Messages

391

The Pub / Re: 1000th member

« on: November 23, 2009, 08:54:38 PM »

Guess that begs the question, then, are we going to be able to see our member number?  I want 666

You are number 287. If you view a member's profile it's in the URL. #666 is "constantgardener389", who has yet to post.

I am not a number, I am a free man

392

All Grain Brewing / Re: General mash tun advice

« on: November 20, 2009, 03:51:56 PM »

I have a burner and a kettle. Now all I need is a mash tun and I will ready for all grain. 

I've read denny's instructions and it seems dead simple. Are there any tricks or tips you wished you had known before building one?

Home Depot doesn't sell stainless steel braids

393

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Beer Bottle Labels

« on: November 19, 2009, 08:48:38 PM »

When I was bottling, I used 3/4" round Avery labels and stuck them on the caps.  Not as spiffy as full labels on the bottle, but nicer than marking the caps with a Sharpie, and a lot easier to deal with than regular labels.  They come off with the cap, so there is no scraping or cleaning them off.  There is an Avery MS-Word template available online - just search for the label's product number.

Yeah, that works great. I store my conditioning beers in Goose Island 12-packs and make an oversize labels for the boxes. I put Avery stickers on the caps so I can tell what they are in the fridge.

394

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Whatcha Brewin' this week -- 2009 Nov 18-24?

« on: November 18, 2009, 09:41:20 AM »

Ooh, looks nice Matt.

I've got a Racer 5 clone to bottle, if I get around to it this week.

Thanks!  I've always wanted to try Racer 5.  We don't get Bear Republic in the Twin Cities (as far as I know).

I had it before I saw all the hype and loved it. It may not live up to everything you see written about it but it's one of my favorite IPAs. Hmm, maybe it's time to take a sample.

Looks like they've made it to Wisconsin. That's only four hours or so, right
http://www.bearrepublic.com/distributors.php

395

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Keg, bottle or both?

« on: November 17, 2009, 09:15:03 PM »

I bottle exclusively and I enjoy the process. There's a Zen thing to it or something. I  like assembling the equipment, boiling the priming sugar and sanitizing everything. I put some music on and go to work. It usually takes a little over an hour for a five gallon batch. If I were brewing bigger batches, I might feel a little differently.

396

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Whatcha Brewin' this week -- 2009 Nov 18-24?

« on: November 17, 2009, 08:43:59 PM »

Ooh, looks nice Matt.

I've got a Racer 5 clone to bottle, if I get around to it this week.

397

The Pub / Re: SWMBO

« on: November 16, 2009, 08:30:51 AM »

My wife and I use it to refer to our cat

398

All Things Food / Re: Malted Chocolate Decadence

« on: November 15, 2009, 07:30:56 PM »

I made this last year about this time and it's the shizznit. I'd say it's about the same size as brownies cooked in such a pan, Tesla.

399

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Stout or Porter

« on: November 15, 2009, 07:11:45 PM »

Porters generally use chocolate malt, stouts don't usually.

Those are weasel words Denny.  Unfortunately they are accurate.

the best explanation I have heard is that if the brewer calls it a stout, it's a stout, if the brewer calls it a porter, it's a porter.

Fred

That's probably the best way to go. Every time I see "Stouts must have roasted barley", I think of Sierra Nevada stout, which is all black malt and no roasted.

400

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Whatcha Brewin' this week -- 2009 Nov 11-17?

« on: November 15, 2009, 07:07:56 PM »

In response to the question regarding Double IPA-I am a newbie and went with a NB kit.  I did a starter (on a stir plate from Williams Brewing).

Sorry, I meant the Black Butte. I fixated on that as it's an old favorite and didn't notice the DIPA

401

The Pub / Re: Lets get to know each other!

« on: November 14, 2009, 03:09:46 PM »

I'm Greg, almost 47, and I'm a business librarian at a Major Research University in Chicago. In former days, I was a letter carrier and line cook. I live in the 'burbs and commute from a train station that adjoins the 2006 GABF small brewpub of the year. I married later in life so no kids but one geriatric cat.

I'm coming up on my fourth anniversary of homebrewing and have slowly worked my way from extract to partial mash to all grain. In a blue cooler, of course.

402

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Whatcha Brewin' this week -- 2009 Nov 11-17?

« on: November 14, 2009, 02:57:29 PM »

I will be brewing a double IPA-OG 1083; will be doing my first starter with stir plate.  I also need to bottle my Black Butte Porter clone.

Which recipe did you use? I've seen a few and there are some big variations.

403

The Pub / Re: NASA finds 'significant' water on moon

« on: November 13, 2009, 01:55:45 PM »

Making your own beer on the moon from moon water would be even cooler.

You would only be able to make low gravity beers, though.



Which one of those smiley thingees means groan.

404

Beer Travel / What are you're favorite online beer travel resources?

« on: November 13, 2009, 01:40:17 PM »

Beer Mapping has come up a couple of times and I really like it as it's easy to pinpoint things with their Google Maps mashup.
http://beermapping.com/city-beer-maps/

I don't have as much faith in Beerfly reviews on BeerAdvocate. I've seen places I really enjoyed dissed pretty hard but it is useful for putting a list together for further research. You also have to be registered to use its fancier features. But here's a tip: Enter this into Google to get a quick list:
city name beerfly site:beeradvocate.com

Fancy a Pint is a great UK based site. It's London centric, though. I used this on my last trip and found a great local pub that I would have otherwise missed.
http://www.fancyapint.com/

Beer in the Evening is another English site. It has broader coverage than Fancy a Pint. It also has a pub crawl generator, which is fun to play around with.
http://www.beerintheevening.com/


Now post your favorites.

405

The Pub / Re: Forum Members Pics

« on: November 12, 2009, 05:48:14 PM »

Well, since I already posted this in the Travel section. Pretending I know how to use a beer engine.