John Barleycorn Undistilled - The Finer Touches

[whollygoats]

Or...What's your favorite beer or ale, and why?

I'm not a beer or ale drinker, because it tends to put me to sleep. I did have a local craft brewed ale that I used to purchase by the keg whenever I had a warm weather bash. That was Bridgeport's Blue Heron Ale. It used to be on every shelf here in Beervana, but it has since been nudged in to 'seasonal beer' status and we have yet to determine when the hell that season is.

I recently completed a pilgrimage to Skara Brae, but along the way, I tarried in Windermere and did a sampling of the fruits of their very active Cumbrian native craft ale breweries. Yeah. Soporific! Thumb's up on that effort, chaps. I found an ale that I went back to: Jennings Cumberland Ale, a 'deep golden ale'. Top rate stuff. Carried on the boats plying the Lake, too.

So you don't feel all self-conscious about talking about your favorite beer or ale. This is the place.

 

[rousseau]

The beer I've purchased the most regularly is the Oatmeal Stout by St. Ambroise, which is considered one of the best craft beers in Canada. One of the best stouts I've ever had. Interestingly enough, in Quebec where it's brewed it's served almost everywhere and is just called 'St. Ambroise Stout' by most businesses. This is interesting because it's a beer that's almost universally hated by novices in Ontario. I guess in Quebec they just think of it as what stout tastes like?

Outside of St. Ambroise, according to Untappd I've sampled at least 137 different beers in the last three years. Of those I'd guess that they're predominantly made up of stouts and other ales, but also according to Untappd I've tried in the ballpark of 50 different styles over those three years. So I get around and like sampling new and interesting beers. I also used to tend away from IPAs, but anymore I think craft brewers are starting to do a better job of them, so I find myself drinking them more often.

One other notable beer I've gotten my hands on in the past couple years is the 'Westvleteren 12', which is known as the best beer in the world (probably just marketing hype and due to how the Trappist monastery distributes it). Turns out that it's a law of physics that you can't order one of these at a local bar without the waitress telling you it costs 25 dollars/bottle.

But anymore I'm like you and am starting to gravitate to liquor. Something tells me beer has a bit more sedative properties to it, and so also just makes me sleepy.

 

[Horatio Parker]

Semi-related: "John Barleycorn" by Jack London is a good read.

 

[dendrast]

I brew my own, have for years. I favour Cooper's and Munton's for brands of malt syrup, and tend to go for the ales.
As I pointed out in the other thread, it's not only about a third the price, it's better tasting, like home-made bread as opposed to store bought (as opposed to bakery bought).

 

[whollygoats]

I brew my own, have for years. I favour Cooper's and Munton's for brands of malt syrup, and tend to go for the ales.
As I pointed out in the other thread, it's not only about a third the price, it's better tasting, like home-made bread as opposed to store bought (as opposed to bakery bought).

I think that's an excellent analogy.

Home brew = Homemade bread

Craft brew = Bakery bread

Chain brew = Store bread

 

[rousseau]

Every now and then I get a hankering for a plain, gold beer, but this time around wanted a bit better craftsmanship so picked up four bombers of Beau's Lug Tread Lagered Ale:

Hadn't had it in several years and didn't realize it was a lager/ale hybrid. Really nice beer, and I also appreciate the 600ml serving size. Nice for a single session.

 

[TSwizzle]

I brew my own, have for years. I favour Cooper's and Munton's for brands of malt syrup, and tend to go for the ales.
As I pointed out in the other thread, it's not only about a third the price, it's better tasting, like home-made bread as opposed to store bought (as opposed to bakery bought).

I'm toying with the idea of starting home brew. It seems you can achieve a good quality beer inexpensively this way.


I'm not very adventurous with beers and tend to stick with known brands. I'm an IPA man so the usual and frequent beers are Sierra Nevada, Anchor Steam and maybe a Sam Adams Rebel which is actually a bit over the top.

If I am in the UK I enjoy a few pints of Belhaven Best and sometimes try a guest ale but always drift back to the Belhaven.

 

[rousseau]

I've thought about home-brew but figured I'd need more space than I do currently. Might be worth looking into if I can find a small kit..

 

[bilby]

I've thought about home-brew but figured I'd need more space than I do currently. Might be worth looking into if I can find a small kit..

You don't need a huge amount of space.

I have an ordinary garden shed with a couple of workbenches, and that's plenty of room.

It's convenient to have water and power, but not necessarily essential.

I use propane for my heat source, but still need power for a fan (because Carbon Monoxide poisoning is no fun).

 

[rousseau]

I've thought about home-brew but figured I'd need more space than I do currently. Might be worth looking into if I can find a small kit..

You don't need a huge amount of space.

I have an ordinary garden shed with a couple of workbenches, and that's plenty of room.

It's convenient to have water and power, but not necessarily essential.

I use propane for my heat source, but still need power for a fan (because Carbon Monoxide poisoning is no fun).

I don't even have that much exterior space. We have a couple sheds but they're full of junk.

I've heard inklings about smaller kits, may have to look into them when the time is right.

 

[rousseau]

Every now and then I get a hankering for a plain, gold beer, but this time around wanted a bit better craftsmanship so picked up four bombers of Beau's Lug Tread Lagered Ale:

Hadn't had it in several years and didn't realize it was a lager/ale hybrid. Really nice beer, and I also appreciate the 600ml serving size. Nice for a single session.

After a few of these in the past week, they're appealing to my inner teenager who used to drink cheap domestics before becoming an angsty intellectual, but also my more recent inner beer-snob who doesn't want to drink pure shit.

Good for pairing with hockey.

 

[rousseau]

After some chance and happenstance I have one of these beauties in my fridge right now, after inheriting it from the party my parent's threw this past summer:

Show

Not at all a great beer, but it throws me back to the days when I drank stuff like this.

Nostalgia over beer.. anyone else ever get the same?

 

[TSwizzle]

I've thought about home-brew but figured I'd need more space than I do currently. Might be worth looking into if I can find a small kit..

I have space in my garage but my fear is that being CA, the heat in the garage gets too high, even in the cooler months. I'm sure I read somewhere that room temperature can't get too warm.

 

[TSwizzle]

Not at all a great beer, but it throws me back to the days when I drank stuff like this.

Nostalgia over beer.. anyone else ever get the same?

Yes. I used to drink Rolling Rock beer for some reason, I think I liked the green bottle or something. It was a mediocre beer at best, when it was an independent brewery. The brewery (Old Latrobe) was later taken over by Anheuser-Busch and I stopped drinking it. But I see it in the market every so often, priced to sell. So, I bought a 12 pack recently, just for old time's sake. Brought back memories but deary me, it was foul.

 

[bilby]

I've thought about home-brew but figured I'd need more space than I do currently. Might be worth looking into if I can find a small kit..

I have space in my garage but my fear is that being CA, the heat in the garage gets too high, even in the cooler months. I'm sure I read somewhere that room temperature can't get too warm.

I only ever ferment under refrigeration; a second hand fridge with a seperate thermostat to allow you to set higher temperatures is not particularly expensive.

I typically ferment Ales at about 15°C and Lagers at about 9°C; nighttime minimum temps here at this time of year rarely fall below 20°C, and the high 30s are common in the afternoons. Such temperatures are useless for brewing beer - even if the yeast survives, it makes unpleasant flavours at high temperatures.

Ales are quite forgiving, but a good lager needs cool and slow fermenting (with a few days at higher temps at the end, to reduce excess diacetyl) to get the absolute best results.

 

[Worldtraveller]

I tend to prefer darker, less hoppy beers (I haven't liked a single IPA that I've tried yet). Stouts and porters are top of the list, with wheat beers and generally less filtered beers being more to my taste. (I like to joke that I don't trust beer that you can see through...)

London Porter is one of the best bottled imports that I can usually find in the US, although there are now lots of good 'local' options and micro brews that are available nationwide (Black Butte Porter being another favorite, from Oregon).

 

[rousseau]

I tend to prefer darker, less hoppy beers (I haven't liked a single IPA that I've tried yet). Stouts and porters are top of the list, with wheat beers and generally less filtered beers being more to my taste. (I like to joke that I don't trust beer that you can see through...)

London Porter is one of the best bottled imports that I can usually find in the US, although there are now lots of good 'local' options and micro brews that are available nationwide (Black Butte Porter being another favorite, from Oregon).

My tastes are about the same, although my beers get lighter when it warms up. Lots of oatmeal stouts, coffee porters, pumpkin/winter ale in the winter, and more wheats, pilsners, and lighter ales in the summer.

One of our local craft-breweries also puts out a lot of funky small-batch stuff which I can get down to from time to time. Lately they've been releasing a bunch of variations on sour/fruit beers which were great last summer. The occasional miss, but it's nice getting some more esoteric stuff put out there. Everything at the LCBO is always so samey.

 

[bilby]

I tend to prefer darker, less hoppy beers (I haven't liked a single IPA that I've tried yet). Stouts and porters are top of the list, with wheat beers and generally less filtered beers being more to my taste. (I like to joke that I don't trust beer that you can see through...)

London Porter is one of the best bottled imports that I can usually find in the US, although there are now lots of good 'local' options and micro brews that are available nationwide (Black Butte Porter being another favorite, from Oregon).

Many of my own beers are crystal clear; and I have never owned nor used any kind of filtration equipment (other than the grain bed in the mash tun). A crystal clear beer can easily be achieved by proper care during fermentation, and proper temperature control - the word 'lager' comes from the practice of storing beer at low temperature after the end of primary fermentation to settle out any particulate matter and give high clarity without filtration.

Filtration is a shortcut, not a necessity, for making beer you can see through.

I agree with you about IPA. The modern style of adding huge amounts of late hops on a pale malt base is not much to my taste; I prefer a dark malt-forward beer most of the time.

If you like the darker, maltier beers, I would recommend Black Sheep Brewery's Riggwelter, if you can find it. It's exported worldwide, so you should be able to find it in most countries.

 

[fromderinside]

I'm 15 years retired. I drink beer. Done so since I carted wheat in 1958. I don't like it much. I mean any of it, ever. It's situation and habit for me. Worked up a sweat? Have a beer. Go home and prepare a nice rare steak with baker and butter, veg, salad optional. Should make the palate feel better. If not, add ice cream.

 

[rousseau]

I've thought about home-brew but figured I'd need more space than I do currently. Might be worth looking into if I can find a small kit..

You don't need a huge amount of space.

I have an ordinary garden shed with a couple of workbenches, and that's plenty of room.

It's convenient to have water and power, but not necessarily essential.

I use propane for my heat source, but still need power for a fan (because Carbon Monoxide poisoning is no fun).

On this, has anybody used 1 gallon kits? Looked into them last night but I wonder if the cost savings would be worth the effort.

Although, I could see an advantage to this in that if/when I get good at it, I could make some esoteric styles to my own liking. I also wonder what quality of beer I'm likely to get out of a kit like this.