What's new
By:

Best beers for brahs?

Broncster said:
Just bought these three beers from the Utah beer Co-op! That store is great high percentage beer not from a liquor store and they do on tap growlers.

The black'o'latern is better than the regular pumpkin beers. Its a dark beer with a hint of pumpkin, not the overwhelming artificial pumpkin taste.
the Ghost rider is my favorite IPA now. I dont really like IPA's that much but this one is really good. It does not have the bitter hoppy after taste.
The Wee Peet is a hoppy bitter taste to start and a sweet after taste, goes great with something sweet.

View attachment 3783
Click to expand...

I like Ghost Rider. First time I bought any I bought it for a poker game and only had two bottles. I actually had to beg a sip from someone else so I could try it.

I'll withhold comment on the pumpkin beer as I don't drink fruit beers as a rule. Nothing against other people who enjoy them, I'm just not very open to them.

Wee Peat is one of my current favorites. Love it. I assume from the name that they actually use peat smoked malt in the recipe. As far as homebrew style guidelines go that is cheating, but if they do use it they do it very well. The smokiness is subtle. Scottish ale should have a slightly smokey character, but real Scottish yeast will produce that if handled correctly. Wee Peat is more malty than my Scottish ale, "Third Cousin," and I don't cheat. My version is quite clean and crisp with an even more subtle smoky flavor that is in fact produced by fermenting at the extreme low end of the yeast's temperature range. I've never guzzled beer I've made like I do when I make Scottish ale. I don't make it a lot because I'm always trying to brew for specific reasons, but I think it's my favorite beer.
 
Gameface said:
Hops are pretty amazing and there are new varietals being produced every season nowadays. Unfortunately many of the new varietals are patented which keeps the supply severely limited and the prices high. Amarillo (or should I say VGXP01 c.v.) is one of my favorite hops, but can be hard to get and is twice as expensive as many other types. Unfortunately, UGLI Baby IPA can't be made without it.

Once hops started being used they were quickly used to the exclusion of previously used gruit. They are just THAT GOOD when it comes to what they do for beer. Gruit beer is still available, although I'd say it's more for novelty and history than anything else.

But the new hops being produced are bringing more and more flavors to the table. Traditional hops are typically described as earthy or floral. New hops are citrus, melon, fruit, berries, pine, grass. There are some new hops said (I haven't experimented with them) to produce a strawberry flavor, some that produce watermelon. Some of the most coveted hops are real love 'em or hate 'em types, like Simcoe, which some describe lovingly as having a piney, resiny aroma and other describe as straight cat piss.

Hops are only one of many reasons I think beer is a far more sophisticated beverage than wine. Hard for many to get the beer guzzling frat boy or trailer park dwelling alcoholic stereotypes disassociated from what beer is becoming, but the fact is that good wine is the product of good grapes and good beer is the product of a good brewer. There are many beer/wine makers and former wine makers at homebrewtalk.com, and the story is always the same. Making good beer requires much more skill and creativity than making good wine.
Click to expand...

It might be the hops flavor that I don't like about beer. Every time I have tried it the bitterness is just overwhelming, and normally I like bitter flavors (dark chocolate, etc.). In the time I spent in Germany the group I was with would always order beer with dinner, and I tried a few and found them to be very astringent and just so bitter as to overwhelm any other flavors. I get that it is an acquired taste, but it seemed extreme to me. Could be that I am sensitive to that part of it.
 
LogGrad98 said:
It might be the hops flavor that I don't like about beer. Every time I have tried it the bitterness is just overwhelming, and normally I like bitter flavors (dark chocolate, etc.). In the time I spent in Germany the group I was with would always order beer with dinner, and I tried a few and found them to be very astringent and just so bitter as to overwhelm any other flavors. I get that it is an acquired taste, but it seemed extreme to me. Could be that I am sensitive to that part of it.
Click to expand...

Do you know what style of beer they were drinking? Berliner Weiss is a beer that uses a sour mash for its distinct flavor. That is accomplished simply by letting the mash sit for a time before draining it. Grain has a significant amount of lactobacillus on it which creates a sour flavor.

Astringency is a feeling, like something is drying your mouth out. Bitterness is a flavor.

Again, German beer is not my forte, but I'd imagine they are using noble hops (especially smooth, subtle and not harsh) and using them in relatively limited amounts and mostly as bittereing hops with very little or no flavor/aroma hops.

You may not like hops but hops character can be pretty much neutralized by shifting the balance towards the malt flavors.

So really, what it comes down to is, you just need to try a lot more beer.

Just kidding.
 
So after reading this I wanted to give ales and specifically IPA's second chance. Problem is , I can't find any of your recommended brands in our local stores. Some IPA's I found are crazy expensive and come in 650mls bottles and are at 7-9% alcohol. WTF? I think I would rather have Porter if I want 8-9% alcohol beer...
 
AKMVP said:
So after reading this I wanted to give ales and specifically IPA's second chance. Problem is , I can't find any of your recommended brands in our local stores. Some IPA's I found are crazy expensive and come in 650mls bottles and are at 7-9% alcohol. WTF? I think I would rather have Porter if I want 8-9% alcohol beer...
Click to expand...

Porters are typically in the 5%abv range.

IPAs are typically around 6.5-7.5% but IIPAs or DIPAs (imperial/Double) can be around 9% or more. If you start out not liking ales I'd hold off on the IPAs for now.

I'd go for a sweet stout, which should be nothing at all like Guinness.

If possible a Kolsch, altbier or cream ale would be even better.
 
Gameface said:
Porters are typically in the 5%abv range.

IPAs are typically around 6.5-7.5% but IIPAs or DIPAs (imperial/Double) can be around 9% or more. If you start out not liking ales I'd hold off on the IPAs for now.

I'd go for a sweet stout, which should be nothing at all like Guinness.

If possible a Kolsch, altbier or cream ale would be even better.
Click to expand...

weird, our porter back home was 8-9% or so. The thing I dislike about Guinness the most is that is so flat. No carbonation at all
 
Last edited:
AKMVP said:
weird, our porter back home was 8-9% or so. The thing I dislike about Guinness the most is that is so flat. No carbonation at all
Click to expand...

Commercial breweries are not constrained by style guidelines but Brown porter tops out at 5.4%abv, Robust porter tops out at 6.5% and then there is Baltic porter, which is a lager, that tops out at 9.5%
 
Question: do they ever distill beer the way they distill other liquors, or can it be done? I mean I know brewing is not the same as distilling, I understand the process differences, just curious if you could distill beer to get a higher alcohol concentration.
 
LogGrad98 said:
Question: do they ever distill beer the way they distill other liquors, or can it be done? I mean I know brewing is not the same as distilling, I understand the process differences, just curious if you could distill beer to get a higher alcohol concentration.
Click to expand...
No. There is no beer style that is distilled. It would be an odd flavor with the hops I think. Whiskey is kind of like an unhopped beer that is distilled, but there are several differences.
 
Gameface said:
Commercial breweries are not constrained by style guidelines but Brown porter tops out at 5.4%abv, Robust porter tops out at 6.5% and then there is Baltic porter, which is a lager, that tops out at 9.5%
Click to expand...

Ah...now it all makes sense, we used to have Baltic porter back home obviously.
 
Jose_Ortiz_fan said:
And it taste like fish...because it has goddamn fish stuff in it: isinglass.
Click to expand...
None of the isinglass is in the finished beer. It shouldn't leave any fishy flavors. But I'm surprised they use that as opposed to filtering which I imagine they do anyway.
 
When you have a pair of balls, people will judge you for saying you like a flavored beer. So don't get me wrong here. But this is the perfect beer for the season, just as it's getting chilly. The Imperial Pumking from Southern Tier Brewery. There was also an imperial stout by ST, but I am broke and couldn't afford it.

You'll also appreciate my countenance in this image twice.

7fw0m69.jpg
 
Gameface said:
None of the isinglass is in the finished beer. It shouldn't leave any fishy flavors. But I'm surprised they use that as opposed to filtering which I imagine they do anyway.
Click to expand...

I didn't know that about isinglass. But Guinness always tastes like fishy **** to me, so I assumed that was why.

giphy.gif
 
Gameface said:
Second batch of UGLI Baby IPA in the tank!

Beautiful day! Couldn't have asked for a better brew day.
Click to expand...

Nice looking recipe. Might have to give this one a try. I have never used calypso hops but hear good things about them. 104 ibu should keep the bud drinkers away. Love the cascade - amarillo hop combination.
 
midnight shift said:
Nice looking recipe. Might have to give this one a try. I have never used calypso hops but hear good things about them. 104 ibu should keep the bud drinkers away. Love the cascade - amarillo hop combination.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've really enjoyed Amarillo/Cascade late hop combos. I'd consider doing an all Amarillo but I score my 1lb from hopsdirect.com and don't want to blow it all on one batch of beer.

My first batch of UGLI Baby used Magnum as the main bittering hop but I didn't get any magnum this year and had also read a lot of good things about Calypso, so that is the biggest change this time around.

I was also concerned because the first batch used 2012 harvest Amarillo, which I hear was very good, but this batch used 2013 harvest, which I've heard mixed reviews about, so I hope that I got my hands on the good stuff.

Close to kegging time for this batch, so I'm pumped.

Are you local? If so, I'd be happy to give you a couple bottles to try out before you commit a brew session to it.

Edit: And if you do decide to make this don't buy the Calypso. Hit me up. I have extra.

And the acidulated is used strictly as a pH adjustment, so if you don't need it don't use it. Just replace it with more MO.

Oh and while I'm at it, the DME is used because this recipe maxes out my mash tun before I can get the required O.G. If that's not a problem for you I'd probably sub-in more MO and maybe 1lb of carapils.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Yes, I live on the other side of the valley in Tooele. I am sure this is a good recipe and have no doubts that it will be very drinkable. I am making a smoked porter next weekend then I think I will brew the recipe you posted after that. I do have some Amarillo in the freezer just waiting to be put in an IPA so this is perfect timing.
 
Big **** is about to happen here! You've been warned.
 
Like really big ****! You've been double warned.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page
Back
Top