I've hardly tried any of those American ones. Access to American Micros is legitimately abysmal here.

I can't even think of any except Coney Island and maybe a few others.

Also to you BC'ians... If you ever want to do a trade, Lmk!

Do you guys get access to alley kat there?

Can anyone recommend a beer to use in making beer bread? Looking for something brown to dark. Never made it before so I'm not sure what to use.

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12 team H2H dynasty league
Start 4C, 4LW, 4RW, 6D, 1UTIL, 2G
9 man farm (<60/30 GP)
G, A, PPP, SHP, PIM, +/-, SOG, HIT, BLK, FW / W, SV, SV%, GAA, SHO

C: Kopitar, Toews, Krejci, M. Koivu, Plekanec, Johansson
LW: Eriksson (RW), Hartnell, M. Richards (C), McDonald (C)
RW: Malkin (C), St. Louis, Eberle, Gaborik, Atkinson, Cole
D: Karlsson, Pietrangelo, Doughty, Suter, Goligoski, Carle, Beauchemin
G: Lundqvist, Fleury, Hiller

Farm: Chiasson, Killorn, Jenner, T. Johnson, Merrill, Rattie, Vatanen, Visentin, Wilson

You can't really go wrong. Lagers work great if you wanna keep things lighter and fluffy, but stouts and porters are great too....great dark colour, and generally a heavier bread...great to accompany soups and stews when the weather gets crappy...like it is here.

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12 -Team Yahoo, Points Pool, Keeper (Since 1995): G(1), A(1), PPG(1), SHG(1) GWG(1), W(2), SHO(3). Protect 13 each season.

C (4): Crosby, Roy, Stepan, O'Reilly
LW (4): Benn, Pacioretty, Umberger, Burrows
RW (4): Perry, Iginla, Atkinson, S. Gagner
F (1): Little
D (4): Boyle, Schultz, Keith, OEL
G (1): Schneider

Bench: (RW) Kassian (LW) Hagelin (D) Karlsson, Wiercioch (G) Hiller

Another tip for cooking with beer....I always use stuff in my fridge that maybe isn't my favourite stuff to drink. That last soldier from the six pack that wasn't your favourite, or the IPA that snuck to the back behind the vegetables and maybe isn't as fresh. Needless to say, I wouldn't be using my 500mL Hopwired that cost me $10.

Enjoy!

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12 -Team Yahoo, Points Pool, Keeper (Since 1995): G(1), A(1), PPG(1), SHG(1) GWG(1), W(2), SHO(3). Protect 13 each season.

C (4): Crosby, Roy, Stepan, O'Reilly
LW (4): Benn, Pacioretty, Umberger, Burrows
RW (4): Perry, Iginla, Atkinson, S. Gagner
F (1): Little
D (4): Boyle, Schultz, Keith, OEL
G (1): Schneider

Bench: (RW) Kassian (LW) Hagelin (D) Karlsson, Wiercioch (G) Hiller

Hey Dyz, I have decent access to Alley Kat and actually enjoy their stuff. I haven't tried that Loki IPA yet, but have seen it in my bottle shop. Any good? Oops, just realized Loki is from Paddock Wood from Sask. Try that yet?

Also, I make a fair number of trips to Alberta. Nothing planned in the near future, but if I do, and we drive, I'll load the Escape up with Red Racer and we can meet. They've just come out with their redesigned cans....same great flavour, with a slightly revamped look.

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12 -Team Yahoo, Points Pool, Keeper (Since 1995): G(1), A(1), PPG(1), SHG(1) GWG(1), W(2), SHO(3). Protect 13 each season.

C (4): Crosby, Roy, Stepan, O'Reilly
LW (4): Benn, Pacioretty, Umberger, Burrows
RW (4): Perry, Iginla, Atkinson, S. Gagner
F (1): Little
D (4): Boyle, Schultz, Keith, OEL
G (1): Schneider

Bench: (RW) Kassian (LW) Hagelin (D) Karlsson, Wiercioch (G) Hiller

As far as local breweries (Edmonton) go, Alley Kat is as good as it get. None of their stuff is amazing but they do make a few decent brews. My favorite is actually the Napoleon Stout, but as far as I'm aware the only place to buy it is Sherbrooke Liquor Store as they make it exclusively for Sherbrooke.

I've got a case of that Loki here haven't given it a try yet though.

Man, you travel all over the place!

You home brewers will get a kick out of this story.

Tried my first brew with specialty grains on the weekend. Got all my ingredients portioned out and ready to go. I sanitized all my equipment and started to heat up some water. Put the grains in my bag and it ripped a hole in the side. Granted the bag was probably to small. The wife sewed it shut for me and i continued. After steeping the grains, I got the water to a boil, did not my hop additions, etc, etc... I was using yeast nutrient for the first time. I had no idea how much to add and didn't research it before it was time to add. I asked the wife to measure out the right amount by reading the instructions on the pack. She informed me it was wine nutrient. I said that was ok, the guy at the LHBS picked the stuff out so it must be the right kind. She measured out 25g for a 5.5 gallon batch as per the instructions.

So, with that measured out and waiting to be added, I'm pouring the wort in. Its really hot and I splash myself, then spill a bit on the floor. No biggie. I throw in the yeast nutrient and then throw in the yeast. Now I just have to measure the temp..... AAAAARGHHH! Why did I add the yeast before cooling it?!?! Quickly go to set up an icebath, but there is no ice. Quick drive to the shop for ice and by the time I get back, there is a HUGE amount of sediment on the bottom of the fermenter. I mean huge, it cant be from the grains or hops, b/c its way to much. Anyways, I can't deal with that righ tnow as I have to cool this as quickly as possible to help the yeast. Measure the temp and its 34 degrees. Not too bad and certainly not hot enough to kill the yeast.

It takes me about an hour to get it down to the right temp. The sink is waist high and I'm pulling the fermenter out of the ice bath and placing it on the floor. Its heavy... On the way down, the spigot get caught in a clothes basket and falls to the floor. Wort is going everywhere. I'm pretty sure I let out an involuntary girl scream. I grabbed the spigot as quickly as I could and managed to screw it back in. I lost about 400ml on the floor. So I can now check to see what the deal is with this yeast nutrient as I cannot believe how much sediment there is on the bottom of the fermenter. Turns out that a teaspoon or even half a teaspoon would have been enough. We added what looked to be about 5 tablespoons. DOH! It wont spoil the brew, but it is going to leave a bunch of shit at the bottom of the fermenter. I have been bottling stright outta my primary fermenter so this now poses a problem. Might have to siphon to a bottling bucket for the first time.

Nothing went right with that brew. I just hope that's the worst of it and I dont find it to be infected or something. You know what's crazy? I actually enjoyed myself despite all the things that went wrong. I want to brew another one tonight...

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O&B Dream Team
Bill Barber - Bobby Clarke - Tim Kerr
Mark Howe - Chris Pronger
Bernie Parent
Farm: Giroux

Went shopping for the upcoming holiday (we got the entire family coming over) snd I was able to snag a Rochefort #10. Not having it tonight but am looking forward to finally getting to taste this one.

NWO, saw a lot of your recommended porters shelved I'll be attacking those soon enough.

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Four out of three people have difficulty with fractions

Commish - Twisted Wrister Fantasy Hockey League

12 team, $$$, 24 players, Weekly, H2H, limited keeper (8), multi-cat (G, A, PIMs, Hits, SOG, HT/ W, GA, SV%, SO)

Start: 2C, 2RW, 2LW, 4D, 2G

AW, that's just a teachable moment, eh? That's what I always tell myself when stuff like that happens.

Amen, brother.

It's funny the shortcuts/systems we all end up with when making brew at home. Two things have made a huge difference in convenience for brews for me: autosiphon and wort chiller. Autosiphon for sanitation (who wants to reprime a siphon without just sucking on the hose?) and wort chiller for a consistent and excellent cold break that makes for a much clearer beer. Huge.

Regardless of what the recipe requires, I always go Primary --> Secondary --> Primer just because it cuts out so much sediment from the bottle in the end. If you're careful, you only lose a bit of beer, but the resulting "classiness" bump is big.

For specialty grain recipes, I generally steep my grains in a separate pot ahead of the boil and just pass the liquid through a sieve (followed by a rinse) when I'm filling my kettle. No bags to tear/drop/splash.

Another great tip I got from a friend of mine is to steep "hop tea" in place of dry-hopping... you get much better extraction of flavours and aromas, and it's much easier to deal with the mess at the end.

Bottled up my Cascadian Dark on the weekend, and preliminary tastes of the flat beer are very good. The wort from the hoptastic IPA was very clean, nice colour, solid bitter backbone, and nice aromas from the 5 different hop varieties in there (Zeus for bittering, Cascade, Centennial, Simcoe, Williamette for flavour). It's bubbling like a mofo!

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