Don't judge the un-finished beer too critically. I found that when I started (I taste my beer whenever I check my SG) I had no idea what to be looking for in terms of taste. Even sometimes when it is finished, especially when you're new to this, you can't really tell how good it's gonna be...
I have seen Fat Tire as far east as Chicago.
It almost sounds like it's got the whole Smoky and the Bandit thing going for it when I go back east. It does get really hyped, even though I think there are some really great east-coast brews that people don't even know about. But, it's damn nice...
I volunteered at the festival.
It was an amazing time. This was the first year I volunteered and it was totally worth it. I poured Friday night and Saturday afternoon. We went for free on Saturday night. I'm so glad we were there the night before and the Saturday afternoon session. Saturday...
I'm interested in how this turns out. I'm thinking of formulating a gingerbread type Holiday Ale this year. I also think I'm gonna make a keg of something for my Office Christmas Party (that'll probably be the first run and I'll tweak it for Christmas present bottles).
This might be a good one...
I use Star San and it's the bee's knees. I don't worry about any sort of drying. When I first started I was worried about racking into the foam. But, it hasn't affected anything. I even tasted the solution once...it tasted just like water and, unlike Bud Light, didn't give me the ****s either.
I made a batch and took a keg to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival this past summer. Everyone loved it! It was gone in 2 days.
I've been keg only. But, I'm buying some bottling equipment. I'm definitely gonna give away some Apfewein for Christmas. I'm thinking of trying to do a spiced holiday...
Thanks for the advice. Although, by the time I got it I had just finished. Oh well. I did have a feeling that it was gonna be a little dark. But, it doesn't really look like a porter. It's dead-on milk chocolate brown right now (poo!) and I'm curious to see how it looks when it clears.
Heres...
So, I went to my LHBS last night with a printout of a recipe from here that was kind of a last minute thing...I need to have a batch ready for next weekend. (Yes I keg)
My original plan was to brew 10 Gal. of the same brew and try 2 different yeasts just to see how they both turned out. But...