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Little off topic, but a buddy of mine and me want to get into homebrewing. We have zero equipment. Is a beginner kit like http://www.midwestsupplies.com/brewing-basics-equipment-kit.html and a brew pot the best way to start or is it best to piece some better equipment together because you'll be throwing that stuff out in a month. I really just want to do pale ales and IPA's right now.

What brew pot would you recommend? Seems like a piece you definitely don't want to skimp on.

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Try your local restaurant supply, they usually have decent prices on some quality kettles.

Wow, great thread. Looks like I should be coming over to the Outdoors board more often. I love seeing Spaten Ocktoberfest getting all the love in this thread. It's an excellent go to beer when it is in season and easy to find.

I tried a couple of new beers recently. Anchor Porter. Loved the taste. Still doesn't top Sierra Nevada's Porter (which I'm a huge fan of), but it isn't not too far behind. If anyone knows of some good Porter's to try, I've been on a little bit of a Porter kick lately and would love any free advice.

Another one I tried recently was New Belgium's Trippel Ale. Good taste with coriander in the mix, but the thing I will remember the most is that it had a hell of a bite to it. I dunno what the % was, but I had 3 between ~2 hours, and had a surprisingly strong buzz going.

Lastly, I recently tried two Real Ale's. One was their Full Moon Pale Rye Ale. It was good, but nothing too special. And then the other one was Brewhouse Brown Ale. That one rocked my taste buds, sent them to heaven, and left me wanting more.

[This message has been edited by Cyprian (edited 1/20/2011 7:13a).]

IMO, Great Lakes' Edmund Fitzgerald porter is the best commercial porter available.

Look for Real Ale's Coffee Porter. It is my favorite winter beer by far.

Love Anchor Porter. Also...Real Ale coffee porter, Fullers London porter, Sammy Smith Taddy porter and Stone smoked porter.

Highly recommend Real Ale's coffee porter. Some others I've enjoyed are Kona's Pipeline Porter, Deschute's Black Butte Porter, and 512's Pecan Porter (only on tap or growler fills).

I recently had Breckenridge's Vanilla Porter & thought it wasn't as good as the three mentioned above.

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I dunno what the % was, but I had 3 between ~2 hours, and had a surprisingly strong buzz going.

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7.8%

Maybe it's just me, but I've never drank a beer (wel since I've been into craft brews), w/o looking up the info.. abv, where it's made, ibu's. etc..

new belgium has this info on the label itself.

good to know the abv.. you don't want to be drinking a 6 pack of that and learn the hard way.

Ranger Creek out of San Antonio also has a nice Mesquite smoked porter.

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/ranger-creek-mesquite-smoked-porter/132146/

Ha, lots of you really like the Real Ale Coffee Porter, lol. I've never had a coffee type of beer before. Heard of them before, seen them before, but I've always hesitated from pulling the trigger. I might have to finally break down and try this one, esp given how many of you are recommending it.

I'll be making a stop at the store on the way home, and will have to open this thread back up then -- and see what they have.

But, I did want to say thanks for the recommendations.

Where do you all go for beer that is harder to find, btw? I'm usually stuck going to a Spec's store that is just west of Houston in Katy. It has a good range of beer, but I was curious if anyone goes to any other place else in this area.

[This message has been edited by Cyprian (edited 1/21/2011 8:36a).]

you won't beat the selection of a big specs (or specs downtown), as they claim if it's legal in tx. they will have it.

Heb's seem to have a good seasonal selection as well.

FYI - If you are in the Blanco area on Fridays, Real Ale has tastings and tours on Friday afternoons. I'm not sure what they have on tap right now, but I bet the Coffee Porter is one of them.

I really like their Devil's Backbone and also their Real Heavy.

For those interested, the owner of Freetail brewpub in S.A. worked with a local legislator and was able to introduce HB 660 which would allow brewpubs to sell their beer to distributors meaning that we could buy their craft brew retail. He has a blog dedicated to the bill's progress, and so far, things look good.

http://brewednotbattered.wordpress.com/2011/01/11/140-days-to-texas-beer-indpendence-day-1/

This is the link to his blog talking about the bill and its progress (excuse my failure at link posting). The blog does a pretty good job discussing how the bill benefits everyone and is good for growth in Texas.

Anyways, I thought this crowd would be interested.

I have to say that I tend to prefer stouts/porters myself, and have tasted my fair share of both. Be that as its may, the following is simply my opinion….

I really think Anchor Porter is one of the better, and Sierra Nevada is decent. I'd agree the Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter is up there as well, though you will not find it in Texas unless you get it shipped somehow. I've got one in the fridge right now thanks to a buddy that picked a few brews up for me in MN on his way back. Go find yourself a Black Butte Porter from Deschutes Brewery (OR), as it is also one of my favorites. Samuel Smith's Taddy Porter and Fuller's London Porter are must tries..after all…Porters originated in England. Odell's Cutthroat Porter is very good as well.

I've never been a huge fan of Real Ale's coffee porter, but many like it. Kona's (HI) Pipeline Porter is so/so as well. I'd try Rogue's (OR) Moca Porter before those. It's pretty solid. When I was in TN I was able to try Highland Brewing's (from NC) Oatmeal Porter and Duck-Rabbit's (NC) Porter. I absolutely loved Highland's beer, but again it's one we can't get here easily.

If you care to try unique tasting Porters try Breckenridge Brewery's Vanilla Porter (CO)or Stone's (CA) Smoked Porter. The Breck is a pretty decent beer, but I can't drink too much of it. The Stone, in all honesty, is so smoked you'd think you were chewing on a burnt log. It's pretty good though. The Alaskan Brewery's Smoked Porter is a little more balanced. 512 (Austin) Pecan Porter is ok.

I've had countless other porters, but many are from small breweries at beer events out of state. It sadly wouldn't do you any good because we can't get them here.

Try this on for size: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/159

On my "to-do" list are Yuengling Porter, Harpoon Leviathan Baltic Porter, whatever else I can find.

Wow, I went on a lot longer that I thought I would...so synopsis….

Porters you should try that are available to you (Houston):
Deschutes Black Butte Porter
Samuel Smith's Taddy Porter
Fuller's London Porter
Rogue's (OR) Moca Porter
Breckenridge Brewery's Vanilla Porter
Stone's (CA) Smoked Porter




[This message has been edited by p-wonk01 (edited 1/21/2011 11:08a).]

"you serios Clark?!?"

That's awesome, we NEED to get this type of legislature going. Sadly, we are up against a wall in thsi state.

He's doing a good job promoting the bill as increased revenue for everyone, but he addresses the main problem which is getting by the big beer money...especially the big beer distributor lobby money. The only losers, if you can even call it that, are the huge beer distributors that are exclusive to one of the big boys. Other, smaller distributors will gain on them simply because they will be able to offer more choices, which could erode the demand for big beer.

I really hope it passes this time araound. I would hate to wait another 2 years for another crack at this.

The Yuengling porter is good, but nothing exceptional. There are plenty on your list better. The Harpoon is really good, as are most all of their brews.

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Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter

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For anyone else who might want to try it:

http://www.shopmerwins.com/704361200016.html

PS -- they will rape you on shipping

Yea -- forget that, the more I think about it. I love a good porter, but not at the price of getting butt raped.

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Samuel Smith's Taddy Porter

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This

Drinking a Real Ale Coffee Porter right now. Very good. I like it better than the Kona. More hop/beer taste.

Beer math:

The average BARREL of Bud uses 32 pounds of malted barley and 2.7 oz of hops.

10 gallons of my Rye IPA uses 32 pounds of malted barley and ten oz of hops.

Bud: 1 lb barley/gallon and less than 0.1 oz hops/gallon

Rye IPA: 3.2 lb barley/gallon and 1 oz hops/gallon

3x the barley, 10x the hops.

Thanks to this thread, my fridge was blessed as follows yesterday evening:



[This message has been edited by Cyprian (edited 1/22/2011 10:51a).]

Tried Black Butte last night. Very, very good.

Here's what I bought today.

The highly touted Black Butte Porter
Samuel Smith's Taddy Porter
And on a whim, I grabbed the Pumpkin Porter from Summit.



[This message has been edited by IsleAg11 (edited 1/22/2011 12:45p).]

let us know what you think

That's "The Famous" Taddy Porter

Craft Beer in Coll Sta.

http://www.newrepublicbrewing.com/

Black Butte... EFFING YUM.
The Famous Taddy Porter... Also delicious
Pumpkin Porter... Okay, but not my favorite.

[This message has been edited by IsleAg11 (edited 1/23/2011 12:07p).]

Figured this would be a good spot for this.

My dad is doing some construction work on a convent that was built in 1960. He had to take out the floor in one section of the building and found a whole pile of old beer cans and beer bottles that I guess were left my the original builders.

that's awesome texag08! My grandfather has some property near College Station with flood plain land in the back. We often get some items like caught up in the fence from recent floods...

I picked these babies up this weekend from my local Central Market, but have not tried them yet.

Shiner 102 (Spoetzl Brewery, Shiner, TX)-

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Our Double Wheat features a malt base containing 50 % Wheat. The wheat variety is Brundage, a soft white winter wheat released in 1997 by the Idaho AES. Double Wheat is a hybrid style which falls between a wheat beer and a wheat wine. Shiner 102 is an American style filtered double wheat ale, lightly hopped with aromatic Czech Saaz and WA Golding hop.
Double Wheat, 6.2% AB 14IBU

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I'm interested in trying this one from Shiner. I'm not a huge wheat beer fan, but the unique style begs me to at least partake. The 6.2% is getting high for a mass beer.

Fade to Black (Lefthand Brewery, Longmont, CO)-

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Fade to Black, that time of year when the light seems to fade away. We drift further into the darkness with each passing day. Volume 2- Smoked Baltic Porter is inspired by our collaboration with Nørrebro in Denmark. This mischievous cousin to Smoke Jumper has a penchant for pillaging and burning everywhere he goes. Smoked malts redolent of the burned thatched roofs in villages and towns all over Northern Europe impart flavors to warm the spirit of invading hordes far from home. You finally have something in your hand darker than the winter night sky.

Smoked Baltic Porter, 7.8%ABV 35IBU

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PLEASE NOTE - the one out is the volume 2 version, and not the volume 1 that won a gold medal at GABF. I was hoping this was the case, but look forward to trying this one. I understand it's a pretty rare find in NTX and most of the cases were gone in two days.

The abyss (Descutes Brewery, Bend, OR) -

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The Abyss has immeasurable depth inviting you to explore and discover its rich, complex profile. Hints of molasses, licorice and other alluring flavors draw you in further and further with each sip. 33% agend in oak and oak/bourbon barrels. And at 11% alcohol by volume, you will want to slowly savor each and every ounce.
December 2010 marks the fifth release of this dark and mysterious imperial stout. Limited availability in wax-dipped 22-ounce bottles and on draft at a few select establishments.
“The Abyss was one of those beers I didn’t want to end. I was totally blown away - this is precious stuff.” Christian DeBenedetti, beer writer and Men’s Journal contributor
Ranked #5 on BeerAdvocate.com's Top Beers on Planet Earth! 11% ABv 65 IBU

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I admit, my knees buckled a bit when I was told they have "a beer called the Abyss you may like". I've been looking to try this one for 2.5 years now, and both times in Portland I was unable to get it at the taphouse for different reasons. I've heard this is THE imperial stout. I had to get 3 of them. It's an extremely rare find up here in NTX; at leat to my knowledge. I've got two to cellar (bottle mentions it's best after 11/17/11) and one to try soon to kill the suspense. This is what prompted my blue star. It was like Christmas yesterday.

So I've pretty much turned into a hop head, absolutely love a good citrusy IPA. But following this thread there has been so much talk about porters it intrigued me. Never had one, and in the past, wasn't a fan of stout beers. So at the store today see a pint bottle of "The Famous" Taddy Porter. Decided to give it a go. Have to say, for a beer style that doesn't really excite me that much, its pretty good. Probably will entice me to try the Black Butte porter since I like Deschutes Brewery quite a bit. Won't be a go to beer by any stretch, but its pretty good and glad I tried it.

Good on you for trying new styles. I can't say that I even have a go-to beer nowadays. Too much interesting stuff out there!