What are you drinking ?

[jt]

Ok, so What Are You Brewing was a hotty, as topics go.

Now I'm 15 pints into a keg I only filled on Tuesday and wondering if anyone else has a favourite at the moment ?

It's my second brown with US-Oh05 and it's better than the forst, maybe Ikept the temps down a bit during the scorcher we had in januray

[Reviled]

"Still need to get my A into G with the one I can complete though."

What more motivation do ya need mate??? Handpumped beer, at home?!?!?! Need I say more ;o)

[studio1]

what are you saying about my ale..... :-) I cask conditioned one so far - boiled up some DME and threw it into the keg with some isinglass. Joe - can you please share how you have conditioned yours in the keg?

[Reviled]

"what are you saying about my ale"

lol, mate dont get me wrong, yours was awesome too, but Jo has managed to nail the cask conditioned mouthfeel perfectly IMO!!

From what I saw hes welded a hose and valve onto the beer out post, and had the keg lying down so as to collect the yeast in the bottom without it being drawn out, and then he said he served the whole thing without venting the keg... But a picture tells a thousand words - Jo??

[JoKing]

I was going to write up a whole blog on it with photos and all... but I got slack on it in the end.

Basically, I had this Levitation Clone that I did with Thames Valley II yeast. I fermented it with hops in the primary - i.e. put my dry hops in before I pitched the yeast. I fermented this out and cold conditioned for a few days without finings.

Then I transfered into my "Cask" (which is a long story in itself... I'll get to that later) with 40g of sugar boiled in 40mls of water.

Then it sat in the hallway for about 2 weeks before taking to a party. We got stuck into it at the party, and I blanketed it with CO2. It drank particularily well this night.

Then I took it home (to the new house) and it sat around in the kitchen for another week or so. I'd tap into it every now and again - like when Neil Miller came around last Tuesday. I didn't vent it then though, so I didn't even need to pump it out of the "Cask" as it came out under its own pressure.

Had some more on Friday and Saturday before Tyler came over - then got stuck into it. Never vented it then though either... so towards the end it was pretty flat. All services were around 12 - 15 degrees C.

Now, the "Cask" itself is a Corny keg. What I did, was pull the "In" post apart and weld a 3/8" stainless nipple to it. Then I've got a 3/8" stainless ball valve onto that with a hose barb on the other side. I use a 1/2" hose (the one Garrick gave me with the pump) from the Cask att the way to the pump... so it pumps real easy - no restrictions in the line. So when it comes to getting the beer out, I have to lie the "Cask" on its side with a saddle underneath to tilt the backside up... then all the beer falls towards the outlet. You can chuck CO2 into the "out" post if you plan to blanket the beer in CO2.

For blanketing, I just turned the pressure right down on the reg so that it didn't let any gas through. Whenever I pumped, the cask sucked CO2 through the reg. It was a bit of mucking around - and if you had other kegs on that line you'd have to disconnect them each time.

Anyhow - it was all fun.

[studio1]

Then I took it home (to the new house) and it sat around in the kitchen for another week or so. I'd tap into it every now and again - like when Neil Miller came around last Tuesday. I didn't vent it then though, so I didn't even need to pump it out of the "Cask" as it came out under its own pressure.

So it wasn't hooked up to the handpump - just released via the ball valve? Would love to see some pics....

[JoKing]

It was hooked up to the pump. To "Tap" means to open the valve!

[studio1]

oh I see - so you didn't pump it - it just comes out under pressure. cheers

[jt]

Sadly, the last half from the Late Hopped Brown V1

But, there's a silver lining to every cloud and now I can get the Late Hopped pale in the fridge

[JoKing]

Save me some JT. I'll be down your way on Saturday.

[JoKing]

Some commercial beers for a change. Just did a side by side of Motueka Monster and Yakima Monster. I got a couple of cases and have been getting stuck in since they arrived last Friday. I've had to sit on the fence for a while... and I really wanted to try the kegged versions before I announce my verdict.

I think that there is a competitive streak between these 2 beers. I think there is massive potential for either to win the Challenge: US vs NZ. It's not a fair challenge though - for this reason: Simcoe, Amarillo and Nugget for different reasons have loooooooooong been my favourite hops to use. However... there are a great many different varieties from the States which may (or may not) be a better challenge for the NZ grown counterparts.

That being said... my initial verdict is Motueka Monster. The spicy Cascade nicely accentuates the soft nutty notes of the Golden promise perfectly: as if it was paired by nature. They citrussy skunk characters of Sauvin finish the palate with dense hop resin to finish extraordinarily bitter with that hard Southern Cross punch.

Maybe I'm too used to the drinking experience that Yakima Monster brings to the fore - and as such the challenge is biased in a way that Motueka Monster is fresh and new for me. However... fun and delicious drinking none the less.

Cheers.

[Dale]

Can't wait to try these beers, off to the freehouse tomorrow to have my try!!!!

[Bambule]

I go to try these two side by side last week at Regionals, I felt spoiled for choice, two great beers. I'm a Yakima monster man myself but I was impressed how the NZ hops showed up given they tend to be a bit maligned compared to there US varieties. The thing that got me with Motueka monster was it had a very savoury aroma, like fresh onions, not necessarily in a bad sense though but it made the aroma dwarf that from Yakima in my humble opinion, which takes some doing. Can;t wait to try them both again once I'm back in Wellington.