Reserve? I'm not too big a fan of Chimay, because their beer is just too yeasty, even with the sediment left behind, and also they lied for several years about using adjuncts in their beer. My favorite overall beer is Victory Storm King Stout: http://www.beeradvocate.com/user/beer_revi...=rating&start=0 Click on any of those beers for my review. My favorite trappist beer hands down is Westvleteren 12. It's very hard to find, but well worth it.

 

Ghost, nice to see another homebrewer. What styles of ale do you make? I could make lagers if I really wanted to, because I have a huge restaurant refrigerator that doubles as my beer cellar, but I don't really like lagers anyway (except Anchor Steam).

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I homebrew, but not in the last year or so. I also make kahlua each year for Xmas gifts. I've made about 30 batches of beer. I think I've ended up giving away about half of it to friends, family, and those that helped make it. (Brewing is a great social activity.)

 

I took a class about 10 years ago for $20 at a local place and we each ended up taking home $20 of beer that we made in class. :D Try to find a class by a local brew shop to get started. I initially got about $100 worth of equipment and have only added about another $50 of stuff. When I lived near Portland, Or. brewing was dirt cheap - like $15-25 for a premium batch. When I moved to Seattle it seemed like the ingredients went up in price about 50-75% so I've been less into it.

 

Great brews:

 

Rogue Ales Shakespear Stout (Newport, Or.) My #1 fav. Most Rogue Ales are excellent.

Elysian Brewery (Seattle) Anything they make.

Chimay red label.

Fred (that's the name of the beer) Hair of the Dog Brewery (Portland, Or.) It's like drinking 3 beers at once, you have to warm up to it with a beer of another type first.

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(edited)

Oh I hate you homer! I've been looking for HOTD Fred for quite some time. I've had Adam and Rose (look at this pic of a bottle of Adam that exploded randomly in my dorm closet:) adam1.jpg

 

Homebrewing ingredients here are fairly cheap. I can do a batch for under $20. Once I start doing all grain brewing, it'll be even cheaper, but for right now I'm just doing partial mash. So what styles have you made?

 

Gooters, if you want to dweel into homebrewing, check out this great website: http://www.howtobrew.com It is an online brewing book. That, and the book "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" by Charlie Papazian are the best homebrewing sources on the web. Plus http://www.beeradvocate.com has a great homebrewing forum. The guys there are super nice and are willing to tackle any homebrewing question you might have. Cheers!

Edited by SheepNutz
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Been about 8-9 months since I made my last batch. Gotta get back into it again. Fun hobby.

 

Pale ales are a great starter I think for anyone looking into it. Very tasty and not too hard. :)

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I usually use India Pale Ale as my base, but I have been experimenting with all sorts of hops to change the flavor, and have just started to fool around with different types of grains to get the color I am after. For some reason, my homebrew always turns out darker than what its supposed to, so I have been trying to steer clear of the real "brown" grains. I just got a new batch of hops with a strong odor of lemon in them and I am anxious to brew and see the result. Ill let you know how it turns out :)

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You have no idea what you are missing Lance.

 

 

Budweiser review on the Beer Advocate:

 

Big donkey 40 oz brown bottle with a born on date. Very clean looking with a decent looking white foam that stays for more than a few seconds. Minimal aroma with a hint of grain. Solid crispness in the light bodied brew, thin watery grain flavour ... some neutral rice on the palate as well. Hop bitterness comes to the taste buds and then is erased within a couple of seconds, no flavour from the hops.

 

All in all a flavourless lager, it does quench the thirst like drinking a glass of sparkling water. appearance:  3

smell:  2

taste:  2.5

mouthfeel:  4

drinkability:  3.5

 

 

serving type: can | reviewed on: 08-22-2001 00:56:36 [  2.6 / 5 ]

 

Presentation: 12 oz can with red, white and blue labeling (true American colours). Some history on the beer and Adolphus Busch ... stating that they are the "King of Beers" and there is a born on date on the bottom of the can.

 

Appearance: Very pale straw in colour with a thin white lace from a crisp bubbly carbonation.

 

Smell: Faint malt and grain ... very clean.

 

Taste: Crisp and very smooth with some trace malt and a hint of clean fermented rice. Light bodied ... hops are minimal and are only there to merely balance a notch. Then comes a very clean after taste with a bit of grain in the end.

 

Notes: Very clean and refreshing though very monotone on the flavour ... pretty much the "Wonder Bread" of beers. Does its job of going down well and being very drinkable ... no off flavours either. This makes it clear that this is the mainstream beer for Americans. Basically a no-frills beer.

 

In summary: slightly smelly water.

 

 

The Rogue Ales Shakespeare Stout I mentioned had 9 distinct flavors I tasted when I had it off the nitro tap at their brewpub, very complex beer.

 

 

Fred.

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BAH-HA-HA

 

This guy nailed the Virginia Tech Beer Mascot, Natty Lite.

Very unimpresive yellow with minimal head. Smell is equally unimpressive. When ice cold, this beer is easy to drink. The idea with this beer is to drink it fast, because it is hard to take down as it warms. The only reason to drink this disgreace of a beer is to get a cheap buzz.
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Yeah, Lance is always giving me that Budweiser crap. To battle against the review of budweiser, here's a review of Hair of the Dog's Adam (the beer above that exploded):

 

"Whooo... Gotta take a deep breath before trying to explain this one.

Pours a delightful glass of muddy brown fluid. I love it. Not clean-looking in the least. Borders on a crimson blackness when not held to light.You know it is huge just by looking it it. Beige head retains wonderfully.

Nose is packed full of berry, wood and chocolate aromas. Plenty of hops on the nostrils, as well as with a good deal of smokiness.

Taste is something else. Big, rich fruitiness. Lots of grape and raisins floating around. Berries and cherry too. Malty caramel/toffee/butterscotch is in full effect. Add some lovely vanilla flavors. Turns darker with the expresso and dark chocolate kicking in. Then does an about-face and throws some scotch-like hues. Smoky and delightful with some lovely woody notes. Yeast is evident, and throws in some spicy and earthy tones. Somewhat belgian-esque, as many HotD brew are. Hopping is obviously huge, but just enough to balance this overwhelming load. Turns spell-bindingly dry on the finish. Just some lingering woody dark chocolate and fruit. So balanced it is not even funny.

Velvety smooth and creamy in the mouth. No rough edges whatsoever. Oh..this is a joy to drink. Dangerous is an understatement.

I loved every second of this one. One of my all time favorites."

 

Try getting a flavor profile like that from your so called "King of Beers". Besides, this is the REAL Budweiser:

zelena_2.jpg

Budweiser Budvar, made in the Czech Republic in the town of...... Budweis! You see, this has been made for hundreds of years, but pieces of trash named Anheuser and Busch thought they'd be cool and steal the name. Then crap beer was born.

 

Drink less, drink better.

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Every year around Xmas in Seattle a brewery called Maritime Pacific puts out their Jolly Roger ale, which has to be classified as a barley wine in the state of Washington as it is rumored to be 13%, the limit.

 

If you went to the Fred link I gave above (Hair of the Dog brewery in Portland, Or.), you'll see that Fred is 10%, although the beer/wine steward that is at a local store I go to here that got Fred classified here in WA told me that it was over 13%, but they call it 10%. ;)

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Well, Barleywine is just a stong english ale style. Many different breweries make Barleywines. Some popular ones are Sierra Nevada Bigfoot and Anchor Old Foghorn. So washington has a 13% limit? That sucks. I'm glad Kentucky doesn't. Here I can get Dogfish Head World Wide Stout (23% abv), which is fantastic and well worth the $8.50 a bottle. I've got one left in my cellar.

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