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Well, I guess we're calling the hops season over. We ended up getting a usable amount, and threw them into a pale ale we brewed at Ryan's house a couple of weeks ago. Ryan already has the beer on tap, and said it turned out really well.
Realizing that hops are the most considerable cost when brewing I decided to seek out a cheaper alternative than purchasing them at my local brew store. It doesn't help (the store) that the employees of the shop are yuppie assholes either. Anyway, after doing some mild searching on google, I found a farm in Oregon who sells hops by the pound at a considerably lesser price than the local brew store. Bingo! I bought a pound of Cascades which seem to be a good hop for just about everything, and a pound of a high alpha bittering hop. I'll let you know how my experience goes with them. It ended up being about $1.60 an ounce or so, which to me is a huge difference.
If I get the hops this week, I'm gonna try and brew at my house this Sunday. I'm torn between doing an IPA or something a bit more seasonal. I wanted to do a pumpkin beer, but that seems like a tired idea. If anyone has any ideas please feel free to comment with suggestions. Also, if anyone is interested in my blackberry stout for Christmas time let me know. Debating if I should make 10 gallons as it was consumed very quickly last year.
Realizing that hops are the most considerable cost when brewing I decided to seek out a cheaper alternative than purchasing them at my local brew store. It doesn't help (the store) that the employees of the shop are yuppie assholes either. Anyway, after doing some mild searching on google, I found a farm in Oregon who sells hops by the pound at a considerably lesser price than the local brew store. Bingo! I bought a pound of Cascades which seem to be a good hop for just about everything, and a pound of a high alpha bittering hop. I'll let you know how my experience goes with them. It ended up being about $1.60 an ounce or so, which to me is a huge difference.
If I get the hops this week, I'm gonna try and brew at my house this Sunday. I'm torn between doing an IPA or something a bit more seasonal. I wanted to do a pumpkin beer, but that seems like a tired idea. If anyone has any ideas please feel free to comment with suggestions. Also, if anyone is interested in my blackberry stout for Christmas time let me know. Debating if I should make 10 gallons as it was consumed very quickly last year.
