Whipped up a 1.5 L starter last night for a 2 Hearted Ale Clone Im going to brew up this afternoon. Heading to the liquor store in NJ to pick up a few 22oz to get me through the afternoon, I'll report back what I find.

Oh and my local beer store sells a case of Northern Harvest 22oz for $42, I might have to snag it.

Those wet hops fade quite fast. Dont think Id wanna invest in 12 bottles at this point unless maybe you plan on drinking one every night.

Heck of a price though.

Went to a homebrewer meeting today. There were a couple kegs, lots of growlers, bombers, 750ml bottles, and much critiquing. It was great. Some highlights included a peach ale, a rosemary ale, a fruitcake barleywine, and - surprisingly - a kit brown ale from Northern Brewer.

We also had a Firestone Parabola Imperial Stout, the first time I've had it. Very impressive. Chocolate, molasses, and vanilla were prominent. There is a subtle oak flavor as well. It is dangerously drinkable for its 13% ABV. Snap it up if you see it.

A co-worker is having an xmas party later in the month, and they want to do a beer exchange for it. I'm in charge of getting a list together that people pick from. She wants it to be winter beers of course. Here is what I have, let me know if I should add anything...

Anderson Valley – Winter Solstice
Rogue – Santa’s Private Reserve
Great Lakes – Christmas Ale
Trogues – Mad Elf
Sierra Nevada – Christmas IPA
Penn Brewery – St. Nikolaus Bock Bier
Harpoon – Winter Warmer
Samuel Smith – Winter Welcome
Sam Adams – Winter Lager
Sam Adams – Old Fezziwig Ale
Dogfish head – chicory stout
O’Fallon – Cherry Chocolate
Bell’s – Winter White Ale
Yard’s – Love Stout
Anchor – Special Ale aka Christmas Ale
Boulder – Never Summer Ale
Weyerbacher – Winter Ale

Thanks all!

The gal gave us pints of Sierra Nevada Brewer's Reserve instead of 12 oz snifters.



we didn't complain. REALLY good stuff.

Challenge Accepted!

Is it the Caribou Slobber from NB that you speak of? I brewed that up a few weeks ago and just cracked em open last night for the Eagles game, they turned out fantastic. Im glad I washed the yeast bc I'll be doing it again.

If you are in ATL, check out mondaynightbrewing.com

They are close to launching a microbrew and many Monday nights they set up in a guy's backyard and brew a keg while serving on tap whatever they made 2 or 3 weeks prior

I'll ask.

There is a new show on Discovery called Brewmasters that premieres this Sunday.

Brewing a 10 gal batch of German Pils this past weekend I decided to take a pic of my brewstand. The 10 gal mash tun in the middle is big enough for lowish gravity 10 gal all-grain batches but for 10 gal batches of bigger beers I'm gonna have to use some extract. I usually use the 8 gal kettle on the right as a boil kettle for 5 gal batches (which to this point have been ~98% of all my brews). Kinda wish the 8 and the 15 were 10 and 20, as is they are too close to boilover (in before 'you should use fermcap-s').



Sunshine Challenge starts tonight!

I'll probably cry watching that show since they don't sell DFH in Iowa anymore

How much did that burner/stand setup cost?

I made a thread in OOTV, not gettin much love its only been myself and Kneel b4Zod.

Awesome, I cant wait until I can get a setup like this. Ive only been brewing for 6-8 months but my equipment multiplied very quickly.

$450 shipped. Had the burners/valves/casters/regulator and everything already installed.

My homebrew club (Central Florida Homebrewers) just had it's annual Homebrew Competition/Convention (Sunshine Challenge). Almost 600 entries. I entered 8 beers, 6 made second round and won 3 medals, 1 of each 'color'. All 3 medals were lagers. It was my first time attending and stewarding (I was cellarmaster). Had a great time and learned a lot. Got to meet Ray Daniels and he signed my copy of DGB.

Here's a pic of a few of the bottles from Belgian beer night:

I would love to have something like this happen around here. Sounds like a lot of fun.

Could not resist posting this:

I had a DFH 90 minute on draft last night, it had been far too long. I always forget how good it is until I get the first whiff...

For those of you homebrewers, huge kegging equipment sale starting black Friday.

Keg Connection

Im actually trying not to pull the trigger here...

drinking one of these atm....

first impression: reminds me of Green Flash IPA, but I am only a few sips in...




followed it up with:

Haven't been in this thread for a bit but, got a facebook posting from SN.

They are bottling a whole cone hopped Imperial IPA 9.8% abv called HOPTIMUM.

I got a peek at the labels, they have 2011 on the neck. I hope they ship it here.

Sounds very interesting. Really glad they started shipping their winter seasonal, a 6.8% ABV IPA called Celebration Ale. Just picked up a 12er for $14. One of the best deals around imo.

[URL=http://img574.imageshack.us/i/bitchinbrew.jpg/]

Had the Bitches Brew last weekend I enjoyed it quite a bit. As you can see from the photo it pours super dark with a nice tan head. Roasty coffee flavors with a bit of chocolate on the back end. Its a little bit rich to have more than 2 but perfect if youre sharing with another person. Another hit from DFH imo.

Bout to make the visit to Brickstore Pub (basically beer drinker's dream pub)

Currently ranked #2 in the world by Beer Advocate for beer pubs, this famous Atlanta spot has a pretty epic list. The current rotation in the Belgian Bar draught list is (yes, they have an entire beer dedicated to belgian brews):



BLAUGIES SAISON D'EPEAUTRE Saison Belgium
.3L 6% $7.00

CARACOLE NOSTRADAMUS Strong ale Belgium
.25L 9.5% $6.00

DELIRIUM NOEL Strong Dark Belgium
.3L 10.0% $7.00

GOUDEN CAROLUS HOPSINJOOR Belgian IPA Belgium
.25L 8 $7.00

KASTEEL CUVEE DU CHATEAU Quadruppel Belgium
.25L 11.0% $8.00

LA CHOUFFE Strong Pale Belgium
.3L 8% $7.00

RODENBACH VINTAGE 2008 Flanders Red Belgium
.25L 7.0% $7.00

ST. BERNARDUS ABT. 12 Quadruppel Belgium
.25L 10.0% $7.00

The belgian bottle list is too massive to post (http://www.brickstorepub.com/bottledbeer), but I plan on having an Orval Trappist Ale as well as the Pannepot Quad (personal favorite)

As far as those drafts, St Bernardus is the only one I've tried. They rotate regularly (altho St Bernardus is usually a staple).

Maybe try the Kasteel quad?

I'll post some pics and trip report sometime soon...

Have not been able to find this period on the east coast, and have asked in several really well stocked beer bars. Might have to resort to ordering, have heard unreal good things, some as far as to say it's the best American brew they've ever tasted

If you are going to order it then you should get some Pliny the Younger as well.