home-made beer

Anonymous Poster · Sep 2, 2002

I've got a hippie friend who makes his own beer. He just loves it, and he will always try to get me to taste his latest batch. I've known him for quite a while, so I'm very honest with him about how terrible I think his beer is. It's usually dark and thick and always has sediment in the bottom of it. He is always trying different ways of brewing it, but it just tastes like used motor oil to me. One time he brewed a batch especially for me. It really turned out suprisingly well. The special batch was clear and tasty, just like Bud, so I asked him why on earth he didn't make all his batches like that. He said he liked the full bodied, rich bouquet, etc, etc, etc......and it's a lot harder to make a clear lager than it is to make a dark ale. He went back to brewing motor oil after that, but I'll always remember the time that he brewed some beer that I could actually drink. At least I know the answer to why I get my homebrew from a cooler in the store. I guess beer is kinda like cars; you love the ones you grew up with.

Boondox · Sep 3, 2002

I'd like your friend. There's a reason Bud is called Horse Pee. A lot of the microbrews have excellent ales. I prefer the hoppy stuff. Right up the road from us is a tiny commercial brewing company, Kross, who makes a great Belgian style blonde. Thought he was going to go under, but then he took the Silver medal in a worldwide competition with 1500 other entries!

Cheers!

Anonymous Poster · Sep 3, 2002

He and I are sorta opposites, but we have been friends for a long time. If I tell him about my problems and he'll just chuckle and say "relax, have a home brew". He's a good one.

knucklehead · Sep 3, 2002

Hey, those Weisers are considered to be classic Pilsners. Pilsner is German for Horse Pee.

Not that this will come as a surprise to anyone, but beer styles are an aquired taste. I taste bitter quite strongly, and I always avoided hoppy beers. But now my favorite is IPA, a heavily hopped style. Motor oil - sounds like a stout! A good stout is part of a complete breakfast!

Gone, I'm afraid, are the days when I bellied up to the table at the redemption center, dumped out two garbage bags full of empty Old Milwaukee pounders, and received a knowing smile and a nod of brotherhood from other patrons who by their appearance and aroma seemed to have intimate knowledge of the "wonders of the barley".

Anonymous Poster · Sep 3, 2002

Yeah, he refers to them as stout, bock, and some other name I can't remember right now. I guess I never matured from a horse pee drinker to a stout lover.

brewerbob · Sep 3, 2002

I'm a home brewer, but not a hippie. I just started back to brewing a few weeks ago after having not brewed for about 2 years. I've been too busy tractoring. One of the most attractive things about brewing other than the fact that beer ingredients are food and there is no tax is that you can be creative and make your interpretation of any recipe you run across. You can make a 5 gallon batch for less than $10. That's 2 1/2 cases! If you like to cook, you'll probably like to brew. I'm kind of a brown ale guy myself, but I like a bitter and a wheat beer too.
Bob

RobertN · Sep 3, 2002

What kind of batch are you making for $10? Post the recipe... I have done extract, but have had a gravity feed all grain 10gal system for some time. I have never got down to the $10/5gal range. I did make a $10 batch years ago, with a can of hopped malt, a can of sugar, and a thing of yeast. It was too cidery.

I like to cook, and find brewing to be a natural extension of cooking. It can be cheaper, of course, than a lot of the microbrew grade beers, but I mainly got into it for the brewing itself.

I like brown ales, porters, and stouts. I have done a nice strawberry ale too. My best batch was a number of years back; I made a rasberry imperial stout. It was just incredible!

I don't look at it much now, but I was in the first 100 or so members of the original Hombrew Digest. Originally it was an awesome forum, but then a flamer came along and it was never the same.

I too go through brewing cycles. Some times I brew a lot, sometimes there is quite a dry spell. Once in a while, a budyy and I get together with our similar systems, and do two double batches. 40 gallons in one day, wow!

RobertN · Sep 3, 2002

A clear lager or pilsen is harder to brew. They take a cooling system for one; they ferment at lower temperatures. Then, you need to lager them, which basically holds them at a very low temp for a length of time. Basically, you need a refridgerator dedicated to fermenting. Ales can ferment in warmer temps(warmer, but not hot!), and are less fussy.

Since a lager or pilsen is sooooo light bodied and light flavored, the smallest amount of off flavor or color will be easily tasted. In a darker beer, a minor flaw of off flavor may be masked by other ingredients and flavors in the beer. It is not the intent to mask the flavors; we all want a perfect batch of beer. But, it sometimes happens.

I really prefer the robust stuff, but when I come in from mowing or some other hot job, it is nice to have a cold lager or pilsen. Some styles fit certian drinking conditions better/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

Beer can be an acquired taste. I remember when I didn't even like beer. Then, I like Bud(yuk!). Then Henry Wienhards. Then i got into more serious beers.

patrickg · Sep 3, 2002

Home brewed beer for the equivalent of $10 for three cases? Did I get it right? On the way home from the oculist this evening I saw signs at a filling station advertising cases of beer for $3.50 each which would be $10.50 for three cases. Is it worth the hassle to save 50 cents?

When I was in London, I experimented in beer tasting. First thing I noticed was that they do not serve their beer warm like I had heard. They serve it cool, not so cold as to anesthetize your taste buds like many Americans. Given the taste of many American beers, FREEZING cold would be my desired serving temp too. Some of their "bitters" really aren't so bitter and are OK. Some of the draught stouts, Guinness included, well, you could stand a spoon up in the glass so as it wouldn't hit the sides (at least till the spoon started to disolve) they were so thick.

My wifes cousin brews beer at home and to me it tasted better than most of the pale watery things at the local 7-11 or wherever the "masses" buy. I have been offered tastes of a lot of the domestic stuff and find it more useful for an ingredient in my Black and Decker pizza dough recipe. She isn't a pro but has been at it over five years that I know of. I didn't taste any of the first three years so don't know the learning curve but it can't be too tough if this Historian/Park Ranger/housewife/mother of two teenagers who can't cook so good can do it so well. Her stuff tastes good and is of the medium amber color with a good head, much lighter than Guinness stout and way darker than Colorado KoolAid (Coors).

Hopefully in the next few days I will build my prototype cider press based on my 20 ton mechanic's press. Hope to produce , in the words of my favorite cone head (Baldazar), massive quantities of pear cider. Not having adequate refrigeration capacity, some of it might not get chilled in time to ward off some natural fermentation. Anyone ever have hard cider made from pears? I wonder if it will be ggod for anything but letting go to vinegar?

Patrick

Anonymous Poster · Sep 3, 2002

Why are those thick black beers considered serious beers? How come lagers can't be called a serious beer? This is the same way Harley people think. For some reason a Sportster isn't a serious Harley; only big twins get the respect. I guess the saying is true-"if you have to explain, I wouldn't understand". I only drink a couple beers a week these days, but man I sure love that lager when I get a hold of one. Cheers, and happy brewing. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif