Favorite beer of choice?

[myersk27]

yeah, didn't and wouldn't buy the Voodoo Doughnut.....a friend brought it to our tailgate....that's the only way I would ever try it, is if it were given to me. I don't think it's humanly possible for anyone to drink a whole bottle by themself....hell I am not sure anyone would make it through 2-3 sips

[VanHorneDog]

i'm not the best website designer/developer but i put this together.

http://intergalacticbrew.com/

check it out, im trying to bump its Google Results score, so far im the top 3 for Intergalactic Brewing company, but one of the pages isnt on there anymore and the first two are not my home page! garh...

[recentlyJTR41]

Good Beer is such an escape. Not like an alcoholic, but like just loving how a beer tastes ya know? I'm enjoying a Flying Dog Snake Dog IPA and it just makes me forget about everything

[SYDM6]

^ The Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Stout is fantastic. And I know exactly what you mean about just enjoying how a beer tastes...

[Beefsteak1138]

Had a Frankenlou's IPA yesterday. It came as part of a beer-of-the-month club that I'm a member of. It was pretty awful, I did not finish the bomber.

[jmkratt]

So does Ass Kisser make anything worth drinking? The two I've tried have sucked balls.

[mposey34]

Originally Posted by jmkratt

So does Ass Kisser make anything worth drinking? The two I've tried have sucked balls.

which two? Their vanilla pale ale is ok

[mposey34]

This weekend I am brewing a wheat for a blueberry wheat. I plan to secondary the wheat onto 5-7 pounds of blueberries. I do have a couple questions, as this will be my first attempt at adding fruit

1. How do you "sanitize" what you are adding to your secondary, whether it may be fruit, oaks chips, etc.? I thought about putting just enough water on the blueberries and heating them to 150-160 for 10 or 15 minutes, but I'm worried this might remove too much of the blueberry juice. Right now they are rinsed and frozen.

2. Is adding fruit to the secondary the best way to go about making this? I have read several folks using this method, but one of the books I read from last night recommended putting them in the wort for 15-20 minutes at 160 F, then proceed with fermentation

thanks in advance

[thebridge15]

I don't know any of that, but blueberry wheats are usually awesome, so solid pick.

[jmkratt]

Originally Posted by mposey34

which two? Their vanilla pale ale is ok

Actually I thought the Vanilla Pale was atrocious and tasted like cream soda mixed with cough syrup.

I had the Strawberry Wit, too. It was better but still had a cough syrup flavor.

To each his own I guess?

[jmkratt]

Originally Posted by mposey34

This weekend I am brewing a wheat for a blueberry wheat. I plan to secondary the wheat onto 5-7 pounds of blueberries. I do have a couple questions, as this will be my first attempt at adding fruit

1. How do you "sanitize" what you are adding to your secondary, whether it may be fruit, oaks chips, etc.? I thought about putting just enough water on the blueberries and heating them to 150-160 for 10 or 15 minutes, but I'm worried this might remove too much of the blueberry juice. Right now they are rinsed and frozen.

2. Is adding fruit to the secondary the best way to go about making this? I have read several folks using this method, but one of the books I read from last night recommended putting them in the wort for 15-20 minutes at 160 F, then proceed with fermentation

thanks in advance

I haven't brewed with blackberries but have with peaches a lot. I don't sanitize the peaches at all. I clean and sanitize the carboy and then just dump the peaches (pureed) in via a sanitized funnel. I then rack the beer on top of the peaches and let sit. I tried to add them to the kettle the first time and wasn't pleased with the mess nor the results of the beer. I much prefer racking the beer onto the peaches in the secondary.

Pretty sure you're going to want to use pectin with blueberries, too.

[mposey34]

Originally Posted by jmkratt

Actually I thought the Vanilla Pale was atrocious and tasted like cream soda mixed with cough syrup.

I had the Strawberry Wit, too. It was better but still had a cough syrup flavor.

To each his own I guess?

I guess, but I love cream soda



to be fair, I haven't had an entire one, I just tasted the one my wife had, and I really don't cae to drink any of them

[mposey34]

Originally Posted by jmkratt

Pretty sure you're going to want to use pectin with blueberries, too.

Havent looked into this, can you tell me more?

[jmkratt]

Originally Posted by mposey34

Havent looked into this, can you tell me more?

I should have been more specific, I add pectin enzymes.

When making beer with fresh fruit, you will need to beak down the pectin that is naturally found in the fruit or the beer will likely have a hazy or cloudy appearance. Fortunately, this is an easy process that involves simply adding specialized pectic enzymes to the beer fermenter and the problem is solved.

You shouldn't have pectin haze unless you heat the fruit above 150F. Adding the enzyme prophylacticly won't hurt your beer. If pectin is present the enzyme will eat it; if not, it will drop out. It's really cheap too.

Also I'd highly suggest to crush/puree and freeze your fruit first though. It breaks down the cell membranes and lets more flavor out.

[mposey34]

Originally Posted by jmkratt

I should have been more specific, I add pectin enzymes.

When making beer with fresh fruit, you will need to beak down the pectin that is naturally found in the fruit or the beer will likely have a hazy or cloudy appearance. Fortunately, this is an easy process that involves simply adding specialized pectic enzymes to the beer fermenter and the problem is solved.

You shouldn't have pectin haze unless you heat the fruit above 150F. Adding the enzyme prophylacticly won't hurt your beer. If pectin is present the enzyme will eat it; if not, it will drop out. It's really cheap too.

Also I'd highly suggest to crush/puree and freeze your fruit first though. It breaks down the cell membranes and lets more flavor out.

great info, thanks!

I don't plan to heat the fruit, and it is currently frozen.

I don't know quite why, but I kinda like the haze or cloudy appearance. I know it is not desireable for most people though.

[jmkratt]

Originally Posted by mposey34

great info, thanks!

I don't plan to heat the fruit, and it is currently frozen.

I don't know quite why, but I kinda like the haze or cloudy appearance. I know it is not desireable for most people though.

It's your beer man make it how you want!

Someone please correct me if I am wrong but I believe the only benefit to adding the pectin enzymes is to clear the pectin haze. I don't think it has any other benefit.

[mposey34]

the little bottle of pectin enzyme I am looking at says to add 1/10th tsp/lb of fruit one hour before fermentation

does that mean sprinkle it over the fruit an hour before I rack into the secondary, or would adding it in when racking do the trick?

[jmkratt]

Originally Posted by mposey34

the little bottle of pectin enzyme I am looking at says to add 1/10th tsp/lb of fruit one hour before fermentation

does that mean sprinkle it over the fruit an hour before I rack into the secondary, or would adding it in when racking do the trick?

I just add it before racking, while I let the fruit thaw, prior to adding to secondary.

[DrinkNoH2O]

Everything John says is exactly how I'd do it. Freezing not only sanitizes the fruit, but like he says, breaks down the cell walls to impart more flavor. Depending on what type of wheat you use (torrified, flaked or malted?) your beer might end up cloudy anyways. Here's a good article on Pectin Enzyme:

http://www.byo.com/stories/wizard/ar...t-beer-recipes

When you scale your recipe keep in mind that the yeast will ferment the sugars in the fruit, so plan your expected ABV accordingly.

[mposey34]

Originally Posted by DrinkNoH2O

When you scale your recipe keep in mind that the yeast will ferment the sugars in the fruit, so plan your expected ABV accordingly.

I'm using the AHS American Wheat extract kit as the base for this beer, so the planned ABV is pretty much already set, though, as you said, I expect fermentation of the fruit sugars and a little higher ABV than the recipe calls for

[Trippin4136]

Drinking a Uinta Brewing Company Hop Notch IPA right now.

It's really, really good.

Anyone else had it?

[jspampin]

Originally Posted by Bron Yr Aur

For me Stone IPA is just so much better than Lagunitas IPA. I mean, between Oaked AB, Ruination, RIS, Sublimely Self-Righteous, Cali-Belgique....Stone knocks it out of the park with just about all of their beers. Hop Stoopid is amazing but for me they don't really match up to Stone.

I've been drinking a lot of Bear Republic Racer 5, Hop Rod Rye & Victory Hop Devil since I can now get them in Chicago.

I picked up a six of Stone IPA yesterday after having had Lagunitas IPA a couple of weeks back and I have to say I much prefer the Lagunitas. Clearly I'm in the minority based on BA scores, but I find the Stone IPA a little too malty (bready, bisquity, etc.) in the finish for my personal taste. I don't hate it by any stretch. This is just a comparison of straight IPA offerings, I still love both brewery's.

Originally Posted by myersk27

was able to taste the Voodoo Doughnut bacon maple on saturday at deer creek.....it was terrible....ruined my palate. it smelled like straight up smoked bacon and maple syrup, which would normally be fine. actually liked the smell, but the taste was disastrous....such a horrible beer. can't decide if it's worse that bud light and clamato though....

I'm impressed you tried it, I've been avoiding that one like the plague.

[mposey34]

Originally Posted by justink

had Alaskan IPA the other day, it was pretty tasty.

as did I, it's a solid beer

I've tried every Alaskan I can find (Amber, White, IPA and Summer) and they have all been good beers

[jmkratt]

Originally Posted by Trippin4136

Drinking a Uinta Brewing Company Hop Notch IPA right now.

It's really, really good.

Anyone else had it?

Hell yeah man! I love that stuff. They don't have a wide range of distribution but make pretty damn good beer.

[Trippin4136]

Yea, I'm really digging it.

I was in the liquor store and being indecisive, and I told the owner I usually go for IPAs. He said to try this and that it flies off his shelves. So, I went for it. Happy I did.

[myersk27]

yeah that Uinta was a real nice surprise when i had it....

[mposey34]

yesterday I spent some time studying adding honey to a homebrew, in regards to the timing of the addition and how much, as well as thinking of the type of beer I'd want to add it to. I am about to make my blueberry wheat, so I don't want to have a honey wheat too. I read about some honey porters that sound fantastic, and may look into that for a fall beer

you homebrewers here have any thoughts or experiences with honey beers?

oh, the other possiblility is making mead or something similar

[DrinkNoH2O]

In general you won't really taste the honey as it ferments thoroughly, so it can be a waste as honey is somewhat expensive in bulk.You can add it at the end of boil, in primary, or in secondary, really doesn't matter.

You might read up on honey malt, which imparts honey flavor.

[jmkratt]

My latest trade has resulted in FedEx breaking and tossing out two bottles of KBS

As for brewing with honey, I've only done it once for a spiced Christmas beer (which was phenomenal). I want to say I added 1lbs with 5 minutes left in the boil? I can check when I get home.

[mposey34]

Originally Posted by DrinkNoH2O

In general you won't really taste the honey as it ferments thoroughly, so it can be a waste as honey is somewhat expensive in bulk.You can add it at the end of boil, in primary, or in secondary, really doesn't matter.

You might read up on honey malt, which imparts honey flavor.

I saw that recommendation, a lot. I have several reasons to use honey though, that it is a raw, pure, organic, local product, and I have a beekeeper that gives me cases of it.