The Beer Thread

General Gibberish Forums The Dog's Breakfast
101

Try find some Stiegl Pils (Austrian, from Salzburg). Red & white label with steps on it.

Had it at a restaurant up at the snow this year, probably the best Pils I've had (not normally a Pilsener drinker) - really nice.

102

Hey check this out if you guys are in Sydney

Check out @thegrifterbrew’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/thegrifterbrew/status/521169960790282241

103

Try find some Stiegl Pils (Austrian, from Salzburg). Red & white label with steps on it.

Had it at a restaurant up at the snow this year, probably the best Pils I've had (not normally a Pilsener drinker) - really nice.

i had about a million of them in europe before i realised i am a pilsener drinker.

 

my favourites available locally are

 

Trumer

Anything czech

104

racer5_01.JPG

Tonight's drop. Anyone wants to talk good IPAs, or APAs, I'm here!

105

Although I said I wasn't going to do it due to the Southern Comfort disaster of last night, I'm currently drinking Schofferhofer Hefeweizen. I can never get tired of this beer. Delicious.

106

 

Try find some Stiegl Pils (Austrian, from Salzburg). Red & white label with steps on it.

Had it at a restaurant up at the snow this year, probably the best Pils I've had (not normally a Pilsener drinker) - really nice.

i had about a million of them in europe before i realised i am a pilsener drinker.

 

my favourites available locally are

 

Trumer

Anything czech

 

Someone must be importing it, doubt it's just that one restaurant in Mt Beauty that has it...

107

Try find some Stiegl Pils (Austrian, from Salzburg). Red & white label with steps on it.
Had it at a restaurant up at the snow this year, probably the best Pils I've had (not normally a Pilsener drinker) - really nice.

i had about a million of them in europe before i realised i am a pilsener drinker.
 
my favourites available locally are
 
Trumer
Anything czech
Someone must be importing it, doubt it's just that one restaurant in Mt Beauty that has it...

Oh, that placed they do a great breakfast, and solid coffee for a country town.
108

Do you rate Knappstein? Tasty Aussie pils that smells like a nice wine.

109

Heads up in Brisbane,

 

https://www.facebook.com/TheGrifterBrewingCompany/posts/705306239565249

110

Cracked my first LC pale of the season today. Still love that stuff, my favourite through summer. Better than Sierra Nevada Pale.

Also scored a case of Nastro left over from my father-in-laws birthday. Peroni for me tends to fill a role like other people’s Corona. Easy drinking, casual beer.

Got a fair bit of dark beer left from winter still, though. Wonder if it will keep?

Oh, and two Innis and Gunn oak Ales. Might drink them tonight. If anyone hasnt tried them, give them a go. Very different, but awesome. Liquid velvet. I dont smoke, but these things conjure up thoughts of highland lodges, wood-panelled rooms, deer trophies on the walls and cigar smokers whilst the rain teems down outside. Lol.

111

Lovely. It sucks that I can’t get Little Creatures here in Japan. Every trip home I pop some LC and Feral Hop Hog into my suitcase.

Had a Halloween pumpkin ale last night. Smelled of cinnamon and tasted of coffee, called Elysian Punkuccino. Beer just keeps getting more and more interesting.

112

Those up Healesville way in Melbourne need to head up to the White Rabbit Brewery on Maroondah Hwy. Their Dark Ale and White Ale are simply fantastic drinking beers. I don't normally drink much (buy a carton for Chrissie/ New Year, will normally have half a carton left by the followig Chrissie), but I was drinking it on tap in Darwin and loved it, so had a look for some when I got home. Bought a carton 2 1/2 months ago, only have 5 left. Prefer the White on tap to out of the bottle but either way it really is a lovely drop. Bit pricey at 70+ for a carton, but well worth it.

 

By the way, the brewery sells pizza as well.

113

Yeah, the White Rabbit stuff is pretty good. Agree with the on-tap v bottle comment, but that applies to many beers. I have a feeling Little Creatures own the White Rabbit brewery.

114 
VB goes undercover to win Surry Hills Craft Beer Festival

 

http://www.betootaadvocate.com/uncategorized/vb-goes-undercover-to-win-surry-hills-craft-beer-festival/

115

The Four Pones Beers are very good.

Think the have a Kolach, Pale, Pilsner. All highly recommended and easy to find

116

VB goes undercover to win Surry Hills Craft Beer Festival
http://www.betootaadvocate.com/uncategorized/vb-goes-undercover-to-win-surry-hills-craft-beer-festival/

That had me going for a while, till the final quotes.
117
I've been boiling my hops in water - should I be boiling it with some liquid malt extract instead?

Apparently (internet forum anecdotals) boiling in wort “improves the taste” of both bittering hops (~60 minute boil) and flavouring hops (15-20 minute boil)?

But does boiling LME detract from the flavour of the LME?

And does anyone know of scientific reasons why?

I trust blitz x1000 more than home brew forums.


For flavour (i.e. late additions) it will make no difference. I’ve regularly made a “hop tea” where I put boiling water and hops into a french press, let it steep a few minutes then press and pour the water into my fermenter. Adding a large “dry hop” late to the fermenter can impart grassy flavours while this will give a fresher aroma that is truer to the hop.

For bittering, hop utilization (IBU’s per AA % per gram per minute boiled) increases the lower the specific gravity. i.e. if you want to make a huge 12% barley wine with 120IBU’s you’ll need to add a lot more hops than a hop bomb 5% APA at 120IBU (although the APA presumably you’d be adding far more late). So you’d assume that you’d get the best utilization with plain water

Anecdotally there are some off flavours that may come through with this. I’ve never tried this before, but I’d GUESS at these points:

  1. Home brewing is very much a “lie is around the world before the truth has it’s boots on” hobby. If someone once suggested that maybe some bad tastes might come through from a process then you’ll bet your bottom dollar that every second homebrewer will believe it AND they may even do an experiment and “prove” it. Doesn’t prove anything though IMO. The first guy probably did something else different (or bad) and got stuck in the whole correlation vs causation pit, or there is confirmation bias at play from the others. So that’s one point to this being a myth
  2. The big boys use hop extracts. So there is a negative assosciation with anything that isn’t “traditional”. Another point towards myth
  3. Boiling wort causes maillard reactions that DO improve the flavour of your beer. So seeing as you want to do a boil anyway, why not add your bittering hops to that instead of doing a seperate boil? Point for the affirmative
  4. Hops were historically used for preserving the beer. I’d bet my bottom dollar the real reason for boiling the hops and wort, as well as the efficiency of nothaving to do two boils, is more to do with stabilising reactions between the hops and the malt. Again, a good thing. Point for the affirmative
  5. You’re not really saving yourself any money. We have a tie…

So, my advice is:

  • If the hops are for bittering, then you’re either doing an all-grain, partial-grain or extract brew where you should be doing at least a partial boil anyway, so put them in there
  • If the hops are for bittering but you are using wort concentrates and you want something with more bitterness, try doing a two-can brew (with two cans of wort concentrate instead of one of wort concentrate + additional malt) instead of boiling some hops in water.
  • If the hops are for flavour, then do whatever the hell you want. I’ve added hops to the mash tun, the boil at every possible time, the fermenter both as pellets, flowers or steeped in a french press, and even a pellet or two into the bottle (nice, but pour carefully and don’t over carbonate!). If you want to do a 5 minute boil in plain water, do it. What’s the worst that can happen? Steep your heart out - I KNOW that won’t go bad. Add them straight to the fermenter - seriously, 20-30g in 3 days before you bottle and each bottle will be like walking into a florest.

Best advice. Try it! What’s the worst that can happen? You brew a beer that will never win a comp but is still perfectly drinkable? I’ve never had to tip a beer because of a bad recipe or because an experiment resulted in something undrinkable. As long as you have your hygiene and fermentation practices under control then you’ll be fine. The forums are great but they are full of people who take it all a little too serious and they start getting uncomfortable if you try something that wasn’t advised by John Palmer in “How To Brew” - a book that is very useful but is also full of stuff that isn’t true.

Ahhhh Zebba thanks. Refreshing. And mucho informative. Your points on John Palmer and home brew opinions ring true. There does seem to be a lot of repeating other people’s opinions with minimal critical thinking.

No further questions your honour! (for the time being at least).

Just on ‘worst case scenarios’ and ‘bad beer’ - a few things that I’ve made that are challenging to drink, are still fine when cut with lemonade. A couple of ginger beers that were sour (next time I’m adding lactose) and the aforementioned sorghum with high ABV, where the taste of the alcohol over powers.

118
Unfortunately living in China l have very little to add to this thread, as most beers here are akin to sex in a canoe.

Perhaps there is a niche for you to start importing? I hear wine has started becoming popular in the PRC.


There are some local wines, but they are diabollockal.
The biggest local label is Called The Great Wall, but it is anything but Great.
Then there is Dynasty, or die nasty as l prefer to call it.
Better by far than both of them is Changyu.
The best Chinese wine l found a few years ago, was also the cheapest at about $ 4/bottle.
It is now off the market, pity.
Penfolds and lots of other Ozzie wines can be found everywhere, even in 7/11 style convenient stores.
There are some serious prices for wine, but if you shop around you can find some bargains.
My local supermarket has a bottle of French plonk going for a cool $4000.
l went out for dinner a few years ago in Zhuhai and found an 11 year old Bordeaux for $ 10, a ripping good drop it was too.

Not worth importing wine even on the side here. Besides l am planning on a move out of China this year, so there is no point.

Very interesting.

119
Unfortunately living in China l have very little to add to this thread, as most beers here are akin to sex in a canoe.

Perhaps there is a niche for you to start importing? I hear wine has started becoming popular in the PRC.


There are some local wines, but they are diabollockal.
The biggest local label is Called The Great Wall, but it is anything but Great.
Then there is Dynasty, or die nasty as l prefer to call it.
Better by far than both of them is Changyu.
The best Chinese wine l found a few years ago, was also the cheapest at about $ 4/bottle.
It is now off the market, pity.
Penfolds and lots of other Ozzie wines can be found everywhere, even in 7/11 style convenient stores.
There are some serious prices for wine, but if you shop around you can find some bargains.
My local supermarket has a bottle of French plonk going for a cool $4000.
l went out for dinner a few years ago in Zhuhai and found an 11 year old Bordeaux for $ 10, a ripping good drop it was too.

Not worth importing wine even on the side here. Besides l am planning on a move out of China this year, so there is no point.

120
I've been boiling my hops in water - should I be boiling it with some liquid malt extract instead?

Apparently (internet forum anecdotals) boiling in wort “improves the taste” of both bittering hops (~60 minute boil) and flavouring hops (15-20 minute boil)?

But does boiling LME detract from the flavour of the LME?

And does anyone know of scientific reasons why?

I trust blitz x1000 more than home brew forums.


For flavour (i.e. late additions) it will make no difference. I’ve regularly made a “hop tea” where I put boiling water and hops into a french press, let it steep a few minutes then press and pour the water into my fermenter. Adding a large “dry hop” late to the fermenter can impart grassy flavours while this will give a fresher aroma that is truer to the hop.

For bittering, hop utilization (IBU’s per AA % per gram per minute boiled) increases the lower the specific gravity. i.e. if you want to make a huge 12% barley wine with 120IBU’s you’ll need to add a lot more hops than a hop bomb 5% APA at 120IBU (although the APA presumably you’d be adding far more late). So you’d assume that you’d get the best utilization with plain water

Anecdotally there are some off flavours that may come through with this. I’ve never tried this before, but I’d GUESS at these points:

  1. Home brewing is very much a “lie is around the world before the truth has it’s boots on” hobby. If someone once suggested that maybe some bad tastes might come through from a process then you’ll bet your bottom dollar that every second homebrewer will believe it AND they may even do an experiment and “prove” it. Doesn’t prove anything though IMO. The first guy probably did something else different (or bad) and got stuck in the whole correlation vs causation pit, or there is confirmation bias at play from the others. So that’s one point to this being a myth
  2. The big boys use hop extracts. So there is a negative assosciation with anything that isn’t “traditional”. Another point towards myth
  3. Boiling wort causes maillard reactions that DO improve the flavour of your beer. So seeing as you want to do a boil anyway, why not add your bittering hops to that instead of doing a seperate boil? Point for the affirmative
  4. Hops were historically used for preserving the beer. I’d bet my bottom dollar the real reason for boiling the hops and wort, as well as the efficiency of nothaving to do two boils, is more to do with stabilising reactions between the hops and the malt. Again, a good thing. Point for the affirmative
  5. You’re not really saving yourself any money. We have a tie…

So, my advice is:

  • If the hops are for bittering, then you’re either doing an all-grain, partial-grain or extract brew where you should be doing at least a partial boil anyway, so put them in there
  • If the hops are for bittering but you are using wort concentrates and you want something with more bitterness, try doing a two-can brew (with two cans of wort concentrate instead of one of wort concentrate + additional malt) instead of boiling some hops in water.
  • If the hops are for flavour, then do whatever the hell you want. I’ve added hops to the mash tun, the boil at every possible time, the fermenter both as pellets, flowers or steeped in a french press, and even a pellet or two into the bottle (nice, but pour carefully and don’t over carbonate!). If you want to do a 5 minute boil in plain water, do it. What’s the worst that can happen? Steep your heart out - I KNOW that won’t go bad. Add them straight to the fermenter - seriously, 20-30g in 3 days before you bottle and each bottle will be like walking into a florest.

Best advice. Try it! What’s the worst that can happen? You brew a beer that will never win a comp but is still perfectly drinkable? I’ve never had to tip a beer because of a bad recipe or because an experiment resulted in something undrinkable. As long as you have your hygiene and fermentation practices under control then you’ll be fine. The forums are great but they are full of people who take it all a little too serious and they start getting uncomfortable if you try something that wasn’t advised by John Palmer in “How To Brew” - a book that is very useful but is also full of stuff that isn’t true.