Wierd Old Brewer Dude

So I work in a machine shop... we've been having a new machine installed, and among the installation crew is this big lanky guy in his 60s. I don't know why, but after chatting with him a bit I got a feeling he brewed beer... don't ask, you just get the feeling. So I kind of brought the subject up, and it turned out, he did! Check this out:

The guy has been brewing once a month for the last 10 years making THE SAME RECIPE EVERY TIME! He gave it to me. Its 9 Lbs amber malt extract, and two ounces of cascade hops. He doesn't check gravity, OG or FG and he has been using THE SAME wlp001 for at least 3 or 4 years. He says he just fills a beer bottle up, caps it, and pitches it in the next batch. He only drinks that one beer, he says. He doesn't LIKE anything else. I tried to get into the more technical aspects of brewing, and he was completely disinterested lol.

I mean he is a brewing simpleton to say the least, but I really gotta hand it to the guy. He's definitely on his own level.

 

he likes his american amber (sort of). if that's his cup of tea (or mug of beer), good for him

 

Yeah, I like that. I know we all want to use the best healthy yeast and the best equipment, but if this guy likes what he does........Two Mugs Up!

 

Oh yeah, im all for it. Now that I think of it, there are millions of americans that drink only one kind of beer. At least he brews his own

 

I mean I guess I assume homebrewing to be about experimentation and trying new things, along with trying to optimize the process. But I guess it doesn't have to be that

 

turn him to the dark side, young luke. he's already using the power of the homebrew. he can still be turned to the addiction

 

Man im not sure he can... its funny, we were talking about beer, and I mentioned I have a belgian fermenting right now. He told me "oh I don't like those". He said that a few years back he had an opportunity to judge a homebrew competition *snicker*. He said some of the beers were pretty good, but when it came to the belgian ales he said "those were terrible! They tasted like mold." Lol... poor brewers lost marks on account of this guy.

 

These are not the brews you are looking for......

 

great application of that quote...gave me a good laugh

 

You should ask for some of his yeast strain that stuff HAS to have mutated beyond recognition. It would be interesting to do a side by side with his strain and a fresh strain.

This guy may have something fantastic and not even know it!

 

Really? Just because he has a recipe he likes and is content with it?

BTW, I think Belgians suck too.

 

when I brew something that has an off flavor I call it a Belgian..... Not a fan.

 

Of course this guy could also end up being used to drinking something that's just terrible and only he has the capabilities to choke it down on a regular basis.

It would be interesting to see the yeast side by side though.

 

Yes, this is a great idea. Get a slurry from this guy.

 

Well, lots of people drink the same exact beer every day and don't want anything else. He just happens to make his beer instead of buying a 12-pack of Bud.

 

I was in a hbs in Atlanta and there was a guy in front of me getting supplies. Once he left I asked the lady what he was making and she said the usual. She then said this guy comes in every Friday and gets pretty much the exact same ingredients and brews 10 gal batchs ( he only changed his recipe if the brew shop didn't have what he needed ) she said he had been doing it close to a decade I thought it was strange too. Maybe its the same guy

 

While this guy seems to be set in his ways, most men of his age are on most things. Heck, I am in a lot of respects and I'm only 38.

Brew what you like. I know I do.

 

Never realized so many people disliked Belgian-style beers. To each their own!

 

No not just because of that. He is truly an oddity in almost every way, the beer thing just adds to it. And the Old Brew Dude part is definitely not open for debate either btw I didn't like belgians either till I just started drinking them. Its definitely and acquired taste

Oh he's definitely set in his ways, that's part of the beauty of it. If I see him again in ten years and he's still stuck on that same brew, then that's awesome

 

I've done this. haha

 

He probably thinks the same thing about you.

 

I can relate this this man. I'm trying to get down to only a handful of great recipes to brew on a regular basis. Honey Cream Ale, Cascade APA, Banana Bread Wiezenbock, the next journey will be trying the Deception Cream Stout.

 

At the very least you should see if he'll give you a bottle or two. I would normally say make a trade, but it seems this guy wouldn't be interested in anything else.

 

Make an amber and swap him...

 

It's called Subsistence Brewing.

I'd be interested in a review of his beer.

 

Maybe it's just what he/his family brewed since prohibition? That's another way I found out about "whiskely"...

 

Is that a typo?

 

You're surprised that 3 people dont like Belgian beers?

 

I don't care much for "sour" beers. I like "cloying", malty beers. IPAs and APA's or good in moderation. It took me a long time to appreciate the hoppier beers.

 

My beer background comes from one in which everybody regards Belgian beers as the defining example of great beers. But that's because I grew up in France =)

 

No,it's an old slang term for whiskey beer that goes back to colonial times in this country. That's why I brewed it,over & above the fact that the Euro side of my family landed here in 1734. It's cool that my family has been here since before we were a country. I wonder if my ancestors made it? I know they made whiskey,but I wonder if they made something to cannonball it with? Or tried mixing the two?
That's the other reason for my little experiment. It's been in bottles 27 days so far.

 

Absolutely not, I loves me a good shot of whiskely. It's a delicious distilled beverage made from facial hair.

 

Belgian beers and I do NOT get along. Only beer I've ever poured out and have tried a bunch sense to 'acquire' a taste for them. All it has done so far is acquire a taste for an IPA chaser!!

 

I gotta agree with him about the belgians they are awful

 

Actually he looks like he could be my father. Were both kind of hovering around 6'6" and have most of the same interests. In 30 years, I will be him.

Unfortunately they shipped him here from texas to california and im pretty sure he didn't bring any brew with him

There's about 20 of us in our homebrew group, and I would say that only 3 of us genuinely like belgian ales, and at least 3 people wont even taste them. I think if your raised on IPAs and amber ales its just too out of your brew frame of reference.

 

I think what you meant to say is, I don't care for them. If they were genuinely awful, they wouldn't make them

 

Wait a second. This guy only likes his amber and doesn't like anything else? Who let him judge a competition?

 

Tofu is genuinely awful and they still make that.

 

Tofu is not awful. thats your opinion

 

I think we should start a poll. "What's more awful, tofu or belgian beer?"