Fear Not!

I'm admitting it. . . I think we've hit a little slump in our brewing. Instead of admitting that slump, we did what our Y chromosomes told us to do and tackled a recipe for a double IPA with an IBU of 110. I think at the end of the night we all realized that we had metaphorically kissed our cousin. . . the night had just not felt right. Have we so early lost the Joy of Homebrewing?

Nay, I say! A simple "no" will not answer that question. That question requires "Nay!" Nay, has the dual function of answering my question and empowering me to answer. Nay. Nay! Nay!!

Fear NOT! We shall not rest in our place in time, but I pause to acknowledge it. We are here because of the men thousands of years ago who could not buy beer and had to invent it. We are because men were not satisfied with their own senses and were industrious enough to alter them. We are here because of the men who persevered through years of prohibition to maintain and perfect an art. I am honored to represent their sacrifices.

In conclusion, the "Bear ate the honeybee, but the honeybee repetitively stung the bear in his esophagus until the bear died from internal bleeding" Double IPA is fermenting. The yeast are bubbling. And it is an honor to brew beside each of you.

Amazingly Funny Video

And it has something to do with beer.



And here is the URL if the video doesn't work. The video at the link is higher quality.

http://sjl.funnyordie.com/v1/view_video.php?viewkey=3efbc24c7d2583be6925

Disappointing

I just got home from studying and decided I wanted a beer. Alas, no BBB was chilled so I settled for a Guinness. Usually a Guinness leads to a highly enjoyable drinking experience but I was disappointed since it did not match up to our ASS. I am incredibly happy right now that I am disappointed with the beer I am drinking.

Another experiment. . .

From John Palmer's How to Brew.

"This brings up a good question, how bitter is bitter? Well, in terms of IBUs, 20 to 40 is considered to be the typical international range. North American light beers, like Coorsú, have a bitterness of only 10-15 IBUs. More bitter imported light beers, like Heinekenú, have a bitterness closer to 20-25. American microbrews like Samuel Adam Boston Lagerú have a bitterness of about 30 IBUs. Strong bitter ales like Anchor Liberty Aleú and Sierra Nevada Celebration Aleú have bitterness of 45 or more."

I just made a recipe for a beer that has an IBU of >100. Skeered?

Why do macrobrews suck?

Here's a question/thought that just invaded my studying. . . I am not a beer snob, yet, and I don't really have a great beer palate, yet. I'd say I'm somewhere in no man's land right now between the valleys of Natie Light and the mountains (further up and further in) of Belgian ales. However, I know that I can no longer identify with the part of people who choose American macrobrewed beverages.

This thought came about as I was thinking, "would it be possible to brew a good beer that appealed to the macrobrewed/frat boy crowd?"

Answer:
Top excuses for not drinking good beer:
1) "I don't like dark beers" (what in fact most people are saying is that they don't like beers with lots of dark specialty grains but more importantly lot of I.B.U.'s)
2) "Why spend four bucks on a beer?" (I don't understand why beer is marked up so much either)
3) "I don't want to drink beer that makes me fat." (Then, don't drink beer. Alcohol is calorie laden. Light beers simply use crazy enzymes to degrade some of the left over carbs then water the beer down a bit as evidenced by the lower alcohol percentages of all major beers. Thus, what you get is a water downed version of a crappy beer to start with, that someone has added a few enzymes that probably cause cancer anyway. Let's be honest, is there a big difference between 140 and 110 calories?)

So, the beer would have to be light colored, cheap, and not hoppy. I think this is the reason that the hefeweizen is growing in popularity (though let's all make an effort to educate people of the truth behind Blue Moon). Part of the problem is that most people's first exposure to non-American macrobrewed stuff is Guinness or a Pale Ale, both formidable beers for a non-drinker's palate. I don't see any microbreweries really going after the people who fear dark beers. I don't see anybody making good beers aimed at macrobrewed junkies. Perhaps it's impossible, but I think there's a market for this and as soon as someone decides to stop being pretentious about brewing only beer that hurts your throat when you burp the I.B.U.'s back up, they could be successful and dismantling a piece of America's addiction to macrobrewed, waterd0wned, dextrose laced, corn mashed, pee in a bottle. Thoughts?

Beer in schools?

Table beer
"Table beer is a low-alcohol (typically not over 1,5%) brew sold in large bottles to be drunk with meals. The last decennia it has gradually lost popularity due to the growing consumption of soft drinks and bottled water. It comes in blonde or brown versions. Table beer used to be served in school refectories until the 1970; in the early 21st century, several organizations made proposals to reinstate this custom as the table beer is considered more healthy than soft drinks." (wikipedia)

Dream Beers

With the brewing season coming into full force, I thought I'd pose a question: What beer or beers are you most excited about trying to brew? My answers:

Kolsch
Hefeweizen
Belgian Dubbel
Czech Pilsner (lager anyone??)
Double or Triple IPA (if each sip doesn't cause me to burp, it ain't worth drinking)
Mid-summer: Pumpkin Spice Ale for October/November
Something with fruit in it