It's 3 pm - time for a He'Brew Jewbelation 12

[Taverner]

Not the greatest, but not the worst.

Think of it as an Imperial Brown Ale.

12%, dark but not overkill

L'Chaim my friends. L'Chaim.

[kentauros]

1. 12%'s pretty hefty for me!

Sounds like a good ale that hits the ground running, though :D

[Taverner]

2. It's good - but not the greatest

Still, if you love chocolatey, malty beers that taste like sweet molasses, this is your beer.

I'm a hop man myself, so although I enjoyed it, I wouldn't buy it again

But if you tend to like the more caramelly aspects of beer - this is your beer

[kentauros]

3. I try and like all kinds

though I don't think I have tried as many as you ;)

Someday, I'll just make my own :D

[Taverner]

5. Thing is - that is what I have never done

Made my own

I know I would love *sampling* my product

But I've met brewers, both home and commercial. And they are fastidiously clean. That is the one common thread between all brewers - cleanliness

And that is a skill I do not have

[kentauros]

9. I've met one brewer that isn't so clean.

Neat, sure, but not so clean that you wouldn't think anyone lived there ;)

And my father brewed for about ten years. Our family kept things neat, but I still wouldn't have called it overly clean. Same for the woman I knew that made mead :) (She was also a potter by trade, so hardly the cleanest of professions...)

[Taverner]

10. Hmmmmm thing is its all about the bacteria

You want specific yeasts and no bacteria (unless you're brewing a Sour or Wild Ale, and that's a whole different story) I have kids, and I've never been a neat freak.

But I had a friend in college - a brewer who could make the greatest beers ever. Seriously. Total anal-retentive neat freak. Borderline obsessive, but he was a great guy.

Anyway, he made the most amazing Coffee Stout I've ever had. He doubled everything and made the greatest Imperial Coffee Stout I've ever had. He made an IPA back in the 80's that outdid Blind Pig. If I were to ever start a brewery, I would put him in charge of the brewing part.

[kentauros]

11. I guess just talk to a brewer supply house and see what they say

about keeping things clean. I understand about yeast (I used to work for bakeries years ago) and the most important thing to keep clean is your equipment. Work in a clean kitchen when you set it up and after that, who cares? It's sealed up for the fermentation process and nothing from the outside is getting to it until you unseal it and start bottling. Now, that process does require sterile bottles. Talk to anyone that does canning for what that's all about ;)

[Book Lover]

4. You know, I have really done my part to try and like He'brew

but it just doesn;t work for me. Oh well.

[Taverner]

6. Meh - they have their style

And its East Coast Brewing style, even though they're in CA

I like them, but I know a bunch who don't

I can't stand DFH 60 min IPA for starters - but I love their 90

[Book Lover]

7. By the way,

that label in your sig - it's not a real brew, is it?

[Taverner]

8. It actually is, but I've never had it

The brewery had two beers for election season - Baracktoberfest and Palin Ale.

The brewery was somewhere in Ohio I think