Okbrewer

I bought my wife a new toy for her birthday. NO! Not that kind....hmm, on second thought maybe... Anyway, it is a stainless steel cream whipper, the kind that uses those little N2O cartridges. So far, she likes it and we have had great fun with it, (don't go there!) but we have a question. What to do with the cartridges when they are expired!? It says on the box that they can be recycled, but does that mean the metal can be recyled or that they can be reused/refilled somehow? Or should we just toss them in the trash!? What do you all do with them? Also, are there other ways that this neat tool can be employed other than just making whipped cream?

Susan, my only experience lately with Boulder Brewing was last January when I was in Longmont, Co. We happened upon Boulder Brewing on the night they were celebrating their "rebirth", and the beer was free! I sampled all their beers, as well as mead from Redstone meadery! My favorite was the Hazed and Infused. I also liked the Mojo, and they had a smokey Scotch ale that was interesting and a decent porter. But it was the Hazed and Infused that I kept going back to. Now, with that said, it was fresh, on tap, at the brewery. I haven't yet tasted the beer from a bottle, even though I just remembered that I picked up a sixer of the Hazed and Infused on my last trip to KC! I will have to do some research this evening!

If you are still located "where there's dirt, cows, grain, and wild food" then you probably have plenty of open space outdoors! Get a propane cooker and a big stainless steel pot and cook outside! That way you can boil the full volume of water and do it much quicker than on the stove. Also, clean up is easier outside. When you brewed last, were you and extract or all-grain brewer. I see most here assume all-grain, but an extract batch may be what you need to get you back in the game! Check with your local homebrew supply shop for a simple recipe. Basically, a 4# can/box of malt extract for a 5 gallon batch, add bittering, aroma and flavor hops and then you can dry hop in the fermenter by putting whole hops or plugs in a mesh bag and submerging it in the wort/beer. I sanitize bottles in a bucket. I use iodophor instead of the bleach mixture recommended, but either will work fine. Bob R in OKC

Your best bet, IMO, is to drink what is available locally. I see from your member info that you are in NYC, if that is the case, you have a very good selection of local beers available, some just down the road! I strongly suggest you try the beers from Blue Point Brewing Co. If you lean toward Euro lagers, try their toasted lager or even their blond/golden ale. They also have a tasty Oktoberfest and a very nice, creamy stout. Take a trip over to Blue Point and visit their tasting room! Check them on the web first to verify tasting room hours of operation. Bob R in OKC

Prague, Oklahoma hosts a kolache festival every year! http://www.praguekolachefestival.com/

That is not a recipe unique to Paula Deen. I've been making bread pudding with left over donuts for many years, and I sure didn't make up the recipe, but got it passed down from...who knows! Left over donuts, especially the rolls with the cinnamon in 'em, make very tasty bread pudding!

I just this evening had a couple bottles of the Acme IPA! Wow! Very nicely done! North Coast has a winner here!

I usually drink hefeweizens in the summer, and continue to do so. But I have also been drinking Trumer Pils, especially when out back cooking at my grill. But the big surprise summertime treat this year has been from a tiny brewery in SE Oklahoma. Choc Beer, from Pete's Place (aka Krebs Brewing) in Krebs, OK. Choc has recently started to be offered in bottles and it is damn good! It is kind of like an American wheat, but it has more hop presence. It is light and hoppy, kinda cloudy, crisp and refreshing, and it is my latest go-to-beer to beat the heat. I've been meaning to call the brewer, Michael Lalli, and tell him how much I've been enjoying his beer. Guess I'll try to do that next week.

I CAN'T MAKE FUDGE! Either I don't cook it long enough, I don't know what the softball stage is, or I don't beat it long enough! I can't figure out what I do wrong! When I pour it out to cool and set up, it just stays kinda gooey. It's great over ice cream, but that is not what I want! OTOH, I make great toll house cookies, if I do say so myself! I use the recipe on the back of the chocolate chips and doctor it up a bit, but I think the key is using aluminum sheet pans and parchment paper. Also, don't bake them until they are too brown, just golden and then remove them to a cooling rack. Always come out chewy but done, I don't like em too gooey. Now if I could just figure out fudge!

I clean each carboy after use, and mix up a weak iodophor solution (about the color of iced tea or lighter) in the carboy, about a third of the way full. Your susposed to "have contact" with the surface to be santized, so ideally you would fill it to the top, but I periodically swirl the solution around so as to have contact with all surfaces. My carboys have screw caps but you can also seal the top with plastic wrap and a rubber band. Then before the next brewing session I empty the carboy and let it air dry, with the cap loosely sittiing on the top.

A capful of regular bleach (no lemon-scented stuff, please!) in a gallon of water should be enough to keep your "jugs" clean, and you can soak the lids in the solution too. You could also go to your local home brew supply shop and pick up some iodophor (iodine based sanitizer) and mix a weak solution of that to store the growlers, with the lids on. That is how I store my carboys between batches of homebrew. The iodophor will not have the lingering scent that bleach leaves. Also, I'm sure Old Dominion could spring for a new cap if you need one.

F**K Cheerios! I'm havin' a roast beef sandwich for breakfast! Regardless of what those young Frenchies might say, I wanna party with you, Cowboy! (But I think I might have to shy away from the absinthe!) I enjoyed the show, looking forward to next weeks!

There are many residential or commercial grade "under counter refrigerators" available. You could double-up on those and either put them under the window in the kitchen, or, thinking outside of the kitchen box, put them on the other side of the short wall, behind the stove. Either build a surround for them or simply place a counter top on top of them and you also increase your work space. If the back porch will accomodate it, get a locking chest type freezer and put it out there. You might also want to consider commercial type coolers that have sliding doors that wouldn't have to be opened out into the tiny space. BTW, cute house!

Most homebrew shops also carry soft drink extracts. But you might try your local supermarket too. Zatarain's Root Beer extract is one to look for. If going the extract route, all you need is the extract, some sugar, water, and some yeast. You can make as little or as much as you can handle. To start, you might try a small batch in a clean, screw-top, plastic soft drink bottle. Using a funnel, add sugar and yeast to the bottle, some extract, fill part way with filtered water, shake to dissolve all ingredients, fill up with water to about an inch from the top, put the cap on and put it in the fridge. When the bottle feels pressurized, hard like a new bottle of soft drink, carefully open and enjoy. This is obviously not a precise recipe I've given, so look on the web for exact measurements of ingredients. The yeast in the homemade rootbeer will eat the sugar and as a result create CO2 and alcohol. But the alcohol will be negligible, so don't worry about intoxicating the child!

While I applaud your enthusiasm and encourage you to make beer, eventually, if you want to involve your 7 year old in this sort of activity, I would suggest perhaps making a soft drink, like root beer or ginger ale. The process is similar, but the finished product would be something your child and her friends could consume. Root beer making can be a simple process if you use extract, or it can be made more difficult if you use herbs and spices. There are many step-by-step sources on the web that will show you the ingredients needed and the process. Also, the finished product is ready to be enjoyed much sooner than with beer! If you have your heart set on beer, then I suggest you go to your local homebrew supply shop for instructions or to watch the process.

A&W used to offer Pappa, Mamma and baby burgers. all with different condiments on them. The burgers used to be pretty darn good at A&W, and of course, so was the root beer and root beer floats. They just don't make 'em like they used to! A&W at one time experimented with different flavored ketchups, as I recall. I also enjoyed the enchirito at Taco Bell. The one near me will stay make it on request even though it is not on the menu.

One item that I've seen on a lot of menus is Cedar Plank Salmon. Unless it is a restaurant in the Pacific NW, most places don't get it right.

Taxonomically speaking, malt liquor IS beer. It is a fermented beverage made from water, malt, hops and yeast. However, the term "malt liquor", in the United States, is more a legal appellation than a style of beer. Most states have alcohol limits for beer, and beers in excess of the limit are often referred to as "Malt Liquor". Therefore, Malt Liquor is an alcoholic beverage made in the USA, in the same manner as beer, but with a much higher alcoholic content. Each state sets the maximum permitted alcohol level, 8 degree usually being the max. Malt liquor is typically high alcohol, often malty sweet, and usually cheaper than most commercial beers. Cheap + high alcohol = cheap drunk, which is why malt liquor generally gets a bum rap. The Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP.org) style guidelines list Malt Liquor under the category of "Specialty Beer."

I would agree with Brooks that the beers at Gordon Biersch can be "good to great". The problem is the lack of consistency from location to location, which I guess, should be expected. I have been to GB in Atlanta, DC, Hawaii, and Colorado, and had varying experiences. The DC and Hawaii sites rated low, in my opinion, on everything from beer to food to service. On the other hand, Atlanta was a jump up on the scale in all areas and the Boulder location was great. However, we have to realize that even though they are a chain, they are still operated by local staff and brewers, and use the local water supply, so there will be variations in the beer. I would think, though, that the food and service could be more consistent from place to place.

I'll have to agree with Rich and others about River Horse. You musta had a bad batch. I have enjoyed their beers at the brewery and was impressed with the IPA and their Oktoberfest. Can't recall drinking the lager, but I would be surprised if it was bad, especially if it tasted like vomit! With that said, I'd be interested to know where you had the beer, and, if it was so awful, what you did about it. Did you tell the server/bartender that the beer was bad? If not, why? We, as beer lovers, don't do ourselves any favors by allowing nasty tasting beers to be served. If where you had this beer was not at the brewery, then the brewery should be told. If the establishment doesn't do anything to correct the problem, in other words, refuses to sell fresh beer, take your thirst and your money elsewhere. And tell your friends to do likewise.

I agree with what has been suggested already, get singles of all the ones available in your area and give 'em a try before plopping down some $$ for a case or two. All the ones you mentioned are good, but I would also suggest that you try Konig Ludwig Weiss if it is available to you. It is a clean, refreshing wheat beer, not as estery or phenolic as others, and usually less expensive than the ones you mentioned. It is one of my favorite summertime beers. Of course, you could always learn to brew your own...!

I was about 6 years old when I first got the idea that I liked to cook. I remember vividly, attempting to make vegetable beef soup. From scratch. I filled a pot with water, added some ketchup, some salt and pepper, sliced some carrots, onion, celery, tossed that in the pot, added some left over pieces of roast beef and a handful of dried beans. So far, so good!? Unfortunately, at the time I didn't know the difference between cabbage and LETTUCE! I tore up some lettuce and put it in the soup, too! Of course, since I made it, I ate it! I also remember, about the same age, trying to make cookies. I mixed up some batter (I think I had help with the ingredients), but instead of baking them in the oven, I thought, it's so hot outside I bet I could bake these on the hood of the car! Let;s just say it wasnt such a great idea! At 7 I used to sit in the kitchen and watch my grandmother fix all kinds of meals and desserts. Wish I would have taken notes.

Growing up in PA I had eaten, and still to this day when I visit PA I get nostalgic for, SCRAPPLE! But, if you don't have some "history" with this culinary treat (?) then I'm not sure if you would stomach it. A while back there was a whole thread on CHICKEN FRIED STEAK, and for us in OK and TX, there is nothing better than chicken fried steak, mashed taters, cream gravy and black eyed peas, but folks "up north", well, they just dont' "get" chicken fried steak!

mpav, There is MUCH $$$ to be made in educating people on how to behave, not only when dining, but in other social events as well. My daughter recently completed a program sponsored by the National League of Junior Cotillions, where she received instruction in etiquette, dining, dancing, how to set a table, proper attire, how to pass through a receiving line, etc. She very much enjoyed the experience! In talking with the presenters, they mentioned that many of their clients are older business people, or businesses who contract the training for their senior employees who might otherwise be clueless in some social settings. So, now that the patrons are trained, what about the wait staff? It bothers me when I visit a restaurant where the waiter is unfamiliar with what is on the menu, the daily specials, or ingredients to a particluar dish. Often, this shortcoming is expalined away by the waiter saying, "This is my first day/week..."

And Bradley Cooper should look familiar to fans of "Alias", he played Will Tippin.