I'm in a rut with IPA's

They sell beer at grocery stores?

 

I agree with other's suggestions. If you're in an IPA rut, try some different styles.

 

I suppose I take things for granted and assume everyone has the liberties I have.

 

If you made a beer that tastes like Duet, maybe it is time for you to take the "professional brewing" plunge!?! Or at least the "sending beer to draheim on a regular basis" plunge...

(Note: I homebrewed for a few years back in the day, but quit when I successfully made a Snow Cap clone [at the time my favorite beer] and realized it was much cheaper just to buy it. In retrospect it probably tasted nothing like Snow Cap, but I had no idea what I was doing at the time—in terms of either drinking or brewing.)

 

Around here that's about the only place (and one of the best places) to buy beer. Some of the grocery stores in Seattle would probably put bottle shops and liquor stores in some other regions to shame.

 

No 'probably about it'. That's a downright fact. Try going to college in a Tennessee dry county. A Seattle grocery store may as well be Valhalla.

 

Sorry, I was being facetious. I envy the ability to purchase beer in grocery stores / gas stations.

I remember being in WI last summer. Friends and I stopped for gas on our way to the lake. Went in to get a water and saw sixers of craft in the cooler. Grabbed a six of Ale Asylum's Hopalicious immediately, without thinking. "This is fucking awesome," were my exact words.

 

“ ….realized it was much cheaper just to buy it.” Where homebrewing really makes $en$e is in brewing Trappist style beers. My ‘house’ Belgian Ale is a Dubbel which I call “Better than Chimay”. My favorite Belgian brewed Dubbel is from Koningshoeven but I actually prefer my homebrewed Dubbel to that beer. If I were to purchase a case of Belgian brewed Dubbels they would cost me over $100.00. I can homebrew two cases for a material cost less than $50.00. A HUGE savings!!

The ‘plus’ in homebrewing your own IPAs is that they are ‘guaranteed’ fresh which is extremely important for IPAs.

In addition you can homebrew beers that aren’t produced commercially or are extremely difficult to obtain in proper condition (e.g., fresh/not beat up in transport):

· Classic American Pilsners

· Bohemian Pilsners

· Dusseldorf style Alts beers including Sticke Alts

· California Common (I am not a big fan of Anchor Steam)

· Kolsch

· Etc.

Cheers!

 

That makes a lot of sense, given that the high price on Belgian beers can be attributed (mostly I think) to shipping costs and various import fees/tariffs/taxes and what have you. There's a great IPA brewed just north of here, on Vancouver Island, that costs double what a comparable IPA brewed up in Bellingham (stateside) would cost. If you buy that same beer in Canada it's about $5/bomber, here it's $10.

I think what drove up the cost on the more complicated beers I attempted was the hops. This was in the mid-'90s, not sure how hop prices have changed since then. Ultimately I decided all the effort, time, cleanup, etc. just wasn't worth the final product I was making. I may still try again, still have all the equipment. At least now I'll know if what I'm making measures up comparably to some of my favorite beers and styles.

Cheers!

 

Post your recipe please.

 

Beer trading is the way to go. It's ironic that I have been waiting to get my hands on Sweet water IPA since i moved up to CT from Nashville. What you find boring, others find interesting...so trade!!

 

Brew Kettle's White Rajah will perk ya right back up.

 

The only information I had to clone Duet was Alpine’s description of “Our original single IPA made with Simcoe and Amarillo hops “in harmony.” 1.065 OG 45 IBU 7%ABV”

I made an ‘executive decision’ that “in harmony” means a 50/50 split of Amarillo and Simcoe. Simcoe hops are hard to obtain (I only had 2.5 ounces of Simcoe) so I wasn’t able to do a full 50/50 split.

Ingredients:

· Briess Pilsen DME: 7.5 lbs.

· 40L Crystal Malt: 1 lb.

· US-05 yeast

· Amarillo hops 9.3% AA

· Simcoe Hops 12.4% AA

At beginning of 60 minutes boil 2 oz. Amarillo & 0.5 oz. Simcoe: about 25 HBUs

@45 minutes of boil: 0.5 oz. Amarillo and 0.5 oz. Simcoe; ¼ tsp. Irish Moss rehydrated

@ Flameout: 0.5 oz. Amarillo and 0.5 oz. Simcoe

Dry Hop: 1 oz. Amarillo and 1 oz. Simcoe

Primary Ferment for one week at 70°F. Dry Hop for two weeks.

Now, here is the ‘tough’ part: bottle condition for 5 weeks; DO NOT DRINK TOO MANY BEERS after two weeks of bottle conditioning. Let these beers condition further.

My OG was 1.062 and FG was 1.010.

My guess is that you could utilize your ‘favorite’ bittering hop (e.g., Warrior) instead of Simcoe/Amarillo for bittering and obtain equivalent results.

Cheers!

 

I'm in SC and just found SN Hoptimum at the BP gas station 2 blocks from my house. Enjoying one right now. Maybe the OP's bro can make a similar find. Good stuff.

 

Your brother is stuck because he won't go out and look for new beer. There is plenty of good beer in Atlanta, and good places to buy it.

We get plenty, and newer breweries are shipping here every month it seems.

 

Maybe get off the lupulin crack pipe for a while and try some good APAs or English Bitters. I say this only half jokingly.

 

I bet a nice Parabola would cure him.

I've hit the IPA wall and it's brutal, I drank Miller Lite's for a month or more, I couldn't stand the though of a hoppy beer. I OD'd on Pliny and Alpine stuff at XMAS, like 3 cases full.