Homebrewers!

[DigDeep(inactive)]

Greetings fellow beer/mead/cider enthusiasts,

 

 Which of you brew? More importantly, what are some amazing beers/ciders/meads that you came up with that turned out excellent that you would like to share a story about or a recipe? Same goes for awful experiences - those are also enjoyable. I'll begin:

 

I just finished brewing some mead and I did a 5lb batch. I split each lb into it's own 1lb batch and made five different meads:

peppercorn mead, hibiscus mead, strawberry mead, regular mead, and blackberry mead!

 

They make great gifts - in fact I gave a bottle each to my LORs this year

 

 

 

 

[overworkedta]

God, whatever our friend used as the recipe for the pumpkin ale we made last fall sounded good but wasn't.  However, he also didn't listen to us when we pointed out he probably had very hard water which wouldn't help him brew well at all.  Turns out, his well water really screwed with the beer and he now has a water softener that actually is helping the beer.  It wasn't bad but it wasn't great.  The fun part was making the pumpkin pie filling, baking it, and then throwing it into the brew.

 

I will have to ask the BF since he is the keeper of the recipes.  The cream ale we've used in the past is probably the most consistent but there is a chocolate cream stout also that is good along with an IPA.

[DigDeep(inactive)]

God, whatever our friend used as the recipe for the pumpkin ale we made last fall sounded good but wasn't.  However, he also didn't listen to us when we pointed out he probably had very hard water which wouldn't help him brew well at all.  Turns out, his well water really screwed with the beer and he now has a water softener that actually is helping the beer.  It wasn't bad but it wasn't great.  The fun part was making the pumpkin pie filling, baking it, and then throwing it into the brew.

 

I will have to ask the BF since he is the keeper of the recipes.  The cream ale we've used in the past is probably the most consistent but there is a chocolate cream stout also that is good along with an IPA.

 

Yes, water is key. I haven't tried making a pumpkin ale before, but sounds like it would be tough. The only pumpkin ale I've ever had that blew me away was this year's release of Elysian's Imperial Pumpkin Ale. I agree with the cream ale - my partner and I did a honey cream ale that I still think was the best.

 

Chocolate cream stout......mmmmmm. Nice, I'll have to try that. I have a Belgian Golden Ale going on now, just a basic good beer to keep in the keg. 

[overworkedta]

Schafly and O'fallon are local brewers that make good pumpkin beer.  I am pretty partial to the Schafly's.  A friend of ours made his own brew (a clone of the schafly's basically) and had a party where he rimmed glasses with pumpkin spice components.  I highly rec that option.

 

The beer is a bit more complicated than a typical ale but not bad if your pH is right.  The problem was it wasn't.  For wine, things are even more complicated as memory serves but I haven't made wine in ages.

 

I had a hefeweissen by widmer tonight.  Bland.  I was in the mood for the real thing and nope.  Living in Europe makes you spoiled,  I'd like to find a recipe for a wheat beer.

[talpostal]

I don't homebrew but I definitely enjoy craft beer. Somehow it doesn't surprise me that the person who starts a homebrewing thread is an archaeologist 

[DigDeep(inactive)]

I don't homebrew but I definitely enjoy craft beer. Somehow it doesn't surprise me that the person who starts a homebrewing thread is an archaeologist 

 

hahaha! 

 

Just saw this article in Scientific American, they got a new-subspecies of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) from a protecid whale fossil. 

 

 

Edited March 26, 2014 by DigDeep