French Pressing/Infusing Beer

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by Ant7780, Jun 6, 2013.

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  1. atorres

    atorres Initiate (0) Jun 21, 2013 Illinois

    German Chocolate cake+freshly ground home-roasted coffee+Founders RIS=FREAKING INCREDIBLE!!!!

    Legend...wait for it...
     
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  2. shehateme

    shehateme Savant (1,036) Jan 23, 2013 Massachusetts
    Trader

    I take a veggie peeler and take a couple of strips of zest off a grapefruit and press it in an all day ipa . It's delishous on a summer day
     
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  3. tkdchampxi

    tkdchampxi Pooh-Bah (2,473) Oct 19, 2010 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah

    Founders Porter with crushed cherries, then recarbed in my Primo Flavorstation, was awesome!
     
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  4. Mcj6986

    Mcj6986 Initiate (0) Dec 14, 2013 Ohio
    Trader

    What if it is a brew you've enjoyed 1000 times like a ten fidy, and had a 4 pack and wanted to experiment with one? Who cares.. You've enjoyed "the way it was meant to be" plenty of times, that doesn't mean a little "seasoning" can't improve it
     
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  5. Mcj6986

    Mcj6986 Initiate (0) Dec 14, 2013 Ohio
    Trader

    Thi
    This sounds amazing.. Thinking about buying a french press and trying... Ever given thought to the idea of letting it steep in some of the stout overnight and then just opening up a fresh bottle for it? Do you think the flavors would be more pronounced in a good way or bad way?
     
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  6. dar482

    dar482 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,063) Mar 9, 2007 New York
    Pooh-Bah

    You don't exactly need a French press. You can do this with a simple strainer. The Randal Jr. is a container with a small strainer after all.

    It may become more pronounced, but more doesn't necessarily mean "bad" because you just pour it more base beer to balance out the flavors.

    Maybe I should experiment more with timing. I usually steep for 30 min, and taste. At point, ingredients are well integrated. Still, I adjust by adding ingredients to my taste, or leaving it alone, and then letting it sit for another 30 min - 1 hour.
     
  7. lovethebelgians

    lovethebelgians Initiate (0) Apr 25, 2013 Illinois

    because if you had the pleasure of attending FOBAB last year and got to sample Goose Island's cold pressed BCBBW with Intelegentsia, you would know why people try this sort of thing, that stuff was HEAVENLY! (in a state of euphoric reminisce-ence)
     
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  8. Dil_thebeerdrinking_do

    Dil_thebeerdrinking_do Savant (1,192) Jan 21, 2014 Georgia
    Trader

    A pile of geese droppings and KBS. It made it taste better.
     
  9. Mcj6986

    Mcj6986 Initiate (0) Dec 14, 2013 Ohio
    Trader

    Just watched your video you have up on doing the mexican spiced style press with a siberian night yesterday! That actually inspired me to look into this! Loved Huna and am trading for a Abraxas shortly... Would love to be able to somewhat mimic that style without always having to give my first born for it haha
     
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  10. chcfan

    chcfan Initiate (0) Oct 29, 2008 California

    I made some Burma Coolers, which is like a radler, but with straight lemon juice and ginger, last week with a French press and they turned out nicely. It's too much trouble to liquify the ginger so I just let things sit in the press for 5-10 before pouring. Good stuff. I used Currrs, but will be trying a lightly hopped pils next time as opposed to an AAL.
     
  11. otispdriftwood

    otispdriftwood Initiate (0) Dec 9, 2011 Colorado


    I don't remember what I was referring to and I'm too lazy to look it up but from the context, seems like you're correct. Have a beer.
     
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  12. dar482

    dar482 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,063) Mar 9, 2007 New York
    Pooh-Bah

    Awesome! Thanks for checking out my video!

    Good luck on trying the pressing. The video was actually my worst attempt. I should have adjusted the blend more before mixing in the base beer. As Gordon Ramsay says, "Always taste!"
     
  13. Ridder

    Ridder Initiate (0) Nov 30, 2013 Minnesota

    So GI Migration week is in the Twin Cities this week, but many of the heavy hitters (Cherry, Rare, KH) are not showing up as advertised. So instead of heading downtown and paying big coin for food and Honkers Ale, we decided to make our own.

    Spent the afternoon reading through this post, and others, then started pressing some BCBS. Wow...I cannot tell you enough how good the results were. Toasted Coconut (three tablespoons per 12 oz) was by far the biggest hit of the night. We steeped for 5 minutes, sampled, then steeped for another 5 minutes. I have not had prop so I cannot compare our homemade vs the real deal, but I can tell you that our finished product was amazing.

    Vanilla was good, we used beans (one whole bean, split open) and ended up adding some extract. I think we if we want to use beans again we will let it sit longer. Even 10 minutes was not enough steep time for the bean to really release it's flavor. A couple drops of extract did the trick. Really mellowed the BCBS, no "boozy" flavor left at all.

    Raspberry BCBS was also a crowd pleaser. We used about 10 raspberries and mashed them before putting them into the press. Steep time was around 5 minutes. While we all really enjoyed it, I would use a few less berries next time. The raspberry flavor was very dominant. Eating the raspberries out of the press after the pouring was also very good. :slight_smile:

    Thanks to all that gave suggestions and results, I felt very comfortable offering up multiple bottles of BCBS since I had a wealth of knowledge, from the BA community, to base out pressing on. Looking forward to pressing more flavors in the future!

    Edit: Forgot to mention that all the BCBS we used was 2013 vintage.
     
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  14. ryanflc

    ryanflc Pundit (827) Jul 12, 2014 New Jersey

    Apologize if this has already been said (this thread is long and I didn't read the whole thing). For those of you trying to "infuse" hops into your beer with a french press, you are basically just dry hopping. I believe this is more for aroma than actual flavor. If you do this, your beer should taste the same, but smell more hoppy.
     
  15. lovethebelgians

    lovethebelgians Initiate (0) Apr 25, 2013 Illinois

    ary...huh? high five!
     
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  16. atorres

    atorres Initiate (0) Jun 21, 2013 Illinois

    Thanks for playing along! I had given up hope.
     
  17. Dil_thebeerdrinking_do

    Dil_thebeerdrinking_do Savant (1,192) Jan 21, 2014 Georgia
    Trader

    why don't you just infuse your own home brew? Why infuse a finished beer to alter how its supposed to taste? Just my .02
     
  18. Ridder

    Ridder Initiate (0) Nov 30, 2013 Minnesota

    To each their own, so I certainly won't try to convince you to try it. However, to help you understand why many do "alter" their beer, think about the food you eat. Do you ever add pepper, salt, spices, ketchup, mustard, etc.? Do you ever mix food on your plate to "enhance or change" the way something tastes to better fit your liking?

    Beer is no different. By pressing my BCBS and infusing it with vanilla, coconut, fruit, or whatever, I am in no way implying that I did not care for it as it was, I was just curious how it could taste with something added. Sometimes the combination is awesome, sometimes not so much, lol. The fun though is in the trial and error.

    Also, I do not have the space to homebrew currently, so my experimentation is on a much smaller scale. :slight_smile:
     
  19. lovethebelgians

    lovethebelgians Initiate (0) Apr 25, 2013 Illinois

    happy to, favorite part of every episode where that happens
     
  20. DannyS

    DannyS Initiate (0) Sep 20, 2007 New York

    Found this while wandering Imgur just now. Guys...I don't know how I feel about this, but I'm almost tempted to try it.

    [​IMG]

    Opinions?
     
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