A local homebrew shop isn't really necessary if you do your homework a little bit (and you have a place to get advice, here!)
Buy Charlie Papazian's book "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" which is an excellent basic how-to book. Very fast read, has photos and recipes.
Go find a website to buy the hardware. Most internet homebrew places (I use homebrewheaven.com, but I used to use James Page Brewery in Minneapolis when they were still open) offer a basic brewing kit for around $100.
If you shop carefully, you can probably get something less expensive.
Start saving plastic 12, 16 and 20 oz soda bottles. Take off the label and rinse 'em out. They're the cheapest and most hassle-free way to bottle beer (not mead, need glass for mead).
Save the caps too, you'll need to reuse them. If you use soda bottles, you won't need to buy a bottle capper and bottle caps, saving you about $15 out of the hardware setup.
Here's a total set up on the internet, about $80. See if you can talk them out of sending you the bottlecapper and knocking a few bucks off, assuming you're okay with plastic soda bottles. Many homebrewers think bottling beer in plastic bottles is sacrilege. I used to think so before I got married and my spare time went "pooofff"
Best glass bottles for brewing: Flip top Grolsch bottles
Best plastic bottles for brewing: A&W Root Beer 20 oz bottles (dark brown in color-perfect!!)
Ideal homebrew setup, which yours truly is aspiring towards:
Home kegging system, tranfer your beer directly to a 5 gallon soda keg, prime with CO2 just like soda fountain sodas, put in refrigerator, drill hole in refrigerator door to attach direct tap. Homebrewed beer on tap at will anytime and cold!!!!
That setup will go into my future game room. Imagine ice cold homebrew on tap anytime while gaming.....wait....maybe that's not such a good idea ;)
If you use those plastic ones; which I of course have a prejudice against for not apparent reason other than I never would; make sure they have no creases or bends from people squeezing them; you will want them to be pristine. I have no idea how much pressure they can take which is a consideration when charging your bottles; but they obviously work for the original root beer. Btw; you can use your beer brewing set up to make just about any soda quite cheaply also.
In our phone book; the beer suppliers are under wine makeing supplies; most shops that sell wine making stuff also sell beer stuff. Online is of course an option, but you won't be able to get a feel of the stuff first hand and having a relationship with the local vendor who can give you all sorts of advice is always a plus. Books are good; but it is awful hard to question a text. I have several, but you will find experienced peeps more useful most of the time unless your trying to find data on yeasts and different malts and such.
I agree with Farewell2kings; nothing beats a beerigerator. You can usually have 2 or 3 kegs; by brothers has 3; two beers and a soda; as well as a co2 bottle. I dont have one yet, but am looking into it; am still a fan of natural carbination.
If you use those plastic ones; which I of course have a prejudice against for not apparent reason other than I never would; make sure they have no creases or bends from people squeezing them; you will want them to be pristine. I have no idea how much pressure they can take which is a consideration when charging your bottles; but they obviously work for the original root beer. Btw; you can use your beer brewing set up to make just about any soda quite cheaply also.
That's good advice. Commercially made soda pop generates about three times as much carbonation pressure as homebrewed beer, but be sure to use only 3/4 cup (CUP, not lbs!!) of corn sugar to prime your whole 5 gallon batch of beer. Plastic soda bottles are actually quite strong, but the threads on the cap wear out after a few bottlings, so I tend to use them 2-3 times before replacing them.
I didn't use plastic bottles until last year. I didn't like people not returning my glass bottles after they had some brew, but I also like the fact that I can take them to places where glass containers are not allowed, such as tailgate parties.
Still, there's a great deal of satisfaction from cracking open the cap on a nice, glass bottle of your own homebrewed beer. Glass is classy, plastic is pragmatic. My homebrew rarely survives a month after bottling, so plastic is my choice.
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Winemaking in the yellow pages has it. I really want to find a shop so I can get the 1 on 1 interaction (like Valegrim said) and I think I found it. I will give them a call tomorrow. You guys rock for the advice! Where would I find Grolsch bottles (my house don't drink soda so finding good plastic bottles wont happen). Is that something I need to find in the store or do I need to drink something to get them?
FH (thanks)
Winemaking in the yellow pages has it. I really want to find a shop so I can get the 1 on 1 interaction (like Valegrim said) and I think I found it. I will give them a call tomorrow. You guys rock for the advice! Where would I find Grolsch bottles (my house don't drink soda so finding good plastic bottles wont happen). Is that something I need to find in the store or do I need to drink something to get them?
FH (thanks)
If you're lucky, the store will have Grolsch-style bottles (flip-top) with replacement rubber seals. (You can sterilize seals & bottle caps by boiling in water for 5 minutes.) Caveat: The flip-top "Grolsch" bottles are usually more expensive than the standard bottles.
I sacrificed myself and obtained the Grolsch bottles the hard way....a four pack at a time. I think you can flip top bottles from the homebrew stores, though.
Any 12 oz non-twist off beer bottle will do, but then you'll need the bottle capper and bottle caps.
Biggest hassle is removing the labels, which sucks. If you have teenagers, pay them a quarter a bottle to remove the label for you, it's worth it.
I used to home brew andwent through 2 years training to become a beer judge. I like pretty much most beers except "American Light Lagers" (Bud, Busch, Coors, Old Swillwater, etc).
And let me tell you, the training for being a beer judge was very interesting. Each session they would pick a style and you would sample 4-6 commercial styles, then you would "judge" entries from the rest of the homebrewers club.
The one night we did Scotch Ales there were 18 entries. I didn't go to work the next morning. My samples were a bit larger than normal.
For those that brew, if you can get into a class like this, it will vastly improve your own brews. You'll know what troubles you can run into with certain styles. When something goes wrong, you'll know what exactly when wrong.
EDIT: I have about a case of flip-top bottles. Since I really don't brew anymore, I'd be willing to ship them to someone for a small fee..or a couple bottles of your next brew.
Couple of tips I've learned over the years:
If you keep your glass bottles REALLY CLEAN, you can sanitize them in the dishwasher on the hottest setting. Don't put any dishwashing liquid or jetdry in the dishwasher and run it on the hottest setting with the bottles upside down of course. The sustained heat kills the germs, but only if your bottles are really clean to begin with. I did that for many years with no problems.
Then you can bottle straight from the dishwasher, that's what I did when I was single. My then girlfriend, now wife, one time asked-- "Why are there fifty unlabelled beer bottles in your dishwasher?"
I guess she thought I was some sort of molotov cocktail brewing terrorist until I brewed her her first batch of raspberry wheat ale--then she married me, LOL.
Right now, I use a bottle tree and iodophor and the air dry method to sanitize my bottles. Plastic don't do so well in the hottest dishwasher setting.
Other tip? Get a bottling wand, it's worth the price to reduce hassle and aeration while bottling. It also lasts much longer than 50 charges.
YOU CAN DO THIS, FAKEY...I spent $60 on equipment in 1993 that I'm still using today. I've spent maybe $150 total over 13 years on homebrewing hardware that still works and lasts till today. I estimate I've brewed about 150 batches of beer and mead with the equipment that I have in the last 13 years.
During the height of my homebrewing craziness I had five batches of homebrew (25 gallons in individual 12 to 16 oz bottles) ready for a Halloween party my EX was throwing at her house....all ready at the same time.
Right now, my brewing buddy and I make about 8-12 batches a year, which means I'm still buying commercial beer quite often.
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EDIT: I have about a case of flip-top bottles. Since I really don't brew anymore, I'd be willing to ship them to someone for a small fee..or a couple bottles of your next brew.
I WILL take you up on that but I need to ask: Do you use minis to game? If so I will trade you something better than a small fee or a few bottles of homebrew.....maybe Sharoth could give you an idea of what I mean, but it would definately cover the hassle and then some.
To F2K and Valegrim, I will be homebrewing. I just need to fit in the time to start. 2 kids, Mr. Momming, and being the handy-dandy fix-it man doesn't leave alot of free time to do what needs doing to make this a reality, BUT...I will get there(before Christmas, I hope).I love that these boards have provided me with people to help and support all the aspects of my life. I consider you all to be co-patriots, and most importantly, friends. If you knew me you would realize how important the "friends" moniker is to me.
Thank you all and I hope I can provide the support you need when you need it.
FH
Hey, I wish I lived anywhere near you--I'd come over to help you give birth to the first batch and walk you through the process. Enjoy a great and rewarding new hobby.
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Hey, I wish I lived anywhere near you--I'd come over to help you give birth to the first batch and walk you through the process. Enjoy a great and rewarding new hobby.
I wish you did too... the gaming would be legendary, as would the brewing. When I finish a batch my first toast will be to the Lords of the Board who helped me find a new path to tread.
FH
Hey, I wish I lived anywhere near you--I'd come over to help you give birth to the first batch and walk you through the process. Enjoy a great and rewarding new hobby.
Ditto!
Fakey, I totally understand that there are friends, and there are acquaintances. :)
Something that you may want to do FH, in light of your Manly-Man duties (my title for Fix-It guys), is spend maybe an hour or two when you've got it and get the cleaning/santizing done in those times. French cooking has a term - mise en place - "everything in its place", which will help your brewing prep time considerably. :)
What I think is amusing is that homebrewers tend to get almost as obsessive about clean hands as surgeons. Whenever I'm brewing I'm paying fiendish attention to what the brewing equipment has touched, where it's been, where's the dog? did I wash my hands long enough, did I soak this in iodophor long enough?
I wipe the spigot down with alcohol prep wipes prior to applying the bottling wand or transferring the beer to the bottling bucket.
The good thing is that tap water tends to be pretty germ free so it can be used for rinsing without any problems unless you live in an area with known water health hazards, which could complicate things.
I don't recommend brewing with tap water unless you can do a full hour 5 gallon boil, which is unnecessary unless you're making beer with separate flavoring hops or a lot of grain flavoring in a bag. I bite the bullet and buy 5 gallons of purified store water at .54 a gallon just to make sure that everything turns out okay. I have made beer with tap water though, when I forgot to buy bottled water prior to brewing and it turned out just fine, so I think I'm being a little too paranoid (F2K paranoid? Say it isn't so!!)
No, F2K, I'd do the same thing, particularly if I knew the water quality to be poor. Luckily, I don't have to worry about here in Central Oregon. :P
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Fakey, I totally understand that there are friends, and there are acquaintances. :)
All I seem to have are acquaintances, I tend to hold friends to a higher standard (which they tend not to meet when held to it). How long will a sterilized component keep before use? I have become a bit of a neat-freak with the kids and all. If I sterilize something and seal it up will it keep until I am prepped to use it or does everything need to be sterilized within a certain amount of time before brewing? And how long from start to drink will it take to brew a batch of beer?
FH
How long will a sterilized component keep before use? I have become a bit of a neat-freak with the kids and all. If I sterilize something and seal it up will it keep until I am prepped to use it or does everything need to be sterilized within a certain amount of time before brewing? And how long from start to drink will it take to brew a batch of beer?
FH
If you put your parts in a zip-lock bag, you should be good to go - just make sure they're dry before you do. Start to drink, for a simple ale, will be about 21 days (on average).
Ok a couple things that might help; sometimes when peeps have garage sales and leave a number you can call and see if they have bottles; some vendors for supplies have them also; I got about 50 flip type bottles for free from a guy who just wanted to get rid of them. Also, drank a lot of Grolsh.
Time is really dependant on to many factors to just give you a straight answer; your brew guy will know for your area. It is dependant on temperature, amount of yeast and sugars, and what specific gravity you are looking for ie the alchohol content. Brewing is not quick; at leat not beer; soda is quick. I would say about 10 weeks, but most of that is the bottles just sitting around aging and building carbonation; hehe putting the bubbles in the beer as Wahoo Serious says is that great movie of his.
Like any project; break down brewing into tasks; the first batch is always the hardest; after that you can just keep brewing determined by your supplies and the amount of beer you and your friends consume to know when to start another batch.
Label removal; I just put all the bottles into the bathtub and filled it with hot water; waited like 8 hours and they all slipped off; then cleaned the tub; this is also good to loosen junk inside not very clean bottles; then wash and sanitize them. You can clean your bottles anytime and follow the advice on santizing with the dishwasher if you have one an hour or so before bottling; your task will be something like this after you get your starter gear; start simple
drink some beer
1) clean and sanitize brewing gear; usually a 5 gallon bucket with a lid; the plug thing that keeps it sealed and lets out the carbonation (sigh, forget its name), any hoses you might need though I cant see why at this point; a spoon for stiring; metal, and that thingy; sheesh forget its name now too, that tells specific gravity.
drink some beer
2) heat or cool your 5 gallons of water to the right temp. This is to ensure you dont kill or inhibit your yeast.
drink some beer
3) heat your wort can, this is the extract of stuff that will give you beer most of its body and taste. This can take a while and this step can be interchanged with step 2 depending on what you think takes longer; i usually do both at same time.
drink some beer
4) put bucket in place it will sit and brew,put in water, then wort; then sugars - usually not table sugar - gentally stir a bit; add yeast; or hops or whatever else; i would start simple at this point and not really add anything, but if you like hops taste; add a few pellets; like maybe 6 for slightly hoppy.
drink some beer
5) take a specific gravity reading and note it in a notebook or something; stick it to the side with tape; whatever; just dont loose it. i usually take measurements after 3 spins so I have an average.
5)put the lid on, make sure its sealed very well, pop in that plug thing with a little water inside it.
drink some beer; head to pantry for some chips; put in Strange Brew or the Wahoo Serious movie and sit back in satisfaction that you started something cool and joined in with a one of the oldest arts on the planet; like 7k years old maybe; like 3 years after peeps learned how to plant and grow grain; let it get wet, ferment; and drank the scum off the top; hehe your a bit more sophisticated than that I hope :)
At this point you have probably a couple weeks to wait; any booklet or your supply vendor will tell you; or probably the wort can; they come with yeast and instructions btw also that may conflict with other instruction which just means that it doesnt matter mostly how this is done. Keep your hmm think it is called a hydrometer, clean; sterilize it before you check specific gravity.; when it gets close; start cleaning your bottles.
heh this turned out a lot longer than I intended, but welcome to our little brew club :) wait till we start telling you obscure beer jokes and words that only brewers know.
yep; I too wish you were nearby, would love to help with your brewing and gaming. Most of my brew buddies moved following better paying jobs and is kinda a bummer not to have anyone to brew with and share stuff with. Ah well, just waiting for our retirement gaming commune. I really need to find that thread again.
Well, I went to a eatin and drinkin establishment called Texas Roadhouse; besides having one of the best steaks I have had in years; I had a couple tall glasses of Shiner Bock on draft; it was pretty good, far better than the Shiner Bock I had from a bottle a while back; good enough that maybe I will get me a keg of it while my own stuff is brewing; is just the kind of stable beer I enjoy.
Well, I went to a eatin and drinkin establishment called Texas Roadhouse; besides having one of the best steaks I have had in years; I had a couple tall glasses of Shiner Bock on draft; it was pretty good, far better than the Shiner Bock I had from a bottle a while back; good enough that maybe I will get me a keg of it while my own stuff is brewing; is just the kind of stable beer I enjoy.
I've always wanted to try doing the keg thing with my beer - that would be a lot of fun. Just spendy to get started with it. Of course, I want a kegerator too.
yep; am thinking to get a 1/2 or 1/4 keg if they have them; nobody I know seems to drink beer anymore and as I am the only one in my house I never thought it worth it usless I had a part.
We brewed a batch of beer tonight--Munton's Nut Brown Ale Kit boosted by Munton's amber malt extract, using standard dry ale yeast. 2 minute boil with Cascade 5.6% finishing hops at the end. 1.5 gallon boil 3.5 gallons cold water, pitched yeast at 80 degrees.
14 days to fermented bliss!!!!
We brewed a batch of beer tonight--Munton's Nut Brown Ale Kit boosted by Munton's amber malt extract, using standard dry ale yeast. 2 minute boil with Cascade 5.6% finishing hops at the end. 1.5 gallon boil 3.5 gallons cold water, pitched yeast at 80 degrees.
14 days to fermented bliss!!!!
Cascade hops is the bomb! I like Willamette and Hallertaur as well.
As much as I'd like to do more all-grain brewing or buy more sophisticated kits, we're getting really good results from the canned stuff with finishing hops for extra aroma and flavor.
Maybe I'm the "Milwaukee's Best" of homebrewing, but canned kits, canned malt and finishing hops is the way to go.
...at least we're not using "sugar" to boost our beer, yuck!!
I have been reading this thread since its inception and have been wondering what to post before the homebrewers took it over. I am definitely a fan of a lot of beers. Valegrim "discovered" that fresh tap beers taste much better than even fresh bottled beers. The biggest problem with this is finding fresh bottled beer. I fortunately have a FLLS (Friendly Local Liquor Store, I though about using Drinking but chose not) nearby. This FLLS does not let the bottled beer sit for months. This is the largest problem which bottled beers have. But keg beer is definitely the way to go. Tonight, BTW, I am drinking Pilsner Urquell tonight.
A quick question to the homebrewers, (f2k, lilith, others, not FH yet) how much space does homebrewing take. I live in a small apartment (no pets, no rugrats).
Pilsner Urquell is great stuff.
Homebrewing doesn't take that much room at all. I brewed most of my beer while living in an apartment when I was single. You just need a stove and a place to put a 7 gallon bucket or carboy (glass jug), figure about 2 1/2 feet high by 1 square foot of floor space--a closet is just fine.
You need a big pot to boil your wort (unfinished beer). I put my fermenter (7gallon bucket) into my coat closet in my apartment, but you really don't even need that.
What takes up a bit more room is all the crap that comes with homebrewing. I had to dedicate one drawer in my kitchen to brewing gadgets and a couple of fairly good sized cardboard boxes to empty bottles--kept them on the floor of my bedroom closet in my apartment.
When I had no closet space, I just kept the fermenter in the kitchen on the counter and kept the lights off and the blinds drawn. It's never a "permanent" setup so it's not like having a mini-laboratory permanently set up in your home. When my friend first got me into homebrewing I envisioned this elaborate "beaker and test tube" set up with tubes going everywhere and a huge vat in my kitchen--it's not like that at all. It's a bucket and a pot and another smaller bucket, a place to put 2 cases of beer bottles and a utensil drawer to keep the gadgets (fermentation lock, sanitizer, racking cane, spigots, etc.)
I can keep all my supplies and equipment in the hall closet. The primary fermentation is in the bedroom. Yes, it's odd, but it's the only place that it's a consistent temperature.
Plus, the consistent burping and bubbling from the fermenter is oddly soothing.
Plus, the consistent burping and bubbling from the fermenter is oddly soothing.
As odd as it sounds, I agree with Lilith.
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Should I be surprised about a thread like this? ;-)
For those who are familiar with Cologne (Köln in german), there is no question which kind of beer my group drinks: it's called Kölsch and F2K, you are probably still somewhat familiar with it.
It is drunk out of small 0.2 l glasses which causes frowns from most people from other regions in Germany... (especially the south, i.e. Bavaria). ;-) When I was 18, we had a school exchange with a french school. They laughed at the small glasses, but they drank (too) much of it. Same effect in the end as with other beers... :p
There is also some kind of beer con once a year at my place. There are some booths which offer more than a hundred different beers, from belgian fruit beer, mead, bavarian wheat beer to czechian (the best in the world!) and international beers.
One thing is quite obvious, though. Drunken beer drinkers are way more aggressive than drunken wine drinkers...
Greetings,
Günther
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 6
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Delirium Tremens and Nocturnum are indeed excellent beers. Also partial to Guiness stout, the good draught kind, not the icky extra stout with no nitro. Partial to most beers from the Siletz brewery in Oregon - we're blessed with an abundance of good beer here on the Left Coast.
Very partial to most McMenamins beers - if you are in Oregon, try to make a trip to one of their brewpubs. Particularly recommend terminator stout on nitro.
Russ
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One thing is quite obvious, though. Drunken beer drinkers are way more aggressive than drunken wine drinkers...You know, I read a funny story in the book <i>Beer, for Pete's Sake</i> by "Wicked" Pete Slosberg. He notes that British beers are taxed by alcohol percentage, meaning that British brewers are given incentive to make the weakest beers they possibly can so they get to keep more of the money.
But in Belgium, they make their beers as strong as ever—so that a typical Belgian beer can be up to four times stronger than the beer Britishers are accustomed to drinking. But most Britishers aren't aware of this, so when they go over to Belgium for soccer matches, they drink their "usual" number of glasses of beer, get much more intoxicated than they think they are, and get into riots.
I just find that so funny...
Funny or tragic? ;-)
But then I saw reports that drinking until unconsciousness seems to grow into a real problem in the U.K.. For that reason closing times are handled more liberately lately - unfortunately with undesired consequences. It can't be the belgian beer alone...Btw. lately youths took up that trend here, too... :(
Greetings,
Günther
Koelsch is great. Can't get good Koelsch here. Shiner makes a decent approximation that is good to drink, but it doesn't taste as good as the stuff from home.
I love the way they mark the number of Koelschs you drink with hash marks on your beer coaster, then you pay your tally on the way out of the door.
One odd habit I could never understand (or enjoy the taste of..)
Koelsch Cola....half a coca cola and half a Koelsch....are they still doing that, Guenther?
Brewing doesnt have to take much room; my brother has an entire room dedicated to brewing a some outside space and special burners and stuff; I just use some small space in the pantry about the size of a 5 gallon bucket; that is all you need unless your going to store supplies; the greatest space taker will be the way you choose to presurrize your beer for carbonation. If you use bottles; that will take quite a bit of room for full and empty bottles; if you use some version of a keg or kegs, I have 3 1.3 gallon ones for instance, that will take less room. I keep all my worts, malts, and hops in two containers on a shelf about 2' cubed; ie a good sized box or plastic container; I use two stackable, sealable plastic storage containers.
I had a few Blue Moon Belgian beers last night; wasnt to bad; the way we drank them was with an orange; supposed the "correct" way like as in some Mexican beers that you have with lime; anyway; you put a slice of orange in the beer and keep a few sections; you drink the beer and bite the orange; was kinda fun and was pretty good; the beer is ok without it; but just wanted to share the orange thing. Anyone else heard of this?
Yeah, I've heard of it, but never tried it. I've tried limes in Mexican beer and slice of lemon in Weizen beer, but never orange....hmmmmm.....
Last night we gamed and I drank a six pack of Amstel Light in about 9 hours. Had to drown my sorrow because Valegrim's hometown Lobos spanked my hometown Miners 26-13. Piss poor performance. I had recorded the game on the DVR with the intent to watch it later, but when I accidentally stumbled across the score while looking up something on the internet during our D&D game, I saw the Miners had gotten their butts whooped, so I erased the game in disgust.
It's okay, I'd rather play D&D anyway.
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Koelsch Cola....half a coca cola and half a Koelsch....are they still doing that, Guenther?
They are still doing it, although my austrian gf never understood that, either. :p It is funny, too, for every region knows a different term for this: In Cologne you call it Kölsch-Cola or "Drecksack" (not exactly a compliment). In Düsseldorf it's called "Krefelder" (don't know what the city of Krefeld's doing is... )
Besides (and as common) is a "Radler" ("byciclist"): half Wheat-Beer, half lemonade. The same combination (but Koelsch with Lemonade) is called "Spezi" here. If you combine Coke and Fanta, it is called "Diesel" and so on... A different name for each mixture. :p
Sales of conventional beer steadily decline here. For that reason the newest trend here are mixed beers: Beer and lemon, beer and coke, beer and Guarana, beer and orange etc. These blends taste milder and sweeter, and yet: you don't get less drunk if you drink the same amount of beer...
Greetings,
Günther
P.S.:
I didn't think hash marks to be something special. Don't they do that in Texas? Something really unique seem to be the Kölsch-waiters in brewing house pubs. They are called Köbes in Cologne and are (in)famous for their unfriendliness: "You want to drink something else but Kölsch? You are in a brewing house!" (if they react to any other order but Kölsch at all...)
Should I be surprised about a thread like this? ;-)
For those who are familiar with Cologne (Köln in german), there is no question which kind of beer my group drinks: it's called Kölsch and F2K, you are probably still somewhat familiar with it.
It is drunk out of small 0.2 l glasses which causes frowns from most people from other regions in Germany... (especially the south, i.e. Bavaria). ;-) When I was 18, we had a school exchange with a french school. They laughed at the small glasses, but they drank (too) much of it. Same effect in the end as with other beers... :p
There is also some kind of beer con once a year at my place. There are some booths which offer more than a hundred different beers, from belgian fruit beer, mead, bavarian wheat beer to czechian (the best in the world!) and international beers.
One thing is quite obvious, though. Drunken beer drinkers are way more aggressive than drunken wine drinkers...
Greetings,
Günther
Do you live in Germany? when I lived there there was a beer from Pirmasans, Germany called a Pirmanator; that is or was my very favorite beer in the entire world; it only comes out this time of year too; is that available in your area; I haven't had one in 20 years so I dont really remember what it tastes like; taste one for me if you can :) I also remember a lot of the girls; mostly Germans; drank a mix of beer and coke; I forget what they called it; I lived in Karlsruhe for a couple years.
Yeah, I've heard of it, but never tried it. I've tried limes in Mexican beer and slice of lemon in Weizen beer, but never orange....hmmmmm.....
Last night we gamed and I drank a six pack of Amstel Light in about 9 hours. Had to drown my sorrow because Valegrim's hometown Lobos spanked my hometown Miners 26-13. Piss poor performance. I had recorded the game on the DVR with the intent to watch it later, but when I accidentally stumbled across the score while looking up something on the internet during our D&D game, I saw the Miners had gotten their butts whooped, so I erased the game in disgust.
It's okay, I'd rather play D&D anyway.
hehe well; I am a Lobo; that is my alma mater :) though I am really from Detroit; my Lions lost yet again; 0-3 now; after that heartbreaking loss I would like to game and have a few brews myself.
Try a Michilada if you can; someplaces make it kinda weird; but is a very refreshing beer drink; I prefer Bohemian; it is in a big fishbowl kind of glass with lime and a salted rim; some places put other spices in it; I once had one that was spiced so hot I could barely drink it cause it kept burning my lips; was wierd; cold and hot at the same time.
My wife likes Micheladas, I don't care for them all that much. Bohemia is my favorite Mexican beer, though.
I've never been to any place that does the hash mark tally thing here in the U.S., probably because I doubt there's many bars where all they serve is one beer--places like that would probably not do too well in the U.S.
Europeans and Americans are very different people in so many ways--we don't need to get into that here as it has been discussed in several other threads.
I had no idea the beer/soft drink combination problem was so rampant in Germany--very distressing. The only combination beer I can tolerate in my purist brewing soul is a black and tan.
I had no idea the beer/soft drink combination problem was so rampant in Germany--very distressing. The only combination beer I can tolerate in my purist brewing soul is a black and tan.
Indeed! Though I'm quite curious to try an Irish car bomb - Guinness with a shot glass of Bailey's dropped into it. It would probably be my only time to do it though.
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I had no idea the beer/soft drink combination problem was so rampant in Germany--very distressing. The only combination beer I can tolerate in my purist brewing soul is a black and tan.Indeed! Though I'm quite curious to try an Irish car bomb - Guinness with a shot glass of Bailey's dropped into it. It would probably be my only time to do it though.
Top o' th' mornin' to YA.
Indeed! Though I'm quite curious to try an Irish car bomb - Guinness with a shot glass of Bailey's dropped into it. It would probably be my only time to do it though.Top o' th' mornin' to YA.
Why do I have this sudden urge to listen to House of Pain? :)
Why do I have this sudden urge to listen to House of Pain? :)Because they're in effect, y'all... and I've heard that anyone who steps up is gettin' wrecked.
I heard that somewhere.
*giggles*
Because I'm the cream of the crop and I rise to the top...:)
Director of Narrative
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I had no idea the beer/soft drink combination problem was so rampant in Germany--very distressing. The only combination beer I can tolerate in my purist brewing soul is a black and tan.Indeed! Though I'm quite curious to try an Irish car bomb - Guinness with a shot glass of Bailey's dropped into it. It would probably be my only time to do it though.
Good first or second drink. Terrible fifth or sixth drink. *shudders, remembering his 27th birthday*
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I'll try to address everything. ;-)
Yes, I am german, living in Cologne, North-Rhine Westfalia, which is exactly one state to the north of Rhineland Pfalz (-> Pirmasens). I take it that you spent your army time in the Pfalz, didn't you?
I never heard of a beer called Pirmanator, but the name sounds like strong beer. Yes, there are some more things which are different here and in the U.S., but which are different in Germany and in some other european countries as well.
1. There are a lot of small breweries in Germany. E.g. until quite recently there were more than a dozen Kölsch brands in Cologne. Ok, quite obviously some of them were already brewed by the same brewery, but still it is quite remarkable to have so many breweries in just one town (Kölsch is really just drunk in Cologne, Bonn, and surroundings. Never EVER order a Kölsch in Cologne's neighbouring city Düsseldorf - people there drink "Alt" (= old = "brewed in the old tradition"), but then Cologne (the bigger city) and Düsseldorf (state capital) always were rivals and it doesn't need beer to incinerate disputes.).
2. This example showed that there are quite many different beer traditions in Germany. Bavarians drink Wheat beer which was next to unknown and unavailable in Cologne until the mid eighties.
I read in a book on beers that there were even more different beer kinds than by now. Some beers got so completely out of fashion that they aren't brewed anymore. Kölsch almost met that fate, because everyone wanted to drink "Pils(ener") up until the 70ies. Then a renaissance of Kölsch started, other beers were less fortunate. So it had been a big coincidence (I had to be in Pirmasens in all likelihood) to know this special beer from Pirmasens you mentioned. Most cities have their own beer brands even though most beers are Pils by today (or wheat beer in Bavaria).
3. This changed in the meantime. Big international brewery companies bought an increasing number of smaller breweries. Even nationally well known companies like "Beck's" (from Northern Germany) got part of bigger companies. That's the way of things I guess...
4. Ok. Obviously beer is a very serious thing for some people here. :p Beer here is brewed according to a "purity precept" from 1516. There are VERY strict restrictions about what ingredients are allowed to be in beer and they are quite simple: water, hop, and malt (nothing else!). Some people joke that beer here is healthier than most other drinks or even food.
Other countries don't have any such restrictions: e.g. there are these fruit beers from Belgium - obviously fruits aren't part of the above mentioned purity precept.
In the meantime the EU overruled the purity precept, but most german breweries still promote that they stay true to it.
5. Beer mixes: It is not as bad as you fear. It is aimed at the young and those who don't like beer because pure beer tastes too bitter to them. Most people still drink it pure, though, and some marketeers fear that these mixes could backfire, ultimately damaging the "pure beer" brand...
Something I think to be more disturbing (but probably also just a matter of taste): Beer grew more expensive and there are some occasions like carnival in Cologne which are unimaginable without Kölsch (after all Kölsch means "colognian", no joke!).
About five years ago people started to adopt buying beer bottles and drinking them "on the walk". That is cheaper than ordering Kölsch in a pub. I think this is something even less imaginable for americans (remembering something about paper bags around alcohol bottles in public), but during the last five years it grew pretty normal here with teenagers and twens. First just on carnival, then in the evening during partying time, then during day, and now it is pretty normal to see students in tram drinking beer straight out of bottle - men and women alike.
Ok. Coming to an end of an already very long text: :p
Drinking habits vary drastically, too (not just quantically). Beer without foam is unimaginable to germans!
A colleague of mine experienced this story: She visited her italian bf's family in Sicily. On one occasion she poured some beer into glasses for his parents. Of course she left quite some foam on top of the beer - and her bf's parents felt offended, they thought that she tried to cheat them.
On the other hand no german would accept beer in pub without foam on top of it: he would think that the beer is stale - poured out of bottle/ barrel too long ago, a tradition my colleague was used to.
Ok. This answer grew longer and longer... time for sleeping.
Greetings from Cologne,
Günther
I had to look it up for the spelling, but the German purity laws - "Reinheitsgebot", are online for your viewing pleasure.