Bluesbassdad Pale Ale

[bluesbassdad]

The discussion of weak vs. full-flavored beers in another thread gives me an excuse to bring up a pending project of mine.

My son bought me a custom batch of beer at a place called Brewbaker's in Huntington Beach. Last Sunday we spent much of the afternoon sampling the couple dozen or so of the available beers. The official beer list has about a hundred recipes, but no more than a third that many are available at a given time.

One aspect of this project that gave me pause was the fact that I will become the owner of a whole lot of beer (about four cases of 12 22 oz. bottles, if I understand correctly). I found myself shying away from some of the more interesting samples, in favor of something that I thought I could drink on any occasion. I finally selected something that reminded me of a slightly tangier version of Bass Ale.

We mixed, and heated, and tasted, and barreled, a process that took only a couple of hours. Now I have to wait until Friday, 8/29 to go back to bottle it. My son and my daughter-in-law-to-be are working on a custom label, and of course they won't tell me what they have in mind. For the time being I'm thinking of it as B'B'D Pale Ale.

For those of you with experience in such matters I must note that the recipe I selected used malt extract. I understand that the real, hard-core homebrewers work directly from the grain itself.

Come 8/29 if you don't hear much from me, you'll know why. Beer doesn't keep, you know.

Yours truly,
Dave Morefield

[Dave_in_Canada]

It's interesting that you can actually sample recipes before you brew them. Our laws here prohibit that.

Good luck with your bottling. If you haven't done it before, please clean and sterilize your bottles scrupulously before bottling.

[bluesbassdad]

I think (hope?) I'm on safe ground regarding sterilization.

So far, every step I have performed has been under the direct supervision of the proprieter. It is he who will provide the bottles and the bottling apparatus when bottling day arrives.

As to drinking samples, the establishment sells food and beer for consumption on the premises, in addition to offerring the custom brewing service. Anyone can walk in and buy as many different beers as he wishes for sampling purposes. Perhaps the proprietor is on shakey ground in that he doesn't bother to charge patrons who are selecting a recipe to follow.

Yours truly,
Dave Morefield

[Dave_in_Canada]

Sounds like a very cool place.

Up until two years ago, it was even ILLEGAL to consume your own beer while bottling. It created quite a stir in the news when a politician secretly videotaped patrons consuming their own product. The plan backfired however, when it was discovered that the politician's accomplice was his own son, and underage to boot! The event was one in a series which allowed a change in the law. U-BREW patrons are now legally allowed to consume - for tasting purposes only - a minor amount of their brew! I have yet to find a facility that has a restaurant attached, but that sounds like a great idea!

[ratcheer]

Yes, Dave, I used to do that about 20 years ago. It was a lot of fun (and a lot of work).

My final batch was indeed based on pure malted grain. Everybody who tasted it said it was one of the very best brews they had ever tasted. I decided I couldn't top that and I gave it up.

Tim