I could probably help with that. Is there anything else that Iowa gets you'd be interested in?
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Beer |OT|
- Thread starter Snuggles
- Start date
Actually, I think some Sue and Golden Nugget is being delivered tomorrow... I might go put my name in tonight at the liquor store if they'll let me.
Considering the hype level and limited quantity that each store gets, though, it's becoming increasingly hard to get any TG.
MacGurcules
Member
The homebrewing OT is pretty dead anymore, so I figure I'll post updates here in case anyone cares to read them.
Came home from work to a shallow fluffy krausen on my berliner weisse.
Made up a sour starter from some diluted apple juice and a fistful of pilsen. Pitched it last night into five gallons of 1.035 50/50 pilsen/wheat wort. It's been sitting in my fermenting cooler with a heating pad for ~18 hours at about 40 C. The small amount of gas coming out of the airlock smells clean and grainy. Seems pretty promising overall.
I was a little worried it would turn out really bad but now I'm feeling pretty good about it. I'm still not super sure how I'm gonna finish it up. Once it's soured, I'm tempted to juice a whole watermelon into it and then ferment it out in primary with Brett B. Trois. Won't exactly be a proper berliner at that point, but I figure why not have some fun with it.
Came home from work to a shallow fluffy krausen on my berliner weisse.
Made up a sour starter from some diluted apple juice and a fistful of pilsen. Pitched it last night into five gallons of 1.035 50/50 pilsen/wheat wort. It's been sitting in my fermenting cooler with a heating pad for ~18 hours at about 40 C. The small amount of gas coming out of the airlock smells clean and grainy. Seems pretty promising overall.
I was a little worried it would turn out really bad but now I'm feeling pretty good about it. I'm still not super sure how I'm gonna finish it up. Once it's soured, I'm tempted to juice a whole watermelon into it and then ferment it out in primary with Brett B. Trois. Won't exactly be a proper berliner at that point, but I figure why not have some fun with it.
Yeah, the hype is at crazy levels right now. Assassin that good?
distantmantra
Member
The only TG I've had is a growler of Zeelander in 2013. Really nice beer, but based on that the hype is ridiculous.
I haven't had the opportunity to try any of their stouts, but I don't doubt they're excellent.
Everything else still goes super quick, though, and each store only gets a couple cases at a time usually. I stopped by the store on my lunch break the day of the last drop (King Sue and Sosus) and didn't get anything.
I really liked Zeelander when I got a couple bottles a few months ago. Probably would take it over pseudoSue, actually.
In any event, I picked up some Founders Centennial IPA (never had it before), as well as a Green Flash Citra Session IPA and a '14 Shmaltz/Terrapin Reunion ale at the store today.
And I put my name in for some TG if it arrives tomorrow. We'll see what happens.
PhoncipleBone
Banned
Still packing and cleaning. Took the edge off earlier with a few bottles of Little Sumpin' Extra. Now having Victory White Monkey. Really interesting. Golden Monkey is a decent but not great tripel, but aging it in Chardonnay barrels really adds a lot. Can definitely taste the hint of white wine mixed with it. Very neat, crisp, and sweet.
Only had PseudoSue & Golden Nugget from TG. Both amazing brews.
Had a chance to have King Sue at Dark Lord day this year but opted for something else first and then it tapped out... (never skip TG on draft is the lesson here)
Haven't had any of their stouts, Morning Delight, KBBS, & Assassin are all super hyped and to me probably aren't worth the trade ammo necessary. Just hoping someone pops one at a tasting some day.
Had a chance to have King Sue at Dark Lord day this year but opted for something else first and then it tapped out... (never skip TG on draft is the lesson here)
Haven't had any of their stouts, Morning Delight, KBBS, & Assassin are all super hyped and to me probably aren't worth the trade ammo necessary. Just hoping someone pops one at a tasting some day.
Looks like KBBS came and blew up all of the trade forums, lol. Damn Toppling Goliath
just wait for KBBBS
Just the pumpkin would do me. What would you want from out here?
distantmantra
Member
My parents were in Bend last weekend and brought me mini-growlers of:
Bend Brewing -- Salmonberry Sour. I'm guessing the same Berliner base as Ching Ching, but with salmonberries instead of pomegranate.
Crux -- Walla Walla Woody. It helps having a family friend who owns a brewery. This was made for the Lil Woody Festival in Bend last weekend, but I manged to get a fill. R eally didn't think they'd do it!
Gonna drink 'em tonight. Excited.
Bend Brewing -- Salmonberry Sour. I'm guessing the same Berliner base as Ching Ching, but with salmonberries instead of pomegranate.
Crux -- Walla Walla Woody. It helps having a family friend who owns a brewery. This was made for the Lil Woody Festival in Bend last weekend, but I manged to get a fill. R eally didn't think they'd do it!
Gonna drink 'em tonight. Excited.
bumbillbee
Member
Never even heard of salmonberries but both of those sound delicious!
And yeah the KBBS hype/trading frenzy is unreal.
And yeah the KBBS hype/trading frenzy is unreal.
distantmantra
Member
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubus_spectabilis
They're isolated to the west coast. I see them when hiking all the time.
bumbillbee
Member
Damn I consider my berry game strong but there are still so many I've never tried!
Drinking a Pizza Port Swami's IPA now. I heard this batch (8/11) was especially good and wow this is just fantastic. Can't believe it comes in six packs of pint cans! Got a Kern River Class V Stout for later, which I've never tried before. It was still kinda hot out today but I still feel like it's cool enough for an imperial stout tonight, time sure flies.
Thankfully I've had it on tap and in bottle already this year so I can proceed to not caring.
bumbillbee
Member
Thankfully I've had it on tap and in bottle already this year so I can proceed to not caring.
Awesome, how'd it rank among barrel-aged stouts like it you've had?
Currently sipping on the Kern River Class V stout. Been a while since I had just a normal imperial stout and it's delicious. Is it that much better than, say, Old Rasputin or Narwhal? Not really, but like every Kern River beer I've had, it's insanely well-made. Wish I had some vanilla ice cream to go with it!
It's definitely very good, but not worth the level of fuss that it gets. No beer is. There are too many similar beers that are close enough and easy to find. Despite that, yeah, it's on of the top beers of its style. I believe I've now had the 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2010.
distantmantra
Member
Trading is your best, and probably only, option.
I don't know, Schlafly is only $8-9, so nothing fancy obviously. Maybe some Firestone Walker or something?
Which carrier do you usually use to ship beer? Any need-to-know tips as well?
MacGurcules
Member
My watermelon berliner is coming along nicely. Boiled the soured wort on Thursday but it was already tasting really good. Brightly tart. Very slightly funky. Almost wanted to just keg and drink it as it was.
Anyway, I pitched White Labs Brett Brux Trois after the boil and then crushed a whole watermelon into it yesterday afternoon. It doesn't have a ton of gravity to chew through, so hopefully I can have it ready to keg by the end of next week.
i'd love to try this myself. would you mind posting the recipe?
MacGurcules
Member
Absolutely. Process has some steps, but it's pretty simple.
Three or four days prior to brewing, make up a sour starter. The way I did it was to boil about 500 ml of apple juice in my 1L flask. Then top up the flask with seltzer water in order to purge the headspace. Throw in a small handful of whatever unmilled base malt you've got sitting around. Then seal it up with an airlock and keep it warm (like 90-110 F, if you can manage) for a few days.
Malt is covered with all kinds of stuff, but you can select for lactobacillus by purging the oxygen and keeping it hot. After a few days you should have something good and sour, with a little creamy-colored sediment at the bottom.
Then mash:
3 lbs White Wheat malt
3 lbs Pilsen (German is traditional, but I used Belgian because it's what I had)
Mash low for fermentability. I did 60 minutes at 145 F. I also did a thorough mashout to 170 to pasteurize, since we won't be boiling right away. I managed to collect five gallons at ~1.035.
Let it come down to ~120 degrees then pitch in your sour starter. If you're paranoid, blast the headspace of your carboy with some CO2 to clear the oxygen. Again, keep it warm and give it a few days. Mine was good and tart at around 72 hours.
Then boil it briefly. Add a small hops charge if you want. I gave it an ounce of 4.6% AA hallertau for 30 minutes.
Pitch a big starter of WLP644. I let mine go a day before I poured in about a gallon of watermelon juice.
MacGurcules
Member
Went for a walk and found a big tangle of feral hops. And fortunately, they're just coming up to ripe. I picked about a pound of them, but I plan to go back for more.
The path runs along a decommissioned rail line that used to serve the old brewery in town. Considering the history, I'm thinking they're either Bullion or Brewer's Gold.
The path runs along a decommissioned rail line that used to serve the old brewery in town. Considering the history, I'm thinking they're either Bullion or Brewer's Gold.
Wouldn't want to ship some of those would you? I'd be down to brew a pale ale using nothing but your wild hops.
MacGurcules
Member
I have similar plans. I'll see what comes out of it, but we may be able to work something out.
Let me know. I struck out with the local hop grower because Country Boy bought their entire 60 lb. harvest. I'd like to wet hop something this year. Where are you located? I could maybe trade you some beer.
MacGurcules
Member
Central Illinois. Also, good to know upfront that perhaps I shouldn't dry everything I pick.
Wet hops are the best hops!
Looks like this is the list of breweries I have that you wouldn't. It's not a lot considering I'm in Kentucky.
Atlantic Brewing
Aviator
Bison
Crooked Stave
Erie
Falls City
Full Sail
Highland
Lazy Magnolia
Lion Brewery
Mission
Mt Carmel
New Albanian
Rivertown
Sweetwater
Thirsty Dog
West Sixth
Also, add Country Boy's Cougar Bait to that since they just started canning. It's my least favorite of all their beers but the one that makes them the most money. Just a basic blonde.
MacGurcules
Member
So I hear. But I'm not likely to properly use them for another month or so. Only have two kegs. One half full and the other is waiting for that berliner to finish up.
No need to worry about any kind of trade just yet. I gotta still pick them, afterall.
EDIT: Drinkin' update: Right now, I'm enjoying an Apex Predator from Off Color. This is a tasty beer. Slightly funky farmhouse nose. Very fruity with notable lemon and pineapple. The fruitiness suggests a sweetness, but it finishes up nice and dry. Very good. I recommend it.
ramoisdead
Member
Gonna drink the rest of I Love You With My Stout and a Stone Russian Imperial Stout.
MacGurcules
Member
Unfortunately, pin locks don't fit my fridge. There's just enough space for two ball locks to fit side by side with a five pound gas bottle in there. I am regularly on the lookout for ball locks at a decent price, but they tend to go fast.
Something for me and something for the lady. I could have gotten ETs Molotov Cocktail, so hopefully I made the right choice.
the lady might have liked IBB too, Molotov is alright, I'm not a big fan of triple IPAs though. Check the date on those ET's too, the hops fade quick on that one if you do get it.
Ah, gotcha. I got lucky and I can just fit 2 in the freezer plus 1 on the hump. But yeah, the wider pin locks just barely squeeze in there. In glad though because $25 is a steal.
MacGurcules
Member
Went out this morning to scoop up some more hops. Got some real nice cones.
distantmantra
Member
I've got a couple good sized cones on the pergola, but my Chinooks need another week or two.
Probably not enough for a brew, so I'll donate them to Fremont Brewing for their Communibrew Fresh Hop.
If you've never been to the PNW for fresh hop season, you're missing out. No hyperbole. No hype. TRUTH.
Probably not enough for a brew, so I'll donate them to Fremont Brewing for their Communibrew Fresh Hop.
If you've never been to the PNW for fresh hop season, you're missing out. No hyperbole. No hype. TRUTH.
I ended up drinking the Imperial Biscotti Break and the Lips Of Faith Grätzer, here are my impressions of the two:
Evil Twin's Imperial Biscotti Break - I poured the beer into a glass to look and its color and its exactly what you expect (dark nearly impenetrable black) and it seemed to have more head than I expected for something at 11.5% I'm reading reviews and it seems like everyone seemed to think it was much sweeter than me. I had absolutely no problem with its sweetness and thought it was fairly balanced. I didn't look at my bottle date, but I do suspect that it might have been a bit old. The mouthfeel wasn't very creamy, but this could be because of the ABV. I got the notes of coffee, carmel, a little roast, and a very tiny hint of fruitiness that reminded me of a good Cabernet Savignon. I could not detect any sort of cookie or amaretto flavor that others had noted. And the alcohol was a bit more pronounced on the tail end of the beer than I had anticipated. It was delicious, but not all too dissimilar from the Old Rasputin that I have on a weekly basis in winter. I'm glad they didn't go the Southern Tier route of making the flavorings too big, but I did expect it to live up to its name a bit more.
Lips Of Faith - Grätzer (3 Floyds Collaboration) New Belgium Brewing - Wow this is a beer I expected to hate, as I haven't developed a palette for Raunchbiers, so I didn't think I'd be able to handle the smokiness of Gratzers either. However, the beer actually turned out be quite drinkable and very pleasant, if not bold. The smokiness had more a spiciness about it followed by a what I detected as slightly sour notes. The body of the beer reminded me of a Pale Ale, very light drinker, lovely carbonated, and with some beautiful notes of grain in the foreground. It had a slightly sweet after taste and seemed to pronounced its flavors more on the tail end than initially like a tickle on the tongue. At 4.5% it could be a great session beer for sitting around a campfire and would go beautifully with some blackened or seared fish I suspect.
nice reviews of both des. i gotta send you some BA IBB! one of the best bourbon aged stouts out there.
Those look good enough to eat!
distantmantra
Member
And then you remember how terrible hops taste when you eat them.
Smell sooo good, taste like bitter mouth drying death.