HAUS
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Reged: 12/14/05
Posts: 4082
Loc: Paradise
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Sam, got a question for ya. Was Silver Dollar Porter your creation or someone else? If it was yours, what was the inspiration behind it, if any?
-------------------- Never kick a fresh turd on a hot day..
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Ozark
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Reged: 12/14/05
Posts: 4012
Loc: out in the woods
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Nah, it's Papazian's. It's on (stand back while I whip this out) pages 314-315 of "The New Complete Joy of Homebrewing".
Thing is, in the "Complete Joy" it's an all-grain beer and I adapted the recipe into an extract brew. Since it's a favorite of mine, I actually made it maybe half the time one way, half the time the other, and won in the Porter category of homebrew competitions with both versions. I don't know that I could tell the difference between the finished beers - if you don't have one or the other of those recipes, let me know.
The inspiration for me was when one day back in the 80's I was sitting by myself by our backyard pond in CA with a cool glass of Silver Dollar Porter (the all-grain version) - throwing little pieces of bread to tame bullhead catfish. I kept sipping and doing a real careful tasting, asking myself "What would I want to improve about this beer, if I could?" The answer was - not a doggone thing, it was perfect.
I think a lot of that comes from the good old Northern Brewer / Cascade hop combination. I used that later in lots and lots of brews.
Great minds must think alike. I haven't brewed for a long time and my equipment is in the barn - but just last night I was thinking how I'd like to have a big batch of Silver Dollar Porter put away. Now that the weather's cooled down for brewing, I think I'll do just that.
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HAUS
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Reged: 12/14/05
Posts: 4082
Loc: Paradise
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Reason I was asking, latest issue of Zymurgy from the Brewers Assoc. had an article in it from Charlie and he had the recipe in there. I remember you speaking about it and couldn't remember if it was yours or not.
I've got a 7.5% robust porter on tap and a 5.8% oatmeal stout on tap as well. They are hitting the spot on these cool evenings. The porter was supposed to be about a percent lower, but ol Todd at THB grinds the grains very good. I had a lot better efficiency than I was expecting.
-------------------- Never kick a fresh turd on a hot day..
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Ozark
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Reged: 12/14/05
Posts: 4012
Loc: out in the woods
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I'm glad to hear Charlie Papazian is still around. I still carry around an A.H.A. (predecessor to the Brewer's Association) bottle opener that Charlie gave me. We were both pretty cross-eyed on, I believe, a good Wisconsin Altbier at the time. Charlie did more to get homebrewing started again in this country than anybody.
Yes, The Home Brewery's little malt mill has always done a great job. Back when we started the business most American homebrew shops were using corn mills. That's not right, as barley grains have a husk and corn doesn't, so those just don't work right for the job.
I ordered that mill from Germany and it was REAL pricey for the time. It came, with lots of parts to be assembled and spring adjustments to be made, with full instructions in German. Fortunately our homebrew club included a couple of guys from over there who spoke and read German, so we got it together one afternoon. Quite a bit of homebrew was consumed during that job, and I was hearing stuff like "Nein, NEIN - fahrt HEIR!" It was a hoot.
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HAUS
member for now
Reged: 12/14/05
Posts: 4082
Loc: Paradise
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-------------------- Never kick a fresh turd on a hot day..
|
HAUS
member for now
Reged: 12/14/05
Posts: 4082
Loc: Paradise
|
|
I had bought some grain from an outfit in Minnesota a few times and my efficiency went way down on all of my beers. Thought I wasn't hitting my temps, and/or lautering too fast, etc. Finally figured out the crush was the issue and quit ordering from them.
I called in an order and spoke with Todd and told him I wanted to make sure the crush was good, so he said he'd double crush them for me and then I could see what I thought. Good lord! It was like flour! Awesome efficiency, but it took an hour to collect first runnings and another hour to lauter the rest off. I never ordered a double crush from him again
-------------------- Never kick a fresh turd on a hot day..
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