…throw out any endorsements for beers that we should be trying.

Where do hefeweizens fall in there? Fruit-based wheats?

I don’t homebrew, but some of my favorite beers include:

Ommegang Rare Vos
Pyramid Hefeweizen
Fat Tire
Mac n Jacks
Hoegaarden
Franziskaner
The Sam seasonals (don’t love the winter but the white, summer, and oktoberfest are all pretty good)
Miller High Life

There are a lot more whose names I don’t remember. I like most of the Otto’s brews here in State College, and there’s a place in Milheim (about 30 minutes from State College home of Josh Hull) called the Elk Creek Cafe that makes some really good brews. If you’re ever in State College for a weekend and have the time I’d definitely recommend going there. Really, really good food too.

The wife got me a little kit from Mr. Beer last Christmas. So that’s what I’ve been playing around with. It’s a simple kit where they give you everything you need. you just boil up the water, add the ingredients, put it in the fermenter for two or three weeks, bottle it, let it sit for another two or three weeks and you’re good to go. You can even order bottling kits on their website. It’s really easy for somebody just starting out.

My last beer was Otto’s Octoberfest. It was quite good.

Currently I’m drinking a Winter Dark Lager. My next batch will be a Rasberry Wheat for the hot months of August and September.

Yeah, whatever that is, I think it’s an Irish Ale, but it’s deliscious. Other than that, pretty much anything with an assload of hops (Brooklyn IPA was always my favorite).

Fortunately I don’t need to worry about any of this b/c I can’t afford to drink $40 a case beer anymore. So I drink shit (coors light, etc), and I’ve grown to like it.

I haven’t bought it for a while but when I was it was only $11 a case for bottles, and it wasn’t half bad.

When it’s on sale it’s $12 which comes out to $0.75 a glass, and one glass = 2 beers. And you don’t even need to have it chilled to drink it, it’s good warm. Sure you may look funny at a tailgate carrying one of these around, but just remember, it’s as much alcohol as 32 beers and weighs about 4 pounds.

Yuengling is its own type of beer.

HopDevil from victory, 90 min IPA from Dogfish Head, and HopHog from Lancaster Brewing Co. are a few of my favs

What is your favorite type of beer?
Free beer

I enjoy most beers, with the main exception being IPAs (my tolerance for the hoppiness is growing, however). A lot does depend on the season, too. However, my current favorites are saisons. In a general sense, I love the Unibroue beers – can’t go wrong with a good Maudite.

My dad is the homebrewer – he’s currently working on an Anchor Steam clone. While I’ll miss his free homebrews, moving to Milwaukee is going to be like a small slice of heaven for me. (Huzzah microbrews!)

They’re both part of the Magic Hat summer sampler pack

Scottish Ales, but Octoberfests are a real close second. Love me some malty ales. Favorite beer used to be Bert Grant’s Scottish Ale (no longer brewed). Belhaven and Sam’s scottish are fine subs.

Most often drink Sam Lights these days, but still very much enjoy a fine micro.

I think my Michael Jackson’s Beer Companion is my only ‘coffee table book’ that I actually periodically consult.

Which of your brews goes best with a deepfried pierogie?

They smoke the hops or something and a little bit of that comes through but basically its a nice light summer beer that is awesome on the porch in a hot Texas afternoon…

Still miss the LAGER though…

Here in FW they have a little local brewery called rahr that makes an awesome bourbon beer that comes out every january – winter warmer… not to be missed if you get the chance

time for the easy drinking stuff. I especially like Pacifico Clara and Flying Dog Tire Bite Golden Ale.

A favorite anytime is probably Bitburger.

is Strongbow.

Although it is a cider so it might not fit under this category but it’s damn delicious!

Elliot Ness by Great Lakes Brewery was good, had it at some hotdog place in Pittsburgh
Magic Hat #9
Moosehead
Labatt Blue

Also, I am from the sticks so, I will always enjoy an ice cold Busch Light.

Ive been brewing for about a year and a half now and have put together 6 or 7 batches. They too have all been from kits consisting of some malt extract base, about a pound or so of specialty grains steeped with a grain bag and then brewed and bottled. (With the requisite hops and yeast as well)

Of the batches only 1 has been one that I didn’t care to drink. (Not that they didn’t get consumed, just slower than the rest.) I haven’t been able to chose a favorite of my brews, though they’ve mostly been things like an Irish Red, Cinnamon Marzen (currently being consumed), a few pale ales and such.

But like I said in a different thread, my current aim is a bacon, bourbon beer. Depending on how the bacon and bourbon part goes I may try to make it a smoky beer as well. We will see if I can get it ready for the o$u game. That’s the pilgrimage game of choice this season. Cracking open a bacon bourbon beer in the fields sounds fantastic on a brisk November Saturday.

this is a clone recipe for anchor steam. i have tried it a few times, and it did not dissapoint:

“What makes this beer unique is that it is fermented with lager yeast, which are typically fermented at cold temperatures, but is actually fermented under conditions similar to ales, warmer temperatures.
The origin of this style is rumored to be due to the environmental conditions of early San Francisco brewing, where beers were cooled in large, open-air vats. Indigenous lager yeasts in the Bay Area would then begin fermenting these beers, but at the ambient temperature in San Francisco – about 50-60 degrees – a perfect environment for ales.
This recipe utilizes a strain of yeast known as San Francisco Lager Yeast to add to its authenticity.”

Ingredients for 5.0 US Gallons:
 
Grains:
6.25 Pounds Pale Malt Extract (liquid)
1.3 Pounds Munich Malt (ground)
.75 Pounds Crystal (60L) Malt (ground)
Hops:
1.5 Oz. Whole Cluster Hops (60 min. boil time)
1.5 Oz Whole Cluster Hops (5 min. boil time)
Yeast:
San Francisco Lager Yeast (White Labs WLP810)
Directions:
• Add 5 gallons of water to a large kettle and turn on high heat.
• Place crushed grains into a tied cheese cloth or muslin bag (available at home brew stores) and place into the kettle as it comes to a boil.
• When water reaches boil, remove the grains with a strainer, but do not squeeze the bag to get all the extract out. Discard grains.
• Add the malt extract and return to a boil.
• Add the first addition of hops (place them in a cheese cloth or muslin bag as well) and boil for 55 minutes.
• Add the second bag of hops and boil for 5 minutes.
• Remove the hops, and place kettle in a sink or bathtub filled with cold water until cooled below 75 degrees F.
• Clean and sanitize your fermentation vessel with a cleaner or sanitizer recommended by your home brew store.
• When pot is cooled, pour into fermentation vessel and add your yeast.
• Store at room temperature for 2 weeks, or until there is no more bubbling from the yeast.
• Bottle or keg the beer and enjoy!

other notes:
-if you are bottling you may want to add some priming sugar for the second fermentation.
-i tried throwing in some chocolate malt, but it really didn’t add that much to it.

other than that, if you are starting, try going to a local homebrew shop and ask them for pointers. here in NoVa, i hit up Maryland Homebrew ( http://www.mdhb.com/ ). also, try doing an EPA for your first batch. i found its the easiest-email me if you want my first recipe.

one more thing-

if you ever see a beer called “railbender” from erie, don’t try it. it tastes like sunday morning vomit.

for bottles, i have been using the 16 oz resealable “grolsch” style bottles. however, i am noticing about a 10% dud rate per batch. i switch the seals, but the problem persists.

has anyone else noted this problem? would it be adviseable to switch to the standard 12 oz capped bottles? or just keg the stuff?

Now that I’m home, the AG Cooler HD:

And yes that’s the entire kitchen counter. Beer stuff pretty much dominates our only closet and even spills into the bedroom. When girlfriend HD bought be a wort chiller despite this I knew she was the real deal.

I want a wort chiller.

GFHD sounds hot!

I’ve made close to 40 batches of homebrew, and a few in some Brew on Premises joints. I would say that an annual favorite is my Pumpkin Ale. My friends threaten violence if it’s not ready for the OSU game every year.

I’ve only had 2 batches that were failures and they’re more learning experiences than anything else. I’ve progressed from extract/partial mash to all grain but still like the bottling process, as I have a cold enough basement now to age and condition my beer.

The strangest I’ve brewed? A rauchbier, which is a smoked German Lager. Not a taste everyone likes but it worked well as something to have with a steak.

Currently I’m aging an American Ale in bottles at 9%abv, 3 cases of Irish Red at my disposal, one batch of Irish Red (less hoppy than the first) in secondary and a Nut Brown in secondary as well.

Malt liquor.

I mean, who needs this fruity shit when you guys can home brew your own version of Colt 45? It works every time…

Best summer beer ever.

Yards is a local brew to Philadelphia, and their Philadelphia Pale Ale is something special to behold.

And if we’re staying local to the Philadelphia area, Sly Fox out of Phoenixville (and RoFo) does a solid job with most of their beers. Their Incubus can be an evil, evil thing.

is pretty good. It kind of tastes like dark chocolate and coffee..

was always a favorite, however it always sent me to bed early. I haven’t had it in about 10 years – I figure it is still around.

But Troeggs Nugget Nectar is phenomenal….if you can get it.

…I was always under the impression that hefeweizens and their fruity ilk were relegated to the females, and that men should generally be shunned for proclaiming their approval of such brews? I’m surprised to see them #1 in the poll so far.

I personally avoid any hefeweizen and the addition of any fruit to my beer because I really do think it gets in the way of all the beery goodness. If I’m only going to be having one or two beers with no meal in the near future, I’ll choose a porter. I like a brown ale with food. If I’m going to be at a backyard BBQ or tailgating where the sun is going to have me in a full-nelson, I’m fine with whatever standard mass-produced watery-urine product is in the cooler. At times like those, the more flavorful beers become counterproductive to enjoyment, whereas the Bud Lites only get “better” as the day goes on.

Pro-tip: If you’re ever visiting Richmond, VA, be sure to stop at Capital Ale. There are about 4 locations, scattered about the area. They’ve got a metric crapload of beers on tap, and even more in bottles. Every week they rotate some beers off the dozen-page menu and bring some new ones on. The new one by my place has a constantly-frosted metal stripe running the length of the bar to set your beer on, which is also great for making mini snowballs to chuck at people.

Is it 5:00 yet? Anyone else jonesing for a beer right now, raise your hand.

do there have to be so many delicious choices, i like the porters, stouts, hefeweizens, wheats, bocks and octoberfests. okay so i basically don’t like pale ales, but i do like some

ah fcuk it, i love all beers equally, unless its Girls Light and Natty Ice

on average, how much time & money do you spend on a batch (say 5 gallon)? I’ve been thinking about doing the homebrew for a while now, but those 2 things I am lacking.

Quite simply the best beer I’ve ever drunk.

Also anything by Rogue Brewing is tasty good.

http://www.arrogantbastard.com/index3.html

Anybody know the story of how this went out of business? I got toe up once pullin from a Jed’s Red keg. Would love any info out there.

…the beer I discovered right before I moved away from Colorado: Breckenridge’s vanilla porter. The only places to get it in PA are:

Fuhrer Wholesale
3100 E. Carson Street
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15203
Phone: (412) 488-8844 Fax: (412) 488-0195
 
Stockertown Beverage
515 Main Street
Stockertown, Pennsylvania 18083
Phone: (610) 746-5611 Fax: (610) 746-5721

I love that the Google ads to the right are occasionally displaying one that says “IS DRINKING RUINING YOUR LIFE?”

No, no, it’s doin’ my life just fine, thanks.

these on the go for football season:

In the carboys:
1) A special dark ale that I added a bit of finishing hops to at the end of the boil. Hopefully shooting for a “peculiar” style ale with a little hop aroma. (and not the bitterness) A total shot in the dark. Perhaps I should add less bottling sugar to dial down the carbonation?

2) BCB’s signature beer, the Lake Echo “Gale Pale Ale” that is dry hopped at the end for an awesome everyday brew.

In the bottles:

3) “Big Momma Brown” (in honor of my preggo wife) – standard brown ale
4) “April Fools Gold” – as close to Hoegaarden as I can get.

Spent some time in Belgium. Beer was amazing. Had the Westvleteren 12. Amazing.