Truly the slowest Lounge day ever

[mikemc]

I just woke up from a bad dream. I dreamed I was sitting on a piano bench trying top learn a simple song. Then someone horribly overbearing and oppressive sat doreen next to me and started belittling my attempt. They leaned into me from the side finally pushing me of the bench onto the ground, hurting my ribcage.

I awoke with the certain knowledge that the person was none other than loop station zero. Also, I was surprised at how overweight he was.

[Forge.]

.. Then someone horribly overbearing and oppressive sat doreen next to me...

who's doreen?

[haoqigao]

[ze2be]

How do you figure?

Well, 3 of my best buddies are brewing with a 4rth guy. Hes won the norwegian championship in home brewing. And he is now asked to brew for the most famous self brewing bar in our capital city. (exelent quality) They brought me to the champion ship venue earlier this year. (wow, great experience!) you pay something like $30 at the door, and they give you a cup and a paper form. From there on, you can go around taste all the competing beer, and tick of your favorits on the form paper with a pen. Great fun!
Anyway, I folowed our specialist guy like glue, listening carefully to all his coments, and even though hes technically way over my head, it was extreamly interesting to go through all that beer with such an expert!

Its hard work and tons of details if you want your beer to be anything, really.
In a way you can say its like doing a good project mixdown. Its not easy the first, or second year you try it. Hell, it took me 10 years to get my mixes to sound as good as I wanted to begin with.

With breweries, exact temprature and timing is vital. You also need top quality components, or else it will taste like muddy, oily water. Specially if you go IPA! Theres so many things that can go wrong. If its done a little bit to fast or to slow, the foam will get fucked, and it just disapair in seconds when you poor it in a glass. My specialist buddy here can taste how sloppy youve been with keeping the temperatures right!

80% of the competing beer tasted like dirt water to him, and I kind of agree! Most funny analyse of one contester that he gave: red circuit board! It tastes like those red circuit boards!! I tasted after him, and he was right. Cant say I have smelled red bords, but ive smelt quiet a few green ones, from deasembling old PCs for recycling at a job I once had. And hes description was spot on! This was a bad IPA. Hahah

[ze2be]

I awoke with the certain knowledge that the person was none other than loop station zero.

Seriously? Hahaha then its safe to say you spend way to much time arround this side of the web.

[LoopStationZebra]

I just woke up from a bad dream. I dreamed I was sitting on a piano bench trying top learn a simple song. Then someone horribly overbearing and oppressive sat doreen next to me and started belittling my attempt. They leaned into me from the side finally pushing me of the bench onto the ground, hurting my ribcage.

I awoke with the certain knowledge that the person was none other than loop station zero. Also, I was surprised at how overweight he was.

I don't understand where all this hate is coming from...

[dhilsabeck]

Brewing can be very simple or very scientific, depending on how involved you want to be. Some people merely use kits while other people make their own grain mash and use hydrometers and all sorts of shit to make themselves stand out in a room full of other brewers. While I can respect this level of involvement, I don't believe it is necessary for the beginner wanting to make a good homebrew, even IPAs (which in my experience, are not nearly as hard to brew as say a pilsner).

I'd suggest somewhere in the middle. Some good good water, malt extract, a combination of some good freeze dried hops and some good yeast, fresh if possible. If you follow simple instructions and use clean equipment, honestly, it's so hard to fuck this up. The head may not always be as perfect as a Leffe or a Guinness but those are brewed by the pros with time tested methods. It doesn't mean one can't come up with something tasty and original.

I don't question your brewmaster friend's skills or expertise or his palate. But just because he says something doesn't make it true. Taste, like many other things, is subjective. For example, I'm sure some sommeliers scoff at a perfectly enjoyable $20 bottle of wine. I am certain that your tasting experience would be entirely different had you not been under this pretense.

Most importantly, brewing is fun and rewarding. You don't have to be amongst the best in Norway to enjoy it and reap it's benefits.

[ze2be]

not at all! Your perfectly right! But you learn and get picky by the day I dont like red, pink or white wine btw. North, middle, and mid-east europe has the beer culture. I know one good beer brand from italy, and its made by prisson inmates. But thats about it. Hmm.. Cant remember the name..