Any Home-brewers?

[MileHighGrowler]

(01-21-2021, 09:06 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: I tend to switch from time to time. I've been a fan of Coors, Bud Light and Busch Light. I was heavy on Coors and Budweiser when I was in the Army. Then became a Bud Light drinking and then Busch Light. Then went to Miller Lite for awhile and back to Busch Light. I think my buds like crisp clean flavor. I haven't had any microbrew beers that didn't have a bite or after taste. Some strong, some light, but I don't like follow ups.

I had learned to love Doppelbock when in Germany, which has a huge aftertaste, but for some reason not into it now. But I'm 53 and I don't like surprises as much as I once did in my younger years.

Ha, fair enough on not wanting surprises as much!  

It's funny because I find a lot of people tell me they like "pilsners" only to try to try one that's made to European specs (Czech or German) and not like it at all because those styles are drier and hoppier than expected.  We've kind of bastardized what a pils is here in the US.  

If you're primarily drinking BMC (Bud, Miller, Coors) or anything with "light" in the name, I recommend against trying to brew it at home.  You're going to be hard-pressed to duplicate what they're doing on the mass scale.  I follow with some mild interest the attempts of many to nail it, and it's usually a LOT more attempts to get it right than you'd maybe guess.  They're also all lagers, which is considerably harder for someone starting to brew to get right.  From a price perspective, you're probably looking at about $.40 per beer homebrewed vs $.70 packaged, ready to drink.  You'd have to drink a whole lot of those for that price to add up jus to cover equipment costs.  For what it's worth, I always have a case of Coors Banquet in my fridge at home as my "project beer."  It's not worth the hassle of trying to brew that when it's so relatively cheap already made, and having cans when I'm working around the house or yard is easier than trying to pour a glass.  

But I'll tell you that all my BMC loving neighbors and friends love it when I brew my cream ale every year for the 4th of July.  It's a beer style effectively created in the US by German immigrants to mimic their lagers, but for various reasons (I won't bore you with the technical details) it's not really like the European lagers, and more closely aligned to the macro brews of today.  This style mostly disappeared with Prohibition and there aren't many of them around on the market today (because people have no idea what they are) beyond a few more well-known (like Genesee).  I've got an old Little Kings Cream Ale tap handle my grandpa had collected that I like to put on when I'm serving that beer, too.  It's the perfect lawn mower beer.  

The final nerd point I'll offer is that depending on the breweries where you get beer, sometimes their CO2 levels aren't quite right and lead to a harsher aftertaste.  And for lighter beers especially, brewing them so simply yet tastefully is really an artform, and any minor thing in the brewing, fermentation or packing process will impact the taste.