BEER Thread!

Trachalio wrote:

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My feelings exactly! Where the hell are the IPA spoons?!?!?!?!

Saw that one reddit yesterday. So stupid.

Have any Chicago Goojers tried any beers from Illuminated Brew Works? I'm in love with the over-the-top-ness of this label and a double dry hopped DIPA with peaches kinda sounds delish to me.

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Trachalio wrote:

Have any Chicago Goojers tried any beers from Illuminated Brew Works? I'm in love with the over-the-top-ness of this label and a double dry hopped DIPA with peaches kinda sounds delish to me.

IMAGE(https://static1.squarespace.com/static/52fa7456e4b09514a0ff77cb/t/5b115e2f1ae6cf669cfac4b7/1527864898307/GayAgenda.png?format=1000w)

Not Chicago but got to try their beer at the Great Taste of the Midwest last year. They are high on my list of must stop places this year, assuming they are back. They do a lot of Farmhouse and sour beers as well. I wonder if they will have Gay Agenda shirts for sale as part of their merch.

Trachalio wrote:

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I mean, most IPAs taste like lemon grass soup poured through a recently used lawnmower, so why not.

Mixolyde wrote:

I mean, most IPAs taste like lemon grass soup poured through a recently used lawnmower, so why not.

If you haven’t had IPA in the past 5 year, I might agree with you. To each their own!

I don’t know if anyone here has mentioned this yet, but I’ve been using Tavour to find some really interesting beers that I can’t find on my area. I’ve gotten some really tasty stuff. They are very into IPAs atm, but they’ve had ciders, quads, saisons, and sours (which is why I’m there). If you’re interested, let me know; I get referral money if you use the service.

I've been a Tavour subscriber myself for a good year now. It's been awesome, but also dangerously easy to send them a huge amount of money before you even realize it!

Although literally just yesterday I received a message from them that due to some law (or something) change here in Massachusetts about beer distribution they aren't going to send here anymore. I wrote to them and asked what it was about, but I haven't heard back yet. It really sucks, because I've picked up some amazing beers that I would never have been able to try any other way, and now it's done. Hopefully they can still send to Connecticut, cause I might be able to have the crates sent there.

I had to delete Tavour from my phone, it's too tempting! But I take solace in the beers of Portland.

Anyone tried a Brut IPA yet? I'm gonna see if I can track some down over the weekend - the brewery in that linked article is just a few miles from my front door.

Jonman wrote:

Anyone tried a Brut IPA yet? I'm gonna see if I can track some down over the weekend - the brewery in that linked article is just a few miles from my front door.

I've only had one local one, it was... Ok. It was in a bottle, perhaps if it was fresher, it would be better. I love the idea of it being the complete opposite of the hazy IPA craze, but I wasn't blown away by the one I had. I'm thinking I just need to brew it myself...

Jonman wrote:

Anyone tried a Brut IPA yet? I'm gonna see if I can track some down over the weekend - the brewery in that linked article is just a few miles from my front door.

There is on that is regularly on tap from an excellent brewery in town. Quite good but I would like to try some more examples.

The husband and I just got back from a 10 day vacation in Nova Scotia. While breweries were not the primary reason for this vacation, we managed to hit up 6 of 'em! I don't want to write a huge post, so I'll just give y'all some highlights.

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First off was the Alexander Keith's tour. At $36 a person was the most expensive tour I've done at a brewery! Say what you will about their non-IPA India Pale Ale, the tour got you 3 samples of some of their experimental beers, none of which are available outside the brewery. We tried their Fundy Lowtide WIPA, Highland Pils, Cornerstone EPA, and a chocolate nib stout that didn't have a name.

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(just out of frame is the United Federation of Planets flag :D)
Second was Garrison Brewing, a place I've wanted to go ever since I tried their (many) Star Trek themed beers. Nice open concept brewery with very friendly staff. I tried a flight of 5 beers: Pinapple Express, Sideways, Lucky Pink, Pucker up, and Sour Castro.

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Thirdly was 2 Crows, another brewery I've very much been looking forward to visiting after drinking their Kilter (local Winnipeg brewery) collab and Fantacity. They had so much to choose from, but I had a short flight of 4 beers: Thunderdome, Dare to Dream, Porcelain Princess, and Pollyanna. Loved Thunderdome so much I brought home a 4 pack!

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Fourth was a happy accident: Rudders Restaurant and Brewpub. We were driving past Yarmouth and were hungry and by fluke ended up here. The brewery itself was... interesting. Part prep-kitchen, part maintenance area, and the only brewery I've been to that had a lobster tank in the brewhouse area. While I found the food to be mediocre I thoughouly enjoyed the pint of tripple berry chocolate stout I had.

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Fifth was another happy accident: Looking for something to do on a Thursday night in Sydney, we discovered that Breton Brewing was across the river from us AND that it was trivia night! Had a blast competing with our new found friends (I STILL can't believe I couldn't remember that "Suicide is Painless" is the theme song from M*A*S*H!) and the 2 of the 3 beers I had were amazing, with one being enjoyable but not mindblowing. Storm Chaser (loved), Sterling Heffeweissen (alright), and Sour Sessions #3: Kiwi & Passionfruit (loved).

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Our sixth and final visit was to Good Robot Brewing, where another flight of beers was had. Goseface Killer, Swearwolf, Tom Waits for No One, and Creature Feature II. Goseface was made with seasalt and corriander and was delish. Creature Feature II is a "biotransformation IPA", a term I'd never heard before, but judging by the taste, is something I'll keep an eye out for!

Looks like a great trip! Biotransformation is the process of adding dry hops while the yeast is at its peak activity rather than later on as is more tradition. For certain hop oils, there is a chemical reaction that seems to occur to produce different aromas an character. It is the key feature in NEIPA or Hazy/Juicy IPAs. A very fruity and juicy soft hop character.

bhchrist wrote:

Looks like a great trip! Biotransformation is the process of adding dry hops while the yeast is at its peak activity rather than later on as is more tradition. For certain hop oils, there is a chemical reaction that seems to occur to produce different aromas an character. It is the key feature in NEIPA or Hazy/Juicy IPAs. A very fruity and juicy soft hop character.

I'd looked it up to find out what exactly it meant, but had no idea it was a key part of making NEIPAs! Man, every time I think I might want to try home brewing because I think I understand it... it just get's more complicated

Trachalio wrote:
bhchrist wrote:

Looks like a great trip! Biotransformation is the process of adding dry hops while the yeast is at its peak activity rather than later on as is more tradition. For certain hop oils, there is a chemical reaction that seems to occur to produce different aromas an character. It is the key feature in NEIPA or Hazy/Juicy IPAs. A very fruity and juicy soft hop character.

I'd looked it up to find out what exactly it meant, but had no idea it was a key part of making NEIPAs! Man, every time I think I might want to try home brewing because I think I understand it... it just get's more complicated :D

It's not that complicated. The great thing about home brewing and many other hobbies is you can do the minimum and come out with a pretty good product, or get as in depth as you want with it. You can make a great IPA without doing a biotransformation dry hop.

However in this case, it's a big complicated word to essentially say "add hops earlier than usual"

I can say that, although I haven't tested it, apparently biotransformations with hops doesn't happen with every strain of yeast, it might be dependent on the yeast. There are some very popular yeast strains that are used with NEIPA's and these generally work with that biotransformation step

It is likely to be both yeast strain and hop variety dependent. For a bit of a down the rabbit hole read, I highly recommend Scott Janish.

http://scottjanish.com/examination-o...

An excerpt from the article:
Biotransformation of Hop Oils

Biotransformation, which is the transformation of hop oils in the presence of yeast, is a fascinating processes. I was surprised to find a study titled, “Biotransformation of hop aroma terpenoids by ale and lager yeasts” dated all the way back to 2003, considering this is still not something you hear very often in the homebrew community today (at least I don’t). The study looked at brewing yeast (both lager and ale) ability to transform terpenoids. Specifically, they looked at geraniol, linalool, myrcene, caryophyllene, and humulene.

The study found that yeast does in fact have the ability to transform terpenoids. Specifically, geraniol was converted into citronellol (which is described as having a sweet, rose-like, citrus and fruity aroma) and linalool was converted into terpineol (which is described as having lilac like aromas). Remember that linalool had the greater ability to stick around the longest during the brewing process. Interestingly, they found that “most of the terpene alcohols were lost from the fermentations within the first few days of the fermentation, and after that, the decreases occurred at much lower and steadier rates…This indicates that the loss of terpenoids was associated with the increase in yeast biomass.”3 This might suggest that if dry hops are added after the first couple days of the most active fermentation, the biotransformation process would decrease. Maybe we should we should be pre-dry hopping our beer (adding dry hops to the fermenter before the wort and yeast) to take the greatest advantage of both the biotransformation process as well as the greater hop oil extraction due to not being introduced to the wort during the boil?

You can see from the two charts below the biotransformation by the ale yeast (S. cerevisiae). Although its cutoff in the charts, the bottom line represents time (days) during fermentation. It’s amazing to see geraniol basically disappear during fermentation and transform into citronellol!

Oh no... I'm going to fall into another rabbit hole as deep as the one I'm in reading about kveiks aren't I?

I'm probably super late to the party on this. Discovered Don't Drink Beer about a month ago and their beer satire is SO GOOOOOOD.

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Last Friday I attended a lecture on the Taste of Ancient Beers. I was asked by a local brewer if I could record it for him and I thought I'd share the video with y'all as well:

Cant believe I didnt see this thread sooner... Ive been doing homebrew for a while now buth nothing too fancy. Mostly wheat beers and darker ales.

I just made my first IPA recently. Got it transferred into secondary yesterday along with some whole leaf hops. Planning to break it out for Christmas!

That dontdrinkbeer account is amazing! Instant follow.

Phades, welcome! You should also check out the brewing thread: https://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/...

Good luck on the IPA! I'm just about through the Belgian quad I made a couple months ago, and I think the next one's going to be a good fruity New England IPA. Thanksgiving weekend will be the perfect chance to do up a new brew.

I decided to post this here instead of the "Post a news story" thread, as I feel it's more approproiate here.

150-Year-Old Shipreck Beer Returned to Its Brewery in Scotland

In the 1970s, Jim Anderson, an avid diver, discovered a 150-year-old bottle of Tennent’s beer off the coast of Australia, near Melbourne. Nearly 50 years later, he has returned the beer to its rightful home: Wellpark Brewery in Glasgow, Scotland.

The beer, which is a stout, is believed to be the oldest bottle of beer in Scotland.

“I could see the inscription Wellpark Brewery on it, and I set about finding where that was,” Anderson, who is now 72 years old, said. “I found out it was in Glasgow, and I contacted Tennent’s to see if they were interested in the bottle, which they were, and I was delighted. Now people can look at it, and think about the connection between Australia and Scotland, too. It’s very special.”

The beer was on board the Light of the Age, a ship carrying 42 people from Liverpool to Australia in 1868, the BBC reports. Shipments of the beer were common at that time. Unfortunately and somewhat ironically, this particular clipper sank on Jan. 16, 1868 due the captain’s drunkenness.

The beer will be on display at Wellpark’s new visitor center starting November 22. Tennent’s has also developed a commemorative brew to celebrate the occasion.

Well, it's time to tap the keg and pour out a glass of the first IPA I've made. I'm a little nervous, and a lot excited.

Enjoy! IPA is pretty forgiving, I think.

Nice! How did it turn out? I'll be tapping my keg this weekend. My third IPA, and hopefully it came out delicious!

I'll be cracking open a bottle of my first partial mash BIAB brew this evening. It's only conditioned for a week, so it might not be quite ready, but I want to check the flavor, since I gave away a few bottle recently to a friend. I used a totally new technique, and it's a style I've never made before (English Ordinary Bitters). Wish me luck! (I'm a little worried...)

Good luck! Or well, I guess the weekend is over now, so you probably know how it went at this point.

Mine has turned out really well! It's a bit hop-harsh, but that's to be expected at this point. By this weekend it should be perfect. It's nice and fruit-forward already, has an amazing aroma, and is surprisingly easy-drinking for 8.5% abv. I don't think the keg will last very long!

Thanks. As I expected, it needs a little more time to condition in the bottle, but the flavor was terrific. Malty and clean. The thing that shocked me though: I've never brewed a beer this perfectly clear and clean. Dark amber color, but perfectly clear. The bottle I opened had no real sediment.

That bag made an enormous difference, I think, since I pulled most of the traub out with it before fermentation. Can't wait to try it again.

d4m0: 8.5% is a meaty beast! How long did you ferment?

Glad to hear the brew came out really well, hangdog! It sure sounds really good to me.

It is pretty meaty! And this one's on the lower end of most of what I brew (I like big brews and I cannot lie). I left it in the fermenter for two weeks. No secondary, just straight to the keg from there. This one was a little unusual in that it had an utterly massive amount of trub, like at least twice what I usually have, and probably a bit more than that actually. I'm not really sure why that happened, but I can say at least at this early point that it did not affect the taste of the beer in a bad way. I did use 2 lbs of oats, so maybe that contributed? I'm not sure.

Here it is just before putting into the keg:
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