Free Republic

Good evening/afternoon brewers and winemakers. Good afternoon/evening FReepers. Yep, it is Beer Thirty Time Once Again!Happiness is a bubbling airlock! And a Cold Brew Or In This Case A Mint JulepDerby Day Tomorrow Or Make Your Own With Your Favorite Bourbon Mint Julep Recipe 2 cups sugar 2 cups water Sprigs of fresh mint Crushed ice Bourbon Whisky Silver/Gold/Glass Julep Cups Make a simple syrup by boiling sugar and water together for five minutes. Cool and place in a covered container with six or eight sprigs of fresh mint, then refrigerate overnight. Make one julep at a time by filling a julep...

Good afternoon/evening FReepers. Yep, it is Beer Thirty Time Once Again!Happiness is a bubbling airlock! And a Cold Brew Irish Stout Yum! Good evening/afternoon brewers and winemakers. I missed posting last Friday and I apologize. I just got caught up in all the news coming out of Boston last Friday and missed posting the thread. I did get to brew up another Irish Stout last week and it needs to be racked into a secondary tomorrow. My last Irish Stout turned out to be so good I needed more! Yum!

Good afternoon/evening FReepers. Yep, it is Beer Thirty Time Once Again!Happiness is a bubbling airlock! And a Cold Brew Irish Stout Yum! Good evening/afternoon brewers and winemakers. Well, it has been a little more than a month since the last thread was posted. The Oatmeal Stout I bottled around the middle of Feb. has bottle aged and carbonated very nicely and is mighty, mighty tasty. My next Homebrew will be another Oatmeal Stout because this one turned out so well. I hope all of you and your Brews and Wines are doing well. Stop by and share what you are brewing...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid rose to a four-month high last week, although the increase partly reflects seasonal distortions around the spring holidays. The Labor Department says weekly applications increased 28,000 to a seasonally adjusted 385,000. That is the highest level since late November. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose to 354,250.

Good afternoon/evening FReepers. Yep, it is Beer Thirty Time Once Again!Happiness is a bubbling airlock! And a Cold Brew Irish Stout Yum! Good evening/afternoon brewers and winemakers. I hope all of you and your Brews and Wines are doing well. Stop by and share what you are brewing or let us know what your favorite brew, wine or spirit is.A little Beer News:  Samuel Adams beers captured nine medals at the International Brewing Awards 2013 in England.The bi-annual competition attracted more than 1,000 entries from 45 countries. Forty judges, all professional brewers, assessed the beers over the course of three days....

Good afternoon/evening FReepers. Yep, it is Beer Thirty Time Once Again!Happiness is a bubbling airlock! And a Cold Brew Irish Stout Yum! Good evening/afternoon brewers and winemakers. Here is a thread on FR that I ran across earlier today that some of you might enjoy What Would John Adams Drink? Hard cider comes in so many varieties—it might be fruity, sweet, or dry, sometimes a bit like beer and other times akin to sparkling wine—it’s the rare drink that people won’t necessarily get tired of. And it is so easy to make it at home! Not much going on at the...

Good afternoon/evening FReepers. Yep, it is Beer Thirty Time Once Again!Happiness is a bubbling airlock! And a Cold Brew Irish Stout Yum! Good evening/afternoon brewers and winemakers. I bottled my oatmeal stout yesterday and will let it bottle condition for a few weeks before trying. Hope it carbs up nicely. I do not have any plans on brewing up another brew until the weather warms up a little. It is a little cool out side for me. My last try at making an acceptable Apple Cider is coming along well I popped a top on one and it was quite tasty...

Good afternoon/evening FReepers. Yep, it is Beer Thirty Time Once Again!Happiness is a bubbling airlock! And a Cold Brew Irish Stout Yum! This past week I racked an oatmeal stout to a secondary and added some oak cubes that had been soaking in Maker’s Mark for a little over a month. I think I will let them flavor the beer for a few days and then remove them. Has anyone used oak cubes or chips to flavor their beer? How long should they be in the secondary?

Good afternoon/evening FReepers. Yep, it is Beer Thirty Time Once Again!Happiness is a bubbling airlock! And a Cold Brew Irish Stout Yum! Good evening/afternoon brewers and winemakers. Super Bowl weekend. Here are a few statistics to ponder. I hope all of you and your Brews and Wines are doing well. Stop by and share what you are brewing or let us know what your favorite brew, wine or spirit is.

Good afternoon/evening FReepers. Yep, it is Beer Thirty Time Once Again!Happiness is a bubbling airlock! And a Cold Brew Irish Stout Yum! Good evening/afternoon brewers and winemakers. It was a nice day here in Northeast Texas today – mid 60s and just right to brew up a batch of brew. Made an Oatmeal Irish Stout. I used a kit from Midwest supplies. 6 lbs. Dark Liquid Malt Extract Speciality Grains 4 oz Chocolate Malt 4 oz Caramel 10º L 4 oz Roasted Barley 4 oz Flaked Barley 8 oz Rolled Oats Hops - 0.5 oz Nugget and 1 oz Willamette 4...

Good afternoon/evening FReepers. Yep, it is Beer Thirty Time Once Again!Happiness is a bubbling airlock! And a Cold Brew Irish Stout Yum! Good evening/afternoon brewers and winemakers. I will be brewing an Oatmeal Stout next week after I get back from a trip to Mississippi. I have some dark roasted oak cubes that have been soaking in some Maker’s Mark Whiskey for the last two weeks that I will add to the secondary. Hope this turns out good! I hope all of you and your Brews and Wines are doing well. Stop by and share what you are brewing or let...

Good afternoon/evening FReepers. Yep, it is Beer Thirty Time Once Again!Happiness is a bubbling airlock! And a Cold Brew Irish Stout Yum! Good evening/afternoon brewers and winemakers. I had my very first commercially brewed Double IPA yesterday evening. It was brewed by Samuel Adams as a limited release of their brews and is called “Third Voyage”. It is 8% ABV in a 22 oz. bottle and is very tasty and hoppy with a big citrus after taste. They used Cascade Hops from the regions that that Capt. James Cook sailed to on his third voyage - New Zealand and the Pacific...

Good afternoon/evening FReepers. Yep, it is Beer Thirty Time Once Again!Happiness is a bubbling airlock! And a Cold Brew Irish Stout Yum! Good evening/afternoon brewers and winemakers. Happy New Year to all! No partying planned for me. It will be an early night drinking a few of my Irish Stouts here. I am trying a Guinness Black Larger for the first time. I am not all that impressed at all. It has a thin/light mouth feel with a quick disappearing head. It has a slightly bitter after taste. Might be good ice cold on a warm summer day. Expensive $ 10.00...

Good afternoon/evening FReepers. Yep, it is Beer Thirty Time Once Again!Happiness is a bubbling airlock! And a Cold Brew Irish Stout Yum! Good evening/afternoon brewers and winemakers. There was too much going on last Friday for me to post the thread. I wish every Freeper a Merry Christmas. I will be popping the swing top on a bottle of my Cranberry Mead this Christmas. Now that we have survived this Mayan Doomsday 12-21-12 nonsense we can all get back to planning and making our favorite Homebrews and Wines and go off the cliff in style. I hope all of you and...

Good afternoon/evening FReepers. Yep, it is Beer Thirty Time Once Again!Happiness is a bubbling airlock! And a Cold Brew Irish Stout Yum! HOPS - Cure for the common cold? Good evening/afternoon brewers and winemakers. I saw a news item on FNC this morning about beer fighting against cold-causing virus. I thought y’all might find the article from the Fox News Web site interesting. It seems there is a compound found in hops called humulone that can fight against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Problem is (which I don’t see as a problem) you have to drink 30 12oz beers to get the...

Good afternoon/evening FReepers. Yep, it is Beer Thirty Time Once Again!Happiness is a bubbling airlock! And a Cold Brew Irish Stout Yum! Good evening/afternoon brewers and winemakers. I bottled the Irish Stout that I started about 4 weeks ago this week. I would like to try a Blueberry Wine soon. I think I will make just one gallon to start. What will I need? I will be using frozen whole Blueberries. A recipe for one gallon of must would be nice. Any help out there with what additives I will need and how much? I have a dry Champagne yeast to...

Good afternoon/evening FReepers. Yep, it is Beer Thirty Time Once Again!Happiness is a bubbling airlock! And a Cold Brew  BEER My Cranberry Mead I started a year ago this month Good evening/afternoon brewers and winemakers. I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends. Wife and I popped the top on another swing top bottle of my Cranberry Mead to have with our Turkey dinner and all the fixings. It is really a very nice and tasty honey wine. This has surprised my wife; she could not believe I really made it and that it...

Good afternoon/evening FReepers. Yep, it is Beer Thirty Time Once Again!Happiness is a bubbling airlock! And a Cold Brew  BEER Good evening/afternoon brewers and winemakers. I did not get to start my 5 gallons of Hard Apple Cider until Tuesday of this week. I used 5.5 Gallons of Musselman’s cider and added 2 lbs of corn sugar along with two cups of raisins that were boiled in 2 cups of water, to soften. The raisins along with the water were then processed in a blender until it was a very fine mush. This mush was added to the 5 gal....

Good afternoon/evening FReepers. Yep, it is Beer Thirty Time Once Again!Happiness is a bubbling airlock! And a Cold Brew  BEER Well, the Local Homebrew Store in Shriveport, La had their opening day yesterday. I drove the 35 miles to their location and was not disappointed. They had quite a collection of craft beers. They also have a nice selection of grains, hops and other supplies. I talked to the owner for a little bit, nice people. I bought a vile of White Labs Champagne Yeast (WLP715) and a pack of Nottingham Ale Yeast and a couple of other items I...

Good afternoon/evening FReepers. Yep, it is Beer Thirty Time Once Again!Happiness is a bubbling airlock! And a Cold Brew  BEER  Small glass of my sparkling Cranberry Mead - Tasty Too I missed posting the weekly thread last week because I had to make a trip back to Mississippi to check on the house and property I own there. When I returned to Tx on Saturday I racked the Irish Stout I had brewed into a secondary and also made another Hard Apple Cider. I used some raisins as a super food for the yeasties. And those raisins seem to be...