Magic Hat HI.P.A.

[ctenidae]

Newport Storm Brwing- Maelstrom IPA.

Tasty. Very tasty

 

[Marc]

Newport Storm Brwing- Maelstrom IPA.

Tasty. Very tasty

Actually just received a sixer of a friend's winter ale homebrew batch. Heavy, but good. 80 IBU. Didn't get the OG or the FG, but I may want to take a stab at this one.


Heh, he put on the label, Jay's Jet Fuel: A Real Winter Beer.

 

[ctenidae]

Heh. We printed up labels for ours, too. The only one I remember is Chester Brown Ale. "If you're gonna molest her, better drink Chester"

 

[Marc]

Heh, I can imagine it may be a bad idea to print labels after consuming too much of the product. Or a really good idea. One of the two for sure.



The two times I've brewed beer, we also were consuming beer at the same time. Is this perverse or common practice I wonder?

For some reason Harpoon Summer tasted very nice whilst cooking up a batch of Honey Brown clone.

 

[ctenidae]

The two times I've brewed beer, we also were consuming beer at the same time. Is this perverse or common practice I wonder?

Common practice, I believe. Two reasons- 1) You have to keep the Beer Gods happy, and B) Where else are you going to get the bottles for your next batch?

 

[Marc]

That's very good to know. I shall continue this practice.


Have you every mashed your own barley cten?

 

[Greg]

For as good as the HIPA is, Magic Hat Saint Gootz is just awful. It tastes like minced meat pie in a bottle. :blink: Yuck! uke: I'm not even sure I can get through the six pack I bought; it's that bad.

 

[ctenidae]

Wow- good to know. I have a mix pack with some Gootz in it. Have to give it a try. With a bucket handy, I guess.

Marc- we never did our own mash fully, though our shop did have germinated barley that they'd grind fr us. We used it some, but unless you're equipped to deal with it, it's a pain. We always strained the wort before putting into the carboys (helped cool it, and made bottling easier), and the barley is hell on the strainer. If you have a big enough strainer, I guess it wouldn't be too bad, though. Just be sure to get the pre-germinated barley so all you have to do is cook it.

 

[roark]

Marc- If you want to start converting starches to sugars yourself I suggest you start with a partial mash first- do a simple infusion mash for half the batch and kick it up with some extract. That way if you screw up it's (hopefully) still drinkable. In general you'll probably want some dedicated equipment if you're going all-grain.

 

[Greg]

Wow- good to know. I have a mix pack with some Gootz in it. Have to give it a try. With a bucket handy, I guess.

Indeed. Keep a bucket nearby. I couldn't even finish one last night. I'm going to give another a try tonight...

 

[Marc]

Thanks for the advice, roark and my evil arch nemesis.


I won't start doing the all grain thing for a while yet. I was just curious. I need to get me a a setup first. I'm thinkin I'll go for the carboy/plastic bottling bucket set up first.

Here's another question since I'm striking out for my own kit-

Wing capper ok or is a bench capper worth going out to find. I've used the wing style capper before and didn't have much problem with it. What's the advantage of the bench style?

 

[ctenidae]

I never had a problem with the wing capper. Bench capper may reduce the risk of flinging a bottle across the room, but that's part of the fun, isn't it?

On the bottling bucket, if you can get the one with the spout about 3 inches off the bottom, you'll love it. Makes life much easier, letting gravity do the work. Don't skimp on teh bottling wand, either- if the valve doesn't work well, you'll have a mess on your hands. Of course, if you're drinking enough beer to keep the Beer Gods happy, you'll have a mess, anyway.

 

[Marc]

Oh yes, if my brief beer making history is any teacher, the mop will be a requirement in the beer making tool kit.

I just came back from the pakie and ironically, right in one of the refrigerated racks was a six of Newport Storm Hurrican Amber Ale. I snatched it up with a six of Cream Stout. Can't lay off that stuff.


I'll have one tonight and see what I think. I hope you haven't steered me wrong...

 

[ctenidae]

All I know is the Maelstrom IPA, though if it's any indication, the Amber ought to be pretty good. I do like a good Amber.

The beer style's pretty good, too.

 

[Marc]

Amber Ale-

Medium body, moderate aroma hops, extremely well balanced malt/bitterness characteristics. Perhaps one of the best balanced ales I've had. Light floral aroma.

Taste: Very slightly bready, herbal. Crisp and refreshing.

Finish: Slight bitterness, vanishes quickly. Probably not a dry hopped brew.

Observations: Slightly off white two finger head. Not much head retention, but that could be due in part to my dishwasher. I should really hand wash my beer glasses. Light, sticky lace coats the glass a few inches above the level of the remaining beer.

Notes: A great all around brew. I'm not savy enough to know exactly what the aim of the amber ale style is, but I surmise from this one that it is simply a mild, balanced brew. This one is best consumed a little warmer than the fridge as are most ales... The malt, bitterness and aroma hops all hit my pallette each with about equal force. It is fairly well carbonated and goes down with just enough bit to satisfy and not leave one with an oily feeling in the mouth, like Hit the Trail Ale did.

Scary-drinkable. I'm almost glad I only bought a six pack. Wait, no I'm not. At any rate, I have a six of Cream Stout to look forward to. Man I love beer.

I found www.howtobrew.com. Great site. I will be using it as a reference often.

 

[MtnMagic]

I used a wing capper when I brewed. It worked consistantly perfect for years.

I just discovered this thread and am adding my .02. Gootz is terrible! Circus Boy is a little better, though not by much. Batch 272, Batch 273, #9 is fine. HI.P.A. is absolutely the best tasting beer I've ever tried. And this from a die-hard Double Bag fan. Here, the only way to get HI is to buy a 12 pack of Magic Hat's "Joe's Garage" w/4 kinds x 3. The distributor hasn't seen 6 packs of HI yet. Hope they arrive soon!

 

[ctenidae]

Tried the Gootz. Who teh hell makes a dark wheat beer? THis seemed to have the worst characteristics of both a porter and a wheat. Not good.
I'll finish what I've got, though. It is beer after all.

 

[skibum1321]

HIPA and Double Bag just aren't my scene I guess. I think Double Bag is a terrible beer. HIPA is ok, but never got too attached to it. I like the milder IPAs - Blind Faith, Harpoon IPA, etc.

#9 is garbage too. It's sort of a "starter beer" to get people into drinking good beer. I don't really know anyone other than girls that actually like it past freshman year.

 

[Greg]

For as good as the HIPA is, Magic Hat Saint Gootz is just awful. It tastes like minced meat pie in a bottle. :blink: Yuck! uke: I'm not even sure I can get through the six pack I bought; it's that bad.

Just a follow-up here. Over a month later and those five Saint Gootz's are still just sitting in the beer fridge downstairs... :blink:

 

[hammer]

Just a follow-up here. Over a month later and those five Saint Gootz's are still just sitting in the beer fridge downstairs... :blink:

Here's a possible use for it:

http://www.ehow.com/how_9123_make-own-fertilizer.html

:wink: