That’s a really good point. Maybe I’m just in the mood for a good blonde ale or maybe an APA. At my big bottle store, there are SO many IIPAs, Doughnut Stouts, Funky Belgians, etc. that it’s not always easy to find something more pedestrian. Try finding a red lager or maybe an IPA made with old-school hops or a good (fresh) English Ale. You will get lucky sometimes but it’s nice to envision a beer that you want and just make it yourself. I have said many times “thank Jeebus I can make my own beer”. 
Gary is working at Left Hand.
I loved that one, Dave! My wife and I both hate the cat pee flavor of Simcoe and she is less tolerant of it than I am!
Our local brewery has been putting Simcoe into all of their IPA’s and she (being a hop head) will not drink any of them now. We always now get a Belgian Ale called Belgian Golden when we visit there and it is on tap.
It’s a very common question. We get it sent in and respond to it maybe twice a year. Doesn’t mean we won’t talk about it again.
Thanks, Goose. Couldn’t recall which one it was .
true. i stopped bothering to homebrew becasuse my previous location was getting better and better beer from around the world and the prices were dropping from competition. it was the ideal situation, and i was somewhat busy.
now i’ve got the opposite. the selection here used to be world class, now it is worse and worse. all there is is medicore IPAs, “cream ales” and sours and prices are absurd. so im on a longterm upswing in brewing.
Unlike a lot of you, I guess, I brew for the brewing, not the beer. Having a large, great quality selection available isn’t a consideration for me. I just like brewing.
+1. I enjoy the processes. Small batches let me brew more often without over stocking the beer cupboard.
I actually do it for both. I enjoy the process and the pride I feel when I make good ones that people enjoy. Brewing is a passion for me and I am also a competitive SOB. So I like to see how my creations do in competitions as well.
I like both as well. I like the brewing process, the tweaking, trying new ingredients, making new-to-me styles, etc. But I can’t tell you how much satisfaction I get going down to the basement and having my own homemade beer on draft and drinking it… and also seeing my friends, family, neighbors, etc. enjoying it. I have to assume that I have come out ahead as well. My system is very simple and even though I have purchased expensive pH meters, thermometers, faucets, fridges, etc., commercial beer is EXPENSIVE. A batch of homebrew comes in somewhere around $12 to $15 for five gallons so I like that part too.
I don’t love the process, I mean it’s mostly cleaning and waiting? Putting together a draft system got me interested in brewing again though so I guess I enjoy the end results a lot more.
wow, neat.
If I could not drink beer anymore, would I still enjoy brewing it? Surprisingly, yes. I had to take a short hiatus from alcohol a few months back to have some specific blood tests run, which turned out fine, but for a month and a half - no beer. I brewed during that time (not knowing what the test results would be) and I think I would continue to brew if the results were bad and I had to give up beer - I would probably have to firm up in advance who I would make it for, though…and I might not brew as often, just because of the costs I would be paying.
Looks like there are about 69 million pet cats in the US…so yes, people do love cat pee.
I’d like to hear some thoughts on when we reach peak hop variety. It seems a the germans are coming up with new varieties that are “Hallertau but a little tropical”, and there’s a few new varieties new world varieties every year it seems. Sometimes I see older varieties like comet come back up. At what point do you think a bunch of old varieties are going to “get retired”?
I don’t think people like cat pee, I think its that some (most?) of us don’t perceive it, like the cilantro thing. I use simcoe some and drink commercial beers with it and try very hard to detect cat pee and just can’t. Lucky.
I get satisfaction out of brewing and generally making my own food and drink. I also garden extensively, keep bees, have an orchard and hop yard, ferment kim chi, suarkraut, etc, make mead and cider, and am an avid (and former professional) cook. I say get satisfaction because I feel I get a lot out of all that work: delicious and healthier food and drink, exercise, and a ceratin spiritual connection to the seasons, land, and ingredients that myself and other humans, plants, and animals contributed too that I don’t get from store bought “products”. That being said I don’t like all of the processes. I don’t particularly like cleaning up when I brew and can definitely find making wort and packaging beer, even kegging, to be a PITA. I think cooking is the only thing I tend to enjoy start to finish.
Sometimes Simcoe has cat pee, sometimes it doesn’t. I have some cryo Simcoe that has none of it.
I find that it is best to blend some hops. Citra, Amarillo, Simcoe sometimes throw a lot of dank/cat pee. I can’t handle it when it is in abundance (like single hop APA/IPA levels) but blended the dank/cat pee can move to the back ground and the good parts of those hops come through.
I agree that flavor is not always there.
Interesting. I made a pale ale with Simcoe & Glacier and it was very nice. I have a pale ale fermenting now with all Amarillo & Citra (I have made this before) and it calls for an ounce of each as a DH addition as well. I was going to add one ounce each of Citra, Amarillo & Simcoe. I do not get cat pee from Simcoe (where does this stuff come from!?). Would I be rolling the dice by adding the Simcoe? DH is set to kick off next Monday or thereabouts.
Reminds me that Summit hops supposedly wreak like a hippie’s armpit. Hello?! Where does this stuff come from? Also, I have had an ounce of Summit in my freezer since 2008 and I refuse to use it now!!
Never have got cat pee from simcoe. Never will. Feel bad for those that do. I should know. I have two cats and drink their urine regularly.
Now I have to clean my screen.