Topics

1

General Homebrew Discussion / What were your gateway beers?

« on: January 11, 2013, 03:05:54 PM »

I'm not going to call craftbrew drinkers enlightened, or aleightened rather, but we're on our way.  It's a journey, not a destination.

So, what were the gateway beers that helped to get you to a higher plane of flavor?

For me, it was Henry Weinhard's Private Reserve that lifted me from my collegiate-era 40oz King Cobra dabblings (the Cobra being traditionally consumed with a loaf of french bread to provide that maltiness lacking in the beer).

Adding Samuel Adams Stock Ale into the mix helped me understand the appeal of bittered ales.  Took an unfortunate, but thankfully brief detour with Rolling Rock after college before coming around to the Trader Joe's line of Fat Weasel and Black Toad ales.

Learned a bit about oxidation from the many dusty brews stocked at TJ's at the time (circa 1995).  Fell in love with ales of oh-so-dark color via the sweet and rich Mackeson Triple XXX Stout.

Around the same time, I was lucky enough to taste Blind Pig IPA at Vinnie's Temecula brewery and at that point I knew there was no going back.  A true wortshed moment for me.

2

Ingredients / Home-oaking a commercial keg of Arrogant Bastard

« on: January 10, 2013, 10:42:21 PM »

I'm wondering if anybody out there has experience oaking a commercial beer in keg--specifically, adding oak flavor to a keg of Arrogant Bastard to make…Oaked Arrogant Bastard?

Oaked Arrogant is not available in 5 gallon kegs.  So my plan is to pay for a regular bastard keg, pop the top and pour in the 4 or so ounces of vodka I've kept surrounding 2 dry ounces of first-use, medium-toast American oak.

Anyone used a different technique or have any standout results?

3

General Homebrew Discussion / Change for the worse in Star San longevity? At least in my new bottle...

« on: January 03, 2013, 03:29:12 PM »

I just unsealed a new 32oz bottle of Star San to replace the 32oz bottle I've used for about a year and a half. Something I noticed immediately is that solutions made from this bottle of Star San cloud over much more rapidly than those made from the previous.

From my previous bottle I was getting shelf life of about a week with a covered, mixed-up batch of SS (1oz to 5 gal water). But solutions made from this latest bottle cloud over within a day (even when in a covered container or spray bottle).

Since Star San's pH (and therefore microbe-killing power) can be roughly judged by the clarity of the solution, I'm forced to consider changing my sanitizer habits to include discarding fresh but hazy solution and mixing batches more frequently.

BTW, the labels look legit and product was purchased from a reputable retailer.

Anybody else out there seeing a change in recent batches of Star San?  I'm pretty sure that my water didn't change that much over the course of a few weeks.