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 Location: Moderator in training
Registered: 09-20-2005
Posts: 2547
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Posted
I'm a beer freak. I brew my own, and I try a new commercial sample every chance I get. I have a 4 tap bar in my house, and I have over 100 different commercial bottled examples in my bar at any given time.
That said...what is everyone going to try "NEW" this summer? I picked up an excellent beer the other day, called Weeping Radish "Black Radish". It is a very nice, crisp, dark lager beer called a schwarzbier. Schwarzbier is literally called "Black Beer" in German. It is one of my favorite styles because it combines a good hop bite with roasted malts. So, let's hear it...whatchoo guys got? |
 Location: I'm gonna come at you like a spider monkey!
Registered: 04-19-2001
Posts: 896
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Posted
Homebrewer here as well. I'll be making my Apricot Weizen today or tomorrow. If you've ever had Pyramid's Apricot Weizen, mine compares favorably. I'll also be doing some othter light lagers and ales for the season.
I'm also a big fan of Goose Island's beers. Their Summertime Kolsch is one of my favorites. |
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Location: Moderator in training
Registered: 09-20-2005
Posts: 2547
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Posted
Nice! We'll be doing a chocolate raspberry stout on Sunday. I love stouts, but the fruit thing comes into play to appease the assistant brewmaster....errr.... spouse.  My homebrewing is completely crazy. I have my own logo displayed on T-shirts, pint glasses and you name it. I'm a friggin' freak. I'm actually headed to the Virginia beer fest this afternoon. Pretty awesome list of breweries will be there:
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 Location: Hanlon's razor: “ Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity. ”
Registered: 01-11-2004
Posts: 7321
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Posted
beer fest?
 PS. I have enjoyed most everything Pyramid brews. |
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Location: I'm gonna come at you like a spider monkey!
Registered: 04-19-2001
Posts: 896
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Posted
I just picked up the hobby again about 16 months ago after a 5-year hiatus (kids, new house, new job, etc.), and I jumped back in with both feet. I've probably brewed about 30 five gallon batches since Dec 2006, and my process and quality have improved dramatically (moved from extract to partial-mash with late addition of extract). Some day I'll take the all-grain plunge, but for now, I really like the simplicity of my set up.
Of course, I got really tired of bottling, so I started kegging.   |
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Location: Moderator in training
Registered: 09-20-2005
Posts: 2547
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Posted
WTH? Only 2 damn beer drinkers on this forum?
BTW, here is my bar...  The taps (they go to a cold box underneath--it could hold about 10 cornies if I had the taps!)  Here's the brewery:  I'm nursing a good hangover after yesterday's fest. Drank lots of great beer and schmoozed with a bunch of brewmasters. Good time! |
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Location: Hanlon's razor: “ Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity. ”
Registered: 01-11-2004
Posts: 7321
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Posted
I can't express my jealousy. I have a nice collection of mirrors I "gathered" while bar tending, but no bar.
I just finished off the last of my Smithwicks. I have stocked up on Boulevard and lemons for next weekend. So for you brewers, what is the most satisfying brew? |
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Location: Moderator in training
Registered: 09-20-2005
Posts: 2547
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Posted
You mean as far as drinking it? I get into most styles honestly, so it just depends on the day. Usually the most satisfying beer for me is the one in front of me. I'd have to say I always come back to a good ESB (Try Fuller's ESB), or a porter or a stout. A nice hoppy pale ale is never a bad choice though. Lots of flavor in those beers. I get great satisfaction out of my buddies though...when they come over and drink beer at my place and comment on it--that is great. Brew day is friggin awesome too. The smells of brew day are awesome, awesome, awesome. If you've ever been to Milwaukee, you know what I mean. The mash has a great smell, the boil has a great smell, and fermentation has a great smell. It is the perfect hobby. |
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Location: Hanlon's razor: “ Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity. ”
Registered: 01-11-2004
Posts: 7321
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Posted
I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy... do you drink some ale's at room temp? I don't care for IPA's unless I drink them at room temp and serve with oreo cookies. |
 Location: SE Michigan
Registered: 08-31-2000
Posts: 593
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Posted
Well, if we are posting bar photos... This is mine just after we finished building it last winter, the bar stools and nicer tap handles aren't even in yet.
 Right now I have two Atwater Brewery (Detroit, MI) beers on tap, their IPA and Dunkel. |
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Location: I'm gonna come at you like a spider monkey!
Registered: 04-19-2001
Posts: 896
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Posted
Most satifying to brew? That would be the cream ale I made for our annual ice fishing trip up to Chain Lake in Rusk Co. WI last February. We polished off a 5 gallon keg in just over 24 hours. The other five guys on the trip gave it rave reviews, and have requested another keg for next year's trip. Most satisfying to drink? Pretty much anything I've brewed, and I brew many different styles. Part of the kick of homebrewing for me is sitting back and enjoying something I took the time and care to make. Sort of like enjoying a really good home-cooked meal. |
 Location: Milwaukee
Registered: 03-29-2001
Posts: 11075
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Posted
You're nothing until you set up a web site for your beerness.  |
 Location: Gebins, dammit, gebins!!
Registered: 01-23-2005
Posts: 2480
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Posted
Question for beermakers or those with a home bar.
If you put beer on tap, how long does it stay good for? Every keg i've been involved with has been polished off that day/night. I would like to keep some beer on tap, but not sure if i'm being realistic in attempting to do so. |
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Location: Milwaukee
Registered: 03-29-2001
Posts: 11075
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Posted
 |
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Location: Moderator in training
Registered: 09-20-2005
Posts: 2547
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Posted
The key to keeping the beer "fresh" is using C02 to serve the beer, instead of those pumps they give you when you tap a keg. The pumps introduce oxygen to the beer, and oxygen is bad, bad news for beer. You'll notice a cardboard flavor after a few days no matter what you do to store it. With C02, you won't get that. I have kept a beer on tap for almost a year with no ill effects--in fact it continued to get better as it aged. |
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Location: Moderator in training
Registered: 09-20-2005
Posts: 2547
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Posted
Uh...yeah. Told you I was a freak. |
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Location: Moderator in training
Registered: 09-20-2005
Posts: 2547
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Posted
Very nice!!! Is that in your basement? Are those the basement windows above the wall there? What do you use to keep the beer cold? |
 Location: Avatars are for chumps....
Registered: 04-03-2004
Posts: 2866
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Posted
Checked out the website. Where the hell is the Grave Digger? |
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Location: Moderator in training
Registered: 09-20-2005
Posts: 2547
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Posted
Retired. |
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Location: Hanlon's razor: “ Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity. ”
Registered: 01-11-2004
Posts: 7321
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Posted
Put me down for some: Donnybrook Dark, Mexican Blackbird, Watermelon Wheat (very curious about this one, do you use a little salt on the glass?), Sanctitude, Weinerbrau Weizenbock (awesome!), Bitch Kitty Blonde, Sorachi Slammer, Glacier Slammer and Coming Soon! |
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Location: SE Michigan
Registered: 08-31-2000
Posts: 593
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Posted
Yes, that's in the basement and those are basement windows. We built the bar with plans off of barplan.com. The "keg box" is kept cool by using a medium sized mini-fridge (not the cube, the next size up). It's mounted sideways under the bar facing towards the keg box (to the right in the picture) with the door removed and a couple pc fans blowing over the freezer plate (door removed from the freezer as well). Then the whole box is insulated, with a door for access (we actually re-used the fridge door). It actually works surprisingly well, though the freezer is in need of defrosting right now. I can squeeze two full-sized half barrels under there with some room leftover for bottles of beer/wine, the CO2, etc. Or I can fit 3 or 4 corny kegs, or 1/8th kegs. |
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Location: Moderator in training
Registered: 09-20-2005
Posts: 2547
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Posted
LOL...mine is built exactly the same way, with the same plans. My fridge has a hard time keeping up in the summer, but I was dumb and made the cold box a bit bigger than the plans. Plus, my bar isn't in a basement, so it isn't near as cool in the room as a basement would be. |
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Location: Milwaukee
Registered: 03-29-2001
Posts: 11075
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Posted
Very good.  Chili beer?  Freak!  |
