Coopers India Pale Ale (IPA) reviewed by jonnyo

posted on December 26, 2009 in Beer Recipe Reviews

I bought this kit in a pinch just to
have a homebrewed IPA to share with
visiting family.Added 1# corn sugar and
1# light DME as fermentables.OG 1.042
which is very light for an IPA.It
finished 1.011 after 5 days with the
supplied Coopers yeast,and I bottled it
a week ago and am enjoying my first
bottle.Also added 1 oz.of Nugget hops
and boiled it for a few minutes for
flavor/aroma.Ultimately I’d like to
brew an IPA with more malt and abv%
punch,because the 4.2% is pretty weak
for such a bitter brew.It cleared up
nicely after just a week in the bottle
and is very bitter at first
swig,finishes very dry,similar to
champagne,then after reflecting a moment
has a nice bready malt finish.I’d do
this again,but I’d make sure to add
more fermentable malt to increase the
abv%. – Rating:4/5

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Coopers India Pale Ale (IPA) reviewed by jonnyo

posted on in Beer Recipe Reviews

- Rating:4/5

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Stone Brewing Looking For Brewery Overseas

posted on December 22, 2009 in Beer Commentary

Greg Koch and Steve Wagner, the founders of Stone Brewing after tweasing (twitter teasing) the news for weeks have announced a bold, audacious plan. After resisting sending their beer overseas, they’ve decided instead to consider opening a brewery there instead. So they’re initiating an open call from municipalities or even nations abroad to see what they might propose to entice them to take over an existing brewery or build a new one somewhere in Europe, Asia or wherever. In the video below, Greg and Steve explain the idea.

Stone to open a Brewery in Europe? from stonebrew on Vimeo.

This is a very exciting project for Steve and me…and all of us at Stone Brewing. We’re going to be learning quite a bit with this endeavor, first and foremost: Will we be welcome? We’re approaching this with no assumptions other than we’d like to consider any and all options (other than having our beers contract brewed by another brewery, as that’s simply not our style). Many of the countries of Europe have great brewing traditions. Some countries are also currently experiencing a bit of a resurgence of small, independent (and independent thinking) breweries. As anyone knows that has visited the Stone Brewing Co. and our attached restaurant – the Stone World Bistro & Gardens – where we have more Guest taps than we do of Stone, we enjoy sharing the camaraderie of great craft beers. We look forward to joining in the fight in Europe by doing our part to add to the growing trend towards unique, flavorful artisanal beers, as opposed to the mass-blandification efforts characterized by megabrand sameness!

-Greg Koch, CEO



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Coopers Bitter reviewed by tim

posted on in Beer Recipe Reviews

Very nice kit. Hated it when I bottle
fermented it though because it took alot

longer than usual (good 6-8 weeks to
draw
off sweetness and make it a true bitter.

With kegging this though it’s always
good.
I like to add 1/2 to 1 oz of Citra Hops
in
keg as a dry hop in a nylon bag when I
keg
(The results are heavenly).
– Rating:4/5

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Virgin America To Serve 21st Amendment Beer

posted on December 21, 2009 in Beer Commentary

Great craft beer on planes is finally reaching the blue skies, as the 21st Amendment Brewery is set to launch their Brew Free! or Die IPA in cans aboard Virgin America Airlines. Starting now Virgin America will serve complimentary Brew Free! or Die IPA in First Class and Main Cabin Select and the beer will be available for purchase in the Main Cabin for $7.

21a-virgin
21st Amendment co-owners Shaun O’Sullivan and Nico Freccia

“This is a huge day for beer drinkers looking for a full flavored craft beer while flying aboard Virgin America. The 21st Amendment’s innovative approach of putting craft beer with unique flavors in cans partners perfectly with Virgin America, a brand synonymous with innovation, creativity and an emphasis on the customer’s experience,” says Shaun O’Sullivan, Brewmaster and Co-Founder of the 21st Amendment.

Brew Free! or Die IPA is brewed with some serious west coast attitude. This aromatic golden IPA starts with a sucker punch of six different hops to the nose, quickly balanced by a solid malt back bone. The Brewery’s top selling beer, this IPA starts big and finishes clean leaving you wanting more.

“Craft beer in cans is better for the beer than glass bottles and better for the environment with a lower carbon footprint. Not only are cans lighter, take less energy to make, transport and recycled more often than glass, but they also don’t allow light to reach the beer which can cause spoilage. You can also take cans to places where bottles can’t go, like the beach, lakes, golf courses and of course airplanes,” says Nico Freccia, Co-founder of the 21st Amendment.

“We couldn’t be more pleased to partner with 21st Amendment. Our guests have been looking for an expanded onboard beer selection with more locally-produced micro-brews. We’ve received that feedback from many channels – including Tweets and Facebook posts received from 35,000 feet via our in-flight WiFi,” said Porter Gale, Vice President of Marketing at Virgin America. “As the only airline with a touch-screen in-flight entertainment at every seatback that offers on-demand food and drinks, Virgin America is all about offering flyers more and better choices. We’re pleased to partner with another San Francisco-based company to elevate the typical in-flight experience above the ordinary.”

“The great side note and cool little twist about this story is the whole thing started on Twitter. I was flying aboard a Virgin America flight and tweeted about the amazing in-flight experience and later inquired about the possibility of getting the 21st Amendment beer on Virgin America’s planes. One thing led to another and now we’re drinking 21st Amendment’s craft beer at 35,000 feet. Social networking, planes and beer go together,” says Shaun O’Sullivan, a self proclaimed Twitter addict himself.



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Coopers Wheat Beer reviewed by Ron Grosholz

posted on December 20, 2009 in Beer Recipe Reviews

Brewed with 300g of dextrose, 456g of
LDME, and . The directions that came
with the kit are lacking, but it does
say to add boiling water to the
ingredients, which i did not do. I
bolied the wort for 45 minutes, which I
think had a negative effect on the beer.
It was more bitter than I expected. Not
sure if I’ll do this on again as I’m
looking for more of Belgain White style.
– Rating:2/5

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Blonde Lager reviewed by PeiHomeBrewer

posted on December 18, 2009 in Beer Recipe Reviews

It’s been a couple years since I brewed
this, so my recollection might not be
100%. But since there is no reviews, I
thought I would give my 2 cents. Very
nice tasting beer; if you like lagers
with a little flavour, you will like
this one. Comes with Saflager yeast
which does the job nicely at 15 Celsius.
Good introduction to the world of good
beers for someone who has never had
anything but Bud or Molson.
– Rating:5/5

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About that beer for Santa . . .

posted on December 16, 2009 in Beer Commentary

A Labatt Brewery campaign involving Santa and beer not surprisingly sparked controversy in Canada, even though the beer is non-alcoholic.

Labatt has posted ads in Mac’s Convenience Stores across Ontario saying, “Leave one out for Santa. He’s driving.” They show a bottle of Labatt’s Blue de-alcoholized beer.

The Toronto Sun reported one consumer said this sends the wrong message. “Children see that and they think we’d better leave beer for Santa instead of cookies and milk. I have grandchildren and great-granchildren and I don’t approve of it. Maybe I’m an old fuddy-duddy,” she said.

Mothers Against Drinking and Driving said it has no problem with it because it’s alcohol-free beer.

“This is not drinking and driving. It’s a Labatt issue and whatever their philosophy is behind the ad is certainly up to them,” said MADD Canada president Margaret Miller.



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Brewcraft Bavarian Wheat reviewed by beno

posted on December 15, 2009 in Beer Recipe Reviews

This was the 1st home brew I ever made
(tasted a mates a week earlier, thought
i would have a crack) I just followed
the instructions, used a mix of 600g
glucose / 400g malt /200g corn syrup and
just used the yeast provided. Brewed
around 22 degrees for 3 weeks. Tried
after 2 weeks in the bottle, wasnt real
excited, every couple of weeks tried
again, it got better and better, after 3
months it was AMAZING!!!! Will be doing
again soon. Note; my mate used the saf
wheat yeast and his was overly fruity, a
little bit too much i reckon…mine was
much smoother.
– Rating:5/5

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Cascade Spicy Ghost Draught reviewed by Scotty

posted on December 14, 2009 in Beer Recipe Reviews

Brewed as per instuctions, fermented at
about 22 deg. This came out tasting very
average after 4 weeks in the bottle. We
had a blind tasting at our work homebrew
club and this scored lowest by far with
some very unflattering comments. – Rating:1/5

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