Summer Beer

[Green Dragon]

Here is a blog with some good information:

http://beersmith.com/blog/

Also agree with the suggestion for the book "The Joy of Homebrewing". Good information for getting started and more.

[moggi1964]

Cheers!

[GrainReaper]

In summer I prefer a nice crisp Bavarian hefe, I brew mine with 50%red wheat and 50% two row with some Munich malt for color and depth

Another summer favorite is a nice English ordinary bitter

My recipes are all on www.homebrewforums.net

Go check it out, lots of great info on brewing for both the aspiring brewer and the veteran alike

[moggi1964]

Thank you, GrainReaper.

[Old Hippie]

Richrail: Sidewalk Sundae! Love it. I did a kriek-like beer a few years ago and still have a couple of magnums of it in the cellar. It has a very "Belgian" character to it. Some love it, some hate it, nobody's neutral (just like most lambics). I named it "Fish Trap Kriek" after one of our local streams.

Charlie Papazian's books are "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" and the more recent "The New Complete Joy of Homebrewing." He also wrote a book entitled (if I remember correctly) "The Home Brewer's Companion" which goes a little more in depth and should be purchased at the same time as "Joy."

If you can find them, and you're seriously interested in beer styles, the "Beer Styles Series" from Brewer's Publications is a must-have. I have all 14 volumes in the set -- at least I think there's only 14 volumes! They're great little books that give history, tasting notes and brewing instructions for major beer styles like Brown, Mild, Vienna, Maerzen, Lambic, Abbey, Pale Ale, etc. The book on Porter completely spun my head around about the style, and after that my Maple Porter took a 1st place in competition.

There are lots of good books about beer out there, some intended for the professional with a background in fermentation chemistry (I can read them but retention is pretty spotty!).

My other summer "thing" is root beer. I built a carbonating outfit. Well-chilled well water, a little rootbeer extract (Zatarain's, double strength) and half the recommended sugar...int:

I also carbonate a lot of water for fresh fruit sodas and smoothies, Egg Creams, and of course bourbon-and-soda.

My wife once said, "I think you just like to belch." Actually, I'm very quiet about it because my mother was death on that sort of thing. I said, "Not really, but I'll cheerfully put up with it."

:ootd: