Do you ever blend your beers?

[muddywater_grant]

I have an older member in my homebrew club that constantly is blending beers. Not something I do much, or was that adventures in. Blending a double ipa with a pale ale is nothing new. Hell look at gemini by southern tier.

But I blended a couple last night and it was just terrific. An english dark mild with my vienna pumpkin ale. Roughly 25% dark mild, 75% pumpkin ale. They just really worked together.

Was wondering if any one out there did any blending and what they have had success with, or lack there of.

[brew_meister_smith]

I don’t have much experience myself, but I do know it used to be a fairly common practice in Britain years ago.

My old boss grew up in England just after the war and remembers the older men having the publican blend their cask ales.

Cut a bitter with a mild to get a nice in between.

Cut one beer in an older cask with one that was just tapped to get the perfect carbonnation.

Cut some of the house ESB with the ordinary bitter to reduce the price of the pint, while adding some flavor to the standard low gravity offering.

This actually makes a lot of sense since all the beers would likely be from the same brewer and made from very similar, if not identical recipes. The only real differences with the beers would have been hop rates and gravities.

[muddywater_grant]

I think most german lagers are all krausened.

Answer: Kräusening is the traditional method that German brewers use to carbonate their beer, most often lager beers. Basically, the process consists of adding freshly fermenting wort to beer that is ready to bottle. Kräusening overcomes the problem of yeast going dormant during the lagering phase of fermentation. It also helps clean up the flavor of the beer by reducing levels of diacetyl, acetaldehyde, and dries out the beer.

[karithna]

We blend often! We just recently released a wild hop pale ale. To that I added a splash of black belgian and created the “Black and Wild”. Pretty tasty!

[bdaugherty]

I blend from the tap at times. I think the first time i tried it i was trying to blend away something i didnt like so much. But with four taps and varying the volumes there are vast combination possibilities.

Some of the more memorable different combos were heffe/porter, saison/hoppy apa.

[tom_sawyer]

+1 to tap blending by the glass. I do this all the time. I generally have a hoppy beer and a malty beer and if I feel like something in between its a simple matter to get that.

[brew_meister_smith]

And obviously this is how the black and tan came about. Not to mention the stout/cider blend.

[muddywater_grant]

When I was talking of blending, I was referring to by the glass as well.

Never have blended a full batch.

[old_dawg]

If I have a couple of kegs I don’t care for too much I’ll occasionally blend them to make room for a new batch. Sometimes the result is an improvement, sometimes it’s a disaster. The disasters go into the septic tank - the yeast keeps a septic system happy.

If I want a lawn mower beer, I’ll often dilute an IPA with a little carbonated water from the SodaStream system or a Blond Ale.

[tom_sawyer]

@Brew Meister Smith

And obviously this is how the black and tan came about. Not to mention the stout/cider blend.

Stout and cider? First I’ve heard of this.

[brew_meister_smith]

@tom sawyer

[quote=“Brew Meister Smith”]And obviously this is how the black and tan came about. Not to mention the stout/cider blend.

Stout and cider? First I’ve heard of this.[/quote]

Technically stout and champagne are a Black Velvet. But I think the name is used a lot for the stout-cider blend. Never tried it myself but I do know a few pubs around town were serving them to regulars.

Same idea as the black and tan. Cider in first. Then cascade the stout over a large spoon from the nitro faucet. Sets on top in two layers.

[silentknyght]

@tom sawyer

+1 to tap blending by the glass. I do this all the time. I generally have a hoppy beer and a malty beer and if I feel like something in between its a simple matter to get that.

This is awesome, yet so simple! I am totally going to try it out… just as soon as I get two beers on tap.

I have two kids under 3 years of age. My kids are wonderful and beautiful, but I’ll be damned if they don’t leave me barely able to keep even one beer on the kegger.

[grainbelt]

Have been blending from tap lines for years, 4 beers on tap turns into many different beers dependent on blending percentages. Especially when you have some Brett beers or sours to throw in the mix.

Also blend in the carboy post ferment a lot.

[loopie_beer]

@Silentknyght

I have two kids under 3 years of age. My kids are wonderful and beautiful, but I’ll be damned if they don’t leave me barely able to keep even one beer on the kegger.

Dude I hear ya! Just had my first child and can barely get on here! I don’t know how I am gonna get time to brew…

[james_rausch]

I can’t believe I’ve never thought of this. Genius, pure genius!
Thanks guys! :cheers:

[mullerbrau]

We do it all the time here. My lawn mower bier is too mild so we like to blend it with the red or the brown or both. Sometimes we even blend Two Hearted with lawn mower bier. It usually tastes great. I also blend growlers before taking them on the road.

[grainbelt]

[quote=“James Rausch”]I can’t believe I’ve never thought of this. Genius, pure genius!
Thanks guys! :cheers: [/quote]
Is this really that new to people ?

[georage]

Sure, you can get some interesting results or improve a beer that has a minor flaw.

I had a recent Heff than seemed a little watery to me, though the wife and friends loved it. A quick shot into the mug from the Belgian Trippel tap made everyone happy.

I’ve also added a bit of brown ale to a hoppy IPA with good results.

But in general I just put my mouth directly on a tap and pull.

[alss]

I have two kids under 3 years of age. My kids are wonderful and beautiful, but I’ll be damned if they don’t leave me barely able to keep even one beer on the kegger.

You may want to install some locks so they stop drinking all your beer.

[loopie_beer]

^ NICE!