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Finished harvesting and started brewing. It’s been a couple of months and my last keg kicked a week ago.

Cold Smoke while waiting for the boil of a Mosaic Blonde.
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Finished harvesting and started brewing. It’s been a couple of months and my last keg kicked a week ago.

Cold Smoke while waiting for the boil of a Mosaic Blonde.
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Yay, happy harvest! Glad you finally got all the grain out of the fields.
 
It's that time of year when I start thinking that this will be the year that I boldly sally forth to a local orchard and get on with the important business of making a proper cider.

Next month, I'll look at the prices and do what I always do. Specifically, brew some low-gravity swill and regret being a cheap SOB for another year. ;)

What does FAJC stand for?

Speaking of low gravity swill...

This is Panther Piss Butt Wiper. It's supposed to be the final nail in the coffin of my pandemic Panther Piss North American adjunct lager project, but I've written that about twenty times before. I finally decided to break down and just brew Budweiser, subbing out the corn in the Panther Piss adjunct package for wheat. I was lazy and cheap on brew day and decided not to reach up to the top shelf on my specialty grain rack and instead used some flaked wheat hanging out on a lower shelf. It seemed like a Budweiser thing to do, so I rolled with it.

I prefer corn, it adds something to the beer. I should probably do this again with malted wheat, but I'll have to buy some domestic wheat for that. Not sure if it's worth it. Corn is better.
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Day 11, made it to Seward, AK. Sky finally broke, after 4 days of solid rain farther north. We have tix for a 6 hour harbor cruise tomorrow, to watch whales and other aquatic critters, and view glaciers on Kenai Fjords NP.

Stopped in to a little wine bar by the bay. Having charcuterie and a Malbec. Might check out Stoney Creek Brewery later this afternoon.

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Tonight’s Cup-O-Mud comes in the form of a hazy version of Red Hook Big Ballard IPA.

I know hazies are all the rage. But so were knickerbockers and handlebar mustaches and look where they are today. For the life of me, I don’t see the attraction here - virtually anything good you have in these hazies can be found better and prettier in a clear West Coaster. These hazy beers just look like an unfined ale to me. Kinda like that mud puddle we used to have in front of the house when I was a kid, after a Galaxie 500 drove through it.

Big it is, 8.7%. I generally enjoy beers 2-3 points lower. To me, these fad beers are more for the trendy new drinkers trying to be Big Man On Campus. Dude, this hazy brewsky is da bomb, I’m like so wasted. Grow up. Average IPA. Probably why it was shoved in the sampler pack.

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Another mid-grade, hazy, murky beer. Not all that different from that last mid-grade, hazy, murky beer I just reviewed. Maybe a touch of Simcoe late boil.

Go buy the regular offerings, I’m not digging the sampler pack I’m working out of. In the wake of another Galaxie 500 drive by.

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Tonight’s Cup-O-Mud comes in the form of a hazy version of Red Hook Big Ballard IPA.

I know hazies are all the rage. But so were knickerbockers and handlebar mustaches and look where they are today. For the life of me, I don’t see the attraction here - virtually anything good you have in these hazies can be found better and prettier in a clear West Coaster. These hazy beers just look like an unfined ale to me. Kinda like that mud puddle we used to have in front of the house when I was a kid, after a Galaxie 500 drove through it.

Big it is, 8.7%. I generally enjoy beers 2-3 points lower. To me, these fad beers are more for the trendy new drinkers trying to be Big Man On Campus. Dude, this hazy brewsky is da bomb, I’m like so wasted. Grow up. Average IPA. Probably why it was shoved in the sampler pack.

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Three pre-emptory points I'd like to make: 1) A handlebar moustache currently resides on my best friend's face. He's still in PDX, so I guess that's normal out there. I'm on the East Coast and conspiring to remove it--with fire, if things pan out as I'd like. 2) Thank you for reminding me about Galaxie 500, a fine band that I'm enjoying as I type this drivel. 3) As a son of the majestic PNW, I'm glad to know Red Hook still exists. I haven't seen their stuff in forever out here.

Regarding your remarks about hazies, I'm right there with you, but I've lived and brewed through the crystal bombs of the early 90s, the IBU wars of the mid-90s, the Belgianification of everything during the late 90s, the Imperialization of everything during the early Oughts, etc.

This will pass, although I think this trend will stick around a lot longer than prior fad beers. I wish I could remember the name of the brewer, but at the start of the sweet IPA/Stout and Sour Barrel trend I remember a brewer mentioning, "We're making beer for people that were raised on sour patch kids and high fructose corn syrup. We don't like this anymore than you, but we've got employees to keep on the payroll."

I like to keep that quote in mind. I also prefer to drink my own beer.

[Edit] Put differently, it's kinda funny how I started brewing to rebel against fizzy yellow swill. Now, I'm brewing brewing fizzy yellow swill to rebel against "good beer." It's a funny ol' world we live in.
 
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What does FAJC stand for?
Frozen apple juice concentrate. I added a few cans to try to enhance the apple flavor. Didn't really work. I just use store bought juice and play around with black tea or tannin and lactic acid to try to improve the flavor.

OT
HB honey malt ale
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