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I'm enjoying a delicious 21st Amendment Hop Crisis right now that until very recently was residing in a can. I agree with the post above that said anything by 21A is in the runnings. I'm not really a partisan when it comes to the packaging vessel of my beer, so long as it's well made and well...

Not a pro brewer here, either, but I haven't seen my chin at all in my adult life. I'm honestly a little afraid of what it would look like if I did shave... From the looks of some of the brewers I've met, I don't think I'm alone in this.

My guess would be that hops from 3 months ago are from the same crop as hops bought today. As long as they've been stored properly in both cases (meaning, freezer, preferably vacuum or nitrogen sealed), I can't imagine that there would be much difference. Now if we were talking about hops from...

Now that you mention it, I don't think I've ever seen 60 minute IPA in Oakland either, but I can pretty reliably find 90 minute anytime I want. It used to be that I could only find the 6-pack and 4-pack Dogfish Head stuff (90 minute, Palo Santo, Aprihop, etc), but since Beer Revolution opened...

Maybe it depends on the Whole Foods location, but I think it's been on the shelves every time I've looked in the Oakland location. They're basically my neighborhood grocery, so I'm in there fairly regularly, although I can't say I look for it specifically all that often. I've been working down...

I definitely also suffer from the problem of being my own beer's harshest critic. I think the issue for me is that, while everyone else drinks it and just thinks about whether it's good or bad, I drink it and think "aww, man, I used a bit too much crystal in that one" or "I should've dropped the...

I like the phrasing about there being "'juju' involved". I'm convinced that there's a sort of equivalent to the wine people's terroir in the brewhouse. It's part of what keeps things interesting in the beer world. It's also why I'm not going to lose any sleep over the fact that my tripels don't...

After lurking on this thread for a while now, I finally got a chance to brew up another bitter today. My first couple of attempts have been much like everyone else described -- good, but just not quite the same as what I've had from England. I'm hoping that some tweaks from this thread here and...

I'm not the one arguing that you can cover up your mistakes with hops, though. I'm saying that a flawed beer is a flawed beer, and people [edit: who are trying to sell beer] aren't going to deliberately try to hide a flawed beer by throwing in some more hops. What I'm saying is that a well-made...

Why would someone need professional experience with brewing to think it's absurd to claim that the trend towards hoppier beer is driven by people trying to cover up their mistakes? It's a business, and in many areas a very competitive one. Why would people continue to buy a product that is...

There's a passage in Garrett Oliver's Brewmaster's Table where he talks about thinking Rogue's Old Crustacean is out of balance and too bitter for the style, and is told by John Maier that it needs to be aged a few years to mellow out. Also, I bought a bottle of the 2010 Jubel from Deschutes...

While you're in Sacramento, Rubicon is worth a stop. In SF, 21st Amendment is a great brewpub near AT&T Park, but if you happen to be in town when the Giants are playing, the traffic in the area will be nuts and the parking absolutely nonexistent. I'll also throw another vote in for The Trappist...

Which yeast was used for it? White Labs lists apples as a possible aroma with WLP023. I've never personally gotten apples out of it, but it definitely has a fruity aroma, so I could easily see it being apple-y.

Do you really think that a flawed IPA with lots of hops would fare as well as a well made IPA with the same hopping rates, though? That's my point -- bad beer is bad beer, and "covering it up" with anything doesn't change the fact. I still maintain that no commercial breweries are adding extra...

My opinion: Bad beer is bad beer. Sure, it might be somewhat less noticeable when the beer is strongly flavored (regardless of whether it comes from hops, yeast, or anything else), but it can't completely cover up lousy technique. Are you telling me that a beer with those off flavors, but lots...

I disagree completely. There's times when I want a hop-bomb with a light body and little to no maltiness. I wouldn't want that to be the only thing I ever drink, but I don't see any danger of that happening. Besides, I would say that it's actually not any easier to brew super hoppy beer than...

I don't believe Russian River distributes anywhere in Florida. They have really limited distribution anywhere outside the west coast.

I've even seen fresh vials of White Labs' various English yeasts that looked a lot like that. Some of them look pretty much like cottage cheese to me. Also, I've never been able to tell anything by smelling the yeast or the starter. It just depends so much on the strain, it's impossible to know...

I also prefer my IPAs as soon as I can get them kegged and (mostly) carbed. My usual pattern for them is two weeks in the primary, then a week of lots of dry hopping, then into the fridge it goes. I usually give them a bit of a shake to help speed up the carbing, but it's only a few days before...

The south bay has a reputation for being a bit tougher to find good beer than the rest of the bay area. I assume that places like Whole Foods down there are likely to carry Pliny, but if not, and if you can get away long enough to come up to either SF or the east bay, Russian River is definitely...