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The Beer Thread


H. Lecter

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Probably my top 5 fave beers off the top of my head (though after drinking each of them a little too regularly I've made it more of an occasion as to not get bored of them):

 

 

 

9-hobgoblin.jpg

 

 

i-samuelsmith-taddyporter.png

 

 

FULLERSESB.jpg

 

 

estrella-daura.jpg

 

 

TuskerLager.png

 

 

 

Don't particularly like super hoppy shit or most American craft brews (90% of what's in California stores), usually prefer smooth, dark, english ales and crisp, quality lagers. Such as those above

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Don't particularly like super hoppy shit or most American craft brews (90% of what's in California stores), usually prefer smooth, dark, english ales and crisp, quality lagers. Such as those above

 

im sure protester will be rolling his eyes at the following misinformation but;

 

most beers coming out of the UK don't include water conditioning in the brewing process so minerals like potassium and magnesium are in imperfect amounts, causing the yeast to under-perform. this causes a lack of CO2 which i wouldn't describe as smooth so much as flat.

 

IMO the beers above, not all lagers by the way, are pretty hit or miss. the hopgoblin was ok but the fullers ESB is horrible, particularly when pulled through a pump tap? (someone will know what they;re called). warm and flat.

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I too will probably get a roll of the eyes for this but...

 

It's been my understanding that some of the "brewing waters" in the UK are legendary. With some brewers going so far as to add mineral coctails to the mash, beyond just adjusting mash ph, in an attempt give the finished product that authentic "feel". The specific sources names escape me at the moment, and I'm too lazy to google it.

 

A good portion of the recipes I have found for traditional English styles mention adding X grams per gallon to simulate the water from the ________ river.

 

Like I said I may be wildly misinformed.

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im sure protester will be rolling his eyes at the following misinformation but;

 

most beers coming out of the UK don't include water conditioning in the brewing process so minerals like potassium and magnesium are in imperfect amounts, causing the yeast to under-perform. this causes a lack of CO2 which i wouldn't describe as smooth so much as flat.

 

IMO the beers above, not all lagers by the way, are pretty hit or miss. the hopgoblin was ok but the fullers ESB is horrible, particularly when pulled through a pump tap? (someone will know what they;re called). warm and flat.

 

Didn't say they were all lagers, said dark english ales and good lagers are my favorite beers. I don't know anything about the water used in the UK, but heavy carbonation isn't a characteristic I look for anyway.

 

Anyway, to each their own ! 90% of the people where I live think I'm crazy for not being into overly-hopped pales and single/double/triple IPAs... Which is fine. It's strange, when I was smoking dank regularly, a few years back, I loved hoppy beers. Since then, to me, theyve started to taste like what I imagine a pinecone would, or the pitch from a freshly cut tree branch. Plus they make the inside of my mouth feel bleh and give me a hangover no other beer gives me (the extra sugar maybe, not sure).

 

All that said, I had and kind of enjoyed a Sierra Nevada just last weekend, and often find myself left with few non-hoppy options, so I still end up drinking them. I'm not exagerrating when I say 3/4 of the "good" beers typically available around here are super-hopped.

 

Never had the Fuller's esb on tap but I really dig it out of the bottle. Maybe I'm the only one. And smooth doesn't necessarily mean lacking in character. I'm not talking fuckin guinness. I'm talking good porters, stouts and certain other ales.

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With regards to the famous English water, essentially the water at Burton on Trent is legendary for the harshness of the make up. Brewers around the world when making English ales, and even other ales, will 'Burtonise' their water, which is adding harsher compounds, calcium and magnesium bicarbonates.

 

A lot of craft breweries appear to be in slightly rural areas where they are more than likely using rain water, quite soft. If the brewer doesn't want to/feel the need/has a different plan to adding hardening, then you won't get those true English bitter ales. There's a great argument for doing it, there's also a great argument for not doing it.

 

Also, some places might be really pushing a line of all local/natural - and you could probably say buying in Magnesium Bicarbonate from somewhere and chucking it in... isn't really local.

 

I could bang on for ages; if you want some heavy material;

http://www.antiochsudsuckers.com/tom/brewingwater.htm

 

As for the overly hoppy beers... I'm pretty much over them. Have been for a while. Low alcohol beers (-3.5%) are really where I'm focussing.

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Non-hoppy nurga:

 

I love Sierra Nevada Pale, but I think their (Torpedo? Turbine?) IPA is disgusting. It's like chewing a pinecone.

 

Then again, I last had it after a merry night of swilling gin from the bottle, so my palate just might not have been feeling anything remotely like that.

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I have said this in this thread before and I will restate it now, beer has to be balanced. You cant just throw hops at a mediocre beer and expect it to be magically saved. That being said, I go in cycles on the supper hoppy beers, I love em, then I get burned out on em, then I take a break and I'm all about em again. A nice crisp ipa is just the thing to cut the heat especially when it's up over 100 degrees here.

 

@ protester, thanks for the clarification.

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'Tis certainly true that Juniper's are Conifers. One common taste from Gin should be annisede/licorice. Gin should always give off a floral aroma surrounded by herbs, the herb make up is dependent on what the distiller has used.

 

I can see why moving from Gin to just about anything else would be a bit of a challenge on the old tongue.

 

...I know this isn't the 'Gin Thread'... but I've just made some...

 

hygQ9.jpg

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Props not necessary, I love this shit.

 

The Bourbon, which I have to call American Style Spirit because the US has rights over the name Bourbon, is coming along awesomely. I actually imported some white American oak and charred it myself here on the brew house, I just took the kettle off and used the flame. I don't think it was the safest thing in the world.

 

I should have some ready by December this year. I have a room that I'm temperature controlling the same as Kentucky (http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lmk/) to try and give a lit bit more story I guess.

 

Absinthe hasn't started yet.

 

If everyone's cool with it I can give a run down on the vodka production as well.

 

I pulled out the old mini still and made some Strawberry Vodka the other day...

 

uog62.jpg

 

Question: American Style Spirit or American Whiskey? I would love to call it Bourbon, but as aforementioned, it's illegal. I know 'style spirit' doesn't sound great.... but I'm in the camp of it's NOT FUCKIN' WHISKY!

 

Thoughts welcomed!

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appalachia brown liquor.

 

to continue the non-beer conversation: protester: are you familiar with rene redzepi? besides being a phenomenal chef, he's kind of renowned for his ingredient list and imagination in where he brings his flavors from. ash, algae, bark, leaves, moss, etc...

 

i feel like his theories and methods in food have insane potential in the liquor world, esp in small batch stuff. i assume there is probably people who do stuff like that, but i'm absolutely outside that loop.

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