Bonjour

[pic saint loup]

Hello from France where we love American hops. I brew with BrewTools B150 & Unitank SS BrewTech 1bbl.

 

[IslandLizard]

Welcome to our Homebrew Forums, enjoy!

1 bbl is a fairly large batch size for homebrewers. Just curious, are you sharing your beer with others?

Glad you and your countrymen/women like our hops!
Just don't forget Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, etc. and quite a few countries in Europe, including your own, producing hop varieties that are just as good (or even better), many unique to their (native) beer styles or sought after for their terroir...

 

[pic saint loup]

Thank you for this forum full of good things. I brew with friends and we share the beer. It's true that there are many varieties of hops. For the recipe we would like to make, we chose the hops that we like the most in what we drank, namely (Citra Mosaic Simcoe) maybe not very original...but I have a lot to learn....

 

[IslandLizard]

(Citra Mosaic Simcoe)

I saw that in your recipe thread!
That's a wonderful hop combo for modern day (American) IPAs! Hard to beat, in many ways.

I brew with friends and we share the beer.

Excellent!

 

[ncbrewer]

Welcome to HBT.

 

[corkybstewart]

Where in France are you? I live near Chinon for half the year. I homebrew in the US but not here.

 

[pic saint loup]

Hi, I'm from Montpellier in the south. What style of beer do you brew?

 

[corkybstewart]

Everything from pale ale, to sours. I prefer dark beer but in the 30+ years I've brewed I have experimented with many different beers.
I have a French friend who lives in New Mexico who is from St Guilhem le Desert. We've visited him there a couple of times.

 

[pic saint loup]

Saint Guilhem is a very pretty place. The advantage of brewing beer is that you always discover new things. In 30 years you must have learned a lot of things. It's been 10 years for me, and the more I learn, the more I realize that I have a lot of room for improvement.

 

[corkybstewart]

Saint Guilhem is a very pretty place. The advantage of brewing beer is that you always discover new things. In 30 years you must have learned a lot of things. It's been 10 years for me, and the more I learn, the more I realize that I have a lot of room for improvement.

After 5 years of brewing crappy beer I got serious and concentrated on brewing good beer. Then we spent a week in Bruges so I brewed strong Belgian ales and sours for a while but I eventually went back to ales and lagers of 5 to 7 % alcohol.
One thing I did learn is that more complex recipes do not make better beer. Now I don't brew or drink like I did when I was younger so when I brew I want it to be perfect for us.

 

[An Ankoù]

One thing I did learn is that more complex recipes do not make better beer.

That is the truest thing I've heard this week.

 

[An Ankoù]

Where in France are you? I live near Chinon for half the year. I homebrew in the US but not here.

Why don't you brew here? French malt is very good indeed (I've recently discovered) and Alsace hops are well worth investigating. Triskel and Aramis are my favourites so far, but I haven't tried them all. I have trouble finding good "French" beer outside Nord-Pas de Calais. Our local biggish brewery is Lancelot. They make some very good beers, but I'd say they were (good) copies of Belgian beers. Is there a French beer other than bière de garde or Kronenbourg?

 

[corkybstewart]

Why don't you brew here? French malt is very good indeed (I've recently discovered) and Alsace hops are well worth investigating. Triskel and Aramis are my favourites so far, but I haven't tried them all. I have trouble finding good "French" beer outside Nord-Pas de Calais. Our local biggish brewery is Lancelot. They make some very good beers, but I'd say they were (good) copies of Belgian beers. Is there a French beer other than bière de garde or Kronenbourg?

I don't have the equipment here, and we're busy working on the house or traveling. A nephew od going to buy a brewing setup and start brewing, at least that's what he tells us every year.
But also I have access to great beers over here at reasonable prices, it's very different where we live in the states.

 

[An Ankoù]

I don't have the equipment here, and we're busy working on the house or traveling. A nephew od going to buy a brewing setup and start brewing, at least that's what he tells us every year.
But also I have access to great beers over here at reasonable prices, it's very different where we live in the states.

I'd be interested to know what brands you like.
I find that Belgian Trappiste, beers are so reasonable at less than €2 a bottle, that it's not worth trying to copy them. Industrial beers from the north east like Goudale, Choulette, Trois Monts, Corbeau etc are very good for mass produced beers, and, again, inexpensive.
What horrifies me are the so called craft beers, many of which try to copy APAs or AIPAs- not very well and at very "optimistic" prices. Others, including one whose brewery was founded by a legendary English brewer, have deteriorated to being almost undrinkable.
I think I can say what Italian, German, even Swiss beer is. I can say what the beer of French Flamande is, but I still can't identify what French beer is. It has got to be more than just the ubiquitous Kronenbourg.
Or perhaps not.

 

[corkybstewart]

I'd be interested to know what brands you like.
I find that Belgian Trappiste, beers are so reasonable at less than €2 a bottle, that it's not worth trying to copy them. Industrial beers from the north east like Goudale, Choulette, Trois Monts, Corbeau etc are very good for mass produced beers, and, again, inexpensive.
What horrifies me are the so called craft beers, many of which try to copy APAs or AIPAs- not very well and at very "optimistic" prices. Others, including one whose brewery was founded by a legendary English brewer, have deteriorated to being almost undrinkable.
I think I can say what Italian, German, even Swiss beer is. I can say what the beer of French Flamande is, but I still can't identify what French beer is. It has got to be more than just the ubiquitous Kronenbourg.
Or perhaps not.

My beer fridge almost always has Goudale, with and without alcohol, Chti blonde, Trois Montes, and a few bottles from a surprisingly delicious local brewers, The Little Belgique. There was a brewer across the Loire River who brewed some excellent renditions of British ales, but I haven't run across it yet this year. But, I only have seen it in restaurants and we very rarely eat in restaurants. It's called The Farmer and is made by a winery/brewery/distillery.
As for imported beer, I rarely drink strong beer anymore so I keep some industrial German hefeweizens on hand and a few Trappist ales for when I do want something stronger.
Chinon is a great wine region, long famous for their single grape red wine, but now producing some incredible dry white and rose` wines. So that's what we drink most of the time.