kegs: if you had it to do over again ...

[flyangler18]

Magic Hat #9: Definitely the best. It was bad. Bad beer. It sucked.
Shiner Bock: Second best. Not even close. Almost undrinkable swill.
Under My Kilt Wee Heavy: Tasted like what I would expect might come from under a kilt at a urinal from a sick dwarf. It sucked.
Dragonmead Tripple: This is what I would imagine yak piss would taste like after a few days in the sun with a maggot infested dead rat floating in it.

In the end, the whole experience put me off of making beer.

These are the best? They are at least experienced, and this is what they put out? My god, if this is what the big boys brew, my noob stuff would be Syrup of Ipecac -- instabarf.

Those are all great tasting craft brews, all in very different styles. Why such the strong negative reaction?

 

[StunnedMonkey]

Nevermind.

I just went to the microbrew tasting at the Michigan Renaissance fair. They had FOUR microbrew beers to taste (wow! what a great showing!). This is how I rate them:

Magic Hat #9: Definitely the best. It was bad. Bad beer. It sucked.
Shiner Bock: Second best. Not even close. Almost undrinkable swill.
Under My Kilt Wee Heavy: Tasted like what I would expect might come from under a kilt at a urinal from a sick dwarf. It sucked.
Dragonmead Tripple: This is what I would imagine yak piss would taste like after a few days in the sun with a maggot infested dead rat floating in it.

In the end, the whole experience put me off of making beer.

These are the best? They are at least experienced, and this is what they put out? My god, if this is what the big boys brew, my noob stuff would be Syrup of Ipecac -- instabarf.

I'll just wait for my wine.

Well, I'm not sure what your beer drinking background is (I see lots of wine in your list) but with the exception of the Shiner Bock, those beers tend towards a more specialty niche. Trippels, Scottish Ales...and whateverthehell Magic Hat #9 is supposed to be...those veer a bit off the "regular" path and might seem pretty odd to someone not accustomed to craft brews.

I'd suggest sampling a few normal Pale Ales as an intro to microbrews.

 

[JWHooper]

Those are all great tasting craft brews, all in very different styles. Why such the strong negative reaction?

Maybe I only like lagers. Maybe I don't really even like beer. I dunno.

All I know is that I enjoy my green yeasty Apfelwein more than those beers.

I usually just drink cheap beer like Milwaukees Best Ice.

 

[flyangler18]

Hmm, I thinking maybe sampling some pale ales would be a good place to start. American Light Lagers are very light in flavor, and it sounds like your palate is just being overwhelmed.

Good luck!

 

[StunnedMonkey]

Maybe I only like lagers....I usually just drink cheap beer like Milwaukees Best Ice.

Do you have Anchor Steam in your area? I'd not call Anchor a "micro" anymore, but Anchor Steam might be a good bridge between regular BMC and more aggressive craft beers.

 

[flyangler18]

I'd not call Anchor a "micro" anymore, but Anchor Steam might be a good bridge between regular BMC and more aggressive craft beers.

Or perhaps a blonde ale- I sampled Beach Bum Blonde Ale yesterday at a rugby BBQ, and it was surprisingly tasty for an AB product.

 

[NoneRequired]

Maybe I only like lagers. Maybe I don't really even like beer. I dunno.......

I usually just drink cheap beer like Milwaukees Best Ice.

Houston... I think we found the problem...

I've not had the first two you listed, but the two Dragonmead brews (Under Kilt and Tripple) that I recognize are award winning beers for their styles. Fine examples of specialty craft brews... They are miles and miles away from Milwaukee's "Best" fizzy yellow water....

 

[Finn]

Nevermind.

I just went to the microbrew tasting at the Michigan Renaissance fair. They had FOUR microbrew beers to taste (wow! what a great showing!). This is how I rate them:

Magic Hat #9: Definitely the best. It was bad. Bad beer. It sucked.
Shiner Bock: Second best. Not even close. Almost undrinkable swill.
Under My Kilt Wee Heavy: Tasted like what I would expect might come from under a kilt at a urinal from a sick dwarf. It sucked.
Dragonmead Tripple: This is what I would imagine yak piss would taste like after a few days in the sun with a maggot infested dead rat floating in it.

I'll just wait for my wine.

OK, so you've tried pretty decent examples of Belgian tripple (ew), strong Scotch ale (not for everyone; kind of tastes like carmelized shaggy dog at first), Bavarian bock and something called "#9" in which, it's a fair bet, the "9" refers to alcohol content. Plus, you got them at a renaissance fair, an event frequent by people who like rich, thick beer. For Chrissakes, man! These are expensive, hard-to-brew drinks in which steel forks stand up and plastic forks melt! You're going straight from a lawnmower lager to WHAT?!

Go down to the store and get yourself some more normal ales. A hefeweisen, a fruit ale, some English bitter or ESB (don't worry, it's not really bitter) and maybe some brown ales. See if you find something you like there. If not, well, pale American lager is hard to brew. There's noplace for off flavors to hide, if some wild yeast wanders over from your grape arbor and lands in your wort. And brewing lager takes all freakin' winter -- much easier to just buy it.

Good luck!

--Finn

 

[Chriso]

My $0.02.... and I know I'm a bit late to the party..... It sounds like you don't like beer. You don't mind the fizzy pale stuff, but not beer. So why not just do a cheap chest freezer, buy 2-3 cornies for serving Apfelwein fizzy and also some Soda for the kids, and then do 2 taps - 1 Apfelwein, 1 Soda, and then a 3rd tap for a keg of whatever Light beer you'd like to keep in it?

I mean this seriously, not condescendingly, .... but if you like traditional light american lagers, then you will probably wind up disappointed in homebrewing because none of the beers you brew in your inital learning stages are really light styles. You could do English Ordinary Bitters, or light American Pale Ales... but they're still going to be vastly different from a Milwaukees Best (And like I said, I'm NOT knocking it! I'm drinking a High Life Light as I type this.)

You would save money by buying Mil's Best or High Life or whatever you prefer, by the keg. You would be "treating the keg right" by dispensing it with CO2 and not Oxygen, and in doing so, you would keep the beer fresh / not oxidize it. And you'd be happy because you could serve Apfelwein and Soda both cold on-tap.

Just a thought. It sounds like you're taking the right attitude in figuring this out, though -- keeping realistic expectations, re-assessing the situation when you add new beer tasting to your repertoire... Best of luck to you mate! Just whatever you do, don't give up on the wine and the Apfelwein! Brew whatcha like!

 

[Philip1993]

Yes, that'll work, and lots of people do that until they brew a beer that enchants SWMBO so much that she instructs you to drill the damn holes already. Actually, a lot of people do that as a final solution.

I used an old fridge for 7 years w/o drilling. I pulled the shelves (made my own, gained about 3") and stored them, put 4 kegs, gas bottle, and picnic taps inside. You know, in case I ever wanted to sell it or use it for food. Finally last month I owned the fact that the fridge would never get used for anything but beer and installed a faucet in the door.

Since someone asked earlier, I have a typical under/over refer/freezer. I pulled the factory shelving and built a two tier wood shelf and I can fit 6 cornies w/o the gas bottle inside or 5 with. I typically keep 4 kegs, 1 gas bottle, and some grains, hops, etc in there. If a back shelf corny needs to be changed, the one in front of it must come out, but only the one directly in front. Not a huge deal because they are flat on the refer floor and I have plenty of room to work the disconnects before I pull the keg.

 

[pen25]

if your used to bmc beers and want to taste easy to find brews that gives you a taste for different beers try blue moon a fat tire. mothership wit the last two both from new belgium. i have to say i just had my first mothership and good lord was that good.

 

[Chriso]

Also be on the lookout for German Pilsner beers. They are similarly "light and fizzy" like American Lagers are, but offer a different taste experience, while still "feeling" the same. I really like Kulmbacher Edelherb Pils (mini-keg, not the bottle..., well ok, a bottle if it's not aged and skunked. damn imports.)

 

[JWHooper]

Hey thanks! I expected to get rightfully blasted for my rather unfair and testy reviews of what are obviously very good beers (if you like real beer). I was just so disappointed because I practically had my keezer built, and I do love this hobby (well, the wine part, but I love to cook so beer would have to be fun).

I will be the first to admit that I really hated beer when I first tasted it, and it took me years to get used to even the colored water of most commercial American lagers. I guess that developing a taste for Harp and then Black & Tans in the last few years made me overconfident that I could handle more.

To be more honest, the Magic Hat #9 and Shiner Bock were not bad. Even the Wee Heavy wasn't bad. My god, I don't think I'll ever be saying that about the Trippel though, it really honestly gagged me and made me sick. I thought it would get better so I kept drinking it. Wow, whatever that overpowering taste is (maybe it is triple hops or something) I cannot handle that at all.

For now I'll just keep trying the lighter varieties and making up batches of Apfelwein. Maybe I can develop a taste for real beer over time.

 

[MadDwarf]

Under My Kilt Wee Heavy: Tasted like what I would expect might come from under a kilt at a urinal from a sick dwarf. It sucked.

If I find out who's been giving away my secret recipes, I'll have their head on a pike. Of course, afterwards I'd be happy to send JWHooper a few sample bottles of my new "Traitor's Mouldy Ear Porter"

Seriously, don't worry about the styles you don't like, just concentrate on finding good examples of the ones you find interesting. Nobody said you have to enjoy everything out there. But I'll wager that if you continue drinking and appreciating the craft beers you like now, you'll find yourself revisiting some of these styles down the road with a completely different reaction.

I've introduced lots of friends to craft beers, and it always seems to follow the same pattern. We try a range of styles, most of which don't interest them, until they find one that fires the "Hey, this is really good! This is beer?" reaction. I've given up on predicting what that initial beer is - sometimes it's something very close to the American Light Lagers they're used to, sometimes it's a Russian Imperial Stout that looks like it came right out of the crankcase of a '63 Studebaker. But once they've found it, they drink it for awhile, then slowly start trying beers that are similar, then beers similar to those, until after a year or two, they're drinking up and down the spectrum.

 

[Philip1993]

For now I'll just keep trying the lighter varieties and making up batches of Apfelwein. Maybe I can develop a taste for real beer over time.

Keep it in perspective before you bail. If you had a buddy who was used to wine coolers, you wouldn't expect them to appreciate (or even like) your homemade 10yr old Merlot...

Brew a light citrusy APA or IPA (or a wheat) and see what you think.

 

[Chriso]

Yeah - after all, a year ago a Tripel made me vomit, but now I'm learning to appreciate Dubbels and Belgian Golden Strong Ales... Soon I'll work my way back up to another Tripel. But not New Belgium's Tripel. Something about that beer still makes me churn inside. I'll try a "real" one instead.

A year ago I would've scoffed at a Duvel. But now it's quickly become one of my favorite beers, and one I'm DYING to try to clone.

 

[Homercidal]

Don't back out now. There are plenty of different lighter styles that may appeal to you. Belgian Wit, Blondes, American Wheat, etc. You could even do lagers and whatnot if you really wanted to.

My advice is to find a really good beer store nearby and sample some different styles. You can look online to determine what you might like. Also, some dark beers do not have a real strong flavor. Usually, but not always.

Where are you in Michigan?

Also, you can still keg pop (I didn't blink at you calling it this, because, hey, I'm from Michigan too!) and apfelwein. Sparkling Apfelwien on tap is supposed to be pretty good, from what I hear.

 

[JWHooper]

I'm less than a mile from either Dragonmead or Kuhnhenn's right now because I work in Warren. But I don't ever want to taste anything like that Belgian Trippel for a long, long, long time. I had a microbrew sampler in Houghten (in the UP) once, and didn't like most of them. Even the ones that weren't overpowering still weren't great for me.

I'm game to try again, but there is no use in trying something that I haven't a chance in hell of being able to brew myself.

 

[flyangler18]

I think a light and spritzy Kolsch might fill the bill nicely for you.