I forgot to bring my camera card in, fuck. But she started fermenting late last night, and is happily bubbling away in the coat closet this morning. Starting gravity was 1.086, so I'm hoping to still manage 9% out of it. If I'd known more about steeping and sparging the dry grains, that could've been 10.5%.

And it was easier / cleaner than I remembered, probably because of the propane burner and ENORMOUS kettle, things I didn't have/use when I was 22. Doing all that shit outside in 1/3 the time = awesome. Set up 2 lawn chairs, played with my daughter, sipped Matilda, enjoyed the sunny 55 degree weather... nice day I thought.

I guess this thread was always headed in this direction, if given enough time.


The birth of a (hopefully) double IPA:

5 lb's of ground specialty malts - half was Victory, the rest was a mix including a pound of red winter wheat for head retention.


Add 9 pounds of light dried malt extract, then a pound of belgian blonde premium candy sugar...



Add 1 ounce of Warrior hops and cook for an hour, including more hop additions at 30 mins, 45 mins, and 55 mins...



Scratch the dog and drink beer...



Cool it all down and pitch a ton of yeast into it, and viola...

Awesome. Looks like fun. FemDerris and I have begun the house hunting process so once we can get a bigger place with more room, I'm going to try this.

Already picked this up:

Also, had some good beers Saturday night but everything got too hazy to really make a lucid comment on them.

I'll say that Alabama has a couple of solid upstarts that they can certainly be proud of:

Back Forty Brewing - Had their Freckle Belly IPA and have some of their Truck Stop Brown that Gar gave me.
Good People Brewing - had a few of their Brown Ales (in a can!)

I really liked all of the stuff I had.

Also picked up some stuff that doesn't currently have distro in GA:

Boulevard Brewing - The Sixth Glass (Belgian Quad) 4 pack
Green Flash - Rayon Vert 4 pack
Green Flash - West Coast IPA 4 pack

Reviews will have to wait because I need a couple days of good clean livin.

I had a shit ton of good beers this weekend visiting Busty up in North Carolina--reviews to come.

I tried a few new beers tonight:
Samuel Adams Griffin's Bow Oaked Blonde Barleywine Ale
O'Fallon Smoke Smoked Porter
Shiner Dortmunder Style Spring Ale

I'd definitely drink the Shiner again if I was going to enjoy the sunshine, and the O'Fallon would be great with BBQ. The Samuel Adams was impressive, but not quite what I want in a Barleywine.

Interesting side effect of fermenting in the downstairs closet... just went to put my coat on at my desk, and it smells like hops.

One of my friends in VT just got me a 4 pack of Heady Topper. Made my day.

oooooh fuck. Nice.

i'm a big fan of their IPA but Tallgrass' 8-bit is a fine pale. since this was introduced only about two months ago, i'm wondering if this has landed in your neck of the woods. ABV: 5.2%, IBU: 40, Malts: 2 Row, Victory, Vienna & Munich, Hops: Magnum, Centennial, Cascade & Galaxy. fuckin yum, mang. not my pic

I mentioned trying that beer and posted the can design as well on Saturday. I think the folks at Tallgrass are good people, despite the fact that they publicly slagged one of my BJCP friends, but I am generally disappointed by their products. They remind me of Empyrean here in Lincoln, who tends to brew craft beer that appeals to Bud drinkers. Their beers tend to have similar malt profiles and they never really attempt to go big or bold.
I would prefer to have access to Free State and Liquid Bread beers here rather than the slightly overpriced Tallgrass products.

are you not hip to their oasis or halcyon flavors? i ask bc i respect your opinion on the subject. oasis seems pretty bold - heavier on the malts than hops for a double IPA. and i generally hate wheats but halcyon made me a believer. citrus-y finish with bite. i've been trout fishing with this stuff & continue to catch my limit when i have halcyon in tow. there's got to be a connection! seriously, i respect your & others' opinion/feedback since i'm hardly the connoisseur - i like what i like & that's essentially all i know. i've failed miserably with my personal batches in the past - someday i hope to develop one that won't cause blindness.

I have only had the Oasis once, and that was at the end of a Tallgrass pub crawl. It seems to be their highest rated beer, so I should try it again to give it a fair shake.
I have had Halcyon on a few occasions, but it doesn't compare well against Nebraska Brewing Company's EOS Wheat or the various German varieties I consume on a regular basis. I generally enjoy the style, and would agree that Halcyon is a decent effort, I just like mine with a bit more esters and less citrus.
I've even went to a cask event for Buffalo Sex, so I usually make the effort to try their beers at least once.
I don't hate any of their beers, I just don't really think there tallboy four packs are worth the price, so I usually go with something from Great Divide or locally if I am not trying a new beer.

Ok, no time for detailed reviews, but here, to the best of my reckoning, are the beers I had last weekend that were new to me:

Green Flash "West Coast IPA" (draft)

Russian River "Pliny The Elder"

Bear Republic "Racer 5"

Mother Earth Brewing "Sisters Of The Moon" IPA

NoDa Brewing "NoDaRyeZ’d" Double Rye IPA (draft)

Smuttynose "Big A" IPA

Avery "Maharajah" IPA

Maybe it was freshness or just personal preference at the time but I actually preferred the Racer 5 to the Pliny. Still nary a bad beer in this bunch and both North Carolina beers comported themselves well.

Damn. Who had the Pliny??

#IPAFEST

When it's fresh, I think Pliny is better, but it's damned hard to get a fresh one in NC. Racer 5 is just fucking great all the time, though. Always a solid choice.

One of Busty's Cali pals had brought the bomber of Pliny (i think) fairly recently so I don't think it was that old--it definitely tasted plenty fresh: Again, I think it was more just my immediate reaction at the time.

Also, I probably destroyed my taste buds at some point (likely after the Maharajah).

Well they really don't taste all that much alike. If memory serves, Racer X is considerably more bitter. I'd assume it wasn't a freshness issue but a taste preference.

That said, your taste preference is wrong. I like Pliny a lot more.

Yeah, that Maharajah will do it.

Anyone had Founders Devil Dancer? I saw it at a store in NY two weeks ago and was intrigued cause it was a triple ipa but opted for something else instead. I saw some reviews of it that were so-so but just wondered what anyone here thought.

I've seen it, but didn't pick it up for the same reason as you--mediocre reviews (pretty expensive too)

Speaking of Founders, KBS hits stores this week, but for fuck sakes, it's like 80 here. Not exactly Imperial Stout Weather

Those Devil Dancers are old. That said, this is one of the few Founders beers I hate. Tastes like the tops of carrots. I actually prefer it with a year+ on it even though it's a IIIPA.

You're just gonna store that shit away for a rainy day anyway. Get what you can, I say.

And yeah, Busty has a San Fran contingent who bring him Pliny from time to time. I used to see it in his fridge on visits, and we enjoyed it / knew it was special, but that was before The Crazy Times, when beers started going for $50 on ebay.

As much as trying new beer and checking out all the new styles can be fun, sometimes I have to take time like last night and remember just how damn nice it is to knock back half a dozen Guinness on draft.

Forgot I also tried that new Founders All Day IPA, a totally slammable and delicious "session IPA" not currently being sold in GA for whatever reason.

Nothing wrong with pace beer, and in fact it's a nice break sometimes.

Never heard of that All Day IPA, sounds great.