How are your hops doing?

leedorham · 7 days

Pretty slow so far. First year, on April 15 I put in 3 Centennial, 3 Nugget, and 5 Cascade. Two of my cascades are showing nothing. I think bugs go to one, the other is in an area choked with roots.

The rest were slow to come up, but that may have been my fault. I think the rhizomes went in upside down. (I do NOT have a green thumb!) One Centennial is the best so far, about a foot with two healthy bines and one tiny one. Everything else that has come up is between 1" and 4", usually with two bines.

tittyjack · 7 days

Gah! You're absolutely right. Had too many windows open and responded to the wrong thread. Thanks!

tittyjack · 8 days

Pretty slow so far. First year, on April 15 I put in 3 Centennial, 3 Nugget, and 5 Cascade. Two of my cascades are showing nothing. I think bugs go to one, the other is in an area choked with roots.

The rest were slow to come up, but that may have been my fault. I think the rhizomes went in upside down. (I do NOT have a green thumb!) One Centennial is the best so far, about a foot with two healthy bines and one tiny one. Everything else that has come up is between 1" and 4", usually with two bines.

thepastweown1 · 8 days

The Wine Academy usually has Allagash Black in stock. It's located in Lakewood, just off Parkway exit 88, on Route 70.

A little further down the road is Wine World in Brick, which also usually has it in stock. It's about 10 - 15 minutes down the road from Wine Academy. Just keep going down 70, take the right onto 88 when it splits, and it will be on your right.

Obviously in both cases I'd call first.

walter_s0bchak · 11 days

The Lindemans beers are fruit lambics but they aren't sours, at least not aggressively so. They've got a hint of sourness, a kind of tart fruit juice flavor, but they tend to be mostly fruit and sweetness. For example, their kriek has a nicely tart finish but is otherwise a fairly sweet brew, while something like Drie Fonteinen Oude Kriek is more aggressively sour. A nice tart snap in some beers is nice and refreshing; aggressively sour beers, on the other hand, will full-on pucker your mouth.

RedHotLeatherpants · 11 days

I'm afraid that's not at all the case. You can certainly be held liable for injuries sustained on your property, even if the person was trespassing. There is plenty of case law to back that up -- this points out that in the case of kids especially, property owners can be held liable for injuries, trespassing or not -- and loads of attorneys like this one and this one who will be more than happy to make money on the case.

stable_will · 21 days

Solid stuff! The cover of "Dreams Burn Down" is nicely hazy, and in some ways I like the aggressive approach of "Decay" more than the sleepier original. The take on "Paralyzed" here is quite lovely. Love the music on "Taste," the vocals not as much. Not big on the title track. Sounds lifted from this U2 b-side from the Achtung Baby sessions. Would have preferred something long and noisy as hell, not unlike the way Ride performed it live.

Overall, very cool tribute album. Thanks for posting it.

Shoegaze99 · 21 days

No real down side. They're still fun games and the current state of the rules is very good.

With Axis & Allies 1942, you'll get the entire war in a single box rather than having to buy Europe and Pacific version. So that's an advantage. It'll cost you less.

The board will be much smaller than the combined 1940s version, though it's still a full board game board. By comparison, the full board of the combined 1940 version is equivalent to FOUR board game boards. It'll take your whole kitchen table.

The 1942 version will also give you fewer factions to play. The core game (1942) has Russia, UK, Germany, Japan, and the US. The 1940 version adds France, Italy, China, and the ANZAC forces.

The 1940 version also adds several new types of pieces/units/troops that do not appear in the basic 1942 version. They add some nice options to the game without burdening it with complexity. Plus the 1940 version adds new layers like air bases and shipping convoys that are not present in the core game; they're simple but fun additions.

But the 1942 version remains a classic. By all means, get it and enjoy if that's what your budget calls for.

Shoegaze99 · 21 days

In the sprawling 1940 versions, they now have tactical bombers and strategic bombers (along with artillery, half-tracks, destroyers, and cruisers). Strategic bombers are the big daddies. The tactical bombers can use aircraft carriers. Adds a nice layer of new strategy to the game.

Shoegaze99 · 21 days

I highly recommend the 1940 version. While it's expensive to get both, you'll get the Italian, French, Chinese and ANZAC forces and a sweet upgrade of the classic rules. As far as I'm concerned, they are the definitive versions of the game. Lots of fun and QUITE epic.

Shoegaze99 · 22 days

It is. The Europe 1940 version release a few years back. When combined with the Pacific 1940 version it creates a gigantic board too big for my kitchen table. Lots of fun.

punninglinguist · 25 days

Overall I agree, I think the mods here have done a good job of preventing the sub from descending into a swamp of memes, rage comics and images, something that has rendered many other subs unreadable. Even better, the cool person to asshole ratio here is excellent. There are only the smallest handful of people who seem to exist to stir shit, if even that many, and they don't show up very often.

punninglinguist · 25 days

I'd rather see good, quality content from blogs than yet another "I'm turning 21 what should my first legal beer be?" (1) or the latest "macro lagers, to hate or not hate" circlejerk (2), or the weekly aging beer/beer glassware/yay cans! thread (3).

These are all fine discussions in moderation, I've had some great talks with people in many threads like this, but sometimes I queue up the new submissions and think, "How many times in a week can I participate in this same discussion?"

1) You've obviously been drinking beer all along, so just drink whatever the hell you like and enjoy it, okay? You're not getting married. It's not an important day. You're just having a beer.

2) For a community devoted to craft beer, there is way too much emphasis on the latest gimmick, commercial or move by the big brewers. Know what? I don't give a shit what they're doing. I want to talk about good beer, not Coors Light Iced Tea or Bud Light Platinum or whatever other thing has people in a tizzy.

3) These are all good topics and it's understandable that people want to know more about them, but yeesh, it seems like they come up at least once a week, often several times a week. I feel like there is nothing left for me to say, so I don't even read them anymore.

matzah · 26 days

I haven't heard it yet. I'm catching up on a missed year of Basic Brewing Radio first, then I'm moving on to a whole stockpile of BSR podcasts. I did skim a few and they sound great. Really looking forward to them.

fuck_pants_jr · 29 days

I've really, really wanted to get back into this today, but it's been a busy day and I haven't had the chance. So, let me chime in with the stuff that was most important for me to say:

Regardless, I'm leaving that comment in place for discussion's sake.

Tremendous respect to you for this. Seriously, people willing to do this are few and far between. Cheers to you for being a standup guy. If you're ever in NJ and within an hour of me, I will buy you a beer.

beer argument in the morning is hard, and pointless, but kind of fun.

Yes! Ultimately, this is about having fun discussion about stuff we like ... that stuf being BEER. I always feel like if I learn something, or help someone else learn something, or if I just plain had a good time talking suds, it was worth it.

fuck_pants_jr · 1 month

... turn water in shit-flavored water... consistently? Seriously. It is harder to make something complex consistently than something horrid consistently

Anyone who brews will tell you that it's tremendously hard to consistently make a beer that is as light on flavor as the Buds of the world. I sure won't argue that it makes those beers GOOD, because I don't think they are, but the brewers at Bud are making the beer corporate pays them to make -- and it takes great skill to pull it off. It's a huge challenge, and the reason is simple. There is absolutely nowhere for off-flavors to hide. No place at all. The slightest flaws will be immediately noticeable. Differences in method and batch and ingredients will have a big impact because the beer itself just doesn't have the complexity to mask off flavors.

Bigger, more complex beers, on the other hand, can mask off flavors and inconsistencies because they're so big and bold. You don't have to be spot-on perfect every time, you just need to be in the ballpark. There is some wiggle room in a big imperial stout.

Brewing a light lager? You need to be perfect every time. If you're not, it will show in the product.

I'm saying this from personal experience, as well as relating the comments of many, many other brewers who have said the same -- including many, many professional brewers who have expressed admiration for the skills the A/B brewers possess, even if the beer they make is ultimately not the sort of thing we want to drink.

Not true- not if you age it

I don't think he means aging it, I think he means year-to-year.

Possible, even likely. Good point.

Fully confirmed, in fact. Brewers from A/B have ended up at Stone and New Glarus, among many others, and many have gone on to start their own acclaimed breweries. There is no question that A/B has produced many brewers who have gone on to craft brewing excellence. When you take the skills learned there and apply them to quality beer, the results are often outstanding.

Absolute horseshit. New Belgium is noted for their environmental practices, as are many many other craft breweries. I have to call out "cite your sources" on this one. Seriously- where are you getting this information?

It's true, actually. Brewing is an intrinsically wasteful process when it comes to water usage. It takes a tremendous investment to be leaders in sustainability. Craft brewers like New Belgium and Sierra Nevada have earned their place as among the most respected in this area because they've put a lot of time, focus, effort, and money towards making it happen. They stand out for this reason, and deserve praise.

Thing is, hayduke is right about A/B. In recent years, A/B has been lauded as one of the most energy efficient brewers in the world, moving to alternative energy at many plants, continuing to reduce water usage, and much more. And those aren't A/B press releases, they're reports from a news site focused on green endeavors in the business world.

So, not absolute bullshit. They've got shitty business practices in a lot of areas, no question, but this isn't one of them.

fuck_pants_jr · 1 month

It's not adspeak or marketing speak, though, it's descriptive shorthand that has been around for a long while. You use the phrase and beer folks know exactly what you mean. That's why people use it.

I'm not saying anyone needs to like beer of this sort, I'm just pointing out that this isn't a case of circlejerking.

fuck_pants_jr · 1 month

It's not some beerit thing. The reason the example is always used is because it's a common term in the beer work. The term "lawnmower beer" has been around for many years and has long been a catchall for a simple, refreshing chugging beer, the kind of beer you have during or after sweaty physical activity. Ten years ago, this 2002 piece in BYO magazine talked about brewing your own, and I can find references going back at least as far back as 1995. EDIT: Scratch that, here is a reference from 1991, more than two decades ago, before some beeritors were even born. This one is from 1992.

Many craft brewers riff on the term, magazines have written about "lawnmower beer" (column is from 2009), bloggers discuss it (this is from 2008), and even envelope-pushing brewers like Dogfish Head have brewed lawnmower beers.

So that's why it comes up.

Trover · 1 month

Where was all the outrage when platinum came out?

It was littered throughout almost every one of the many threads we had on the beer. Honestly, go back and check them out. The beer was routinely slammed, the marketing scorned, and the entire platinum thing in general was mocked. Some people tried it or said they'd try it, sure, but there was plenty of outrage from folks who thought it was the stupidest thing ever.

wteknight · 1 month

There are many blue food-grade plastic vessels out there. This one, for instance, or these plastic barrels, and many others.

borno23 · 1 month

That is the temperature range for fermentation; the range at which yeast prefer to do their work and at which they'll produce the best tasting beer. That doesn't translate to the same temp range to keep your bottles. Once bottled that yeast goes into suspension; it's not going to generate the kind of off-flavors you get from poor fermentation temperatures.

EDIT: And to further clarify, those off flavors will take place at too high a fermentation temperature. Too low and the yeast won't even get to work at all. So you can happily store your bottle-conditioned beer at lower temps for long term storage. In fact, celler temp, 50-55, is widely considered the ideal for long-term storage, though many folks (myself included) store at room temp.

Besides, I don't think the OP is asking about long-term storage, anyway. They seem to be asking about beer you plan on consuming soon.

CandyManCan · 1 month

Ameritrash games, since their "core priority" is drama, can afford to have more luck than Eurogames, which focus on elegance.

I really like this guy's thoughts and find myself agreeing with his basic classifications. To me, classic Ameritrash games have that "Whoa!" factor, where a dice roll or some such has the entire table roaring. The best laid plans and all that.

CandyManCan · 1 month

Thing is, the human players wouldn't have been in a position to pull off that longshot win if they hadn't played a good enough game to get themselves there in the first place. And in turn, the situation wouldn't have been possible if the Cylon player had played better than he/she had, ensuring the humans couldn't be in that spot.

So while it came down to a difficult role -- luck -- it would have required a whole game of ups and downs to create the situation in the first place.

Honestly, it sounds like a pretty exciting moment and one that group will remember for a while.

borno23 · 1 month

Extreme temperatures and temperature changes can damage a beer, but the circumstances you're talking about are no big deal and nothing to worry about.

You may well buy beer that has gone through that and not even realize it. Arrives in a truck that may or may not be cooled. Goes into the back room, where it is refrigerated. Gets put out on the floor at room temperature. You buy it and get it back down to fridge temp.

None of that is ideal, mind you. In a perfect world your beer is kept cool from the brewery to your glass. But it's exceedingly common, and as long as the temp swings aren't huge, fast, frequent, or repeated often I wouldn't much worry.

Shoegaze99

TROPHY CASE

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