405 replies to this topic

[DoctorShumway]

That leaves me no room to bring Dr. Shumway's red ale to sample as well.  Perhaps I will swap out a bottle of each.

Translation: I'll drink them tonight while packing.

Awesome. I had no idea my brew was making the flight. Too bad the red is only in 22oz. bottles, since the smaller sized ones would have made it easier to transport.

[Colin]

What's in the smaller ones then? I have 3 in the fridge that I thought were yours.

[DoctorShumway]

Ah, yes. Those are IPA's, I think. (Mine have "Brewer's Best" caps on them.) If it comes down to space, just bring Sherv's, as those IPA's aren't really super fantastic or anything.

[Colin]

Ah, ok. I think there is one large bottle left of the red. I will attempt to fit that.

[Shervz0r]

I can cut out one bottle of each, these are just for the west coast brewers to sample and muse upon

I'll be dropping them off tomorrow morning, as I have to go to Medford


You know, I still haven't gotten drunk off of my own brews yet. I'm not sure what that means, but I think I should fix that.

[mikemfer]

SACRILEGE!

[mikemfer]

Sherv, I thought both of your brews were really tasty. In my opinion, neither quite matched the beer they were cloned after, but I thought they were both excellent regardless. The Anchor clone was a little sweeter than Anchor Steam, the Newcastle clone wasn't as sweet as I remember Newcastle being.

I was however drinking Sparks when Colin gave me the homebrew and my taste buds might have been off a bit.

[Shervz0r]

Thanks Mike! I remember messing up the Newcastle brew by boiling the grains for 25 minutes instead of steeping them at the right temperature. Stupid F/C temperature scales

I have been without Anchor Steam for far too long so I never really made a side-by-side comparison, so your perspective is really helpful (although I had an Anchor Porter this weekend, it was fantastic!)! I'm tempted to repeat the recipe a number of times, altering different aspects to see what difference they give to the overall taste, but this brings on a whole bunch of problems, such as how much of which step/ingredient needs to be changed in order to really notice.

There is one characteristic that I can't put my finger on, and that's the typical "homebrew flavor" that I seem to taste in all of my beers. It's almost a unifying taste, a common characteristic like an overly-hoppy taste or something and it feels rough on the palate.


So much brewing to do, not enough time! Maybe this weekend I'll buy another carboy and start 3 batches. If I time it right, I'll be able to secondary ferment all of them too!

[DoctorShumway]

I prefer your clone to actual Anchor Steam, but I think that's because I'm not a huge fan of Anchor Steam.

Quick update: I've decieded to brew another batch of red ale and along with an undecided beer this weekend for my trip to Minnesota/Canada. My american citrus wheat still has plenty of foaming yeast action on top, so it's probably not going to be bottled until this weekend. That means it's out for brewing for my trip. I know the red ale will be tasty and ferment in the time I have alloted, so I'm going to go with that. Now I just need to pick the other beer and get brewing.

I just realized that this weekend I'll be brewing two batches, plus bottling a third. Busy times.

[Colin]

I brought back 2 Matt Wood hefes for Sherv and Nick to try. Sherv, maybe I'll stop by and see the new place tonight. I have a few other things I need to do but I can probably squeeze that in.

[Shervz0r]

I brought back 2 Matt Wood hefes for Sherv and Nick to try.  Sherv, maybe I'll stop by and see the new place tonight.  I have a few other things I need to do but I can probably squeeze that in.

Ooooh, excellent! I've got a softball game tonight at 9, so I'll be out of the house at 8ish...no rush bro. Actually, this Friday I'm donating blood, so that evening will be a very cheap date for me...one beer and I'll be tipsy as all hell We should go out.

Also, let me know if you're interested in starting a brew soon (no rush)

[mig50]

i should probably just bite the bullet and buy a copy of the complete joy of homebrewing instead of sitting around the bookstore for hours reading it.

god, the pics in it are weird.

[DoctorShumway]

god, the pics in it are weird.

My favorite picture in the first chapter is the one of the carboy sitting in his pantry, which is a complete disaster. You would think if you were going to take a bunch of pictures of people homebrewing one handed (since it's physically impossible for them to not to be holding a pint) that you would at least clean the place up a bit. Also, I think that is why he asks you to have someone help during some steps, when really everything can be done by yourself. Maybe he should say, "Put the pint down for this step, as it's going to take two hands. Or fuck it, don't and make someone else help you."

Sherv, I'd like to get an eyeball on that clone book of yours sometime.

[Shervz0r]

god, the pics in it are weird.

My favorite picture in the first chapter is the one of the carboy sitting in his pantry, which is a complete disaster. You would think if you were going to take a bunch of pictures of people homebrewing one handed (since it's physically impossible for them to not to be holding a pint) that you would at least clean the place up a bit. Also, I think that is why he asks you to have someone help during some steps, when really everything can be done by yourself. Maybe he should say, "Put the pint down for this step, as it's going to take two hands. Or fuck it, don't and make someone else help you."

Sherv, I'd like to get an eyeball on that clone book of yours sometime.

Sure thing Shum, if I see you friday I'll try to remember to bring it.

The woman in the Joy of Homebrewing...god, her teeth are vicious looking!


Woody! Colin and I split a Woodbrew, it was pretty good! I haven't had a hefe in a longass time, so the only comment I can really make is that it seemed to be rather dark for one. Definitely tasty though, some good hoppy flavor

[woodman]

Yeah, I was supposed to tell you to let it age another week... Oh well. When I went in, Ken just made up his own recipe, and it does taste too hoppy for a hefe. Not sure what to call it now...

Negra Please Especial?