The lot of you!

With that said, I've only ever tasted cheap commercial beer and am curious if the home brewed stuff would suit me better.

I was like you, Kriea. I knew that I hated the typical Bud/Miller/Coors stuff, and assumed that meant that I just didn't like beer.

As it turns out, I simply don't like beer with little flavor. Now, understand, I don't drink much - two beers in a weekend is the most I typically do - but I absolutely enjoy the flavor and aroma of a good English brown or Belgian strong ale.

Good idea!

Well now I really wanna know how it compares. May have to see if anyone around here home brews and see if I can't get my paws on some.

So My first call to a friend who I figured would know these things led me to moonshine... this could be a long quest.

I think brewing your own is really more of a just like the flavor sort of thing than a really like to drink thing. That's an awful long and complicated process for something you can shell out some money for at the store if you just wanted a drink.

Homebrew isn't where I would start, unless you already knw somebody who brews. If you want to expand your beer horizons, go and see if you can run down some commercially produced craft beer.

Understand, there is a LOT of variance within beer - check out this beer style guide. Most US beer is "American Light Lager", but there are MANY more types. I'm personally partial to English and Belgian ales.

Our local Publix grocery stores have a great thing going - you can build your own six pack of beer for a flat rate of $9.99, and put almost anything that they stock in it. This gives a superb chance to try different styles. Some higher end package stores will do the same type of thing. That way, you don't get stuck with a lot of beer that may not appeal to you.

Also, note that when drinking beer, don't just pop the top and drink from the bottle. Take a glass (beer glasses are best, but any glass will do), make sure it is REALLY rinsed out (detergent residue kills the bubbles in beer), and pour the beer into it.

Beer in a glass allows you to get the aroma from the beer (you will smell grain and yeast, then depending on the hops used, you might smell grass, fruit, or a host of other scents). The smell helps increase the taste (if you don't believe me, hold your nose while eating sometime).

Also note that most beer is a little better when served a bit warmer than typical fridge temperatures - ice cold is for beer that lacks flavor.

Well the first obstacle in my quest is I actually live in a dry county so I have to go quite a ways to obtain any alcohol, let alone good alcohol. Most of the places that sell beer around here are County line "Last chance" sort of places that sell mostly rotgut hard liquor and "barley pop" as my dad used to not fondly call weak beer.

I'm sure I could find some if I traveled to Little Rock however. I'll take what you said to heart and when I get some time and disposable income maybe I'll go on a sophisticated beer run.

Beer was not a topic I expected to find myself researching at any time. Just sayin.

...my "commercial beer" of preference is Corona... If there are less than two bottles of that stuff in the garage fridge, I haven't been to the grocery, yet. Couldn't even really tell you why it's my "always on-hand" beer, either... maybe because it drinks like water? I dunno...

That aside, I do tend to actually prefer darker stuff... not quite as black as Guiness, mind you... more in the reddish/caramel/brown range... commercially, things like "Sam Adam's Oktoberfest," "Killian's Irish Red," "Newcastle," "Wicked Bastard," etc... The handful of hombrew reds that I've sampled have been quite good overall... if you average on a scale of "Dude! Is that sock water?!?!?" to "Duuuuuude... that's a DAMN FINE brew!!! Now, give us a kiss 'afore th' others tairn eyes our way!!! *puckerpucker*," the average fell right around; "Dude. I'd buy it in a store."

What was I sayin'?

Oh yeah... YAY BEER!

> Bloop!

I may not be a potential felon much longer. Alabama's state house approved the homebrew legalization bill yetserday, making us state #49 in the union to repeal our Prohibition-era law. You know, that's been here since the 1920s.

Of course, it has to pass the Senate (which it has th epast two years, the House was the stumbling block) and be signed by the governor.

Yay, we might beat Mississippi!

That means that there's hope that Ohio will repeal it's "you can't get a fish drunk on Sunday" law!

It's about time, I think...

...Gotta wonder, though, what were all those fish doing that caused the state to disallow them a bit of drunken revelry?


Take that, Mississippi!!!

No more bootlegging????

Making it legal darn near takes all the fun out of it!

I've added a blog entry that covers my misadventures of bottling the Leffe Blonde clone. Late Night with a Blonde.

... I can totally dig it!

In fact, lemme tell ya a li'l story about a late night, a blonde, and an attic... *reads blog*... Oh... that kind of blonde... ... never mind. *wink*

Love reading this, by the by, Olan... I've not gotten into home brewing, myself, but can say I've learned a bit more about it thanks to your updates.

Also... still can't wait to sample that red you've got in the works.

My quest for beer hasn't really gone anywhere except me going to the liquor store the next county over and looking at the selection, or rather the sad lack of.

Best of luck with your blondes of the future, may they always be full bodied and what not.

I have posted a blog entry talking about tasting my latest batch - a clone of Leffe Blonde (which as a Belgian abbey ale). Check it out.

Check out the custom labels for my Belgian blonde ale. They turned out pretty cool, if I do say so myself.