Last month I decided to brew two batches more or less at the same time so that I’d have something with which to welcome some friends to their new house and new position in Michigan. As soon as the pale ale went into secondary fermentation, I rinsed the primary tub and put a Belgian Trippel in it. With the ale I basically wanted to brew my own Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA. Not that I looked up the recipe or anything, I just guessed that medium-light crystal malt, British Ale yeast and continuous hopping would get me close enough. Lacking a giant sieve to continuously filter chopped fresh hops flowers into the wort, I added small amounts of pelleted Bicentennial, Cascade and Argentine Cascade hops at 10 minute increments over a 90 minute boil.
For the Belgian I essentially brewed a nut brown ale but with Trappist ale yeast, heavier crystal malt, Cara-Munich malt and a 1-pound bag of brown sugar. To go trippel I boiled another pound of mixed light and dark dry malt with some hops and added it when I transferred the brew to secondary.
As always I made up a starter culture with some dry malt and hops in a growler bottle. Any newer brewers out there should make sure to do this – pitching a lot of vigorously growing yeast makes the beer taste better and also protects it, since the wort will reach 5% alcohol before bacteria can get its pants on.
Continuous hopping came out just as awesome as Sam Calagione said it would. The trippel, meanwhile, tastes Belgian enough for me, although a bit hoppier than you would usually find in Flanders. I’m a bit new at this to say whether it was the triple fermentation of the unusual sugars or the yeast that worked so well. Whatever the answer I’m doing it again soon.
Cheers!
Dave C
Oh wow, that sounds good. Can I come over to your place, Tim?
b-psycho
How much did it cost you to get into homebrewing? I’ve been contemplating it for when funds allow.
apologista
Have you ever pitched a new batch on top of the yeast cake from a just-racked old batch? I’ve had great success with this with similar beer styles (for example, an IPA gets racked onto the yeast from a just-kegged pale ale; or an imperial stout goes onto the remaining yeast cake from a porter).
Less fuss than starters, for the lazy brewers out there like me.
The Grand Panjandrum
Sounds pretty damn tasty. I’m sitting here sipping on a Smuttynose IPA which ain’t bad. Cheers to you!
Death By Mosquito Truck
Tim, can you post a pic of the two beers eyeing each other warily on the futon?
Laura W
@Death By Mosquito Truck: Beautiful!
Legalize
Yum. I have a relatively mundane Brooklyn Summer Ale waiting for me at home. Yum.
Bill E Pilgrim
That was the first sentence of that post that I understood.
I didn’t know hopping around would even help. That’s what I like about blogs though, you learn things.
Tim F.
@Death By Mosquito Truck:
I’m at work for the moment. Don’t get me wrong, I could still take a pic of my beers and post it. I just probably shouldn’t. Look for an update later after I get home.
Punchy
I read this as “medium-light crystal meth” for some reason. Oh well, in 4 hours I will be engaged (I hope), which means next week, Tim, I’ll need some advice on what the LADIES like, so as to get them drunk and offer up the…..uh…you know. And it needs to be cheap, as this freakin’ ring crap costs moocho moolah.
Death By Mosquito Truck
@Tim F.:
Unposed please.
Bill E Pilgrim
@Punchy:
Uhm…..
I must be reading this wrong. You’re getting engaged so you want to know how to get laid?
No, I must be reading it wrong.
Death By Mosquito Truck
Punchy is very traditional.
Edit: Or very horny. I’m a little confused after a second reading.
Punchy
@Bill E Pilgrim: I’ve been told by Those Who’ve Married(TM) that the boom-shaka-lacka drops off precipitously with the ring thing, then ends at the altar.
I’d take it as purely anecdotal, if at least 7 guys hadn’t told me so.
Death By Mosquito Truck
I think it’s a good thing if she no longer wants to have sex with the other seven guys, Punchy.
Dave C
@Death By Mosquito Truck:
Is this the traditional route you’re referring to:
1. Meet girl
2. Date girl
3. Marry girl
4. Sneak out at night and convince younger, drunker girls to sleep with you?
SpotWeld
Is this year’s Theobroma from Dogfish Head on shelves yet?
Anyone know?
Bill E Pilgrim
@Punchy: Oh, you mean you’re getting married next week.
For some reason I was thinking of a much longer engagement. During which you were looking to, you know. Which made me wonder who you’d…. well never mind.
Congratulations, BTW.
Edit: On second reading, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone’s boom shaka lacka dropping off after giving a ring.
But then I’ve never been married. Mine’s intact anyway.
Throwin Stones
@Punchy: I believe this depends on the woman. I can barely keep up with the Mrs.
Edited to say that adding ankle-biters can slow things down a bit in my experience.
Tim F.
@Punchy:
They’re either doing it wrong (my guess), or they misunderstand how to keep sex with the same person interesting after the few years that it takes to get to know each other. Some succeed using what you could call continuing education, others buy toys. Either way it takes at least a little effort. Especially after having kids.
cleek
@Punchy:
many things drop off precipitously after marriage: free time, muscle tone, hair, etc..
Tim F.
Win.
Bill E Pilgrim
@Tim F.:
Continuous hopping works well I think.
At least I read that somewhere on the Internet recently.
ABS
John, I guess you read this month’s Zymurgy?? I have it at home sitting on my couch armrest. What did you think of this years Top 100 beer rankings? I like the fact that Guiness is one of the few non-US beers that makes it.
demimondian
@apologista: That’s essentially repitching the slurry from the previous batch. It works, but risks contamination.
Tim F.
Ow?
Punchy
Ouch. Fucking ouch. Literally, fucking ouch.
Tim — where in hell do you get all these exotic ingredients (and dont say “Argentina!”)? Mail catalog, or some local brewstore? Curious to start doing this myself.
peach flavored shampoo
Ah…the Sanford Plan.
Andy
If you have a pressure cooker, you
canmay can starter wort several quarts at a time. Big time saver.Also Morebeer.com has some fantastic recipes free in their forum if you’re looking for inspiration. I brewed an oatmeal stout a few weeks back that is unfortunately a huge crowd pleaser and now nearly empty…
demimondian
@Tim F.: Yeah, I’m a little worried about combining racking with continuous hopping. It sounds more than a little medieval.
Bill E Pilgrim
Okay I think I’ve got this. To get engaged successfully you need to keep pitching slurry, unless she’s Belgian, in which case continuous hopping seems to help. If you don’t do it right, when you give the ring your boom-shaka-lacka drops off and hops in a growler bottle, but with surgical reattachment procedures these days who knows.
And to think I knew nothing about beer making before tonight.
Dave C
@Bill E Pilgrim:
I’m glad you’ve got things straight because, after reading that, I’m more confused than ever. And now, it’s not just beer-making that I’m confused about!
Michael
Speaking of which, he’s now comparing himself to King David.
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090626/ap_on_re_us/us_sc_governor
It won’t be long until he goes to crying about a full on crucifixion, just like Jesus.
And in other news, it seems Jenny was a tad surprised by the Argentina jaunt (which was to be 10 days), as she’d warned his ass – so she’s now de-nutting him a razor thin slice at a time. I don’t know why she’d be vindictive about him having some fun, as a bartender in BA describe mark and Maria as being all giggly and snuggly (and mentioned that she has a banging body).
wag
I’m inspired. I started brewing in ’82 in my college dorm room, but with kids and life haven’t touched my mash kit in 10 years. Time to mash again…
I think a nice iPA with SG around 1070 and 70 HBU for hops with a nice bunch of Fuggles as a dry hop in the secondary, just to keep it traditional english.
The Grand Panjandrum
@Michael: I’ve seen some video of her when she was a reporter here in the US right after 9/11. She ain’t ugly.
wag
…and if she’s Belgian, an open fermentation would be the only true way to be traditional.
wag
actually, make that an open, wild fermentation.
Buddy
How about some love for mass produced domestics? I think a rating/eval of the more standard fare would be pretty beneficial, but most people focus on the exotic, which has its merits too. But these are tough times, and most folks are too busy to brew their own. What are your thoughts on Bud, Busch, Miller, Coors, MGD, Bud Ice, High Life, Yeunglng, PBR, Schlitz, the Beast, Natty Light and the other Lite brothers and sisters?
Face
Where’d we find this guy? Comedic genius. Can we pay him to stay and say this funny stuff all the time?
asiangrrlMN
@Bill E Pilgrim:
You win this thread. I don’t care how long this thread gets, you win. That was beautiful, man!
@Punchy: Congrats, man. I’m not giving you any advice on marriage, sex, and the lack thereof because I have none (advice OR marriage). Good luck shakka lakking!
Block quotes sucks! My comment starts with, “You win”
binzinerator
@Punchy:
No lack o’ boom-shaka-lacka until about a year after the altar or the first trimester, which ever comes first.
Tim F.
Fill a plastic cup halfway with any one of those, bury it in your garden almost to the lip. Go to bed. The next morning the cup will be full of slugs and your garden will be slug-free.
Buddy
And one other question – what’s a hop? I’ve always thought a hop was a lot like a marijuana bud. Are these two things similar, do they both facilitate plant reproduction? How are they different?
Dave C
@Buddy:
Speaking only for myself, if it’s a choice between any of those “mass produced domestics” you’ve listed (with the possible exception of Yeungling, but I’m on the west coast and we don’t have that out here) and nothing, I will choose nothing. My cash is too precious for me to waste on something that tastes terrible, so I would rather drink less frequently and buy things that I enjoy than spend smaller amounts on something that I can’t stand.
Dave C
@Tim F.:
Also, this.
asiangrrlMN
Stupid blockquoting and moderation. My comment @40 starts with “You win this thread.” That is all.
Face
Yes, yes, no, hell no, nope, they still make this?, nope, yep, hell yeah!, yuck, beer pong beer, good enough, are the sisters hot?, respectively.
Bill E Pilgrim
@asiangrrlMN:
It’s frightening that that made sense only to a female.
Kidding. Merci.
Okay, going out for a late dinner.
Tim F.
Addendum: Yuengling is pretty good and Yuengling Porter is fantastic, at least for the price.
Carry on.
Michael
The Grand Panjandrum
Yeah, I had that vid real early on.
Totally tappable.
Death By Mosquito Truck
Long time married guy here. It drops off but not so precipitously as to be glaringly obvious, maybe within the first year or so. First, she only wants to do it once on Saturday, then only once on the weekend. Then no more mornings. Then she starts going to bed before you so ya gotta wake her up and get her interested with a lotta foreplay which totally ruins the experience for you. So after enough of this hell, yer not waking her up and instead just taking care of yerself.
Then yer not having sex at all until she initiates it and she’s only initiating sex because that’s the only way she feels like yer close to her, open to her, because by this time in the relationship you are every other morose hate-filled dying-on-the-inside sonuvabitch.
Eventually you wind up “out if sync” if for no other reason than you don’t want to submit to her sexual agenda and she doesn’t want to be held hostage to yours. The infrequent sex you do manage to wind up with will be the passionate desperate sort that foregoes prevention and results in offspring. Wait one year, rinse repeat.
If you’re lucky to stay married long enough, she becomes a twice a day insatiable monster in her forties. Of course by this time it takes you half a bottle of viagra and a hottie in Argentina to make it hard anymore.
Run Punchy, run.
Punchy
@Tim F.: I fully expect this blog to be blammed by PETA thanks to this comment.
Or confused gun enthusiasts.
RodeoBob
My brewing group is actually doing a blind tasting of a bunch of macrobrews: Coors, Bush, PBR, etc. both to try and identify, but also to remind ourselves what they taste like.
And, since they’re all SCA/Reinessance Fair types, afterwards they’ll be playing a game called “Spear the Beer” with a real spear!
On brewing Belgians
I’ve had better luck using either Belgian candy sugar or honey rather than brown sugar.
Be prepared to wait; for our Trippel, we add champagne yeast at bottling, and let it sit for four to six months before opening. It takes a long time, but the final product is incredible. (We based ours off the Trippel Karmeliet)
On Marriage
Trust me, the first few years are awesome! The big thing to remember is this: you’re not done! You know all that work you did when you were flirting, then all that work you did while you were dating? You know all the time & effort you put in when you were just seeing each other, before the engagement? Yeah, well, guess what? You’re not done. You’re never done; when you stop trying is when things start going bad. All that cheesy stuff about date nights and special dinners and whatnot are all ways to keep putting work in.
Oh, and I’ve been married five years, and I get it at least once a week, sometimes every day, though sometimes I have to take care of things myself. I am referring, of course, to a well-cooked meal.
Max Peck
Did you test the brews gravity? ( i just learned this term at lunch). (As it relates to beer I mean).
Death By Mosquito Truck
Tim, can ya pull me outta moderation while there’s still time to save Punchy?
b-psycho
@Tim F.:
I tried that Bud “American ale” recently, was better than I expected. Kinda reminds me of Sam Adams’ lager, oddly enough.
As for the rest:
-Busch sucks. I cracked open one at my brother’s place & ended up topping it off with vodka just so I’d have a reason to finish it.
-Miller, I’ll drink the High Life if someone else buys.
-I used to drink 40s of Bud Ice back in tha day, wasn’t bad. If it were up to me, they’d switch the formula of the standard Bud to something inbetween Bud Ice & Hurricane High Gravity.
-Coors = water, period.
-Never had Yeungling.
-Never had PBR. Honest!
-If you mean the malt liquor, I think I had Schlitz once. When it comes to the ghetto stuff I prefer Steel Reserve.
-Never heard of the Beast.
-Natural Light I never had, but I’ve had Natural Ice. Bland, albeit less so than Coors.
I never got the point behind Lite beer, to be honest. I’m of the “wtf, it’s BEER, it’s not supposed to fit in with your health concerns” camp.
b-psycho
I splurged on a couple from Boulevard Brewing Co. awhile back. Had a Tripel & an Imperial Stout they were doing small runs of.
Man, for such flavorful brews those two are some serious stupid-juice…
R-Jud
@binzinerator:
I know you’re all kidding, right? You are really not all this sad, you’re just funnin’ on old Punchy.
Or maybe you really are that sad. Or maybe me and Mr Jud are just a couple of hyperactive f***bunnies, even after four years of marriage and the baby.
Beer: Yuengling isn’t bad at all. The hubby likes it, and he is a CAMRA snob.
The Grand Panjandrum
@Death By Mosquito Truck: I always find it interesting that so many of the anti-abortion folks are also not real big on contraception which seems like a contradiction. If kids aren’t a form of contraception–any many levels–then what the hell is?
Dan
It’s about time BJ did some beer blogging. More please.
binzinerator
@Buddy:
Whelp, since you didn’t ask me …. I’m going to answer anyways: of beers of this class, MGD/High Life and Schlitz (the classic formula dammit) are the best.
Honorable mention for Mickey’s and Falstaff, from the cheap thrill days of high school and college, respectively.
I’m not sure what beer you are referring to as the Beast. I’ve never had a Yeunging.
Fuck Bud Ice or Ice anything. Ditto for Lite beers which are abominations. I’d rather drink my own piss.
BruceFromOhio
OK, so the Friday Beer Blogging is just a cover, right? It’s really about relationship advice – got it. See you next Friday!
Joel
Semi-related.
After paying $16 for a 1/4 wheel of semi-hard goat cheese at the local farmer’s market, decided to try my hand at cheesemaking. Looks to be not as difficult as I thought (following Dave Fankhauser’s page). Starting with yogurt tonight and will probably convert 1/2 of that to Labneh.
Anyone have any experiences they’d like to share on these ends?
binzinerator
@The Grand Panjandrum:
Lulz. I joked with my wife after our daughter was born that our daughter’s nickname should be Ninety-Nine. Because she’s 99 percent effective as birth control.
When the son was born a few years later, he became Point Nine.
Two kids under 4 years of age and you will swear you got damn near 99.9% effective birth control.
Death By Mosquito Truck
I’m on my way to the beer store right now to reward myself for a murder-free week with a few bottles of Adventinus dopplebock. TGP, I’m not sure I understood your earlier birth control comment but to be fair, I was still crying pretty hard when I read it.
Ken
@PuncI’d take it as purely anecdotal, if at least 7 guys hadn’t told me so.
hy: No, no, it’s true.
binzinerator
@R-Jud:
I’m sad now.
Damn you. It was better not to know that marriage and babies don’t have to be the end of fun. She had me totally convinced. What a sucker I am. Now I’m thinking of a hike on the Appalachian Trail.
Seriously though, see my comment regarding kid Ninety-Nine and other kid Point Nine. Their efficacy derives from the effects of a scarcity of 1) uninterrupted adult time and 2) a scarcity of energy in the adults when there is adult time.
Ah, Punchy. You’re off on a great adventure.
Laura W
@Death By Mosquito Truck: You need to get yourself one of them there outdoor jacuzzi spas. Nothing sexes up the ladies like a hard, pulsing jet.
I’ve heard.
Ed Marshall
I think I’m done brewing for the year. It was 90 outside and the 250,000 and 500,000 btu burners took the temp in the basement from 60 degrees to 115 degrees over the course of brewing. Whole house smelled like Satan’s asshole to. Really, Really, nice ale made for summer slamming, but when this batch goes into the cornelius kegs, I’m done until fall.
R-Jud
@binzinerator:
I have only been a parent for four months, so our little daughter is still just a kind of charismatic loaf (will you be even sadder if I mention that she sleeps 8 hours a night already?). So far, no evidence of her being a contraceptive.
I will probably have a different report when she becomes mobile. Which I think will happen sooner rather than later.
I am about to go downstairs and have me a Hole Hearted. Like DBMT, I have not committed murder this week, and deserve a pat on the back.
binzinerator
@Laura W:
Nah, you ain’t fooling me. That hot tub schtick only works before they’re married.
Case in point: Before I was married I once house-sat for some people who had an outdoor jacuzzi. It gets dark, I had a rough day so I go in the tub. Girlfriend (now my wife), who learned earlier in the day I’m house-sitting, unexpectedly shows up in her bikini with a cold beer in hand. Strips her suit, informs me she is my water nymph, then climbs in and offers me the beer but only if I give her what she wants.
Nowadays if we’re ever alone and have privacy in a jacuzzi she won’t even take her suit off. And I bring my own beer.
Run Punchy Run!!!
binzinerator
@R-Jud:
Yes. And double damn you. ; )
Now, since I also have not murdered anyone I am going with the wife on a date tonight. A real date, babysitter and everything so we can be out as late as we want. Which in practical terms, ends up being about 9:30pm before the yawns begin. We cannot decide where to go because all the music acts and bands around here don’t seem to start until around 9.
We actually had one date where we went to a Borders bookstore. I felt so lame until some friends with kids told us on their last date they ended up shopping for two hours at Target.
God I feel old. But not as lame as I thought I was.
Death By Mosquito Truck
She was inside-jokin me, Biz. I’m gonna let her live because she otherwise keeps me entertained.
ajf
I know this isn’t a brewing blog, but fwiw, I’ve recently taking to making my starters w/o hops in them. I’ve found, for mysefl, that in the scheme of things, there just isn’t enough disinfectant quality to them to justify the expense and added complexity while making a starter.
Steeplejack
@Buddy:
I second this. Just last week I found myself confronted with the prospect of buying a six-pack or two at a down-market grocery store that didn’t even have my go-to domestic, Samuel Adams Black Lager. So, if a gentleman of leisure is forced to choose among the mass-produced American beers, what do you go for? (Don’t say Budweiser. Budweiser is right out. I will never buy Budweiser.) I used to drink Miller Genuine Draft, but the last time I had some–and it had been quite a while since I had previously had any–it didn’t taste so great. Are there any domestics that are worth a damn (even in the context of a forced purchase at a convenience store)?
Steeplejack
@Steeplejack:
I see some people have offered opinions already. I will try Yuengling, although normally I don’t like Chinese beer. (I kid, I kid!)
Which reminds me: I used to really like Saranac Black & Tan as a good, cheap beer, but my grocery noted my buying habits and promptly discontinued it. Although they still carry some other Saranac products. WTF?! I notice they do that a lot: I find something I really like, start depending on it, and they stop carrying it. Bastards.