Never should have started this "hobby"

I am sure that I am not the first person to have said this but, I never should have started into this "hobby". After brewing and drinking most of my first batch almost all other beer tastes like piss!! Oops, can I say piss? And I never liked bud, coors, miller etc, they have always tasted like piss. But now I can't stand most of the other beers that I used to like. I feel like I am forcing it down! The worst part is that I only have 4 bottles left and my 2nd batch is not even in the bottles yet. Ahhhhhhh!!!!!! If you guys don't have any of your homebrew what do you drink???

Water with lemon...

Well, first off, I'm never without HB.

Second...now you're a beer snob. Welcome to the club!

I like to drink German Hefeweizens, a good IPA, and if it's hot outside and there's no home brew or Apfelwein (like never), a cold Dos XX's or Tecate with lime hits the spot every time.

SNPA, St Arnolds Texas Wheat, St Arnolds Summer Pils, Broken Halo, Redhook ESB......But it is hard to find me without a few full kegs of homebrew.

EdWort said:

Tecate with lime hits the spot every time.

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I went to a dirt track race last saturday with $1 Tecate....man that was cool.

Don't worry about it your brews will get better plus once you figure out how to time it right you'll have more beer on hand than you'll know what to do with!

Yeah, I think I need to brew a batch every other weekend. Seems like my first batch will last about 3 weekends. Fortunately I do have a batch in primary and another in secondary but I am realizing I will probably be out for about 2 weekends after 4th of July. I wish Mac & Jacks bottled their beer!!!!

i usually enjoy a good german weisse-bier when i don't have homebrew (although the franziskaner around here is getting a little aged). brew up a few hefeweizen's, too. they're quick to make and they'll keep you stocked.

you know I have never been a big fan of hefe's but I am sure that with the vast world of homebrew there has to be several that I would like. Besides, it seems as though almost any homebrew will taste better. How long does a hefe take?

hefe is very quick because you don't need a clarification period. You can bottle right out of primary if you wanna.

So it cuts out about a week then?

I drink Coors or PBR. I don't run out of homebrew because I plan ahead and brew 25 gallon batches but on a really hot day nothing beats an ice cold watered down macro.

You can also do an American wheat if you don't like the hefe yeast profile (banana and cloves etc). Use Wyeast or White Labs' American wheat yeasts. Do a search for Dude's Boulevard Wheat clone. Its a real crowd pleaser. I did two batches back to back and I bottled them both out of primary after a week.

There are plenty of good micros to try - and it's good research for future batches. Don't think that the stuff we make is the ONLY good stuff out there; it's just not true. There just isn't any CHEAP good stuff. But, it sounds like you knew that already.

If no homebrew => bourbon

I can't even tolerate a lot of commercial brews. If I have mine on hand, I'll go to them every time.

SWMBO even commented how my liquor-store bill has gone down drastically. She's happy, I'm happy, and I have lots of homebrew on tap.

traderearl said:

So it cuts out about a week then?

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usually at least 10 days before bottling, if you want to be quick about it...all in the primary

rdwj said:

There are plenty of good micros to try - and it's good research for future batches. Don't think that the stuff we make is the ONLY good stuff out there; it's just not true. There just isn't any CHEAP good stuff. But, it sounds like you knew that already.

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Yeah my most favorite micro (Mac & Jacks African Amber) that I love only sells out of kegs so I rarely get it. It tastes similar to and I like Arrogant Bastard if you just cut the bitter hoppiness in half. But as you said "There just isn't any CHEAP good stuff"

Levers101, DeathBrewer

What is a good micro brew readily available I could buy to see if there is a wheat/heffe bear that I might like to start brewing? Is there a micro I could buy that tastes like Dude's Boulevard Wheat clone?

Thanks for all the feedback from everyone.

i don't like most american hefeweizens so for me micro wouldn't be the way to go. in fact, i think alot of american hefes have alot MORE banana, and i try to only have a hint of it in my homebrews.

i prefer german hefes. try a franziskaner or a paulaner. they don't have too much banana, more spiciness.

there are a few clones out there. the one i tried from Beer Captured didn't really taste like a franziskaner, but it was still a damn good hefe. best way to keep the banana at bay is to ferment at 64-66 degrees.

you should be able to get franziskaner just about anywhere. they even have it at safeway here in cali. hope this helps.

traderearl said:

What is a good micro brew readily available I could buy to see if there is a wheat/heffe bear that I might like to start brewing? Is there a micro I could buy that tastes like Dude's Boulevard Wheat clone?

Thanks for all the feedback from everyone.

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Try a Pyramid Heffe. However, I am not a big fan of their Apricot Heffe. They should be readily available in your neck of the woods.

Yeah, Hefe if you want it fast. My Hefe is at 3 weeks as of tomorrow. I tried some yesterday. It is fully carb'ed and I don't anticipate the flavor really 'improving' that much. My DunkelWeizen seemed to peak at the 3 to 4 week mark and never really got any 'better'. I do love my Wheats!

Anyways, I don't anticipate being out of HB. I still do buy different commercial offerings, usually when I embark on a new style or just for something to have 'round. I actually feel guilty buying, knowing that I have plenty of HB and the fact that I can easily make more as I have all the ingredients so I can brew on a moments notice..plus the cost. I have loads of bottle stock now, so I don't really need more.

Once you get rolling along (assuming you can hold back on drinking the HB for now) and get into a streak you can stock it up pretty quick!

There are a lot of micro's that I have not tried to keep me busy for awhile.

But my plan is to do small 2.5 gal batches till I can find good enough recipes to do the bigger 5 gal. This way I can have a bunch of different brews to choose from without committing to 5 gals.

After reading this thread and the information about the hefe's and wheats, there goes the rest of the summer!!!!!!

Hobby? What "hobby"?

Homebrewing is a life style...

Think of all your none HB drinking as research. Check out different styles and variations within those styles. There are some amazing Craft Beers out there. But BMC isn't in that camp IMHO!

DeathBrewer said:

i don't like most american hefeweizens so for me micro wouldn't be the way to go. in fact, i think alot of american hefes have alot MORE banana, and i try to only have a hint of it in my homebrews.

i prefer german hefes. try a franziskaner or a paulaner. they don't have too much banana, more spiciness.

there are a few clones out there. the one i tried from Beer Captured didn't really taste like a franziskaner, but it was still a damn good hefe. best way to keep the banana at bay is to ferment at 64-66 degrees.

you should be able to get franziskaner just about anywhere. they even have it at safeway here in cali. hope this helps.

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I will definately try the franziskaner thank you.


Matt, yeah I have seen the pyramid at the store, will have to give it a try as well.

Although ultimately I probably just need to take 3 or 4 weekends in a row and just brew my heart out. Need to keep stocking up my bottles.

rdwj said:

There are plenty of good micros to try - and it's good research for future batches. Don't think that the stuff we make is the ONLY good stuff out there; it's just not true. There just isn't any CHEAP good stuff. But, it sounds like you knew that already.

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I respectfully disagree. Spaten Optimator, at about a buck a bottle at 7.4%ABV is pretty cheap and PLENTY flavorful!!!!

It's not exactly a summer brew though...


And I found that I'm happier, SWMBO is happier, and friends are happier when instead of brewing twice a month, I only do it once a month, but make twice as many batches. Assuming you have the fermenters available, it's only one day a month rather than two or three. That means more free time to spend with others...

Did OP admit to knowing what piss tastes like?

Cheesefood said:

Did OP admit to knowing what piss tastes like?

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From what I hear it tastes like wheat beer....

Around here, even the little corner store carries microbrews. The local dive is BMC, but across the street you can get 6-8 good ones on tap.

Monster Mash said:

From what I hear it tastes like wheat beer....

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OH NO, YOU DID NOT......

(I know where you live...and HELL'S COMING WITH ME!!!)

American beer has to be served ice cold so you don't confuse it for urine...

Everyone here knows what piss tastes like, we've all had at least one of the BMC's. Thats why we brew, to get the memory of that taste out of our heads.

I just finished brewing my 290th gallon this year. I think I just drank my 260th gallon of the year...so I'm staying just ahead of the curve.

Well, that's when I add to my bottle inventory of 22 oz. bottles of different brews, I like to call it R & D! Just went to 7.5 gal. batches with 2 8 gal. fermenters so we'll see if I can become A.I. (Alcoholicaly Independent) But I live here Oregon with a lot of brew pubs. One, happens to have a beer tasting 1st Sat of every month with breweries from up & down the western U.S. so I get to try a lot of different brews. Anyone tried Walking Man Black Cherry Stout< I know it was the the best fruit at the GABF last year. Boy if anyone could clone that I would be interested in the recipe!

Widmer hefeweisen is the one everyone around here in Oregon has tried to imitate and they have a nice clone in Gambrus' cup recipe base. I've used it with white labs WLP320 and it came out really clean and nice

I am lucky, all the places near me where I buy beer have really killer selections of craft beer in stock so when I run out, I drink something awesome. Tonight we had Celebrator, last night was Warsteiner Dunkel. 1554, Guinness, Boulevard Pale Ale, it's all good. When you run out, drink good beer. If you can't find good beer locally, then don't run out.

Damn Squirrels said:

I respectfully disagree. Spaten Optimator, at about a buck a bottle at 7.4%ABV is pretty cheap and PLENTY flavorful!!!!

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Oh man, I just picked up a 6'er of Spaten Optimator from the local state store tonight (never tried it before) and OH MAN, what a great beer that is. $7 for a 6 pack here. Very reasonable if you ask me.

traderearl said:

Yeah my most favorite micro (Mac & Jacks African Amber) that I love only sells out of kegs so I rarely get it. It tastes similar to and I like Arrogant Bastard if you just cut the bitter hoppiness in half. But as you said "There just isn't any CHEAP good stuff"

Levers101, DeathBrewer

What is a good micro brew readily available I could buy to see if there is a wheat/heffe bear that I might like to start brewing? Is there a micro I could buy that tastes like Dude's Boulevard Wheat clone?

Thanks for all the feedback from everyone.

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If you're looking for an inexpensive hefe, look no further than San Adams Hefe. You can get it for about $7 a 6'er (or $5.99 at my local Kroger with Kroger card :rockin: ) While it's certainly not the best Hefe that you'll ever taste, it's a pretty accurate representation of the style. If you don't like the SA Hefe, then you may not like them at all. Just avoid the Gordon Biersch Hefe.... it's absolutely horrible.

As someone once said, there's a fine line between hobby and mental illness. (the model railroad guys set the bar pretty high)

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July!! I managed to catch a rogue bottle rocket with my forearm and now have a wonderful battle scar from firework shrapnel.

On a good note I did manage to try 2 different hefe's this weekend. I tried Pyramid and another beer that said it was Bavarian. Although I can't locate the bottle at the moment to get the name. The Bavarian beer was very banana like and the Pyramid was pretty mild. I was not able to find franziskaner but I think I may be reaffirming that I just don't have the palate for Hefe's. I will continue to search for franziskaner and also Spaten Optimator to see if they are different enough for me to like.

I did happen to pick up a bottle of Sheaf otmeal stout and was pleasantly surprised. (hopefully I don't get blasted for this admission) I bought it amongst several beers that I was curious to try and it was on sale for $1.79 per 22oz. Anyways could anyone tell me if the predominate flavor in the beer is from roasted barley? And I don't mean the normal addition of roasted barley in most stouts. This beer has one particular "roasted" flavor that sticks out more than the rest that I would like to add to my own otmeal stout recipe.

Thanks again and hope no one else has crispy skin from the 4th.

"bavarian style" hefes are not always true to their name, especially for craft brews...trader joes makes one for instance that has tons of banana. it really just depends on the brewery and i prefer imported hefeweizens.

hopefully you'll like franziskaner...if not, good luck finding your brew of choice and tweaking it to perfection!

jpuf said:

As someone once said, there's a fine line between hobby and mental illness. (the model railroad guys set the bar pretty high)

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this is true

This reminds me it's friday, and if I wasn't going away for the weekend, I'd have a beer-related brew weekend