BeerBorg

Okay, so you know how we somehow wind up with extra hops in our freezers? A quarter ounce of Cascade; a half ounce of Saaz; another quarter ounce of Amarillo; when the heck did I buy two whole ounces of Citra, and what did I want them for? You know how it is. And we keep telling ourselves we have to find something to do with them, but we never seem to do it.

Well, it saved my brew day this past Sunday. Allow me to 'splain.

I decided a while back to formulate a new amber recipe. I call it Fogbank Amber Ale, and it's just a simple li'l ol' recipe that I hope will be malty and refreshing. I decided to use Hallertau, since it's kind of a good, non-invasive hops. Three-quarters of an ounce for 60 minutes, half an ounce for 20 minutes, and another three-quarters ounce for seven minutes. Should be good, sez I.

Well, while I'm counting down to the 20-minute addition, my wife decided to make lunch for our son. Sadly, our kitchen is terribly small, and when I brew, I tend to stage everything in specific spots. The hops and the scale are right near the sink, where she was working. And she knocked over the pouch that had the remaining 1/4 ounce from the bitterness boil, and which I was going to use in the flavor boil. Dumped the whole thing on the floor.

In desperation, I ran to my hops freezer and began looking for some kind of substitute that would pair well with the Hallertau. Miraculously, I found some Tettnang. I actually found two ounces total of Tettnang; again, I don't know why I had so much, or what I wanted it for when I bought it. But Tettnang is a noble hops, and pretty darn close to Hallertau, so I used 1/4 ounce of that, along with 1/4 ounce of Hallertau for the flavor addition. I can't see it making a terrible amount of difference in this recipe.

Yes, we often have hops left over, and we really should plan on using them one way or another. Here's hoping it's not forced on us because of an emergency.

1. Good substitute.

2. If it's boiling, they're come off the floor and ging in the pot. Cat hair and all.

3. Beer-lord does not believe in saving hops.

Carry on.

Inkleg wrote:1. Good substitute.

2. If it's boiling, they're come off the floor and ging in the pot. Cat hair and all.

3. Beer-lord does not believe in saving hops.

Carry on.

Is that what happened to your cats hair?

Whamolagan wrote:

Inkleg wrote:
2. If it's boiling, they're come off the floor and ging in the pot. Cat hair and all.

Is that what happened to your cats hair?

Rumor has it, cat hair is a good substitute for simcoe when taken from the lower under back belly area from a Tom Cat. ..................................Really I like simcoe and just get pine from them.

Beer-lord fought but ended up with another 2 lbs if hops.
Dave, if you lived next door to me I probably couldn't have saved you because I don't have any of those hops in stock.

Two whole ounces of citra?

I can see beer warrior hasn't hooked you yet. I've got about 12 ounces (started with a pound).

Inkleg wrote: 2. If it's boiling, they're come off the floor and ging in the pot. Cat hair and all.

I had an entire cat butt wave over my cooled wort and ended up with good beer. So yeah boiled cat hair is not a biggie

berryman wrote:

Whamolagan wrote:

Inkleg wrote:
2. If it's boiling, they're come off the floor and ging in the pot. Cat hair and all.

Is that what happened to your cats hair?

Rumor has it, cat hair is a good substitute for simcoe when taken from the lower under back belly area from a Tom Cat. ..................................Really I like simcoe and just get pine from them.

Simcoe is what I use in FedoraDave's American Ale. I get mostly pine and resin from it, too.

Inkleg wrote:1. Good substitute.


3. Beer-lord does not believe in saving hops.

IF you saw paul's freezer that held his hops.......well lets just say that ISIS would be convinced to shut itself down.

Okay, so you know how we somehow wind up with extra hops in our freezers? A quarter ounce of Cascade; a half ounce of Saaz; another quarter ounce of Amarillo; when the heck did I buy two whole ounces of Citra, and what did I want them for? You know how it is. And we keep telling ourselves we have to find something to do with them, but we never seem to do it.

Once again The Hat speaks from the center of the Borg collective. He is truly our spiritual leader.

All Hail The Hat




P.S. Why was your wife not out shopping?

She went to the supermarket very early that day, and returned home very early. I got a bit of later start on the brewing because I bottled a 2.5 gallon batch before starting the actual brewing, so I was about an hour behind my usual schedule.

Thanks for keeping score at home!

FedoraDave wrote:She went to the supermarket very early that day, and returned home very early. I got a bit of later start on the brewing because I bottled a 2.5 gallon batch before starting the actual brewing, so I was about an hour behind my usual schedule.

Thanks for keeping score at home!

Wait a minute! There is a disturbance in the Force! Everyone knows that Dave's wife has to leave the house to do her shopping so that he can brew (apparently she shops for hours). She left early, he got a late start - THERE IS A MAJOR DISTURBANCE IN THE FORCE!

She does shop for a couple hours, at least. She's very picky; she uses coupons; she shops for specials and bargains. She usually leaves as the strike water is heating up, and is usually home as the boil is finishing up.

President of our local homebrew club shared a growler of his latest Pilsner after our hash run last night. He was surprisingly short on hops on brew day and ended up using a bit of leftover Cascade for the bittering addition. You would never have known. It was a nice beer and made me think of this thread.

I keep telling myself I need to just throw all my leftover hops into one brew. That's what one of the guys at my LHBS told me they did. Just threw it all together and made a beer they called "F*ck It IPA." Truly a one-of-a-kind beer.