Home Brew

[Drawingablank]

I've always had great success brewing my own beer which is why baffled.

In light of my current fiscal crisis, I was ecstatic when two of my son's friends showed up yesterday and gifted me a 12 pack of home brewed beer. Free beer! And home brewed at that!

After proper chillling I started in on it tonight and can only wonder where things went awry.

1. It tastes sorta like beer. but more like beer mixed with a lot of water.
2. After drinking 10 of them, the alcohol content seems barely better than O'Doules.
3. It causes flatulence - not just a little either. The aroma is sort of like an open cesspool under a pile of burning tractor tires.

If I lived closer to the playa, I would bring a ton of this stuff to gift as a form of snark, but unfortunately I am on the East coast.

[Agaton]

Gentle Sir, it occurs to me that the bevrage in question may indeed have a considerable alcohol content, which after ten bottles could acount for you postin gon a public forum the olfactory impressions of your item #3.

[lemur]

drink up, and welcome to america!

[ygmir]

I just made an experimental drink from my very sweet mead (home brewed), elderberry, blackberry and plumb juice, and everclear..........desert that kicks your ass!!

[trilobyte]

Wait, so you're telling me somebody home brew, and it was crap?

[mudpuppy000]

Hmmm, maybe they forgot the fermenting part and just bottled it after the boil.

I think the worst thing I've ever brewed was a double hefeweizen that didn't ferment completely. Was pretty awful/sweet. Poured it all down the drain.

[clocksnmirrors]

3. It causes flatulence - not just a little either. The aroma is sort of like an open cesspool under a pile of burning tractor tires.

If I lived closer to the playa, I would bring a ton of this stuff to gift as a form of snark

i feel for your suffering

but this made me laugh a-plenty

[Drawingablank]

Gentle Sir, it occurs to me that the bevrage in question may indeed have a considerable alcohol content, which after ten bottles could acount for you postin gon a public forum the olfactory impressions of your item #3.

Well, I could agree if I had posted it to an employers facebook page, but this is eplaya - And all true burners know that Wednesday is Socially Appropriate Fart Day.

Besides, a mere ten beers wouldn't have me doing anything I'd be embarrassed about.

[tamarakay]

I just really don't know what to say except I wish I hadn't read this.

[Drawingablank]

I just really don't know what to say except I wish I hadn't read this.

Sorry to upset your delicate sensibilities TK.

It really is in the WWW on Wednesday though.

[MyDearFriend]

Bobbin, thank you, reading this has made my day!

Sorry TK (still not able to stop laughing) really sorry but aren't you happy not to be sharing a tent with that guy??? I am!!!

Good to know that I am getting my money's worth out of the very expensive beer I buy. I would pay whatever's necessary to avoid that cesspool/burning tire experience.

[Drawingablank]

Well I have researched this a bit and asked them a few questions.

Since they used a canned kit (no brewing just heat up and mix) they were supposed to add sugar. But they didn't have enough sugar and went ahead anyway so the yeast didn't have much to convert into alcohol.

Good to know that I am getting my money's worth out of the very expensive beer I buy. I would pay whatever's necessary to avoid that cesspool/burning tire experience.

Well I have to say that when I make home brews (usually IPA's) they normally taste better than most of the stuff you can buy at the store. But it's a lot of work so I don't make beer as often as I'd like to.

[FlyingMonkey]

Speaking of homebrew. I looked and did not come across any active ePlaya homebrew threads. I hate to reinvent the wheel so I will just hijack this thread.

I've been all grain brewing for a few years now & plan to bring plenty (at least 15 gallons) Home to share with new & old friends. I was just wondering what experiences other home brewers have had, what works, & more importantly what doesn't. Do you cool your kegs or just tap it through a cooler? I'm going to give 3 gallon kegs a try since they are really portable, but the 5 gallon kegs are more convenient for larger quantities.

Any thoughts???

What would be your top picks for the Playa considering the hot days & cold nights?

---I just ordered a Bacon Smoked Red Ale kit so I will do my part researching/sampling

[FIGJAM]

http://playaevents.burningman.com/2013/themecamp/5089/

[MyDearFriend]

FlyingMonkey I am so happy for you, and I wish you all the best with your beer!

This camp:

http://playaevents.burningman.com/2013/themecamp/5089/

is the BEST, and the eplayan you want to talk to about it is our dear friend Goathead.

Goathead lives in Gerlach, so, is not to far from Home. Where will you be bring your kegs from?

[FlyingMonkey]

FlyingMonkey I am so happy for you, and I wish you all the best with your beer!

This camp:

http://playaevents.burningman.com/2013/themecamp/5089/

is the BEST, and the eplayan you want to talk to about it is our dear friend Goathead.

Goathead lives in Gerlach, so, is not to far from Home. Where will you be bring your kegs from?

MDF, I'm heading Home from Wisconsin. I'm not too concerned about hauling it 2000 miles since I have a bus & can dedicate the space for it. Mostly I would like to pick a few brains about chilling it & lessons learned.

I'm honestly surprised there isn't an active beer thread anyway.

[goathead]

Do you cool your kegs or just tap it through a cooler?

In the past we tried to keep our kegs cool, damp blanket, out of the sun, and serve through a jockey box, "casket" . A few years ago we moved up to a small cargo trailer, insulated it with r-max and a refer unit on it. this year we are moving up again, 21 ft toy hauler that we will be converting into a beer cooler/bar. We have run from 7 to 15 taps at different times.

I'm going to give 3 gallon kegs a try since they are really portable, but the 5 gallon kegs are more convenient for larger quantities.

Save your 3 gal kegs for the really special stuff, I love them.

Any thoughts???

A pool table always goes great with a good bar.

What would be your top picks for the Playa considering the hot days & cold nights?

Consider making a few soda's also for the people who don't drink, or even for just a change of pace. Easy to make even on the playa.
Have fun with the flavors, it is TTITD after all.

I just ordered a Bacon Smoked Red Ale kit so I will do my part researching/sampling

That is a nice start.
Stop by HomeBrew4AHomeBrew, ask for goathead, don't give up, I can be a pain in the ass to find at times and our camp has grown a little over the years.
I usually avoid the bar when it is packed, just to hard for me to hear anything up there at times.

[tamarakay]

Goat head! Good to see you. We missed getting to hug you last year. And we do appreciate the cream soda you guys made. Wonderful stuff!

[tatonka]

made some "new wine " with some marijuanna , taste was not good, but it was very good after effect. Woke up in the morning and I seemed to be floating on my bed. All body aches were gone ( normaly have many aches to deal with ) will try to fiqure on how to make it taste better.

[goathead]

made some "new wine " with some marijuanna , taste was not good, but it was very good after effect. Woke up in the morning and I seemed to be floating on my bed. All body aches were gone ( normaly have many aches to deal with ) will try to fiqure on how to make it taste better.

makes a better beer, use instead of or with hops. Or make a tea and add it to your finished product, flavor to taste.

Goat head! Good to see you. We missed getting to hug you last year. And we do appreciate the cream soda you guys made. Wonderful stuff!

I will be out there some place, the new trailer/bar should really be neat.

[MyDearFriend]

(((Goathead))) can't wait to see you again!

[FlyingMonkey]

I am very happy to report that after a couple of weeks of fermentation I just kegged the Bacon Smoked Red Ale & it turned out much better than I thought it would. Considering that it isn’t carbonated yet & it was around room temperature it turned out pretty good. Honestly, I thought this was going to be a gimmicky novelty beer that would be way over smoked & have an overpowering bacon flavor, but instead it was nothing like that at all. Its color is a nice dark coffee brown & the aroma doesn’t even hint at the flavors hidden inside. When you first taste it, it seems like a smooth brown ale. But after you swallow it you get a mellow smoke flavor followed by a lingering bacon flavor that, although lasts for 10-15 seconds, isn’t overpowering at all. it's perfect. This will be a great late night Playa beer. I may have to do a batch with habanero or ghost peppers just to add a little heat to warm the night.

Cheers

[graidawg]

MDF I think we should consider moving to the other side of BRC, GH is just too far away for that drunken stumble home where we are currently (or perhaps we could get BDV to move to say 8 and c?)

[FIGJAM]

Or you could get more centrally located and camp across the street from us!!!

Less of a stumble to everywhere.