First time brewer need some advice..

[yuppicide]

I'm heading to a place that sells supplies and also has a brew on premesis. I'm going to brew there my first time. They have over 100 recipes I can choose from. Each batch is 15 gallons (6 cases). Their price varies depending on what recipe I choose.

Now, here's my problem. I like to make things unique or different. I can just buy pumpkin beer in the store.. true I brewed it myself this way, but still.

My original thought was bacon flavored beer. Obviously I can't just stick fat into bottles. What about this Bacon flavored Syrup I found?

http://torani.com/products/bacon-syrup

I've no clue how it tastes. What are you thoughts on using that? When would I be adding it?

Obviously the guys are the place have more knowledge than me, but I thought I'd ask here first because if it's a problem I could search for something else I want to do.

My second thought was you know that Dr. Pepper drink where you take beer and drop a shot into it? It kind of tastes like Dr. Pepper? Can something like that be done? Like pour a shot in when bottling or something? Or would that not taste the same way?

If bacon isn't going to work I need to come up with something interesting and quick! I'm going at the beginning of November. If I'm just going to make normal beer it's not going to interest me. I already thought of just sticking a hot pepper in a bottle, but it's been done before.

 

[android]

i understand your desire to cook something different up, but 5 gallons of bacon flavored beer sounds like a gamble to me. if you must, i would maybe consider trying to use that syrup for your priming sugar. i have no idea how much you would want/need. otherwise, i would just toss it in somewhere near the end of the boil, just make sure it doesn't all sink right to the bottom and scorch the kettle.

 

[houndsbreath]

Dude, baby steps. My first brew was a simple porter recipe and it was a great one. Brew something you know you'll like and don't make it some complicated bacon-infused oak-cubed Russian Imperial monster beer. Guys on here brew for years and have to make 8 batches of those types of beers, tweaking the recipe and process to get it right. My advice is to make a pale ale or hefeweizen. They are easy, clean drinking and generally crowd pleasing beers with enough flavor to captivate you.

 

[tmurph6]

If you want beer make beer. If you want something flavored try malt liquor. If you want dr pepper drink dr pepper. Why try to make something taste like what it's not? Don't waste ur money...you can get creative without going crazy. Bacon beer will be gross.

 

[LandoLincoln]

Pianists learn how to play Mary Had a Little Lamb first.

Rock guitarists learn how to play Smoke on the Water first.

Brewers don't learn how to brew Bacon Beer first.

You need a Mary Had a Little Lamb / Smoke on the Water type of beer. Learn how to crawl before you run.

 

[drocu]

You did say 15 gallons, right? Definitely don't try anything experimental without doing a test batch first. You'll probably just wind up with 15 gallons of undrinkable liquid.

Do something easy as others have suggested. I'd skip brewing the 15 gallons and start with a simple 5 gallon kit. I think brew on premise places would be good for producing a large amount of beer from a recipe that you've perfected. It doesn't sound like a good place to start.

 

[yuppicide]

I understand all your points. All valid.

I might switch my focus to molecular cooking.. like little spheres of flavor. I could make little pearls of say cherry flavor and make a cherry wheat.

There's one company that makes a beer flavored like pizza.. another like PB&J sandwich. There's more my Mom sent me something from a magazine. I tried to get a hold of the pizza beer, but it's only available from a distributer who services Southern NJ. The guy who makes the beer makes 16 oz bottles.. and distributers want 12 ounce, which he's working on.

While chatting here I dig this up:

http://www.home-brew.com/mm5/mercha...73&Product_Code=pizzabeer&Category_Code=pizza

A pizza beer kit! Maybe I use that once I learn the basic process.

 

[maffewl]

I say go for it... it's your beer. If it tastes like you infused it with vinegar soaked dog anus, then you'll know what it's like to spend good amount of time and money on a crap shoot. Just take good notes and try to pay attention to your process for the next time. As for when to add the syrup... I'd go with 15 min. left in the boil. Pour slow and don't let it pool up on the bottom. Good luck and have fun.

 

[RoadKing]

They have over 100 recipes I can choose from.

Is bacon one of them?

 

[birvine]

Six cases is a lot of beer if you find you're not fond of bacon-ale... especially after one or two bottles.

To start learning the hobby, why not choose something you KNOW you like so at least if you choose not to continue, at least you have some good beer to go out with.

B

 

[yuppicide]

I love bacon anything just about! Some comedians do a few jokes on bacon, but Jim Gaffigan does like 5 or 8 minutes long of all bacon jokes.

 

[tektonjp]

<shakes head in slow disbelief>

 

[mikeysab]

I say go for it... it's your beer. If it tastes like you infused it with vinegar soaked dog anus, then you'll know what it's like to spend good amount of time and money on a crap shoot. Just take good notes and try to pay attention to your process for the next time. As for when to add the syrup... I'd go with 15 min. left in the boil. Pour slow and don't let it pool up on the bottom. Good luck and have fun.

/\ That reminds me of this \/

 

[daksin]

Pianists learn how to play Mary Had a Little Lamb first.

Rock guitarists learn how to play Smoke on the Water first.

Brewers don't learn how to brew Bacon Beer first.

You need a Mary Had a Little Lamb / Smoke on the Water type of beer. Learn how to crawl before you run.

This bears repeating.

 

[unionrdr]

I'm concerned about the 110mg of sodium per 2TBSP serving doing something to the brew that may be unwelcome. I remember guys sprinkling salt in their beer to kill the head. So I thought it might do the same thing when brewed into a beer?...

 

[yuppicide]

Well, I've got the bacon syrup on order. 3 bottles of 375ml each. I don't know how much I'll use, but the rest can go in coffee.

I'm just gonna go for it. I've got a vision to make some Pig Piss and need to follow it through. I've actually amassed a small amount of people anticipating it's arrival.. and I've only told like 2 people besides you guys what I'm doing lol.

I figure I'll open it at the brew place and we'll taste it. They might be able to recommend how much.

I can't seem to find anyone online to print 6-pack or 4-pack holders in such limited quantity, so I'll use blanks I guess. I'll just slap on a custom label.

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah,just make the label bigger to go on each side.

 

[StophJS]

My thinking is that even if you brew up something which seems familiar to you, odds are it's still going to turn out quite a bit different than what you might buy in the store - especially if you won't be aging it for a couple months or anything like that. If you want to be creative, I would suggest you take a recipe for a style of beer you know you like, and tweak it or add some kind of signature to it.

 

[yuppicide]

I'm trying a recipe of what we know.. a lager or pale ale.. or something medium bodied.. with a hint of bacon.

 

[NorthRiverS]

yup,

I add different flavorings to my beer all the time. The way I prefer to do it is add the flavorings when I bottle. That way you can put half in the bottling bucket with one flavor, bacon in your case, and another flavor in the second half.

NRS

 

[yuppicide]

Just received my bacon syrup. Man was that fast. Only ordered it yesterday. Initial thoughts? AWESOME!

Opened the bottle.. smells exactly like bacon. Tastes like the name says.. bacon syrup. It is indeed tasty. Kind of tastes like a maple syrup, but not as thick, with a bacon overtone instead.

 

[yuppicide]

Keep in mind that my review of Bacon Syrup was tasting it by itself. Things could get worse when it combines with beer. We'll see.

 

[birvine]

The nice thing about this hobby is that we can try things like this. I think it sounds pretty gross even though I love bacon - but that doesn't matter.

If you like it - that's great.

 

[yuppicide]

Well two things so far. I was searching for graphics to make a beer label today. Typing "pig piss" into Google Images will give you some Not Safe For Work images of dirty women LOL! I'm just glad nobody in the office was around so I closed the window real quick.

Second, initial response to Pig Piss isn't positive. I brought home $1.59 worth of beer and mixed some in. Without even knowing my Girlfriend smelled bacon. She thinks the syrup is too sweet.

I am thinking since I only have 2 bottles anyway, it might not be enough for 6 cases, so it might just mix in and complement whatever I make.

I am keeping in mind also that I have a Girlfriend who doesn't do any of the cooking around the house. I've been doing it all for like 3 years now. She wouldn't even consider attempting making something unique.

 

[maffewl]

I brought home $1.59 worth of beer and mixed some in. Without even knowing my Girlfriend smelled bacon. She thinks the syrup is too sweet.

Keep in mind that the yeast will consume the sugars in the syrup that make it taste sweet.

 

[daksin]

Well two things so far. I was searching for graphics to make a beer label today. Typing "pig piss" into Google Images will give you some Not Safe For Work images of dirty women LOL! I'm just glad nobody in the office was around so I closed the window real quick.

I literally LOL'd.

I am glad I have my own office with the monitor facing away from the door, so I don't have to worry about my "beer research" activities getting me into trouble

 

[lgilmore]

Just glad to see somebody has money to pi ss away in this economy.


Good luck man. 15 gallons is a lot.

It's a shame to take a thing that is basically all natural and add a bacon flavored chemical to it.


As far as the liquid smoke, I saw a scottish smoked ale somewhere and it sounds interesting. And yes, liquid smoke is a naturally made product.

 

[Mickeymoose]

How did this turn out????

 

[kgalle]

I hope the label is AWESOME!

 

[seckert]

i am so curious about this...although i would think it would be horrible and i wouldnt not waste money on it, i want to know how it ended up. its been a while since he should have gone and made this bacon beer. should be in bottles by now...?

 

[yuppicide]

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. I never went through with it. While I did like the Bacon Syrup and agree it would be good for "some things", what those things are I'm not totally sure. Because the more I think about it the more I think it was nasty in coffee.

Anyway, look at this:

I am not the only one who thought if it. I've yet to try it, though.

 

[LandoLincoln]

I am not the only one who thought if it. I've yet to try it, though.

It's certainly not a bad thing to try really unusual flavors in beer. Bacon flavoring isn't all that unusual. The point is, if your bacon beer didn't turn out right and it was your first beer, you'd probably have no idea whatsoever on how to improve the recipe. That's why you start out with the simple beers first, gain experience and then work up into the lesser trod paths of brewing.