All you heady topper fans

[quote=“grainbelt”]

wort production…Poor wort and good process (ferm tep, pitch rate etc) does not equal good beer[/quote]

agree to disagree. There are far more forgivable mistakes that can occur with mashing than with managing fermentation and still result in good beer.

[quote=“Pietro”][quote=“grainbelt”]

wort production…Poor wort and good process (ferm tep, pitch rate etc) does not equal good beer[/quote]

agree to disagree. There are far more forgivable mistakes that can occur with mashing than with managing fermentation and still result in good beer.[/quote]

sorry not just disagreement, if you want to use bad water, have bad ph, extract tannins, boil grain, bad recipe formulation etc… pitch the right amount of yeast and good temps and follow process to a T after that and think you are going to get good beer. Go for it.

Ok I think you are reading a little too much into my statement. My original point was that you do not need sophisticated equipment to make good beer. Or to make good wort.

No you cannot boil grains. No you cannot use rainwater to make beer. Do you need an industrial-grade pH meter? No. A stainless steel, automated-caustic-cleaned mash tun? Also no.

The question/statement above dealt with how a homebrewer could EVER imagine getting his beer to a level similar to mid-range commercial craft breweries. My meaning was there were several ways to get on that road, the most important of which, assuming the beer is not getting infected, is sound management of the fermentation. If you are suggesting that upgrading wort production (given today’s malts and extracts) is of greater importance than fermentation management, as I said, agree to disagree.

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[quote=“Pietro”]Ok I think you are reading a little too much into my statement. My original point was that you do not need sophisticated equipment to make good beer. Or to make good wort.

No you cannot boil grains. No you cannot use rainwater to make beer. Do you need an industrial-grade pH meter? No. A stainless steel, automated-caustic-cleaned mash tun? Also no.

The question/statement above dealt with how a homebrewer could EVER imagine getting his beer to a level similar to mid-range commercial craft breweries. My meaning was there were several ways to get on that road, the most important of which, assuming the beer is not getting infected, is sound management of the fermentation. If you are suggesting that wort production (given today’s malts and extracts) is of greater importance than fermentation management, as I said, agree to disagree.[/quote]

Not sure why you are changing now but Fine whatever, take your bad wort or whatever and make it good. You are the only person that knows how to do that I guess

You can use rain water to make beer.

And you can boil grain that was a bad typo on my part…it is decoction mash.

[quote=“grainbelt”]

Not sure why you are changing now but Fine whatever, take your bad wort or whatever and make it good. You are the only person that knows how to do that I guess

You can use rain water to make beer.

And you can boil grain that was a bad typo on my part…it is decoction mash.[/quote]

last word.

Wait…So your beer is as good as commercial beer?

I buy commercial beer because I know I will never be able to brew at that level without spending thousands and thousands of dollars on equipment. I have yet to meet anyone who can.

If you believe your beer is as good as or better than commercial and just have a small regular set up, meaning a pot, using buckets/carboy to ferm, no ferm chamber, no 3 tier system…etc.etc.etc…(less than $500 into it) please PM me and I will send you my address so you can send me a sample of your beer and I will be the judge.

I know certain people only drink their own, but that is like 1 in 50. It’s also not because their beer is as good as commercial.

I hate to get on my high horse, but I hate it when people act like everyone can just brew the best beer in the world with a setup costing only a few hundred bucks. I will be the first one to say hell yes I would not buy commercial if I could brew it as good as they can, just has not happened yet.[/quote]

Sorry I didn’t get back sooner, I was working. But yes IMO my beer is better than a lot of commercial beer and no I will not send you a bottle.

I’ve been brewing just over a year. Every time my beer was not as good as I expected, I learned something and applied that knowledge. That is 99% of brewing IMO. Learning and applying. Commercial breweries have expensive equipment because of their volume and to maintain consistency; most want their beer to taste exactly the same every time. You can brew just as good a beer or better with a small freezer/refrigerator, a heating wrap, temperature controller and a pH meter. This probably could, but certainly does not have to cost thousands. Everything else can be beginner equipment, including buckets and coolers. The one thing you need to keep accumulating is knowledge and skill to apply it. I’d put my last two brews on par with commercial beer, no problem. Everything I’m purchasing now will make brewing EASIER for me, but it won’t make my beer BETTER. If you don’t believe home brewers can achieve these results, you should visit some competitions, then see the wide array of techniques and equipment the top winners are using. It will range from very sophisticated to extremely basic.

I have gotten to sample one Heady Topper and it was well and truly an amazing beer. :mrgreen:

:cheers:
Rad

I finally got to try Heady last night, but it was just a ~4 oz sample. It was very good. My palate was wrecked, though, because I tried it after a five year vertical of BCBS and several of the variants.

Can a beer really be appreciated at 4ozs ?

For some beers (Dark Lord comes to mind) 4 oz is about all I want.

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Why not?

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I don’t know. For me when I go to a brewery a lot of times I’ll do tastings and then bring some home and I just get a different feel when drinking a whole glass. I’ve had a few where I said " that’s good" but then after half a glass " meh" . But that’s me, I don’t have a trained palate like some of you guys. I was told that to know if a beer is good 1st taste is good, 1/2 way down you slow your sips because you want it to last and finally sadness when the glass is empty and you reach for another.

Brew I kind of see where you are coming from. Opposite of that is beers you don’t like at first sip. I encourage people to drink the whole beer and decide. If you don’t like it then, you don’t like it… no big deal.

What can I say? I enjoyed it. Of course I would have liked more, but see the bottle lineup photo below. I had 2-3 oz. from every bottle on the table. A full glass of Heady would have been over the top (no pun intended).

What can I say? I enjoyed it. Of course I would have liked more, but see the bottle lineup photo below. I had 2-3 oz. from every bottle on the table. A full glass of Heady would have been over the top (no pun intended).

[/quote]

A glass full of heady sounds delicious after all that sugar.

Westbrooks Gose is represented. My hometown! Delicious beer btw.

I do understand where your coming from and that’s quite impressive .I would get overwhelmed though. I prefer to get personal with my beer one at a time.

Sorry to Necro a 1 year old thread but I had to share my early Christmas present! I talked to my New England Rep about Heady Topper and told him I’d be more than happy to reimburse him if he was ever able to get me a case. Merry Christmas early to me!

:beers:
Rad

I hate you… :open_mouth: