Is the home theater craze over or what?

[MannyE]

Over 25 years of making homebrew stopped about 5 years ago when I walked into the local big box wine store More Wine or the other one... and saw two aisles displaying hundreds of very good craft brews. I started homebrewing because the most exotic beers I could find in the 80's were Coors and Fosters (which wasn't even really Aussie, just brewed in Canada under contract) so if I wanted a porter or a stout or a Belgian ale, I'd have to make it myself. While the brewing part was fun, it's all about drinking the beer for me. Similar to music and home theater.. more time listening and watching than setting up is the theme for me.

Then I discovered MEAD.... no boiling, delicious and like good beer in 1982, not very easy to find, so now the TARDIS (my garage) has been converted to a meadery and I'm happy to keep making mead until I walk into a wine store and find a section as big as the Chardonnay section full of meads from around the world. Unlike beer brewing, once the primary ferment is finished (about a week, 10 days max) mead is a 'hands off' hobby. Just once a month, give it a taste until you like it and bottle!

 

[JoeESP9]

You're all out of your minds.. while a good stout is nice, you should be drinking MEAD.

No thanks! It doesn't suit my palete.

NAH - home brew

I started doing that 25+ years ago. There was a place in Phila. called American U-Brew-It that got me started. They had brew masters that would help you mix the ingredients in the right proportions for whatever style of beer you wanted. They would then brew it in one of their in-house commercial grade brewing tanks. You would return several days later and decant and bottle your "brew". This prompted me to start making it on my own in my basement. Currently I restrict myself mostly to Pilsners. Yeah, I know many may think I'm a lightweight because of this. However, I buy and/or make beer to please my palate.

FWIW: I really do not like stout of any type. I'm not all that fond of most IPA's either.

 

[MannyE]

Pilsners are by no means a lightweight beer. They are damn hard to get right and some of the tastiest beer I've ever had. I no longer try to make them because so many great ones are available, but if I ever get out to the Czech republic I'm having me some real Pilzen in Pilzen!

 

[Tom Brennan]

Every corner in the state of Wisconsin.

And Chicago. When working at the US Steel plant on the South Side we went to a tavern that was simply called "Bottles and Cans". The bartender's name was Fats. That Chicago is just about gone now.

 

[JoeESP9]

And Chicago. When working at the US Steel plant on the South Side we went to a tavern that was simply called "Bottles and Cans". The bartender's name was Fats. That Chicago is just about gone now.

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Did it have spittoons, no bar stools and a floor rail for resting one foot?

 

[enginedr]

Over 25 years of making homebrew stopped about 5 years ago when I walked into the local big box wine store More Wine or the other one... and saw two aisles displaying hundreds of very good craft brews. I started homebrewing because the most exotic beers I could find in the 80's were Coors and Fosters (which wasn't even really Aussie, just brewed in Canada under contract) so if I wanted a porter or a stout or a Belgian ale, I'd have to make it myself. While the brewing part was fun, it's all about drinking the beer for me. Similar to music and home theater.. more time listening and watching than setting up is the theme for me.

Then I discovered MEAD.... no boiling, delicious and like good beer in 1982, not very easy to find, so now the TARDIS (my garage) has been converted to a meadery and I'm happy to keep making mead until I walk into a wine store and find a section as big as the Chardonnay section full of meads from around the world. Unlike beer brewing, once the primary ferment is finished (about a week, 10 days max) mead is a 'hands off' hobby. Just once a month, give it a taste until you like it and bottle!

I have friend that makes MEAD https://www.magpiemead.com/

 

[KrisM]

And Chicago. When working at the US Steel plant on the South Side we went to a tavern that was simply called "Bottles and Cans". The bartender's name was Fats. That Chicago is just about gone now.

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I thought real steel men did the BYOB thing?

 

[Tom Brennan]

I thought real steel men did the BYOB thing?

You brought your own bottle (a "jar") to the job but not to the tavern. I favored a half pint ("half dog") of VO kept in the inside breast pocket of my Carhartt coat.

 

[MannyE]

You brought your own bottle (a "jar") to the job but not to the tavern. I favored a half pint ("half dog") of VO kept in the inside breast pocket of my Carhartt coat.

Buzzed at the steel mill??? How many fingers do you have left?