The Official Beer Appreciation Thread

[Claude_Verret]

Just for Smell....

 

 

[TrueBlueGED]

Just for Smell....

 

 

IMG_20160904_133153.jpg

Funny, that's one of the goses I tried last night.

[LTS]

Just spent the last 8 days on vacation with the family and managed to try a ton of new breweries and beers.

 

Officially only stopped at a few breweries however due to time constraints.

 

Isley Brewing in Richmond was quite solid in their beer.  It was a fun place and there are are a few other brewers in the Scott's Addition neighborhood. Ended up needing lunch and went around the corner to Boulevard Burgers which had flights so I sampled a few there as well.  Their Ruby Red Slippers (session IPA with ruby red grapefruit) was pretty damn good.

 

Overall I'd say I was highly impressed with the beers from O'Connor brewing out of Norfolk.  I also had quite a few good Hardywood beers (Hoplar is a double IPA aged on tulip poplar wood found in Virginia).  It's not a strong wood taste and even if it weren't in there the beer would be impressive.

 

O'Connor's El Guapo IPA (agave) was one I kept returning to over and over.  Quite tasty.

 

Spring House Brewing - Lexicon Devil is a worth grapefruit pale

Commonwealth - Wapatoolie was a good tropical IPA

Coelacanth - Coelia is a rosemary lemon wheat beer that would be perfect on 90+ degree days (it didn't suck at 83 degrees either)

 

Anyway.. it was a great time.  The sheer number of breweries popping up in the Norfolk/Williamsburg/VA Beach is right on par with Rochester which I swear opened another 2 while I was away for week.

 

Going to crash soon though.  They'll all do well until they realize there can only be 1 hyper local spot and then you've got to gain a much larger following to exist.

 

At this point it's become the pop-up business model. Open a brewery, the tasting room, and bring in food trucks.  Hope people show up which they will for awhile.

[darksabre]

Helped sabills harvest his cascade hops tonight. He and his wife were getting their brew going when I left a little bit a go, so a long hot night of brewing ahead for them. :lol:

[sabills]

Helped sabills harvest his cascade hops tonight. He and his wife were getting their brew going when I left a little bit a go, so a long hot night of brewing ahead for them. :lol:

 

We're on the boil! Only like 2 hours left! haha.

 

Not even really sure what I'm brewing here. Some sort of pale ale I think. It was going to be a hoppy red ale, but what my wife thought was one grain turned out to be something else, so its not going to be that all-together red. Whatever. Beer is good.

 

EDIT: Forgot: RDWHAHB

Edited September 8, 2016 by sabills

[nobody]

Turn that mash into whiskey.

[sabills]

Turn that mash into whiskey.

 

Technically illegal, not that that would necessarily dissuade me. I also don't have the equipment.

[Claude_Verret]

Going to this craft beer festival tomorrow  on Saturday, stumbling distance from my front door...

 

http://www.beericana.com/breweries/

Edited September 8, 2016 by Claude_Verret

[That Aud Smell]

 

In order:

 

Yes

Yes

OH GOD. NO! Get it off my tongue! Bleachkbleachkbleachk. [Scrape. Ssssccccrrraaape.]

Oh hell yes.

On a warm day, sure.

Yep.

[LTS]

You didn't like the gose? I'm shocked.

[The Dominator]

Big Ditch Excavator in cans. Yes.

[ubkev]

Anyone wanna mail me a case of those Sabres design Labatt blue cans?

[darksabre]

Has anyone else here ever had 21st Amendment Fireside Chat before? I'm drinking it now and I have some questions regarding, um, "the experience".

[LTS]

I have had it numerous times.

 

The experience?

[darksabre]

I have had it numerous times.

 

The experience?

 

So, the last time I had this stuff, years ago, it made me feel funny. Not drunk. Just...funny. 

 

I decided to try it again this weekend. About halfway through the first can I started getting that funny feeling. The best way to describe it is that I felt like I was high. Like...smoking weed. 

 

I finished the can slowly and let myself come back down a bit. Cracked a second can and drank it without issue. Had two more yesterday, no issue. But the first can of it... I don't know. It's very weird. 

[sabills]

So, the last time I had this stuff, years ago, it made me feel funny. Not drunk. Just...funny. 

 

I decided to try it again this weekend. About halfway through the first can I started getting that funny feeling. The best way to describe it is that I felt like I was high. Like...smoking weed. 

 

I finished the can slowly and let myself come back down a bit. Cracked a second can and drank it without issue. Had two more yesterday, no issue. But the first can of it... I don't know. It's very weird. 

 

If I had to make a very uneducated guess, I'd bet something to do with the spicing. Not that its actually having a mind-altering chemical effect in that way, but more that the spices are warming you and making you feel a little flush, which would have a similar sort of experience to being high/drunk. That could be really affected by what you've eaten recently, so it might not happen every time.

 

I can't find the spices they use, but I'd put money on it being some combination of the following:

Ginger

Cloves

Allspice

Cinnamon

Nutmeg

 

Some of those can do some chemical stuff to your body in large enough doses, but I'd be surprised if that was it. Could you be allergic to one of them?

[darksabre]

If I had to make a very uneducated guess, I'd bet something to do with the spicing. Not that its actually having a mind-altering chemical effect in that way, but more that the spices are warming you and making you feel a little flush, which would have a similar sort of experience to being high/drunk. That could be really affected by what you've eaten recently, so it might not happen every time.

 

I can't find the spices they use, but I'd put money on it being some combination of the following:

Ginger

Cloves

Allspice

Cinnamon

Nutmeg

 

Some of those can do some chemical stuff to your body in large enough doses, but I'd be surprised if that was it. Could you be allergic to one of them?

No idea. I can't say I've ever had anything with those ingredients in it that has elicited this effect. It's just the first beer too which is even weirder. I've had "warmers" that do what they advertise, but this is something different entirely. It's very odd.

[LTS]

So, the last time I had this stuff, years ago, it made me feel funny. Not drunk. Just...funny. 

 

I decided to try it again this weekend. About halfway through the first can I started getting that funny feeling. The best way to describe it is that I felt like I was high. Like...smoking weed. 

 

I finished the can slowly and let myself come back down a bit. Cracked a second can and drank it without issue. Had two more yesterday, no issue. But the first can of it... I don't know. It's very weird. 

 

I can't say I've experienced that before.  I'll have to get some to see if I notice anything.  Best I have now is sabills theory on the spicing.

[Ogre]

Today was brew day. Black IPA. I hope it's as good as the last batch. When this racks to secondary I'd like to try a Pils. Not my favorite style but I've been developing a taste for it lately.

[Doohicksie]

So a coupla friends of mine have opened up a brewery, HopFusion Ale Works.  They got their permit to ship beer in July, got their large tanks online last month, and this weekend they opened their taproom.  So proud of these guys.  Macy is on the far left, and Matt is second from the right.


Where the magic happens:

 

 

 

This picture is from June 2015, the first beer I had at the brewery (when they were still building it up)

[Huckleberry]

Unesco just granted the Belgian beer culture protected status, that might finally be the end of everyone putting "belgian styled" on their bottles :p

[North Buffalo]

If I had to make a very uneducated guess, I'd bet something to do with the spicing. Not that its actually having a mind-altering chemical effect in that way, but more that the spices are warming you and making you feel a little flush, which would have a similar sort of experience to being high/drunk. That could be really affected by what you've eaten recently, so it might not happen every time.

 

I can't find the spices they use, but I'd put money on it being some combination of the following:

Ginger

Cloves

Allspice

Cinnamon

Nutmeg

 

Some of those can do some chemical stuff to your body in large enough doses, but I'd be surprised if that was it. Could you be allergic to one of them?

You are drinking Virgil's Root Beer??

[MattPie]

Unesco just granted the Belgian beer culture protected status, that might finally be the end of everyone putting "belgian styled" on their bottles :P

 

Interesting, do you know how the rules work? If I make a Pumpkin Lager in Brussels, can I call it Belgian? Or if I make a open vat, top fermented ale in Dunkirk with all Belgian-sourced ingredients, can I call it Belgian?

[Ogre]

Anyone have a batch that wasn't bubbling through the airlock? I brewed Tuesday and by this morning there were still no bubbles. I cracked the lid to take a peak and there was a healthy amount of krausen so I popped it back on. An hour later the airlock was bubbling like mad. I triple check all seals when I close up the wort but I guess I still missed something. Thinking about switching to carboys over buckets just so I can see what's going on.

[LTS]

I've brewed plenty of batches where I never had a bubbling airlock.  It's always a seal issue and it's never been a problem.  It could be an issue in a secondary fermentation but primary fermentation pushes so much out of the bucket that outside air is not getting in to infect a batch.

 

Carboys are annoying to clean.  Your only option would be a Big Mouth Bubbler that has a larger opening so you can reach in and clean by hand.

 

I used to have a conical but I sold that to my brewing partner.  In my new system I bought a Spiedel fermenter.  It's pretty cool especially at the price point. 

 

I looked at the Stainless Brewbucket or whatever they call it.  That seemed like a decent option as well.