The Beer Thread

don't listen to him, that's the beer talking.

homebrew update:

pale ale is tasty. the malodextrine made the body maybe a bit too thick, carapils and water adjustments next time around.

saison is quite a ways a way from being properly bottle-conditioned.  3711 french saison yeast is a beast!!! FG = 1.000. 

brewed an iipa last night.  fuck these ridiculously hot temperatures, took forever to chill the wort.  using our mashtun as a water-bath and throwing in some frozen water bottles.  recipe here: http://hopville.com/recipe/1279731/imperial-ipa-recipes/8-ate-eight-iipa

started to make water chemistry adjustments.  feel so fancy.

stevewizzle wrote:
saison is quite a ways a way from being properly bottle-conditioned.  3711 french saison yeast is a beast!!! FG = 1.000. 

:o  :o  :o

translation: that yeast munched the hell outta the beer.  1.000 is a ridiculously low final gravity.  it's going to be dryyyyyyyyy like a proper saison should be.  nice!  once it's conditioned, feel free to include some if/when we get together to compare homebrews.  i've never had a homebrewed saison (except for my grand cru that was accidentally fermented at too high a temp and developed a lot of saison'y esters… so it was more of accidental saison).  it will likely complement my belgian blond nicely, which turned out just a tad sweeter than i wanted it.

i haven't gotten seriously into water correction other than throwing a little gypsum and/or using acidulated malt, depending on the style.  i don't have a scientific approach and am pretty conservative about the adjustments.  i need to get my tap water analyzed so i know what i'm working with.  i've reached out to the city for a detailed water report and got no reply.  bastards.

chilling in these temps is definitely a pain.  i've had success getting those last few degrees by throwing a chunk of sanitized ice into the wort once i've got it down into the 80's (use boiled water, sanitize the container before adding the water, put a lid on it while it freezes, etc).

sweetcell wrote:

stevewizzle wrote:
saison is quite a ways a way from being properly bottle-conditioned.  3711 french saison yeast is a beast!!! FG = 1.000. 

:o  :o  :o

translation: that yeast munched the hell outta the beer.  1.000 is a ridiculously low final gravity.  it's going to be dryyyyyyyyy like a proper saison should be.  nice!  once it's conditioned, feel free to include some if/when we get together to compare homebrews.  i've never had a homebrewed saison (except for my grand cru that was accidentally fermented at too high a temp and developed a lot of saison'y esters… so it was more of accidental saison).  it will likely complement my belgian blond nicely, which turned out just a tad sweeter than i wanted it.

i haven't gotten seriously into water correction other than throwing a little gypsum and/or using acidulated malt, depending on the style.  i don't have a scientific approach and am pretty conservative about the adjustments.  i need to get my tap water analyzed so i know what i'm working with.  i've reached out to the city for a detailed water report and got no reply.  bastards.

chilling in these temps is definitely a pain.  i've had success getting those last few degrees by throwing a chunk of sanitized ice into the wort once i've got it down into the 80's (use boiled water, sanitize the container before adding the water, put a lid on it while it freezes, etc).

in these upcoming weeks, i'll let u know when it's done.  august i am likely in montana most of the month, so hopefully it is done sooner than later.  3711 did some serious high score pacman shit with this beer though… pretty excited.  sorachi actually is a little underwhelming right now, but you know how hops go - sometimes takes a little bit to really come out.

should have had ice by hand. lesson learned. big effort for the ice cubes, nice job with that.

you're in MD right?  DC water is nice, they have the report mailed to you, and they also have it available on the web-site.  i'm decent with the water chemistry, i'm excited to see the [edit] "results."

sweetcell wrote:

James wrote:
Have you had Houblon Chouffe?

i haven't.  it's been on my need-to-try list for some time now, just haven't stumbled across it yet (emphasis on stumbled ;D).   

finally stumbled into it tonight - on draft, no less.  it's "belgian week" at my fav tap-o-rama here in dallas.  tonight's special offering was a keg of houblon chouffe.  it's the best belgian IPA i've tasted to date, largely because the yeast successfully shines through - more so than the hops, IMO.  i also had a lot of fun picking out the commonalities between the houblon and my belgian blond which uses the same yeast, so i really savored every sip.  the houblon was good but not amazing.  i'm glad i got a chance to finally try it but i didn't order a second.  instead i had me a snifter of st bernadus abt 12.  currently sipping a duvel, contemplating what life will be like next week when i will no longer have an expense account i can charge all this delicious beer to…  it was a good run *sigh*

stevewizzle wrote:
in these upcoming weeks, i'll let u know when it's done.  august i am likely in montana most of the month, so hopefully it is done sooner than later.  3711 did some serious high score pacman shit with this beer though… pretty excited.  sorachi actually is a little underwhelming right now, but you know how hops go - sometimes takes a little bit to really come out.

should have had ice by hand. lesson learned. big effort for the ice cubes, nice job with that.

you're in MD right?  DC water is nice, they have the report mailed to you, and they also have it available on the web-site.  i'm decent with the water chemistry, i'm excited to see the

i'm on vacation last week of july & first week and a half of august, so lets plan on having a homebrew summit when you return from MT.  saison was made to be stored, so it'll keep just fine.

your recipe says that you added the sorachi ace at 45 and 30 minutes.  with that long a boil, you won't get any flavor or aroma from the hops.  in essence, you've added expensive bittering hops.  anything longer than 15 minutes and you won't get much flavor or aroma.  15 to 10 minutes for flavor additions, 10-0 minutes for aroma.

when making ice for chilling, i use small plastic yogurt-type containers (or tupperware) to make "ice pucks".  i use containers with a lid so i can cover up the water while it freezes and prevent stuff from landing on its surface (which could potentially introduce infectious contaminants to the wort).

yes, i'm in MD - rockville to be precise.  the city issues an annual water analysis, but it's fairly useless.  there is a lack of detail.  they don't give any of the info that brewers require.  that's why i contacted them and requested a more detailed report.  and i got nothing.  bastards! 

look like you didn't finish that last sentence ;D

I'm here in San Diego.

My friend and I hit Ballast Point, Alpine, Alesmith, Green Flash, and Lost Abbey Saturday and Stone today. i'm about beered out.

Best beers were Ballast Point Sculpin, Alesmith Speedway Stout, and Alpine Duet, Pure Hoppiness, and Nelson.

Tomorrow night we're going to Toronado, which has Alesmith Speedway Stout, De Struisse Pannepot, Ballast Point Sculpin, and Pliny the Elder on draft, among many others. So Ill have to get my taste back.

Speaking of Belgian IPA's, tried Green Flash Le Freak, and it was horrible.

Good, good beer. $8.99 a 4-pack but well worth it.

http://ipaday.org

i love the fact that when you live in the country like i do, you sometimes go to country stores to buy a quick six pack of beer on the way home.  they only ever have the classic american shite mighty three (bud / coors / miller) and one other type of 'fancy' beer, "for the stuck ups and queers."  well just today it was heineken, and they were charging almost nine dollars for it.  bastards.  heineken isn't that bad in a pinch. 

killer.

I've been in San Diego all week, and checked every store for Pliny. All out. They're getting the next shipment tomorrow, hours after I fly home.

I did have it on draft. Both my friend and I though it lost in a side by side match with Sculpin.

James wrote:
I've been in San Diego all week, and checked every store for Pliny. All out. They're getting the next shipment tomorrow, hours after I fly home.

I did have it on draft. Both my friend and I though it lost in a side by side match with Sculpin.

I've never had Sculpin, but I've been drinking Heady Topper for the past month and I'm going to have to give a slight edge to Pliny… I wish I had a fresh hopslam to compare it to.

Yada wrote:

James wrote:
I've been in San Diego all week, and checked every store for Pliny. All out. They're getting the next shipment tomorrow, hours after I fly home.

I did have it on draft. Both my friend and I though it lost in a side by side match with Sculpin.

I've never had Sculpin, but I've been drinking Heady Topper for the past month and I'm going to have to give a slight edge to Pliny… I wish I had a fresh hopslam to compare it to.

had pliny, sculpin, and heady topper recently. all are so amazing. agree though, heady topper gets the nod.

had a stone ruination 10th anniversary last night on draft.  i don't hesitate in saying that's the best fucking IIPA i've ever had.

walkonby wrote:
heineken isn't that bad in a pinch. 

One could do far worse.  It's better out of a can, methinks.

had that the same day i had sculpin and pliny. Best day of my beer drinking life. :)

Alesmith Speedway Stout wasn't too shabby either.

Actually, the day that i went to the tasting rooms of Ballast Point, Alpine, Alesmith, Green Flash, and Port/Lost Abbey maybe have been tops. Sure made it tough to get up and run eight mils the next morning.

stevewizzle wrote:

had a stone ruination 10th anniversary last night on draft.  i don't hesitate in saying that's the best fucking IIPA i've ever had.

Monday, August 13, Georgetown, 5pm ? close
Founder?s Rare Beer Tasting
Featuring 12 Founders Beers on draft
Beers priced individually, No reservations required.
Centennial
Backwoods Bastard
Curmudgeon?s Better Half
Devil Dancer
Dirty Bastard
Double Trouble
Imperial Stout
2011 Kentucky Breakfast Stout
2012 Kentucky Breakfast Stout
Old Curmudgeon
Porter
Rye Pale Ale

——————————————————————————–

had a few draft Plinys in Philly this weekend

3 Stars Brewing launch party this Thursday at Churchkey and Froday at The Big Hunt - they'll have a saison, a brown ale and an imperial porter on offer

DC Beer Week 2012 List of Events

http://dcbeer.com/dcbw2012/