HopHead Brew Blog» Whats New

Are you a Beer Snob? Good beer vs Good Cheap Beer!

CarpetGuy — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 07:14:13 +0000

Red dog, a beer that is looked down upon by anyone that drinks, “Real Beer”, right? Well, if you agree with that, you are a beer snob! That in itself is an oxymoron, beer is the drink of the commoner, not the “elite” but as time goes on, our levels of snobbery get deeper!

Yes, I would much prefer an Arrogant Bastard myself, but, I am currently a poor broke bastard instead!

However, if on a budget, Red Dog is not a bad choice! yes, it is now a cheap brew, but back in the day, when it first came out, it was anything but cheap!

So, if you are as broke as I am, look for the Dog! It is not that bad! I actually like it compared to the other “cheap” beers!

If you also happen to be one of those greenies, well, it is your fault! The cost of ingredients has gone up, way up, because of all the ethanol etc., beer just costs more to brew!

I used to pay about $40 a 50lb sack of malted barley, but now it is about 4 bucks a pound! Sorry, I cant afford to brew anymore!Thank God for those that want to get rid of oil, now, it costs more to drive, and to brew!

Are you a Beer Snob? Good beer vs Good Cheap Beer! HopHead Brew Blog - We offer information on just about anything related to beer.

This is important! Do beer Drinkers really prefer John McCain?

CarpetGuy — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 00:36:19 +0000

Today I found a post on HotAir.com that addressed this issue, check it out here. This inspired me to write this, because as you know, I also have a Political Opinion Blog, so I visit many blogs of all types.

Anyway, it got me to wondering, is it true? Do beer drinkers really skew towards John McCain?

If this theory is true, I can just see the party now! It would make a political rally a good thing!

Heck, I’m in! Free Beer! Dang right I’ll vote for him! Well, I actually like John McCain, and can’t stand any of the dumbocrats, so, Free Beer is just a bonus!

Any other beer drinking McCain fans out there?

The post also says that wine drinkers lean toward democrats, that is disturbing, because I know a lot of homebrewers that also make mead and wine. Come on folks, post a comment, tell me what you think!

Technorati Tags: beer drinkers lean toward John McCain

This is important! Do beer Drinkers really prefer John McCain? HopHead Brew Blog - We offer information on just about anything related to beer.

Beer Prices, Gas Prices, Even Dog Food Prices have gone up! Why?

CarpetGuy — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 09:10:07 +0000

Has anybody but me noticed what has happened in the last few months?

Beer prices have gone up, way up! I last bought a six pack of Dead Guy Ale for about 7 bucks, now it is over $11!

Anybody else know why? Because they are using all of the corn,wheat, and barley, etc, for making methanol, to mix with gasoline! Hey gas prices at $3.00 a gallon is one thing, beer at $11 a six pack is another!

We need to all understand that when you take something from one place, it comes out of another!

These dreamers, that think using corn, wheat and barley, as a renewable fuel, are doing some good, need to slow down, as they increase these fantasies, they also increase our realities!

What we need to do, is FIND MORE OIL! Thus leaving our BEER alone!

Here is my analysis, my gas costs have gone up about $20 a month, but my BEER went up about $75 a month. What good will that do!

Our fuel costs less than in Europe way back in the 80′s, and our BEER costs even more than gas! The Europeans pay major tax on everything, everything but BEER!

This is America! We need to find a better way!

Speaking of increases, my dog food was at about $7 a 20lb bag, now it is at $9!

Has gas gone down? NO! So, why are they doing this? You tell me! Any other opinions about this?

Technorati Tags: beer, gas, dog food, prices, tree huggers, ethanol

Transfer from Yahoo to Hostmonster almost complete!

CarpetGuy — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 07:07:59 +0000

If you have visited this blog in the last week or so, you may have noticed that there just wasn’t much happening, I am soory about that, but it is due to many things, mostly preparations for the move from Yahoo to Hostmonster.

I have been paying $526.20yr for my hosting, but once I get everything switched to HostMonster, it will only be $125.40! Better Service at a Better Price! I love it!

I do want to say this, when I first signed up with Yahoo, it was perfect, and for anybody that has zero knowledge on web-design, or only wants a simple site, Yahoo is perfect! But, once you learn a bit, get more than one site etc, it is time to move on!

Homebew Fanatic.com is the first one to get moved, but the others will follow soon. I have to admit I was a bit scared, I didn’t want to mess up the mess I already had, and I will no longer be able to use Yahoo Sitebuilder for my sites, this is the best WYSIWYG editor available, but I have learned how to use other tools, I will miss the simplicity, but it is time to move on!

I want to thank everyone for their patience, I have a million plugins to set up, RSS feeds to be replaced etc, but things will be rolling again soon!

Have a cold one for me!

Technorati Tags: hostmonster, yahoo, homebrew fanatic, hophead

Transfer from Yahoo to Hostmonster almost complete! HopHead Brew Blog - We offer information on just about anything related to beer.

Beer and Politics

CarpetGuy — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 00:51:19 +0000

We’re told the two don’t mix, but the National Beer Wholesalers Association is asking voters the all-important question, “Which of the presidential candidates would you like to have a beer with in 2008?”
Given that ’08 marks the 75th anniversary of the full repeal of
prohibition, what question could be more appropriate for the election
season? You can cast your ‘vote’ here.
(Read more)

This is from another awesome site I found, Beer Philosopher. It would seem that I am not alone in sharing my “opinions”. Check out the site by clicking here, or look to the left for a feed from that site.

Technorati Tags: Beer Philosopher, beer and politics, hophead, brew blog, beer blog

Beer and Politics HopHead Brew Blog - We offer information on just about anything related to beer.

Happy New Year!

CarpetGuy — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 06:04:25 +0000

Ok, we made it through one more year! I hope that everyone has had a wonderful 2007 and an even better 2008!

I just dread one thing, when I have to write the date on a check or something, somehow it seems to take until june before I get it right. This year I may add posts about brew pubs etc into the category list, why not right?

Anyone that has a favorite, beer, brew, bar or related site, post a comment here and I will check them out!

Again, I wish everybody a wonderful new year! Have a Cold one!

Technorati Tags: brew pubs, favorite, beer, brew, bar, hophead, homebrew, new year

Happy New Year! HopHead Brew Blog - We offer information on just about anything related to beer.

Light or Dark, Ale or lager?

CarpetGuy — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 12:16:34 +0000

Ok, I will bet that many beer drinkers, especially homebrewers, or microbrew lovers have heard the statement “I don’t like dark beer, because it is too strong“, hmm, have you ever stepped in it like I have?I would say that most of the people that say that, just don’t have a clue! Ok, what I just said is true, but, should we hammer them in the head? No! It isn’t their fault, rumors, old beer stories, and that kind of thing have made an impression on them, remember before you had a “real” beer?Is this just because of these stories? Where does this come from?From what I have read, in several different books, pay me and I will look it up and tell you which ones. Back before prohibition, beer was made from the same (almost, the quality wasn’t as good) ingredients as homebrewers and microbrewers today, depending on the region, availability and so on, but what happened?During this unfortunate time in American history (1920-1933), prohibition that is, do you think that beer was “unavailable”? Of course it was! We beer drinkers, drunks, sots, or whatever you want to call us, had our beer! However, it was hard, if not almost impossible to keep up with the demand, booze was really tough! (how do you think the Kennedy family got so rich!) Anyway, the brewers of those times, probably including todays “big guys” had to water it down to make it go further.Did anybody complain? I doubt it! They were happy just to get a beer!After this prohibition time had ended, the brewers realized that they had a good thing going, they could water it down, and everyone was happy! That was what Americans wanted!Time went on and the more the “beer makers” understood what we wanted (not my opinion). Then at some point, a genius figured out they could sell even more water, I mean beer, but they needed an angle, thats right, diet! Now, the brewers had us! Here comes Lite (light) beer!Did the price go down when they added more water, no way, it went up! The brewers had to work harder to add more water. Guess what happens next?Low Carb beers, thats what. At face value that appears to be a good thing, but, it is only a marketing ploy (my opinion), why do I say this? If the yeast consumes more of the sugar, which is where alcohol comes from. there is less sugar, also known as carbohydrates, therefore, use more sugar, get more alcohol, right? Wrong! (kind of)Barley malt is less fermentable, and leaves more sugar behind (and flavor). So, how do they fix this? Use less barley malt, and more adjuncts (rice, corn, etc) But what would the beer taste like? Well, the same as moonshine before it gets distilled! Who would buy that?See the dilemma? The breweries that had already watered down the beer, had used these adjuncts, but needed something new.They came up with various malt extracts, that concentrated the flavor but not the sugar, mixed that with those adjuncts and BOOM! Low Carb Beer! (along with an enzyme, kinda like beano)Now back to the point, Light versus Dark beer, did you know that the difference between many mass produced beers is not much more than a flavored food coloring! (ask Shiner) Actually, it is an extra concentrated extract, that has less sugar but makes the beer darker and adds flavor, but not as much, fermentables.Why then do we hear these whiners? HOPS! Many of the darker beers, even tha mass produced stuff, is a bit hoppier!So, now you know, after all that, they are right! Not the way that they thought, but they are right, the darker beer is sometimes stronger, with Hops.I sure hope that helps you, learning that has helped me, well, sometimes there is still that umm, disagreement!As far as the Ale/Lager discussion goes, that is actually simple, that is the type of yeast used, one is a top fermenter, one a bottom. One likes coler temps (lager) the other is ok at a little bit warmer temps (ale).Sounds simple right? Wrong! Many states, such as Texas, have labeling laws, like Arrogant Bastard Ale, that is actually a lager! So just drink it, brew it and study!Technorati Tags: beer, brewing, light beer, dark beer, shiner, watered down beer, lo carb beer, extracts, malt, hophead

Light or Dark, Ale or lager? HopHead Brew Blog - We offer information on just about anything related to beer.

Organic Beer?

CarpetGuy — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 08:54:13 +0000

Ok, I am sorry, can someone tell me, in this age of everything green, what is Organic beer? Can beer be brewed any other way? Lets see, maybe the yeast is ummm, well maybe the barley malt has been ummm, what about the hops, uh, well, uhh, I give up! Lets see what the “web” has to say.Ok, I have seen on a couple of Malt manufacturers/distributors ingredients list, the listing for “Organic” stuff, but come on, I will sell you some organic, …….well, it wont have any bug spray in it! Come on, what is up with us, back in the old days, you drank beer because it tasted good, now we drink it because nobody killed a bug doing it?Times have changed, when I was a kid, paint and everything else had lead in it, I took mercury to school to play with at show and tell. We never even washed our hands, now, kids scrub with anti-bacterial goop! When we do get a new bug, no one will have any immunity/defense against it!Definitions of Organic Beer on the Web:

Madefrom certified-organic malted barley, hops, and yeast. Theseingredients are grown without the use of synthetic pesticides,herbicides, and …www.greenopia.com/features/tips/greenopia_glossary

Technorati Tags: whats america coming to, organic beer, green beer, wimpy beer, beer infections

Organic Beer? HopHead Brew Blog - We offer information on just about anything related to beer.

Just to clear things up, what is the definition of BREW?

CarpetGuy — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 07:50:22 +0000

Definitions of brew on the Web: prepare by brewing; “people have been brewing beer for thousands of years” sit or let sit in boiling water so as to extract the flavor; “the tea is brewing” drink made by steeping and boiling and fermenting rather than distilling ordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Brew was a small, plain bay gelding who won the 2000 Melbourne Cup for trainer Mike Moroney and jockey Kerrin McEvoy. Brew carried thelightweight of 49.5 kilos, and defeated the veteran Yippyio and the stablemate Second Coming. …en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brew (horse)

(Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless) BREW can run on a number of CDMA phone types however is most commonly an application for CDMA Brew mobile handsets. It is a software function that can download and run small programs for playing games, sending messages, sharing photos, etc. www.nowwearetalking.com.au/Home/Page.aspx

Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless: A mobile applications platform created by QUALCOMM. BREW is a programming language based on C/C++, an end-to-end distribution system for getting applications to market. www.segamobile.com/support.php

(Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless) is a solution developed by Qualcomm for downloading small applications and content to mobile phones. Found almost exclusively in CDMA phones. …www.birdnest.com/glossary.cfm

Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless, BREWTM, developed by Qualcomm, is a service application developer’s platform. BREWTM technology gives developers the ability to enable numerous applications for users to download wirelessly from any BREWTM-enabled handset. …www.phonedog.com/cell-phone-buying-guide/glossary-of-cellular-terms.aspx

The specific taste of a properly made home brew.www.coffeezest.com/Glossary.html

That taste of a good home brewwww.cafeliving.co.uk/coffee/coffee_glossary.html

Based on this, what does a hacked playstation, Xbox, Radio etc. have to do with Homebrew? As in Brew at Home?Oh well, to each his (or her) own.Here is the link I foundOh, thanks for the pic, it came from TestMy.net If you want to test your Broadband speed, that is the place!Technorati Tags: definition of brew, what does homebrew mean?, brew, homebrew, beer, hophead, playstation, Xbox, bored, testmy.net

Just to clear things up, what is the definition of BREW? HopHead Brew Blog - We offer information on just about anything related to beer.

A Beer Blog referring Beer Blogs?

CarpetGuy — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 07:31:24 +0000

Ok, Now comes the catch, right? No catch, this is what I do. I may just write a beer review, maybe a Recipe, heck, maybe about a party? (Haven’t done that yet) The point of this Blog is to share information, anything that another home brewer, beer lover, party goer, or whatever, may want to read. If you have a Beer Blog, or discuss Homebrewing, do Beer Reviews or any of the above maybe just something related, let me know. Post a Comment, I will find your site, and help you get more attention to whatever you are doing, (Beer, Homebrew, etc. Or related), all I ask is that you help by putting a link in your Blogroll, a shared post with a Trackback, a comment, heck, just do something besides a SPAM comment, those will get caught.

Ok, look, this is all about what? Beer, brewing, Breweries, and shared knowledge, and fun!

My goal is to help other beer lovers find the information that they are looking for. I am not selling anything, no affiliate stuff, not yet anyway, if I ever do, I will tell you. Ok, if you have info to share, just let me know, you may find a post about your blog here anyway, it is all about the cause, Beer, Homebrew,and Fun! Have a Cold One!

Technorati Tags: beer, homebrew, fun, parties, blogs, promotion, hophead, homebrew fanatics

A Beer Blog referring Beer Blogs? HopHead Brew Blog - We offer information on just about anything related to beer.