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Retemnav posted:The local bottle shop has a shelf of 5-6 (or maybe more, I forget) different Weihenstephaner beers, guess I'm just gonna go buy one of each now. Hefe, Hefe-Dunkel, Vitus, Original, Korbinian, and uhhhh... Kristall most likely. I haven't had Korbinian yet because Ayinger Celebrator is on the same shelf and is sooo good.
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Mar 27, 2012 00:25
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| # ? May 11, 2024 22:57 |
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It's true that back in the days before Austin had like 15 breweries (yet another one is having its opening party tonight), I purchased a hell of a lot of Weihen and Ayinger and other German beer. I've laid off the habit now that I'm in CO and I realize that I sort of regret it now.
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Mar 27, 2012 00:39
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Holy Christ Bell's on Oberon day is loving nuts
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Mar 27, 2012 00:48
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Vertigo posted:So, my local bottle shop is getting 1 case of each of the Cigar City/Bruery Dos Costas beers(3 varieties I think), ... are these worth tracking down? I don't think I've had any of those beers, but my kneejerk reaction when I see Cigar City on a label is BUY BUY BUY. They know how to age on cedar for sure, cedar-aged Marshall Zhukov was fantastic.
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Mar 27, 2012 00:49
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Vertigo posted:So, my local bottle shop is getting 1 case of each of the Cigar City/Bruery Dos Costas beers(3 varieties I think), ... are these worth tracking down? I heard that all of three of the beers are really fantastic, especially the one on grapefruit. I'd definitely pick them up if I were you!
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Mar 27, 2012 01:24
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Vertigo posted:So, my local bottle shop is getting 1 case of each of the Cigar City/Bruery Dos Costas beers(3 varieties I think), ... are these worth tracking down? Lunch is great, if a little expensive. Peeper is decent, but costs as much as Lunch, so I'd pass. I think Lunch is an unfiltered, organic IPA, so it's really cloudy and has kind of an earthy flavor. It makes the body is a little heavy, along with the generous but not very sweet malt. The hops are strong and strike a nice balance between bright/citrusy and bitter.
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Mar 27, 2012 01:51
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Any recommendations on places to get good beer in downtown Montreal?
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Mar 27, 2012 02:30
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two_beer_bishes posted:Any recommendations on places to get good beer in downtown Montreal? Peel Pub!  Seriously though, I recall Brutopia being pretty alright, though the last time I went there I had no clue about beer. If I were to go to Montreal now, I'd head out to the Unibroue brewery and get me some Trois Pistoles.
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Mar 27, 2012 03:46
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Stroop There It Is posted:Peel Pub! Oh poo poo, I completely forgot they were out there. Unibroue is a definite stop!
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Mar 27, 2012 03:59
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How is the Qautre Centieme? I saw a bottle at the Portland Brewing Store.beetlo posted:Hefe, Hefe-Dunkel, Vitus, Original, Korbinian, and uhhhh... Kristall most likely. Not to worry, they are very different beers. Not that Celebrator isn't great, and comes with a little plastic goat.
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Mar 27, 2012 04:05
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A friend who isn't into craft beers bought me a Magic Hat 12 pack to welcome me to my new place, I accepted even though they're poo poo. Their Vinyl, an amber lager of sorts, actually wound up being excellent for the wings we were eating. It curbed the spice a lot and was easy drinking. It was poo poo by itself, but it definitely worked well with wings.
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Mar 27, 2012 04:35
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Midorka posted:A friend who isn't into craft beers bought me a Magic Hat 12 pack to welcome me to my new place, I accepted even though they're poo poo. Their Vinyl, an amber lager of sorts, actually wound up being excellent for the wings we were eating. It curbed the spice a lot and was easy drinking. It was poo poo by itself, but it definitely worked well with wings. I don't mind Magic Hat at all... I don't buy it myself, but I would gladly accept a free 12 pack!
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Mar 27, 2012 05:05
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Midorka posted:A friend who isn't into craft beers bought me a Magic Hat 12 pack to welcome me to my new place, I accepted even though they're poo poo. Their Vinyl, an amber lager of sorts, actually wound up being excellent for the wings we were eating. It curbed the spice a lot and was easy drinking. It was poo poo by itself, but it definitely worked well with wings. Ehh, I wouldn't say Magic Hat is poo poo. It's definitely a macro, but even their #9 is a step above most beers you can find at a gas station. Their seasonals are quite a bit more palatable than their flagship, too. Edit: Also, I just cracked an Alpine Spring. Tastes a little skunky on the back end. Was this just mishandled at some point, or is this just kinda trashy? Kraven Moorhed fucked around with this message at 05:23 on Mar 27, 2012 |
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Mar 27, 2012 05:18
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Kudosx posted:I don't mind Magic Hat at all... I don't buy it myself, but I would gladly accept a free 12 pack! Same here. They have a few alright beers like Circus Boy and #9, and a few truly vile brews like Hex. I think I'm the only person in the world who likes Wacko. There's an odd, I dunno, musty quality that seems to carry through to all of their beers though. Fun story from the brewery: apparently they once tried to brew a garlic beer. This went about as well as you'd expect, with every order being brought back to the brewery the very same day they shipped. This was several years ago. They sold three bottles. They kept the remaining stock around and now whenever somebody screws up on the job they're expected to chug a bottle. It hasn't even been refrigerated. 
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Mar 27, 2012 05:23
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Kraven Moorhed posted:] Definitely mishandled. I wouldn't say it's an EXCEPTIONAL beer or anything, but I definitely haven't come across any hint of skunk in the five or so I've tried. Not to say it isn't a solid lager though.
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Mar 27, 2012 05:40
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Quiet Feet posted:Fun story from the brewery: apparently they once tried to brew a garlic beer. This went about as well as you'd expect, with every order being brought back to the brewery the very same day they shipped. This was several years ago. They sold three bottles. They kept the remaining stock around and now whenever somebody screws up on the job they're expected to chug a bottle. When I was brewing in Denmark, I once accidentally used Magnum hops for a whirlpool addition instead of Citra because the previous brewer mislabeled the bag (  ), and it made for a fairly unique liver-and-garlic character in the fermenter. Yeah, that batch got dumped. It's entirely possible that yeast health/autolysis could have done that too, but all the other pitches from that generation were just dandy.I want to echo all the Weihenstephaner love from the last page: Their Weissbier is probably the finest example of the style on the market today, and all of their other beers are excellent as well. Vitus is a particularly nice weizenbock, and relatively unusual in being a very pale example of the style. Ayinger and Augustiner are also truly excellent Bavarian breweries, and I've never had a bad beer from any of the three. Plus, the little plastic goats on Celebrator make awesome Christmas tree ornaments.  See also: the little Thomas Hardy bottle medallions.Hopleaf in Chicago has Brooklyn Sorachi Ace on draft, and when I tried it the other day I enjoyed it quite a bit. Sorachi Ace hops and saison yeast seem to complement each other particularly well, and Brooklyn's version is a good example. It's nicely balanced between earthy, dry saison yeast character, and the floral/citrus/herbal qualities of Sorachi Ace hops, with enough malt backbone to make it work. Not one I'd seek out, but if you run into it it's well worth a try.
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Mar 27, 2012 12:02
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Ubik posted:When I was brewing in Denmark, I once accidentally used Magnum hops for a whirlpool addition instead of Citra because the previous brewer mislabeled the bag (  The Magic Hat garlic beer not only introduced garlic into the brewing process but had a whole clove stuffed into the bottle. I like garlic and all, but I can't fathom how anyone thought this was a good idea. And Weihenstephaner is amazing. I first had their hefe at The Farmhouse in Burlington VT and it's now my favorite beer. The Uno's in my area had started serving it but it got taken off the menu.  
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Mar 27, 2012 13:36
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I was talking to the guy at the Alchemist Cannery about the hop profile for Heady Topper. He mentioned they use hop extract, is this really a thing?
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Mar 27, 2012 14:32
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lazerwolf posted:I was talking to the guy at the Alchemist Cannery about the hop profile for Heady Topper. He mentioned they use hop extract, is this really a thing? Definitely. Lots of beers use extract, especially the big IPAs. Something like Hop Stoopid is all extract. I don't know that it has any effect on the flavor, seeing as extraction is pretty much what happens when you boil the hops. Malt extract is also a thing, but I'm pretty sure its use in professional breweries is frowned upon.
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Mar 27, 2012 14:53
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lazerwolf posted:I was talking to the guy at the Alchemist Cannery about the hop profile for Heady Topper. He mentioned they use hop extract, is this really a thing? Yes, beers it's also used in include Pliny the Elder, and Hop Stoopid.
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Mar 27, 2012 14:53
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What do they do to get it? Is it just boil a bunch of hops, filter the hop tea from the hops and then boil off excess water?
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Mar 27, 2012 14:59
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lazerwolf posted:I was talking to the guy at the Alchemist Cannery about the hop profile for Heady Topper. He mentioned they use hop extract, is this really a thing? Yeah. It's not that hard to make at home if you want to http://www.stempski.com/hop_vodka.php
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Mar 27, 2012 15:03
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internet celebrity posted:Yeah. It's not that hard to make at home if you want to http://www.stempski.com/hop_vodka.php Real hop extract is just pure bitterness that you add based on how many IBU's you want. That stuff is some kind of mutant inverse dryhopping tincture or something.
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Mar 27, 2012 15:16
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It's beyond my shamefully bad understanding of chemistry, but hop extract is made by exposing hops to CO2 under extremely high pressure. Somehow this extracts the alpha acids, leaving behind everything else. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercritical_fluid_extraction
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Mar 27, 2012 16:31
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Hop extract is totally different than hop vodka. There are many different ways to make different kinds of hop extracts, the common one for unisomerized alpha acid extraction is the supercritical co2 extraction like mentioned by Docjowles.
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Mar 27, 2012 16:44
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Like most aspects of brewing, I choose to believe hop extraction is done via magic.
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Mar 27, 2012 17:03
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Docjowles posted:Somehow this extracts the alpha acids, leaving behind everything else. Liquid CO2 is a great solvent for all sorts of stuff. The alpha acids dissolve into the liquid CO2 under pressure, and then you can draw off that solution from the solid hop remnants. Now you've got liquid CO2 with a bunch of bitterness dissolved into it, you drop the pressure and let the CO2 evaporate, leaving the pure solute behind.
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Mar 27, 2012 17:10
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Do you usually use it to boost IBU beyond the limits that you could normally get from actually boiling hops? I figure you'd hit a saturation point with normal hop utilization and this could push you past that point?
lazerwolf fucked around with this message at 17:25 on Mar 27, 2012 |
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Mar 27, 2012 17:20
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lazerwolf posted:Do you usually use it to boost IBU beyond the limits that you could normally get from actually boiling hops? I figure you'd hit a saturation point with normal hop utilization and this could push you past that point? I'm no expert, but from what I understand, yes. I heard that this is the reason it's used in Pliny the Elder.
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Mar 27, 2012 17:43
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I've had lovely luck with variety 12 packs lately, bought a Smuttynose pack and it was skunked. I returned that and got a Stoudts 12 pack and instead of 3 Munich Helles, I get 6 Pils instead which is my least favorite of the bunch. After 4 Pils last night I'm actually appreciating them though.
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Mar 27, 2012 18:07
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Kudosx posted:I'm no expert, but from what I understand, yes. I heard that this is the reason it's used in Pliny the Elder. It's also an efficiency thing. You could put 8 billion pounds of hops into your kettle, which is both very expensive and soaks up gallons of wort, meaning you produce less beer. Or you just dump in a small container of extract which causes no volume loss. You still use real hops for flavor and aroma, but for your first addition when you'd be getting next to nothing but bitterness either way, why not take advantage of extract?
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Mar 27, 2012 18:15
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Quiet Feet posted:I think I'm the only person in the world who likes Wacko. Nope, it's actually probably my favorite beer of theirs! I think I was the only person going back for more at the Boston American Craft Beer Fest last year, though... Vinyl was also slightly better than the rest. But generally Magic Hat's stuff is too watery for me--if #9 was stronger, I'd really like the flavor. e: I think I think I think
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Mar 27, 2012 18:21
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Would extract based beers that "exceed" the normal solubility levels be at risk for settling/separation over time? If the amount of acids exceeds what the wort can absorb, wouldn't that make the beer, technically, a suspension of hop oil in beer?
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Mar 27, 2012 18:29
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I think hop extract is still subject to the same solubility limits as normal hops, but it's a far more efficient way of packing more IBUs into your beer. Like Docjowles said, you don't get so much volume loss from the hops absorbing the wort when using hop extract for bittering. And it probably makes it easier for the alpha acids to isomerize and absorb into the beer, so it might allow a few ticks extra that whole/pellet hops wouldn't. Not that you'd taste them, since the human palate taps out somewhere around the 100 IBU mark. If you want to try a super-fun experiment, taste a spoon of hop extract. It tastes like burning! 
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Mar 27, 2012 20:50
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Had some Bear Republic Racer 5 last night, definitely the best IPA I've had besides Sculpin. And it should be for $12.99 a 6. Tons of aroma, fruity, hoppy and finishes dry. Want to drink this all day. TenaciousTomato fucked around with this message at 20:57 on Mar 27, 2012 |
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Mar 27, 2012 20:54
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Ubik posted:If you want to try a super-fun experiment, taste a spoon of hop extract. It tastes like burning! That doesn't sound like fun at all! I guess if your company is just brewing a DIPA all the time, you don't want to waste the gallons upon gallons of water soaked up by whole/plug/pellet hops. However does extract fade less over time or is it still subject to the same 1-3 months ideal freshness range for IPA/DIPA
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Mar 27, 2012 22:13
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lazerwolf posted:That doesn't sound like fun at all! Probably doesn't really matter because extract is primarily used for bittering.
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Mar 27, 2012 22:17
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TenaciousTomato posted:Had some Bear Republic Racer 5 last night, definitely the best IPA I've had besides Sculpin. And it should be for $12.99 a 6. Tons of aroma, fruity, hoppy and finishes dry. Want to drink this all day. Racer X is even better than Racer 5.
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Mar 27, 2012 23:49
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TenaciousTomato posted:Had some Bear Republic Racer 5 last night, definitely the best IPA I've had besides Sculpin. And it should be for $12.99 a 6. Tons of aroma, fruity, hoppy and finishes dry. Want to drink this all day. Bear Republic stopped distributing to most of PA, I think they just have one distributor now and it only covers the east side. Such a bummer, but it also means I bought it like anytime I saw it in November/December so that worked out well cause its really delicious.
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Mar 28, 2012 02:17
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All the Weihenstephaner talk compelled me to go out and snag a bottle of Vitus tonight, and it's as good as I remember it: Sweet but spritzy enough to control it, with an excellent balance between the equally prominent banana and clove characteristics of the weizen yeast. Nice subtle maltiness and just enough bitterness to wrap everything together. It's my favorite weizenbock, other than possibly Schneider-Weisse's Aventinus, which is the best of the darker examples of the style. I also tried Great Divide's Colette tonight, which happens to be an excellent farmhouse ale - pale, earthy, highly carbonated, good subtle hop character, and incredibly easy to drink. I'll definitely be going back to it in the future. And Half Acre Baume is an exemplary rye stout - rich with chocolate and coffee flavors, with the distinctive but subtle spiciness of rye, and a silky mouthfeel with a slightly dry finish. Why bust your rear end for special releases when you can get so many great loving beers so easily and (relatively) cheaply? RocketMermaid fucked around with this message at 06:42 on Mar 28, 2012 |
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Mar 28, 2012 06:37
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