I mean, it feels like its been awhile.

So I figured I should probably post something. Even if I don't have time to finish the updates I want to below (soon, like after the semester ends), I found this, and wanted to share.

World's Oldest Beer, Wine Found, Drunk

You're welcome.

The Great Beer Tasting - The contenders

After a grueling and exhaustive search, we were able to narrow our selection down to nine beers we wanted to try. The majority were domestics, but we also got a few imports as well, because the rest of the world has something to say about beer. Once we returned to the apartment, we included an apricot beer that was already there, bringing our grand tasting-total to 10.

A Trip to NY, or Escape to the Planet of Decent Alcohol Laws, Part 1

So this past weekend Eric, Kristen, and I went to New York to visit our friends Frank and Courtney. It was a wonderful time, filled with good friends and delicious food (those enchiladas still make my mouth water). While there, we took advantage of the state's excellent (read 'normal') alcoholic beverage laws to buy some rather interesting beers.

Summer Ale Clone: First Taste

It has been two weeks since we bottled our Sam Adams Summer Ale clone, and last night Eric and I decided to try it.
Before opening the bottles, Eric had noticed a cloudy character to the beer, that seemed to be slowly settling. When we poured it out, it had a nice amount of carbonation, a light head, and was very noticeably cloudy. The smell and flavor was quite yeasty. It did have a good summer ale flavor behind that yeastiness, but it was masked. We decided to let it sit a bit longer and hope that it settles out more.
There are a few reasons it could be cloudy. The most likely answer seems that there was an issue during the pouring or transportation that caused the yeast to be agitated and suspended in the solution. Hopefully the beer will settle out soon and the delicious flavor will shine through!

Link Party!!

I want to get in on some of this link action, so go here. I think I'm getting ideas ....

Wow...I approve!

http://www.asciimation.co.nz/bender/page4.html

BENDER BREWER

(edit: link works! also, this is beautiful!)

The chilled glass

I was just telling Steve the other day that you shouldn't drink beer from a frosted glass, as it will have adverse affects. Last week, we went out to 2 different restaurants and we received chilled glasses from both places. I shook my head in dismay. (Although we didn't bother to ask for a non frosted glass since the beers weren't exactly the best of the beers). According to BeerAdvocate.com, you shouldn't accept beer from a frosted glass. They say it will alter the correct serving temperature and water down the beer. It's like people who put ice cubes in their beer...why??

Anyway, check out the site, here's the link to all different types of glassware for beer (there's A LOT of glassware depending on the type of beer you're drinking). At the bottom of the page is the blurb about drinking from a frosted glass. It's also a great site for more professional beer reviews.

Check it out!
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/101/glassware

Volatile Yeast

Here's some photos of what I found in the basement today. The yeast had exploded out of the airlock, clogged it with gunk, and proceeded to bulge out the lid . I cleaned out the airlock and put it back on. An hour later, it was clogged again. So, I decided that the airlock would be futile against its yeasty foe, and I replaced it with a blow off hose. It's now relieved of its pressure and bubbling away happily.

Fun fact: this is the yeast that took 3 days to actually start doing anything. We thought the yeast was dead and went as far to go out and buy an extra packet just in case. Now it's exploding with vigor and excitement like never seen before. It reminds us all, that yeast is a living creature, and it either has a fond love of lemons... or Sam Adams is secretly whispering to the yeast as they eat away.

When life gives you lemons, make Sam Adams' Summer Ale Clone

Another week has come and gone, and our third batch is now sitting in Eric's basement. The little yeasties are yawning and rubbing their eyes. Billions of little faces look around and see: a feast! A smorgasbord of malty goodness, masterfully flavored with citrus and hops! A sea of sweet and delicious malty excellence surrounds and envelops their senses, and "the hunger" (a condition that strikes yeast, zombies, and Germans) takes control. It is not a pretty picture.

Review: Wells' Banana Bread Beer

Alright, here goes a first attempt at reviewing someone else's beer. But please be gentle. It's my first time.

Now that the requisite virginity joke is out of the way, let's get down to brass tacks: this is one fantastic beer. It is, according to other review sites (not to be found on the bottle or the company's site), an English Strong Ale, which apparently are "generally malty with minimal to low hop presence (beerpal.com)." That seems like a fitting description of this beer. Aside from the strong banana flavor, the primary taste is the malt, which mixes nicely with the fruity banana flavor. The hops are just along for the ride, though they provide a nice spicy undertone to the overall flavor and come through more strongly in the aftertaste. Sure, they might use 'banana flavor' in addition to their FairTrade bananas and natural mineral water, which might account for the rather intense (in my opinion) flavor. But that flavor, whatever its origin, balances and blends easily with the malts and hops. Each ingredient has its own role to play: the malts provide a base, ensure a certain stability and definition to the drink; the banana counteracts and balances the traditional malt flavor with a light and fresh feeling; and the hops leave just enough bittering, not too weak or too strong both in the initial taste and aftertaste, to leave you wanting more.
So the overall review for this beer? Outstanding? Excellent? How about just, you know, great. A fine and unique flavor that could have been a mess (I mean really, bananas? in beer?) but succeeds beautifully.

Let's take some time to talk about our first home brew. Steve and I, being interested in the art of science and fine alcohol, decided to craft a brew that we could call our own. We sang softly to the yeast as they developed into a beautiful ale.

So, how did it go? Surprisingly well actually. The type of ale we made was called a "highland heavy ale", as far as I know, it's a style common to Scotland. We wanted a dark, bitter, hoppy beer. That's exactly what this was. It's a little sweet and maltly, but finishes with a very bitter aftertaste. A taste which I have grown to love over the years. (I can thank Arrogant Bastard Ale for that).

Hopefully we will develop our craft and hobby further to make better, fresher, and beers with more character and body to them. Granted, I'm not positive what that all means, but hey, I'm still learning.

Growing our own hops?

While perusing the internet, I came across this on ThinkGeek.

It's a little greenhouse for growing your own hops, wheat, and barley. Cool! It probably doesn't make a whole lot, nor is it guaranteed to grow, but why not give it a shot. We can add it to our next creation to give it a kick of pure beautiful freshness.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/science/dd60/

Nut brown almost ready to bottle

I took a hydrometer reading today, reading 1.020. It's a little on the low alcohol side, about 3.8% right now, but pretty much right on target since we were aiming for 4%. Another day or two and we can take another reading.

Welcome, from Eric

Hello, Steve. I am glad to see we got this up and running. Hopefully we'll get some info up and running soon as well as some photos!

Introduction

Hello, and welcome to Eric & Steve's BrewBlog*! This will be a place for us to discuss beer and brewing, from reviews of anything we can get our hands on to our own experiences with homebrewing. And possibly anything else that strikes a fancy. So welcome and cheers!

*Name subject to change at a moment's notice