White house beer

Here's my stab at converting the honey ale to AG...sounds like it's gonna come out too sweet. I'm torn as to what to do about the hops...add more bittering hops to up the IBUs and balance it better, or just brew it as close to the official recipe as possible for authenticity...

http://hopville.com/recipe/1645107

How many newbs will be here asking advice to brew beer now? It will be like Christmas in September, plus we have the pumpkin beers, winter warmers, festbiers and barleywine questions to answer now.

Oh and I forgot about hop harvest, and grain prices...

I think this is very cool. I think it is very good for the homebrew community. And shame on those members of this forum that went into a RANT every time another homebrewer came on here and said the same.

SHAME ON YOU you guys who ranted when someone posted an excited thread about this.

I'm proud to part of this tradition. Woot for the homebrewers.

WaltStarr said:

I'll be making a batch in the next couple of weeks, too.

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Let us know how it goes/tastes!

SouthBay said:

Re: honey.

Any guesses as to which type of honey might be closest? Something from the farmers market? Maybe just plain clover honey?

Also, i'm guessing they meant 10 AAU on the porter?

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Well from what I know (spent a day helping a beekeeper) bees will start with the pollen closest to the hives and work their way out but they can go very far from the hive in order to find what they're looking for. So they would have a wide variety of different pollens from the D.C. once they ran out of pollen on the Whitehouse grounds. I worked at a farm that sold blueberry honey but the beekeeper said this was BS because after the pollen was gone those bees went all over the countryside and got pollen from all types of different flowers.

I would just get some local farmer honey. You'd be keeping your money local and getting a wide variety of pollen from around the farm. I would avoid anything from China or elsewhere.

ReeseAllen said:

Here's my stab at converting the honey ale to AG...sounds like it's gonna come out too sweet. I'm torn as to what to do about the hops...add more bittering hops to up the IBUs and balance it better, or just brew it as close to the official recipe as possible for authenticity...

http://hopville.com/recipe/1645107

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Right on man. Looks cool. Not doing AG yet but want to do this when I start. Let us know how it turns out.

onthekeg said:

How many newbs will be here asking advice to brew beer now? It will be like Christmas in September, plus we have the pumpkin beers, winter warmers, festbiers and barleywine questions to answer now.

Oh and I forgot about hop harvest, and grain prices...

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The more the merrier

passedpawn said:

I think this is very cool. I think it is very good for the homebrew community. And shame on those members of this forum that went into a RANT every time another homebrewer came on here and said the same.

SHAME ON YOU you guys who ranted when someone posted an excited thread about this.

I'm proud to part of this tradition. Woot for the homebrewers.

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Surprisingly the positives have outweighed the negatives. Generally people are being pretty mature and sticking to the beer side of things. I love your enthusiasm!

DaBills said:

Haha right on! I can't wait to get into all grain to try that one someone posted.

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I'll do it extract since that's how they do it.

SouthBay said:

Re: honey.

Any guesses as to which type of honey might be closest? Something from the farmers market? Maybe just plain clover honey?

Also, i'm guessing they meant 10 AAU on the porter?

Click to expand...

Looking at pictures of the White House gardens, they have wide variety of flowers. I'm thinking a wildflower honey should work.

I see the lme they use is in a bag. I've seen jugs and cans. Who packages their lme in a bag? And how many will do it now?

BrotherGrim said:

I am glad to see brewing in the national spotlight, as I still live in a state that hasn't gotten around to removing the homebrew laws. Maybe this will give the state legislature the confidence to alter our laws without feeling like they are inviting national repercussions.

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Hopefully your state and all others who still ban homebrew will take this as a gentle nudge to change their laws.

Zuljin said:

I'll do it extract since that's how they do it.

Looking at pictures of the White House gardens, they have wide variety of flowers. I'm thinking a wildflower honey should work.

I see the lme they use is in a bag. I've seen jugs and cans. Who packages their lme in a bag? And how many will do it now?

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Yeah I think I'll do the extract after I get through the recipes I got on deck. Then I'll do AG when I start doing it.

I haven't seen LME in a bag either.

passedpawn said:

I think this is very cool. I think it is very good for the homebrew community. And shame on those members of this forum that went into a RANT every time another homebrewer came on here and said the same.

SHAME ON YOU you guys who ranted when someone posted an excited thread about this.

I'm proud to part of this tradition. Woot for the homebrewers.

Click to expand...

Best post of this thread....

It is about homebrew... but even better... homebrew with a high profile...
Set politics aside and enjoy the press that homebrew is getting..

It is a positive thing.

Heckle said:

Hopefully your state and all others who still ban homebrew will take this as a gentle nudge to change their laws.

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Yeahp. I hope sooner rather than later. Not a problem in NY I'm fortunate. I'm gonna have to look up which states don't allow. I was surprised to hear this at first.

Publicity to home brewing!

DaBills said:

Yeahp. I hope sooner rather than later. Not a problem in NY I'm fortunate. I'm gonna have to look up which states don't allow. I was surprised to hear this at first.

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I believe it's allowed (or in some cases not *disallowed*) everywhere but Mississippi and Alabama. Some states don't have a specific law and defer to federal law (where it's obviously legal), some have specific laws (some of which are more restrictive than federal law), but as far as I know those are the only two banning it.

I am not a fan of Obama, but did people really think Obama was out back brewing all grain on the weekends? The original article I saw said the kitchen made the beer, Obama just bought the equipment. I have seen lots of posts on here about people wishing they had more time to brew but just didn't have time to get around to it, I think we should understand he might be a bit busy at the moment. Hopefully he will be able to start brewing his own come November.

I, as a newb, will add this to my list. But mine will be better. Why? North Dakota honey!

I had higher hopes for the whole recipe/equipment. I was thinking some three Tier Systems by Sabco or MoreBeer or something; maybe wishfull thinking?

Also, all the hoopla about petitions and FOIA requests were probably moot. The one fermentor had an April 2011 stickie on it in the video released, so I suspect the video was made awhile ago for release at some date. ?

Kinda cool though; it give Homebrewing a bit more cred with the Public I hope.

bschoenb said:

I had higher hopes for the whole recipe/equipment. I was thinking some three Tier Systems by Sabco or MoreBeer or something; maybe wishfull thinking?

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I think it's better like this. Don't get me wrong, I have a single tier Blichmann eHERMS system, but it would look a lot less accessible to the general public. This way, people see they can get started with a minimal investment.

emjay said:

I think it's better like this. Don't get me wrong, I have a single tier Blichmann eHERMS system, but it would look a lot less accessible to the general public. This way, people see they can get started with a minimal investment.

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This!

I also love that they're learning and were happy to admit that they are new at it.

Qhrumphf said:

I believe it's allowed (or in some cases not *disallowed*) everywhere but Mississippi and Alabama. Some states don't have a specific law and defer to federal law (where it's obviously legal), some have specific laws (some of which are more restrictive than federal law), but as far as I know those are the only two banning it.

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You are correct. Mississippi and Alabama are the only two states that still have laws on the books prohibiting homebrewing of beer. I have lived in both of these states for the last 6 years. It kinda sucks. I really hope this helps.

emjay said:

I think it's better like this. Don't get me wrong, I have a single tier Blichmann eHERMS system, but it would look a lot less accessible to the general public. This way, people see they can get started with a minimal investment.

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I actually Agree w/you !

But the geek in me just wanted to see a video w/some cool high tech shiny Stainless Brewing equipment in the White House looking all spify

With stoves and a kitchen like that who needs a brew rig? My only question is, where is the pipeline? If he doesn't have a pipeline, he is not a homebrewer.

passedpawn said:

I think this is very cool. I think it is very good for the homebrew community. And shame on those members of this forum that went into a RANT every time another homebrewer came on here and said the same.

SHAME ON YOU you guys who ranted when someone posted an excited thread about this.

I'm proud to part of this tradition. Woot for the homebrewers.

Click to expand...

beergolf said:

Best post of this thread....

It is about homebrew... but even better... homebrew with a high profile...
Set politics aside and enjoy the press that homebrew is getting..

It is a positive thing.

Click to expand...

Yes, it's as nutty as when people go nuts over the White House Christmas decorations because of the person who happens to be the president when those decorations happen. It happens whenever there are the inevitable December news pieces about the decorations and it doesn't matter who is president at the time. The only thing that changes are the groups of people who go nuts over it.

Folks, this is not about the president. All presidents come and go. This is about the White House. It's the People's house and has been since our second president took up residence there.

And now, there is beer being home brewed in the People's house.

How is that not a good thing?

He never brewed it !!!!

Jaehnig said:

Publicity to home brewing!

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Yes sir you got it!

AMonkey said:

I am not a fan of Obama, but did people really think Obama was out back brewing all grain on the weekends? The original article I saw said the kitchen made the beer, Obama just bought the equipment. I have seen lots of posts on here about people wishing they had more time to brew but just didn't have time to get around to it, I think we should understand he might be a bit busy at the moment. Hopefully he will be able to start brewing his own come November.

I, as a newb, will add this to my list. But mine will be better. Why? North Dakota honey!

Click to expand...

Thanks for stopping by good to hear your input.

emjay said:

I think it's better like this. Don't get me wrong, I have a single tier Blichmann eHERMS system, but it would look a lot less accessible to the general public. This way, people see they can get started with a minimal investment.

Click to expand...

Exactly. Gotta get started somewhere. If it were AG it would be way to intimidating for someone wanting to try it out.

rifraf said:

This!

I also love that they're learning and were happy to admit that they are new at it.

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Haha yep they're newbies and they know it. Kinda like me. Nothing wrong though gotta start somewhere.

WaltStarr said:

Yes, it's as nutty as when people go nuts over the White House Christmas decorations because of the person who happens to be the president when those decorations happen. It happens whenever there are the inevitable December news pieces about the decorations and it doesn't matter who is president at the time. The only thing that changes are the groups of people who go nuts over it.

Folks, this is not about the president. All presidents come and go. This is about the White House. It's the People's house and has been since our second president took up residence there.

And now, there is beer being home brewed in the People's house.

How is that not a good thing?

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Yeah that's just silly.

White House beer is good for america.

Outsourcing hops now I see...

This thread is about beer. If I have to babysit it one iota, it will get closed. If you post ANY political commentary in this technical forum, I will ban you for three days, no questions asked. Carry on.

Yuri_Rage said:

This thread is about beer. If I have to babysit it one iota, it will get closed. If you post political comments in this technical forum, I will ban you for three days, no questions asked. Carry on.

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Haha good timing.

Maybe it is because I am reading this thread on my phone but can anyone tell me where the other 1oz of the fuggles goes in the honey ale? I see it has 1 1/2 oz listed but the directions only say to use 1/2 oz with a minute left. Also what is the point of using gypsum in a extract recepie?

CbusHbrew said:

Maybe it is because I am reading this thread on my phone but can anyone tell me where the other 1oz of the fuggles goes in the honey ale? I see it has 1 1/2 oz listed but the directions only say to use 1/2 oz with a minute left. Also what is the point of using gypsum in a extract recepie?

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You're right, I'll try and get you an answer as to what to do with the other ounce or if it's a typo. Also have no idea about gypsum.

SouthBay said:

Re: honey.

Any guesses as to which type of honey might be closest? Something from the farmers market? Maybe just plain clover honey?

Also, i'm guessing they meant 10 AAU on the porter?

Click to expand...

Near as i can tell from the googles, HBU is a way of referring to the equivalent AAU of 1 ounce of hops at a given AAU.

I could be wrong, but using that logic i came up with a recipe at ~25 IBU, which is the bottom of the range for a robust porter. And as porters go it is very, very robust.

CbusHbrew said:

Maybe it is because I am reading this thread on my phone but can anyone tell me where the other 1oz of the fuggles goes in the honey ale? I see it has 1 1/2 oz listed but the directions only say to use 1/2 oz with a minute left. Also what is the point of using gypsum in a extract recepie?

Click to expand...

You're not the only one. I noticed it too. I'm torn between using the whole 1.5 oz at flameout, or adding the unaccounted for ounce with the bittering hops. I'm thinking the latter.

I'm no water chemistry expert, but I'd think the effect on bitterness that the gypsum would provide would be there whether it's extract or all grain.

DaBills said:

You're right, I'll try and get you an answer as to what to do with the other ounce or if it's a typo. Also have no idea about gypsum.

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Increases hardness, specifically sulfate. Which has some effect on hop flavor.

It's an adjustment to the water, which is tricky to put in a recipe you are handing to someone who doesn't know what your water is like.

Edit: D.C. water quality report here: http://www.dcwater.com/news/publications/DC_Water_Annual_WQReport_2012.pdf

Also says that the D.C. water system uses chloramine. Should someone tell the whitehouse kitchen that they should really be treating their water with k-meta? Or should we assume that the whitehouse has state of the art filtration? Maybe they are brewing with RO water and add the gypsum because of that.

The gypsum is to add sulfate and calcium to soft water. If you have hard water I wouldn't use the gypsum.

Qhrumphf said:

You're not the only one. I noticed it too. I'm torn between using the whole 1.5 oz at flameout, or adding the unaccounted for ounce with the bittering hops. I'm thinking the latter.

I'm no water chemistry expert, but I'd think the effect on bitterness that the gypsum would provide would be there whether it's extract or all grain.

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I noticed that too and immediately assumed you add the extra ounce with the bittering hops.

WaltStarr said:

I noticed that too and immediately assumed you add the extra ounce with the bittering hops.

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Adding that other 1oz of fuggles at 45 minutes bumps it up to ~34 IBU, vaguely in style for an ESB. Original and finished gravity are still too high for an ESB, but whatever.

So that could be it.