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Beer |OT|

A

andylsun

Member
Brewed an English Best Bitter in the New England sunshine on Saturday, while watching the Champions League. My first beer to go into the keg in about 3 weeks.

60 minute boil with Target hops for bittering and East Kent Goldings for flavour and aroma. Can't wait.

Managed to find a spot in my house that is pretty much a constant temperature. The basement is at 57F all day and night, and the stairs have a nice temperature gradient up to the house, so I can pick a step to put the bucket on and it will ferment in a stable environment.

Beer bubbling nicely in the bucket with an air temp of 61F and a beer temp of 65F. Perfect.

r3lNx.jpg
 
F

fenners

Member
Kegged my "Nierra Sevada" pale ale clone (recipe from HBT). This brew was a mess, with lots of grain in the fermenter that I couldn't filter out. Beer looks a little cloudy & tastes a little weaker than I expected, but it's beer ;)
 
Y

Yaboosh

Super Sleuth
distantmantra said:
I've got a La Roja that a friend brought back for me from Michigan, really excited to try it. We don't get Jolly Pumpkin in WA anymore.
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It is a pretty variable beer unfortunately. I have had it when and it was a revelation, and I have had it and it was insipid and boring. Barrel character seems to go up and down, sourness is highly inconsistent. But a good bottle of La Roja is awesome.
 
nicoga3000

nicoga3000

Saint Nic
distantmantra said:
I've got a La Roja that a friend brought back for me from Michigan, really excited to try it. We don't get Jolly Pumpkin in WA anymore.
Click to expand...

Yaboosh is right. I've read reviews that say some are meh. The bottle I had was bottled in February of 2012 (there's a sticker on the back of the bottle). :)

Also, I really need to find a list of readily available sours to bring with me to the store tomorrow. I feel bad for all the other beers in my fridge because holy wow, sours are a REALLY nice change of pace from the huge stouts I've been drinking.
 
Y

Yaboosh

Super Sleuth
nicoga3000 said:
Yaboosh is right. I've read reviews that say some are meh. The bottle I had was bottled in February of 2012 (there's a sticker on the back of the bottle). :)

Also, I really need to find a list of readily available sours to bring with me to the store tomorrow. I feel bad for all the other beers in my fridge because holy wow, sours are a REALLY nice change of pace from the huge stouts I've been drinking.
Click to expand...


One of the best (and only really) sours that is readily available around the country is Lindeman's Cuvee Rene. It is a fantastic gueuze, if a little on the straight forward side. I don't find that to be a bad thing though. The only thing it really lacks is a deep, interesting brett character, but the sourness is honestly second to none. Sure, I think that a good bottle of Russian River Temptation is better, but it is also twice the price and not as consistent.
 
D

distantmantra

Member
So Jolly Pumpkin has QA issues like Lost Abbey and Hair of the Dog? That's a bummer. The only beer I've had of theirs is La Parcela at Elysian's Great Pumpkin Beer Festival this past October.

Yaboosh said:
One of the best (and only really) sours that is readily available around the country is Lindeman's Cuvee Rene. It is a fantastic gueuze, if a little on the straight forward side. I don't find that to be a bad thing though. The only thing it really lacks is a deep, interesting brett character, but the sourness is honestly second to none. Sure, I think that a good bottle of Russian River Temptation is better, but it is also twice the price and not as consistent.
Click to expand...

Cuvee Rene is fantastic, widely available and very affordable. I always recommend it to people interested in trying sour stuff.

Nicoga, if you want to check out more sours, think about ordering from Cascade in Portland, OR. They make killer stuff and will actually ship it to you. It's pricey, but well worth it.

http://www.cascadebrewingbarrelhouse.com/info_order form.pdf
 
Y

Yaboosh

Super Sleuth
distantmantra said:
So Jolly Pumpkin has QA issues like Lost Abbey and Hair of the Dog? That's a bummer.
Click to expand...



Eh, I hesitate to call it QA issues. Their bottles are always carbonated, they don't really taste off, per se. They just aren't always as sour and complex as other times. I wouldn't put them in the same league as the problems that LA has had. I can understand the problems Jolly Pumpkin has with consistency. I don't understand how Lost Abbey still has the problems that it has.
 
D

distantmantra

Member
Right now in the beer fridge I've got a bunch of sours: Cascade's Kriek 2010 and The Vine 2011, Russian River's Supplication and Consecration, and New Belgium's Tart Lychee.

New Belgium's Le Terroir is probably my favorite American sour. I'm bummed they're not doing it this year.
 
Y

Yaboosh

Super Sleuth
distantmantra said:
Right now in the beer fridge I've got a bunch of sours: Cascade's Kriek 2010 and The Vine 2011, Russian River's Supplication and Consecration, and New Belgium's Tart Lychee.

New Belgium's Le Terroir is probably my favorite American sour. I'm bummed they're not doing it this year.
Click to expand...

High five on the Le Terroir. A glass I had at Falling Rock a few years ago stands as the best single glass of beer I have ever had. It was perfect. I had a second which wasn't as good. My pallet was just in the perfect place to have that one glass of beer. Freaking amazing.
 
T

tokkun

Member
Yaboosh said:
One of the best (and only really) sours that is readily available around the country is Lindeman's Cuvee Rene. It is a fantastic gueuze, if a little on the straight forward side. I don't find that to be a bad thing though. The only thing it really lacks is a deep, interesting brett character, but the sourness is honestly second to none. Sure, I think that a good bottle of Russian River Temptation is better, but it is also twice the price and not as consistent.
Click to expand...

I think Duchesse de Bourgogne gets pretty good distribution.
 
Y

Yaboosh

Super Sleuth
tokkun said:
I think Duchesse de Bourgogne gets pretty good distribution.
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There is no beer on earth I hate more than Duchesse. But I know some people do like it. They are crazy people. Crazy people that drink wax a lot. Duchesse is like insanity peppers. Have fun on your spirit journey. Say hi to the wolf for me.
 
D

distantmantra

Member
Yaboosh said:
There is no beer on earth I hate more than Duchesse. But I know some people do like it. They are crazy people. Crazy people that drink wax a lot. Duchesse is like insanity peppers. Have fun on your spirit journey. Say hi to the wolf for me.
Click to expand...

Me neighbor is obsessed with this beer. It's ok, but I don't get the love.

Yaboosh said:
High five on the Le Terroir. A glass I had at Falling Rock a few years ago stands as the best single glass of beer I have ever had. It was perfect. I had a second which wasn't as good. My pallet was just in the perfect place to have that one glass of beer. Freaking amazing.
Click to expand...

One of my neighborhood pubs had a keg of Le Terroir 2011 a few months back. I'd stop by a once or twice a week for a pint and an order of truffle fries. Apparently no one knew or cared about it, so I was able to enjoy it for like three weeks. I was really sad when the keg died.
 
nicoga3000

nicoga3000

Saint Nic
distantmantra said:
So Jolly Pumpkin has QA issues like Lost Abbey and Hair of the Dog? That's a bummer. The only beer I've had of theirs is La Parcela at Elysian's Great Pumpkin Beer Festival this past October.



Cuvee Rene is fantastic, widely available and very affordable. I always recommend it to people interested in trying sour stuff.

Nicoga, if you want to check out more sours, think about ordering from Cascade in Portland, OR. They make killer stuff and will actually ship it to you. It's pricey, but well worth it.

http://www.cascadebrewingbarrelhouse.com/info_order form.pdf
Click to expand...

This is interesting. I may order a bottle or two to try. A little pricey, yes, but good beer is worth it. And hell, I paid a LOT of money for beer on DLD! ;)

What would you suggest of those beers available on that form??
 
D

distantmantra

Member
nicoga3000 said:
This is interesting. I may order a bottle or two to try. A little pricey, yes, but good beer is worth it. And hell, I paid a LOT of money for beer on DLD! ;)

What would you suggest of those beers available on that form??
Click to expand...

Sang Noir, Sang Royale and The Vine are all good. We get Cascade in Seattle so I haven't had to do mail order, but since shipping isn't cheap, I'd just get one of each. You can only order in batches of 2, 4 or 6.
 
Y

Yaboosh

Super Sleuth
Where are you located nicoga? I would recommend trying to find more locally available sours before you start spending ludicrous amounts of money to get Cascade beers mail order. Their beer isn't worth that much money. It is good, but the price locally is barely justifiable in my opinion.
 
nicoga3000

nicoga3000

Saint Nic
Yaboosh said:
Where are you located nicoga? I would recommend trying to find more locally available sours before you start spending ludicrous amounts of money to get Cascade beers mail order. Their beer isn't worth that much money. It is good, but the price locally is barely justifiable in my opinion.
Click to expand...

I'm in Indiana. There's a good liquor store on the north side of Indy, and I may actually be there on Saturday. I'm on the west side, and there's no really great liquor stores nearby. :\
 
E

eudaemonic

Member
Yaboosh said:
I went back. Sour beer is pretty good, but there are so many shit sour beers out there it is ridiculous. So many Americans don't understand what makes a sour beer good, or make their attempt by throwing shit into barrels, and then become obsessed with seeing some sort of return on investment so they release it into the marketplace regardless of whether or not it actually tastes good.
Click to expand...

While I would agree that overall the US isn't very good at sours (where there are exceptions - they are awesome exceptions)... it doesn't stop me from trying and offering feedback and supporting where I see hope. The Bruery is a good example of this.
 
nicoga3000

nicoga3000

Saint Nic
distantmantra said:
You've got New Belgium, right? Their Lips of Faith series makes plenty of sours. La Follie is very easy to find and available right now.
Click to expand...

Saw La Follie actually, but I opted for this and Envious instead. I'm hoping Envious plays out better, because the bottle I bought is REALLY disappointing, and I don't dislike beer much.
 
H

HiResDes

Member
Guys what's a good Saison to start with, had the Rogue a while ago and kind of neglected the style after having a mediocre experience...But now I want to try again
 
A

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
There are quite a few categories of sour beers too, i.e. Berliner-weisse, Lambics and Flanders Red Ales are the ones you see most often that get really sour. There are definitely sour notes in other beers though, but those are the styles I can think of that have sourness up front and in your face.

Berliner-Weisse is a well known style, but often difficult to locate since few breweries consistently produce it. It's a low alcohol wheat beer that's just bracingly sour when consumed straight up, although it's often adulterated at serving with various syrups. Bear Republic did one I really liked called Tartare, although it was like acid to get to the end of it (I went with it straight). Very rarely we get Cantillon's lambics around here, which I really like, but Cuvee Rene is very easy to find year round and quite good so I don't often bother to buy anything else if I'm going for sours. Cantillon is often regarded as the best, so give that a try if you can find it. Drie Fonteinen is another lambic brand I like quite a bit. My wife really likes Bockor's Cuvee de Jacobins, which is a Flanders Red Ale, another different sour style.
 
V

Verano

Reads Ace as Lace. May God have mercy on their soul
Beer-GAF recommend me a good fruit based beer, a pilsner, and beer(s) similar to Hooengaarden. I wanna broaden my tastes in beer.
 
D

distantmantra

Member
HiResDes said:
Guys what's a good Saison to start with, had the Rogue a while ago and kind of neglected the style after having a mediocre experience...But now I want to try again
Click to expand...

Saison Dupont is good and easy to find pretty much everywhere. Fantome Saison is incredible if you can find it. I also really liked Bruery's Saison de Lente and Upright's 5 is good.
 
D

distantmantra

Member
Holy crap, what an awesome weekend in Bend, OR. Hit up a bunch of breweries and worked at Crux Fermentation Project all day Sunday. Can't wait to go back.
 
A

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
Homebrew content:

Imperial Stout done at 1.022 and Amber Ale at 1.012.

US-05, you're the best.
 
A

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
Yaboosh said:
Do you rehydrate?
Click to expand...

Yup. I double pitched the Imperial Stout since the OG was 1.084. I typically use White Labs vials and a starter, but I got the opportunity to do a double brew weekend on short notice and I probably would have gone with WLP001 for these particular ones, anyways. WLP001 is the same yeast strain as US05 and I'd have to buy like 5 vials for both of those beers to pitch the right amount without a starter.
 
Y

Yaboosh

Super Sleuth
Angry Grimace said:
Yup. I double pitched the Imperial Stout since the OG was 1.084. I typically use White Labs vials and a starter, but I got the opportunity to do a double brew weekend on short notice and I probably would have gone with WLP001 for these particular ones, anyways. WLP001 is the same yeast strain as US05 and I'd have to buy like 5 vials for both of those beers to pitch the right amount without a starter.
Click to expand...



While 001 is technically supposed to be the same yeast strain as US05, I do find there are differences. You often find a peachy sort of ester in US05 fermented beers that you do not find in 001 fermented beers. This of course is neither good nor bad, just depends on what you want out of the yeast.

But yeah, when it comes to convenience, nothing beats US05.
 
nicoga3000

nicoga3000

Saint Nic
Ugh, I bought 2 "sours" on recommendation from the liquor store owner nearby. They were brown ales with bizarre fruit notes. Terrible terrible beers. :(
 
S

Seth C

Member
I had the pleasure of drinking some Bar Harbor Cadillac Mountain Stout. That is a delicious beer. My new favorite chocolate stout, definitely
 
S

sharkmuncher

Member
owxOel.jpg


Celebrating a lovely evening in NE with a lovely beer from CO. My first time trying Deviant Dales, and I must say I enjoy it quite a bit. Tons of hop flavor, yet not a ton of bitterness.

edit: to resize giant pic and fix hip-->hop typo
 
T

thespot84

Member
sharkmuncher said:
http://www.imgur.com/owxOe.jpg

Celebrating a lovely evening in NE with a lovely beer from CO. My first time trying Deviant Dales, and I must say I enjoy it quite a bit. Tons of hip flavor, yet not a ton of bitterness.
Click to expand...

I enjoy dales a lot too. At 8%, those pints are dangerous.
 
T

terrdactycalsrock

Member
Okay, so I tried to drink a beer for the first time ever yesterday. I chose Sam Adams and it smelled and tasted like really sour wheat bread. Is all beer that strong? I would like to find something with a more mellow or perhaps even sweeter taste
 
nicoga3000

nicoga3000

Saint Nic
terrdactycalsrock said:
Okay, so I tried to drink a beer for the first time ever yesterday. I chose Sam Adams and it smelled and tasted like really sour wheat bread. Is all beer that strong? I would like to find something with a more mellow or perhaps even sweeter taste
Click to expand...

There's a lot of options, and everyone has their own opinion on this. I would say Sam Adams is a TERRIBLE starting point personally.

Grab a Goose Island 312, Magic Hat #9, Blue Star Wheat, Blue Moon, Bell's Oberon, Leinenkugel Sunset Wheat or Summer Shandy.

I would say those are all very light and relatively sweeter. Magic Hat #9 is probably the least so of those, but it was the beer that got me drinking beer years ago. It is, like I said, entirely based on the person. But I would start with some of those and see what you think. Don't be discouraged!
 
M

Mimir

Member
Anyone else going to the American Craft Brew Fest this weekend in Boston? They still have tickets available for the today's session. I'll be going to the Saturday C session.
 
S

sharkmuncher

Member
2 weeks of inactivity is too long. How about some "what are you drinking this evenings?"

I am currently working on a Saison Dupont
Sometimes I forget how light and refreshing a well made Saison can be. I think homebrewers and even some craft brewers tend to forget that somethimes (I'm looking at you Colette)
Skn7ol.jpg


and have a Westmalle Dubbel on deck.

Have to get some good beer in before heading down to the CWS festivities downtown.
 
nicoga3000

nicoga3000

Saint Nic
I cracked a bottle of 2012 Dark Lord for the first time last night. It was good, but a bit sweeter than I expected. The 2011 I had was definitely more biting.
 
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