The BEER thread

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Posted by cowpuncher
Should anyone who likes a dark beer ever get the chance, do definitely try Anchor Porter. It's my favorite in the porter/stout class of beers, by a long shot. Unfortunately it's also very hard to find in the Midwest. *cries*



I've tried that one. It is good.
Anchor Steam is a lot easier to find, and very drinkable.
The one that I've noticed is getting harder to find in my neck of the woods is Redhook ESB.
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Posted by ARoarLikeThunder
Do you home brewers filter it the necessary amount of times to a more regular proof, or do you purposefully make it a lot stronger?



Well, it depends on the yeast you use.
Alcohol is a waste byproduct, so environment becomes toxic.
Certain yeasts like champaign yeast can tolerate higher concentrations towards 14% alcohol content.
Others, you could try tricks, but the fermentation typically peters out.

To get higher alcohol content requires distillation-either by heating and distilling the alcohol or fractional freezing - both methods are illegal for homebrewers in the US.
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ARoarLikeThunder
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Posted by FrostAndBite
All I can say is thank god for Taco Mac.

Blue moon and Sam Adams are my minimum. I'm a snob. Yeah. Not to say they aren't good! But I can't deal with bud light, Budweiser esame ol same old.

I love krieks and lambics I'm general. Sours are so good to me.

I tend to prefer darker/heavier beers too.



Hhaha. Speaking of "blue moon", we have little tasting sessions in the wine department at the store I work at and I had just got my new license.

So I go over there to try it and usually it's our own staff serving it but this time it was a representative from the company.

A cute Blue Moon blonde.

And for some reason, i was the only one in the store to go up to her little podium and try some.

I then had the most awkward conversation of my life talking to a beer expert when I didn't know jack shit (and still don't) about beer.

I've rarely felt so unswag.. 😢
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ARoarLikeThunder
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Posted by geminicandIe
Posted by ARoarLikeThunder
Posted by geminicandIe
ARLT, why didn't you turn on your most arrogant I mean sweetest* leo smile ever?🙂



Because I didn't know which face of the Gemini to smile at >;p



Lol, was the cute blonde a gemini?
Maybe it was me!!😉
click to expand




You don't work for Blue Moon.

And you would've remembered this darling face, you cradle rocker. :p
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ARoarLikeThunder
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Posted by CancerOnTheCusp
Posted by ARoarLikeThunder
Do you home brewers filter it the necessary amount of times to a more regular proof, or do you purposefully make it a lot stronger?



Well, it depends on the yeast you use.
Alcohol is a waste byproduct, so environment becomes toxic.
Certain yeasts like champaign yeast can tolerate higher concentrations towards 14% alcohol content.
Others, you could try tricks, but the fermentation typically peters out.

To get higher alcohol content requires distillation-either by heating and distilling the alcohol or fractional freezing - both methods are illegal for homebrewers in the US.
click to expand




Ahh. Mkay.

But

This begs the question...

Do you do it anyways? ;p
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Posted by tw1nk1e
Posted by VirgoChyld
Guiness, Heineken, beers are good. I want to try kraft and rogue beer



I've been to the Rogue Brewery. It was nice, but they put goat cheese in their fucking grilled cheese and wouldn't take it out when I tried to order it without. They have to maintain their "cheese quota".

Snobs.
click to expand



That is cool, so they trunked you order to keep a quota? Man I'd say treetrunk them
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ARoarLikeThunder
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Posted by Rabbit
Posted by ARoarLikeThunder
Do you home brewers filter it the necessary amount of times to a more regular proof, or do you purposefully make it a lot stronger?



You add more sugar to make it stronger I think. I know that's what I do with wine.
click to expand




Oh, okay.

I need to do some googling/youtubing cause i'm ignorant of the whole process..

What type of wine do you make?

I need to try more wines, and beers, and.. everything lol
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Posted by ARoarLikeThunder
Posted by CancerOnTheCusp
Posted by ARoarLikeThunder
Do you home brewers filter it the necessary amount of times to a more regular proof, or do you purposefully make it a lot stronger?



Well, it depends on the yeast you use.
Alcohol is a waste byproduct, so environment becomes toxic.
Certain yeasts like champaign yeast can tolerate higher concentrations towards 14% alcohol content.
Others, you could try tricks, but the fermentation typically peters out.

To get higher alcohol content requires distillation-either by heating and distilling the alcohol or fractional freezing - both methods are illegal for homebrewers in the US.



Ahh. Mkay.

But

This begs the question...

Do you do it anyways? ;p
click to expand




Do you expect an honest answer to that? 😛
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ARoarLikeThunder
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Posted by FrostAndBite
Lol! Roar.

Yeah I uses to live in a big drinking town with one of the largest and most diverse stores for any/every type of alcohol in the state, the people who worked there always were so vastly knowledgeable on EVERYTHING! If it weren't for the southern hospitality and charm you'd feel like a peon, dwarfed by your alcohol ignorance compared to them lol.

They knew the most obscure things. Like some beer brewed every selectively in some cask of some rare wine/whiskey I'm the hidden caves of chekoswedergmani released only for every 14 years because that's the anniversary of the death of the brewery owners dog.



hahah! ho- shit!

that's too knowledgeable lol

that's a cool wealth of information though

I'm literally a block away from a bar that has (well, what looks to me) like a wide selection of strictly beers. Probably nothing compared to the store you're talking about but it's a good start for a newb!

It's nice to be within "crawling distance" as I call it ;p
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ARoarLikeThunder
@ARoarLikeThunder
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Posted by geminicandIe
Posted by ARoarLikeThunder
Posted by geminicandIe
Posted by ARoarLikeThunder
Posted by geminicandIe
ARLT, why didn't you turn on your most arrogant I mean sweetest* leo smile ever?🙂



Because I didn't know which face of the Gemini to smile at >;p



Lol, was the cute blonde a gemini?
Maybe it was me!!😉


You don't work for Blue Moon.

And you would've remembered this darling face, you cradle rocker. :p



Lol@ this darling face. But ofcourse, I'd remember your cute self
click to expand




You have that Leo moon to thank for some of that flirtability, ya know!!

And yes, I don't mind. It's a water cradle and I'm a surfer of it's waves. B)
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ARoarLikeThunder
@ARoarLikeThunder
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Posted by Rabbit
Posted by ARoarLikeThunder
Posted by Rabbit
Posted by ARoarLikeThunder
Do you home brewers filter it the necessary amount of times to a more regular proof, or do you purposefully make it a lot stronger?



You add more sugar to make it stronger I think. I know that's what I do with wine.



Oh, okay.

I need to do some googling/youtubing cause i'm ignorant of the whole process..

What type of wine do you make?

I need to try more wines, and beers, and.. everything lol



Right now I have a glass carboy (several gallons) of Gew?_rztraminer aging in the basement. I'm going to mix part of it with some cheap commercial wine to sweeten it up a bit before I bottle it and then use the rest to make sangria in a (clean) trash can and have a party.
click to expand




They must love coming to your house.

Everybody, there's a party at Rabbit's! 😄
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ARoarLikeThunder
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Posted by CancerOnTheCusp
Posted by ARoarLikeThunder
Posted by CancerOnTheCusp
Posted by ARoarLikeThunder
Do you home brewers filter it the necessary amount of times to a more regular proof, or do you purposefully make it a lot stronger?



Well, it depends on the yeast you use.
Alcohol is a waste byproduct, so environment becomes toxic.
Certain yeasts like champaign yeast can tolerate higher concentrations towards 14% alcohol content.
Others, you could try tricks, but the fermentation typically peters out.

To get higher alcohol content requires distillation-either by heating and distilling the alcohol or fractional freezing - both methods are illegal for homebrewers in the US.



Ahh. Mkay.

But

This begs the question...

Do you do it anyways? ;p



Do you expect an honest answer to that? 😛
click to expand




Hah! that's all I needed to know. ;]
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Posted by cowpuncher
For you gals, or you guys out there with a fussy gal who "does not like beer" - When you get a chance and want to share a treat sometime, pick up some Lambic.

Lambic is a Belgian style , it is the oldest style of beer still being produced commercially. The conditions of this one certain region of Belgium are such that the right bacteria and yeast to produce it abound in the air, so they break all the normal rules and ferment it in big open vats (a TOTAL no-no for beer brewing normally).

Rather than making it bitter with hops to offset the sweetness of the malt, natural bacteria that abound in the air there make it sour, and the wild yeasts in the air have a bit of a twang to them. So, to complement the sour beer, they ferment it once, and then throw in a bunch of fruit to induce a second fermentation. By adding the fruit for a 2nd fermentation, it accentuates the flavor of the fruit in the brew, and also makes it stronger. Treat this beer like you would treat wine when drinking it. Also expect it to be priced similarly... a 750ml bottle will be $ 15-20 USD most of the time.

You end up with a sort of sweet/sour fruity VERY potent ale, with more carbonation than most beers as well. It's delicious. My favorite is Cherry (Kriek), Framboise (raspberry) is also very good. They also make Peche (peach) and Pomme (apple).

Normally you find it distributed as "Lindeman's" in the USA. When I want something really nice to sip with a gal after dinner on a date, that's often what I pick up, because it's usually something new that they've never tried before, and thus far everybody I ever shared a bottle with loved the stuff.



There is a brewery in New Glarus, Wisconsin that makes a cherry lambic.
It tastes just like sour cherry pie.
Ladies like it.
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Posted by cowpuncher
Posted by CancerOnTheCusp
Posted by cowpuncher
For you gals, or you guys out there with a fussy gal who "does not like beer" - When you get a chance and want to share a treat sometime, pick up some Lambic.

Lambic is a Belgian style , it is the oldest style of beer still being produced commercially. The conditions of this one certain region of Belgium are such that the right bacteria and yeast to produce it abound in the air, so they break all the normal rules and ferment it in big open vats (a TOTAL no-no for beer brewing normally).





There is a brewery in New Glarus, Wisconsin that makes a cherry lambic.
It tastes just like sour cherry pie.
Ladies like it.



Making a good lambic outside of Belgium is tough. Anybody who can do it is a damned good brewer who knows his craft. I did it successfully once, but I also had a couple epic fails on that quest too lol I don't think I could do it consistently. In order to do it consistently, whoever is running that brewery is damned good.

Sag Buddy lives in Wisconsin, so I might actually get up that way sometime. I'll file that bit away and hopefully someday get to try it.

click to expand




Hopefully you kept the equipment separate from brewing other stuff.
I understand that you can really mess up other beers unless your sanitation is perfect.
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Posted by cowpuncher
Another fun brewing trick: ankle high or knee high panty hose make great boiling bags for herbs, hops, etc. Sure if you're a guy you'll get some funny looks at the store picking them up... lol Just glare back, indignantly say "What? You don't think I deserve to be PRETTY?" and go about your business, knowing it's all for a good cause - homebrewing.



I've used those for doing partial mashes and steeping grains.
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Posted by cowpuncher
Posted by Rabbit
I'd love to distill some mead into spirits though, to see how it tastes.



Thinking that very same thought myself man. GMTA. I'd love to make a black raspberry mead this next summer when the raspberries are ripe here. If it weren't highly illegal, I'd LOVE to see if I could make some brandy out of that.

However, being against Federal and State law, I could never, ever sink to such depths of character and flout authority in that manner. No way, huh uh, not me.
click to expand




I'm in the process of acquiring a large amount of blueberry honey for mead making. 🙂