Okbrewer

Ditto, the vacuum sealer! I use that thing more than I ever thought I would. I can buy meat, fish, and cheese in bulk and seal 'em up and put 'em in the freezer or fridge and not worry about freezer burn or having them spoil in a couple of days. It's great when I make guacamole and have some left over! Instead of turning brown and nasty looking the very next day, when I vacuum seal it it is green and fresh days later! Also good for storing coffee beans or ground coffee. I also use it to marinate meat and chicken. Like I said, I use it more than I thought possible! I also use my stick blender alot.

True Koelsch bier is only found around Cologne. I am not aware of any that is imported into the US. However, many brewpubs and micros (and homebrewers) brew a Koelsch-style ale and usually call them a Blond ale or something like that. On the other hand, Alt bier (usually associated with Dusseldorf) is available in the US by several brewers.

Susan, You can always count on Lloyd to surprise you with a great selection of beer! Even if you ask him not to, he doesn't know how to show up empty handed! Way to go, Lloyd! I would set the Smoked Porter aside and let it age a bit, at least until this fall, and serve it with a pot of beans or chili or a venison steak! I have a couple of bottles hiding in the back of my fridge, just waiting for fall!

Clausthaler isn't too bad.

All-grain brewer here, with a setup similar to Paul's, 2-tier, 3 converted kegs, 2 pumps, in process of converting HLT to HERMS unit. Plan to brew again in the next couple of weeks, probably one of my old standbys, a cream ale, which is a good warm weather beer and one that anybody can enjoy.

For an exceptional Wit beer, and one that noone has yet mentioned, you might try a beer from Japan! Hitachino Nest White beer is a very good example of this style, spicy yet soft and smooth in the mouth.

Lloyd! Be sure to stash some away for me! Thanks in advance! That is one of my favorites on tap, hope it fares well in the bottle.

Nothing wrong with simply expanding your horizons within the realm of what you know you already like. There are myriad options to try that are close relatives to the two brands that you mentioned, but with flavor profiles that are vastly different. Plus you can explore many of these without spending a lot of cash! For instance, Elijah Craig 12 year old and Bulleit Bourbon won't cost an arm and a leg and you get two distinct, but familiar tastes. Also, Canadian Club 15 year old is very inexpensive for a very smooth blend. Go to your local spirits vendor and tell them what flavors you like and they will make some recommendations. Or tell us more here, and we will try to offer more options. Another recommendation is to educate yourself about what you like and what is out there. To do that, READ! I recommend picking up a copy of Malt Advocate as a start. This magazine not only has good articles, but they also have recommendations and ratings. Let us know what you try and how you like it!

Even if you are using hopped extract kits, you will probably still want to add between a half and full ounce of hops (pellets, plugs or whole flower) for the full boil (at least 60 minutes) and another half ounce at the final 15 minutes of the boil. That will help get the hop flavor and aroma that you are lacking. You might also want to try using liquid yeast (White Labs or Wyeast) if you aren't already, and build a yeast starter to get a good amount of yeasties in the wort to do their job as quickly as possible and to get good attenuation. Also be sure you select the appropriate yeast for the beer style. How are you force carbonating? Are you using corny kegs or mini-kegs? Are you actually force carbonating or are you adding corn sugar and allowing the yeast to carbonate in the keg? If force carbonating, be sure to crank up the CO2 to about 25-30psi for about 3 days to carbonate. When ready to serve, release pressure and set to serving pressure, between 7-10 psi depending on your serving system. You can make good tasting beer from extract, but if you want even more control over your beer and better tasting beer, go all-grain.

Suz, Looks like I am going to be in FL next week. Well, almost in FL, be working in Hilliard, but staying near JAX airport. Kind of a beer wasteland out there unless I can make it over to St. Augustine and go to the A1A Brewpub. Melbourne is a bit of a trek from up there.

Chicken of the Sea, packed in water, (is it Chicken or is it Fish, duh!?) with some mayo, mustard, cracked pepper, onion, and relish, sometimes, hard boiled egg is also added. I like the sammiches but I also like it scooped on a plate, with a slice of, forgive me, Kraft cheese on top, and zapped in the micro wave just until the cheese starts to melt around the tuna salad. Eat with plenty of crakers or Fritos! mmm. I'm getting hungry!

Beer is beer because of the ingredients and the process. The malting and mashing of grains, extracting the sweet wort, adding hops, cooling it and pitching yeast to allow them to eat the sugar to create alcohol, makes beer. Even though whisk(e)y starts out with a similar process, you have to distill the 'beer' to make that product. And with beer you don't squash any grapes. Beer also involves a brewer/brewster to make the desired product, grapes will eventually turn to 'wine' on their own! So obviously, beer is a more labor intensive, refined product! Many beers have high alcohol levels that approach those of wines or spirits, hence the appellation 'barley wine.'

RP! I'm gonna shoot for attending the August Friday the Firkenteenth! Seriously! Don't be surprised when I show up at your door! (I'd rather drive with you than Lew!)

Several of my beer drinking buddies/brewers got together to sample a variety of beers last night. None of us quite prepared for what one member of our group brought to share. Sam Adams Utopias! He works at a liquor store and got a deal on the stores last remaining bottle, so he figured he’d share with us! We all anted up $10 each for about a 2.5 oz sample. Sam Adams Utopias 2003, with an alleged alcohol content of 48 proof or about 25% alcohol by volume, claims to be the strongest beer in the world. Only 8000 bottles were produced. It is a brew with a unique and complex flavor. It retails for about $120 a bottle! Utopias is packaged in a special collectible brew kettle-shaped bottle reminiscent of larger copper kettles used by brew masters for hundreds of years. If you have had experience with Triple Bock, you know that the bottles tended to leak. The very first thing that was apparent was that Sam Adams did a much better job of sealing this beer than they did with the Triple Bocks. The copper cap that once accented the copper finished brew kettle decanter of the Utopias easily twisted off revealing an additional tightly sealed pop-off cap, indicating that this beer was intended to be stored and aged for decades. There was no loose cork to be found. This flavorful, slightly fruity brew has a sweet, malty flavor that smacks more of the Cognac, Scotch and Port barrels it has been resting in than any beer you've ever drunk. The maple syrup is immediately evident on the nose along with a wallop of alcohol. The maple follows through to the tongue, where it is joined by an entwining of Port and sherry with the slightest hint of hops. Bourbon-like flavors of vanilla and oak meld into caramel and dark fruit flavors reminiscent of the Triple Bock, but not as syrupy and cloying. The alcohol is also evident, but it is warming and not as harsh as the nose might indicate. The finish is all walnut. This is the ultimate sipping beer! At 25% alcohol by volume, this deceptively strong beer is better compared to a premium Brandy or exquisite Sherry as opposed to any beer that I have every known. Everything about the Utopias equated to balance and perfect harmony. I was intrigued by all the hype that surrounded this beer, especially regarding the price! After tasting Utopias, I join the ranks of the beer aficionados who rightly call this a very remarkable beer. At $120a pop, this will be a tasting experience that will not be soon repeated! But I am glad that I had this opportunity.

If you really wanna go all the way, with all beer, make the ice cream from a stout! I have made stout ice cream before and it was very tasty, almost like coffee or cappucino ice cream with just a hint of hops. Had nice light brown color. I made just a regular vanilla ice cream custard and then added a bottle of homebrewed stout, heated and stirred until well blended and some of the alcohol burns off. Cooled it and then put it into my electric, refrigerated ice cream maker. Very nice!

I've used Okocim Porter and chocolate ice cream with good results. But my favorite mix has been a mint stout that I made and choclate ice cream, mmm, mmm good! I introduced my BiL to this concoction not long ago and he can't get enough! Always asking me to make those beer floats!

Went looking for, and found, Arts & Mary's chips. Available at my local Homeland store, who knew!? Bought a bag, took them home to have with pulled pork sammiches. After one taste, my 13 year old daughter proclaimed them the new house favorites! She ate almost the whole bag! She told me today to be sure and buy those 'new' chips from now on. Thanks for the tip!

OH! Almost forgot! When fresh, New Belgium's Blue Paddle Pils is great!

I like Wise Chips! A guess it's a hold over from growing up in PA. I used to have them as a snack before I went to bed and liked them then and still do today. What irks me about potato chips is that with the focus on 'quality' in the last decade or so, you get a consistent product each and every time. I used to like to dig through the bag of chips to find the dark ones, you know the ones with all the extra flavor! But now, those are the ones that are culled out before the chips are packaged! I can usually still find some of those dark brown delights in a bag of Wise chips, but never in Lays!

Since this post is still making the rounds, I will have to weigh in with fresh PU being at the top of the list, Yuengling lager, and I'm surprised nobody mentioned one of my all time favorites, brewed by Old Dominion, Tupper's Hop Pocket Pils!

In the Oklahoma City area we have many places that claim to have the "best" Chicken fried steak. Unlike others here, I 'get' chicken fried steak and enjoy eating it often. Some of my favorite places to go are Don's Alley (formerly Don's Drive In) on SE 29th Street in Del City, Jimmy's Round Up Cafe on NW 10th in OKC, and Ann's Chicken Fry House on NW39th Expwy (old Route 66!) in Bethany. All have similar yet different recipes and all include creamy white gravy and either home fires, french fries or mashed taters! Sides include green beans, brown beans or corn, and most places serve a big dinner roll or corn bread! MMM! mmm! I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!

Maytag is my favorite!

Lisa, Banana, clove and bubble gum esters are signature flavors and aromas to be found in a German Wheat beer (weizen). Basically, they are imparted by the yeast. This is a good thing! Certain yeast strains give off more of these esters than others, and not all American brewers use these yeast strains in their beers. True, German-style wheat beers will display the flavors that you describe, whether they are Hefeweizen, Dunkel Weizen or Weizen Bock. Sounds like Victory's beer was right on target!

Rick, I went beer hunting today and found a pretty good deal. The store I was in had 6 bottles of Fuller's Vintage Ale (2000). Fuller's normally sells for about $5.99 a bottle around here, but since this stuf was "old" it was marked down to $3.44! I bought all 6 bottles and asked if he had more, but he didn't. Saved me from having to store it for a couple of years! As it is, it's pretty near drinkable right now!