The Officially Official Beer Thread

[Baboon]

I have had the Tremens before and was trying to decide between the two. I went with the one I haven't tried before.

I will have two bottles of Tremens for the Super Bowl. I promised my wife's friend I'd have a bottle for her that day if she comes over.

[Saison]

Try the Delirium Tremens.

Although Nocturnum is amazing, you can also probably score some leftover Noels, which are also tasty. Delirium is

[Evil Elmo]

oh, btw, I cracked open the Bam Biere.

[Saison]

oh, btw, I cracked open the Bam Biere.

ah nice. that's a nice light beer considering your usual fare. what did you think?

[Baboon]

I've got a hankerin' for that Nocturnum sitting in my fridge. I don't think it will see tomorrow, nor will the Allagash Four that I picked up.

[Saison]

I've got a hankerin' for that Nocturnum sitting in my fridge. I don't think it will see tomorrow, nor will the Allagash Four that I picked up.

Aw man. Sounds like a good night to me! We're having some more Tremens with our dinner this evening.

[Baboon]

I am thinking that I may have sweet wonderful beered a little too much last night. UGH. I just can't get going today.

[Saison]

We pushed a bunch of homebrew yesterday. Moved the Dave's hoppy session ale, the Oktoberfest and the Bock to secondary and kegged the Kolsch. We put the altbier on tap. Quite tasty. Also, when the quad is kicked, we're putting on the Imperial Blonde Ale which I brewed with my friend Amy (also a blonde). Woo!

We did a fair amount of drinking this weekend, but the nice part of homebrew is that it has all those yummy b-complex vitamins that help prevent hangovers.

Hope you feel better Baboon.

[Baboon]

You are the homebrew master. I'm just feeling a bit sluggish and tired...no headache or anything like that.

I am brewing my first real batch this Sunday (none of that Mr Beer stuff anymore). I am having dinner with some friends at a beer bar Saturday and one of them has a wort chiller for me. I've been gathering bottles and spent a good chunk of time this past weekend cleaning them up. I've got enough for two batches now.

[Saison]

You are the homebrew master. I'm just feeling a bit sluggish and tired...no headache or anything like that.

I am brewing my first real batch this Sunday (none of that Mr Beer stuff anymore). I am having dinner with some friends at a beer bar Saturday and one of them has a wort chiller for me. I've been gathering bottles and spent a good chunk of time this past weekend cleaning them up. I've got enough for two batches now.

Sweet! What are you brewing? Be sure to post pics! We're going to do another lager this weekend before the weather gets away from us.

[ThePrankMonkey]

im considering brewing a test gallon of mead.

*runs and hides before i get stoned to death*

[Saison]

im considering brewing a test gallon of mead.

*runs and hides before i get stoned to death*

awesome! what kind of honey? (I started a mead thread for Monster a while back, which may be of some help to you.)

[ThePrankMonkey]

im not sure yet. im learning about what type of honey to use, clearly the stuff at the store isnt suitable.

but im thinking of using something like orange blossom since its readily available and not rare at all. since its for a test batch my focus is on the brewing and fermenting process. i know bad ingredients make for a bad brew but i want to keep it simple and yet cheap if i can.

because honey itself doesnt have the nutrients the yeast needs to ferment, i was thinking of using fruit puree like cherry or blueberry since that would help give the yeast what they need to really get going.

now i want to keep it simple but there are all kinds of meads and some are even hopped, some have malt in them, fruit, nuts...for flavoring anyway and even spices. not much different from beer honestly.

at first i might just do a still mead and later a sparkling mead. im thinking high alcohol content after a while though but not real dry, more like a medium.

i was considering using a belgian wit yeast for my first batch since i love witbier. but im not sure.

[Saison]

I've made mead a few times. We've used orange blossom, which is just lovely. I highly recommend using a yeast nutrient to give your batch a fighting chance. Also, consider champagne yeast, since the high quality honey can really do the talking. After that you can experiment with other beer yeasts. The champagne yeast will give you a nice dry mead, which you can condition afterward if you like. We sparkled ours, and it came out better than any real champagne I've ever had.
P.S. If you're interested, I might be able to send you a bottle.

[ThePrankMonkey]

im looking for a medium mead in terms of dryness, not too sweet, not too dry. champagne yeast will make it dry for sure and from what ive read i can adjust the honey i put in to help make it sweeter or less to make it more dry.

before i even shell out money for quality honey i'll probably use some store bought honey and some kind of ale yeast, probably a belgian style. something that can give a high ABV. i wont use champagne yeast until later when i have more champagne bottles as oi think that would be best as a sparkling mead.

[Evil Elmo]

ah nice. that's a nice light beer considering your usual fare. what did you think?

I enjoyed the hell out of it. I liked the Sour aspect of it. Actually liked it better than Ommegang Hennepin.

[Saison]

im looking for a medium mead in terms of dryness, not too sweet, not too dry. champagne yeast will make it dry for sure and from what ive read i can adjust the honey i put in to help make it sweeter or less to make it more dry.

before i even shell out money for quality honey i'll probably use some store bought honey and some kind of ale yeast, probably a belgian style. something that can give a high ABV. i wont use champagne yeast until later when i have more champagne bottles as oi think that would be best as a sparkling mead.

Once you reach your desired level of sweetness, you can add potassium metabisulfite to stop yeast growth. You can get that at a local homebrew supplier, or online. Northern Brewer's website has a lot of awesome stuff.
If you're going to go a belgian route, white labs has a lot of great Trappist blends. I'd recommend the WLP 0565.
Also, if you don't already have one, get a hydrometer to measure how much fermentable sugar is in your mead.

I enjoyed the hell out of it. I liked the Sour aspect of it. Actually liked it better than Ommegang Hennepin.

I'm a big fan of Jolly Pumpkin. All their beers have a kiss of sourness with I think really adds a nice balance. Plus all their labels are hella cool.

[ThePrankMonkey]

WLP565 Belgian Saison I Yeast. Classic Saison yeast from Wallonia. It produces earthy, peppery, and spicy notes. Slightly sweet. With high gravity saisons, brewers may wish to dry the beer with an alternate yeast added after 75% fermentation. Apparent attenuation: 65-75%. Flocculation: medium. Optimum temp: 68°-75° F

you mean this one?

i might try it, ill try to find it locally first but i'll have to make a trip across the city to the home brew store.

[Baboon]

Sweet! What are you brewing? Be sure to post pics! We're going to do another lager this weekend before the weather gets away from us.

My first batch will be a double IPA. When I got the starter kit for Christmas, I was worried that I'd screw it up. Now that I've read the instructions thoroughly, played with the equipment a bit, and asked some questions, I'm feeling very confident at this point. I've my beer calendar all lined up:

Jan 18: Make DIPA
Feb 8: Make bourbon porter
Feb 22: Make barleywine

I estimate the beer will be ready to drink:

Mid-April: Bourbon porter
Mid-May: DIPA
October: Barleywine

[Saison]

you mean this one?

i might try it, ill try to find it locally first but i'll have to make a trip across the city to the home brew store.

Oops. that wasn't the one I was thinking of. But that actually sounds yummy. Maybe it was 560. Any of their belgian yeasts are good. I have had good results with each one I"ve used.