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I've never forgotten the taste of green persimmons. It's like biting down on chalk and chasing it with vinegar. The Texas Persimmons are similar. They're not ready until they're black and practically falling off the tree. Anytime before that and they will bite back. I'm really enjoying this...

Turk's Caps grow wild around me, but I see them used more and more as ornamental plants in gardens. I have several growing in our garden. I selected them because they attract hummingbirds and butterflies, plus they do very well in shade and tolerate the extreme heat, drought, and sporadic winter...

Looks like yucca to me. http://www.desertusa.com/flora/datil-yucca.html

During some recent hikes, I picked prickly pears and the fruit off of Texas Persimmons and Turk's caps. I came across a few Mexican plum's that were ripe. Most of these I eat raw. The prickly pears were made into a syrup that I use to flavor sparkling water, smoothies, and margaritas for my wife.

It's good, but like Shiner Bock, I feel it's sort of one dimensional. It's dark, mild aroma, with a chocolate note in the flavor. When I want a dark lager I go with Austin Beerworks Black Thunder. Karbach Mother-in-Lager is a great beer, but I believe it's seasonal. I don't come across it...

I did an all Vienna pale ale, but steeped and dry hopped it like it was an IPA. I also added medium toast French oak chips, no whiskey. I can't remember the exact quantities. I added maybe an ounce of oak chips post fermentation and left them in there during dry hopping and until it was time to...

Some protest because Shiner Bock is listed in this crappy beer list, but I'll add Shiner to the list of crappy beers I drink. So that makes it, Dos Equis Lager Especial (the green bottle), Miller Lite, and Shiner Bock for me. Shiner is good enough to drink but not worth the hype and totally...

Dos Equis, and now cars look both ways for me before driving down the street. I also enjoy Miller Lite. I guess I like the corn.

S-04 will produce a very clean ale, just like US-05, when it ferments cooler (58-60F). However, that will slow fermentation a bit. US-05 will ferment quickly and is much more tolerable to higher temperatures, but takes a long time to floculate. If you can cold crash, you'll drop the yeast much...

All my new bottles get a few rinses with hot water then go into the dishwasher with no soap, hottest setting, heated dry. I rinse every bottle after pouring a beer, spray with sanitizer and set aside until the next use. Those also go through the dishwasher at the hottest setting and heated dry...

I find this thread interesting. I may be going off topic, but it makes me think of majority-minorities and minority-majorities. When looking at it through that lens, some may argue that most recent breweries in Texas, New Mexico, and California were open by minorities, meaning bearded white guys...

My last 5 or 6 batches have used base malts and sometimes roasted malts. I've been staying away from crystal malts because I'm bored of the flavors. I've been using them for years and want something different in my beer. I made my most recent pale ale with Vienna as the base malt and a bit of...

Regular unflavored gelatin from the grocery store works. I buy Knox brand and have successfully used the process in the link below countless times. http://www.bertusbrewery.com/2012/06/how-to-clear-your-beer-with-gelatin.html

Just one. I ferment in my boil kettle. I got rid of the carboy and use my old fermenting buckets for yard work.

Here's my beer snob take on it. US craft breweries are making some of the best beer I've had, but they are also making some of the worst. There are some I find outright disgusting. I picked out burnt rubber and grass flavors in the most recent local craft six pack I purchased. This was a...

Currently on Netflix for anyone interested: When We Left Earth: The Nasa Missions. Season 1, Episode 3, "Landing the Eagle" is all about the Apollo missions and landing on the moon.

My last few IPA's and APA's have used bittering hops at 60 minutes only. That's where I get all the IBU's I want. After the boil and once the wort has cooled to 150-180, I steep 2-4 ounces of hops for aroma and flavor. Finally, I dry hop with 2-5 ounces of hops. This method has given me my...

I wasn't around to experience this moment in history first hand. I have watched and replayed many videos of the Saturn rockets and Apollo launches, as well as numerous clips of the first lunar landing. I can only imagine what the collective enthusiasm and national pride must have been like...

You can definitely get away without using Crystal malt in a brown ale. I got some of my recipes mixed up right now and don't have the exact one I used, but my last brown ale was roughly 85% Marris Otter, 10% Victory, and 5% Chocolate malt. I mashed at 154F for 60 mins, and fermented with US-05...

I wouldn't call it totally irrational. It's similar to Pavlov's dogs. You're associating crystal malt with a bad experience. You've been conditioned to avoid it. On to what's more important though. Who says you need crystal malt in a brown ale? I've had some great brown ales with Marris Otter...