state your beer, drinkers

[concealed]

question to NYC people

I am going to be going to NYC with my wife, her sister and brother in law in March. We are going to stay in the Nolita area, no car. He is interested in craft beer, but doesn't know a ton. The women are going to do some shopping and he suggested we visit a brewery. Does Sixpoint do tours? Brooklyn's website indicates they are available on Saturdays. Any recommendations? I am probably going to stop at WF Bowery and New Deal Distributors to pick up a few growlers/bottles? Any reasonably priced restaurants ($20/person for food) that offer decent beer lists in that area or around Times Square (shudder) I will check BA, but wanted to see if any of you had any tips!

PM me, unless you think it is relevant to the thread! thx and +rep in advance

edit: Arsenal, if I was in Chicago, I would be drinking Half Acre beers all day, take advantage. Also, I hope you have tried Goose Island Bourbon County, sorry if this is too obvious

[shufon]

^pm'ed.. was going to post but then I realized I typed way too much for a post..

[youkinorn2]

question to NYC people

I am going to be going to NYC with my wife, her sister and brother in law in March. We are going to stay in the Nolita area, no car. He is interested in craft beer, but doesn't know a ton. The women are going to do some shopping and he suggested we visit a brewery. Does Sixpoint do tours? Brooklyn's website indicates they are available on Saturdays. Any recommendations? I am probably going to stop at WF Bowery and New Deal Distributors to pick up a few growlers/bottles? Any reasonably priced restaurants ($20/person for food) that offer decent beer lists in that area or around Times Square (shudder) I will check BA, but wanted to see if any of you had any tips!

PM me, unless you think it is relevant to the thread! thx and +rep in advance

edit: Arsenal, if I was in Chicago, I would be drinking Half Acre beers all day, take advantage. Also, I hope you have tried Goose Island Bourbon County, sorry if this is too obvious

Brooklyn Brewery's little tour is nice, and their bar area is very pleasant. People are friendly. It's the only brewery I've been to here, but was a nice way to spend a couple hours.

edit: I meant tour, not tower. Unfortunately the brewery does not have a tower, ha.

[shufon]

Hey youkinorn, you around in late March? sufu beer meetup?

[youkinorn2]

Hey youkinorn, you around in late March? sufu beer meetup?

Definitely down. I'm up here looking for a job pretty much indefinitely, so hopefully I'll still be around then (and a little more settled).

Wish I had a better stash of bottles saved up...but assuming I get a job and a more permanent place, I'll have to run back to Texas fairly soon anyways. So hopefully I could pick up some stuff you guys haven't had and bring it back up here.

Not too many great beers being produced in Texas, but there are a few better-than-decent things coming out of the Austin area.

[shufon]

^Sounds good.. I'm bringing a decent number of bottles down and if concealed is coming the same week as me (he said he has to ask his wife about the dates) then I think he might be bringring some Cisco Brewing sours that sound pretty sick.

The weekend after he's there my friend from Nashville is coming up.. he always bring whales with him to tastings, you're definitely welcome to kick it with us for that as well.

Some beer porn from his facebook page.. makes me wish I was still down there just for these beers, haha:

[/img]

Can't believe he got a bottle of Wooden Hell :\

[renski]

youkinorn: I thought everyone in Texas drinks shiner bock? jk

I guess these hopslams I got are done. I drank 4 out of the 6 bottles. nothing but the taste of alcohol. kind of sad because I wanted to see what the hype was about. usually when a Cali IPA or DIPA goes out of it's range it ends up on the sweet side. debating to drink lost abbey red poppy or the pelican india pelican ale.

[shufon]

@youkinorn -- meant to mention earlier, if you can get Jester King beers while you're in Austin, bring those back up here. It's a tiny brewery that just opened a few weeks ago, but their beers sound awesome.

[concealed]

weekend of the 19th it is

Three of us should meet up somewhere and drink some beers

[youkinorn2]

youkinorn: I thought everyone in Texas drinks shiner bock? jk

I would never disown Shiner bock. I'm not a huge fan of many/any of the Shiner beers, but a cold bock on a hot day is something I will always enjoy.

And then there's Ziegenbock, which tastes a lot like Shiner bock but is cheaper and was a pretty common party keg beer...a lot better than your normal party beers.

@youkinorn -- meant to mention earlier, if you can get Jester King beers while you're in Austin, bring those back up here. It's a tiny brewery that just opened a few weeks ago, but their beers sound awesome.

Those do look great. A coop brewery/brewpub just opened in Austin before I finished school...never even made it by.

http://www.blackstar.coop/

I'd say odds of me making it down to Texas before this little meet up are about 50/50.

weekend of the 19th it is

Three of us should meet up somewhere and drink some beers

Sounds like a plan.

I'd offer my place as a location to open some bottles, but I don't even know what "my place" will be yet, ha

[shufon]

So I think we're probably gonna meet at a bar to get some beers. I dunno if any of the good beer bars are BYOB friendly, pretty sure RnH isn't (not sure about Blind Tiger but I doubt it).. the selections are good enough anyway that it doesn't matter.

Missing out on Sofie and Oro de Calabaza on tap at RnH right now :\

[youkinorn2]

Yeah, I doubt finding a good beer spot that would be cool with byob would be possible. If the Gingerman here is like the ones in Texas, it's definitely not byob.

The "special" bottle list had some pretty interesting aged/rare stuff on it at Blind Tiger, so maybe we could get something particularly cool that way.

Excited about the vermont event tomorrow. Will try to get some decent pictures.

[shufon]

^Pretty damn bummed I can't make it down there tomorrow. Can't find a friend to crash with, and as much beer as I would drink there I would definitely need a place to crash (pass out? haha)..

Anyway, rare stuff at RnH >> rare stuff at Blind Tiger in my opinion... there are always quite a few bottles I'm wanting to try.

[renski]

you could try couchsurfing to see if someone would let you stay overnight.

[youkinorn2]

^Pretty damn bummed I can't make it down there tomorrow. Can't find a friend to crash with, and as much beer as I would drink there I would definitely need a place to crash (pass out? haha)..

Anyway, rare stuff at RnH >> rare stuff at Blind Tiger in my opinion... there are always quite a few bottles I'm wanting to try.

If I had a couch for you to crash on, I would certainly offer it...unfortunately there is already someone more-or-less permanently sleeping on the couch of the place I'm staying.

And Rattle n Hum would be fine by me...probably prefer that if I don't have the chance to make it by there before.

[concealed]

What about a place like Bierkraft in Brooklyn? a little more expensive, but less "bar" atmosphere, but you can buy/drink growlers and an expansive bottle list

[shufon]

Haven't been there before but I've heard about it from a few people. Checked out their website, list isn't as extreme/rare but they definitely have a good selection and getting some growlers would be cool. Pricewise it's not really any more expensive than the other two from the looks of it.

They have Hair of the Dog Adam and Fred which is pretty cool, would probably pick up a few Adams to bring home with me. Also a lot of Jolly Pumpkin bottles I haven't had.

[youkinorn2]

never even heard of the place, but looks good to me.

Can you actually drink there? Assuming so since they have a food menu.

[concealed]

Yeah you can grab a pint or a growler and drink it there, without the dark/loud music vibe. I guess bottles are priced a little higher from what I have read for the more local/typical stuff, ($14 sculpin according to a BeerAdvocate review) but the less common stuff isn't insanely priced, all things considered.

http://www.beertable.com/ is not THAT far away from Bierkraft and they have Fantome Hiver & Cantillon Kriek among others on tap

Day time drinking in Brooklyn sounds good to me

[shufon]

^Sculpin is priced ridiculously high everywhere on the east coast.

This sounds like a plan though, especially going to Beer Table too <--Cantillon on tap is always a winner.

[youkinorn2]

Yep, sounds like fun.

Getting excited about the vermont thing in a few hours. Hoping they may have some sort of tasting option set up so that I can try as many as possible.

[shufon]

The main ones I would rush for are Petit Mutant, cask Edward, and Heady Topper.. then Abner and Double Sunshine. All of the farmhouse/saisons would be pretty sick as well, especially Art considering it's barrel aged.

[youkinorn2]

Petit Mutant wil definitely be my first purchase...want to enjoy it before I start the hop barrage on my palate

[concealed]

I can usually find Sculpin for $8 or $9

Lawson's barrel aged joint sounds tasty, but I really dig maple syrup so that could be it

snap a couple pics while you are there!

[shufon]

^Wow I'd be all over that man, when I've see it on the east coast it was $12+ for a bomber.

[renski]

f your finding sculpin for that price, they must have some deal locked in because 8 is retail and ballast point is about two miles away from me. damn I want a bottle of sculpin now. I don't think they will be bottling dorado anymore since sculpin received so many awards.

[shufon]

I'm not sure what the deal is.. every time I've seen it over here though I've been shocked by the price.

On another note, just saw how far Flower Power got in that IPA tournament you posted recently ren, was top 8.. glad to see the beer getting so much respect.

Working on a recipe for an IPA.. anybody on here who homebrews, give me a review of this and if it makes sense as this is the first time I'll be brewing:

Malt Bill:

80% 2-Row

16% Wheat

4% Caramunich

Hop Additions:

60mins - Simcoe - 3.5oz

45mins - Citra - 1oz

45mins - Tomahawk - .5oz

30mins - Citra - 2oz

15mins - Citra - 3oz

Dry hop - Cascade - 2oz

Yeast:

California Ale Yeast

I'm buying stuff here and there to get ready to make a 5gal batch next month. One concern is that I have the malt bill down %wise but I'm really not sure of exactly how much malt I should use (it will be all grain btw). I want to make this beer more than a few times and tweak it until it's what I want it to be, then start making it with brett once I'm ready.

Anyway, any comments/advice is appreciated.

[shufon]

Just went to the cabinet to see what looked good earlier, this seemed appropriate considering the date:

5 year old gueuze that is a blend of 1yr, 2yr, and 3yr old lambics, aged in oak barrels. No head whatsoever, carbonation is almost nonexistent. Smell is vinegar-ish but not overwhelming.. taste is really light on the palette, reminds me a lot of white wine, super dry, and leaves a really funky aftertaste that lingers forever. I dig it

[soonami]

I'm not sure what the deal is.. every time I've seen it over here though I've been shocked by the price.

On another note, just saw how far Flower Power got in that IPA tournament you posted recently ren, was top 8.. glad to see the beer getting so much respect.

Working on a recipe for an IPA.. anybody on here who homebrews, give me a review of this and if it makes sense as this is the first time I'll be brewing:

Malt Bill:

80% 2-Row

16% Wheat

4% Caramunich

Hop Additions:

60mins - Simcoe - 3.5oz

45mins - Citra - 1oz

45mins - Tomahawk - .5oz

30mins - Citra - 2oz

15mins - Citra - 3oz

Dry hop - Cascade - 2oz

Yeast:

California Ale Yeast

I'm buying stuff here and there to get ready to make a 5gal batch next month. One concern is that I have the malt bill down %wise but I'm really not sure of exactly how much malt I should use (it will be all grain btw). I want to make this beer more than a few times and tweak it until it's what I want it to be, then start making it with brett once I'm ready.

Anyway, any comments/advice is appreciated.

Too much wheat, this will be hazy as shit and not in a good way like chill haze from high hopping. It'll look almost like a witbier. I would use less than 10% wheat, maybe like 5%. Also I'd consider another 4% of another Crystal malt, maybe 20 for a little more caramel flavor and balance.

3.5 oz of Simcoe is probably way too much bittering if your Simcoe is 10-12%. Also this is a waste of Simcoe, which is a pricey hop more often used for finishing (late additions and dry-hopping). I'd use something like Apollo, Horizon, Magnum, or even Chinook to bitter--and probably half as much. Again, with Citra, 45 minute addition will cause you to lose a lot of the aromatics and flavors the hop is known for. Tomahawk is fine at 45min, it'll provide a bit more bittering, but not much else. I'd push the Citra additions to maybe 1 oz @ 25, 15, and 5, with a big charge as dry-hopping. Cascade, I'd layer about the same way as the Citra, but no dry hopping so that the Citra has more space. I think that Simcoe and Citra, both have very distinctive flavors so that if you use both to finish, you'll have a muddy weird mix. Citra is very bright and fruity to me where as Simcoe is dank, sprucey and assertive.

Hope that helps.

[shufon]

^Yup helped a lot.. was talking to another homebrewer earlier as well and he was advising against the wheat entirely as well. That malt bill was straight from the Super Friends IPA that Ithaca did which I loved. It was also 100% Citra. Anyway, I'm tweaking a little bit but I haven't really figured out the exact malt bill yet because, as you said to maybe add the 20L for a little more balance, I'm not really trying to get balance here.. definitely just going for a hop/citrus bomb.

Anyway, onto the hops.. yeah, after hearing both his and your opinion about the Simcoe, I'm going to use a different bittering hops early on, and not nearly as much. Right now the hop schedule is looking more like this:

60mins - Tomahawk - 2oz

45mins - Tomahawk - 1oz

30mins - Centennial - 3oz

25mins - Citra - 1oz

15mins - Citra - 2oz

5mins - Citra - 1oz

Dry hop 1 - Citra 2oz @ 1wk

Dry hop 2 - Citra 2oz @ 2wk

Aside from malts/hops, what's your opinion of dry yeast vs liquid yeast? Dry yeast seems so much easier, but I'm reading mixed things on how much it actually affects the taste as compared to using liquid yeast.