Red Beer.

Someone started a thread on pigs head beer. It triggered a memory of my early beer making adventure or poor attempt is more like it.

Here is a few pages from my life in the late 60's.

I made some home made beer about 50 years ago, I was 19'ish. A guy who made it by the gallons and drank it all day long gave me the ingredient list and instructions. He put his in pint Mason jars, kept them in the fridge and they did not last long. He gave Bro and me a pint each one time, it was good tasting beer.

I found a couple of 10 gallon stone crocks in flea markets and was in business. My Bro and I watched it everyday, soon no carding failures at package stores for us. The floats said it was ready, the number of days said it was ready. I took the washed beer bottles and the capper I bought at Rexall and siphoned the brew into the bottles.

Chill these babies, get ready, look out Busch and Coors. They were 7 to 10% alcohol.

Dad lined up after dinner to try our new brews. Dad's dad was an excellent home made wine maker. He smiled, this must be in the genes, almost like free beer. Our side kick Wild Bill was there, as always, he lived with us.

We hoisted 4 bottles and took a sip. I'm not sure who spit it out first. It was quick.

We all agreed it did not taste right.

But it was almost free beer.

Dad drank some of his, we waited, he did not keel over or gasp for air. Bro, Bill and I drank ours. We found if we swallowed a lot and held our breath for a little bit there wasn't as much after taste.

Perhaps our loving die hard Southern Baptist Mom who was on our case from day one put something in it, no we thought she really did not mean we were going straight to hades this minute.

We tried experimenting. Lets try hot sauce, nope just a hot bad taste. Sugar, no. Salt. No.

Mom canned about 50 gallons of tomatoes a year. Juice in quart, half and full gallons. Some with veggies in it, pour it into a big pot and veggie stew. Paste, whole tomatoes, crushed tomatoes and others. Bro and I had the easy job of hoeing, weeding, picking and then washing out jars if we were caught loafing.

One night Bro and I were drinking a brew after dinner and we spotted a quart of tomato juice, What the heck. We poured the beer in some old AW root beer mugs and added the tomato juice. Oh my goodness. Nirvana. Perfection. It was awesome. So we drank my 20 gallons of beer and mixed Mom's tomato juice in. They now call it red beer. There was a slight come to god moment with Mom when she found out us 4 bad boys had drank most of her tomato juice.

We curtailed that shortage by buying up cheap store brand juice but not as good at the old Kroger's store.

I made a few more batches and Dad drank them for years, a bottle a night. Bro and I knew a guy who could erase your year of birth on the DL and fudge it a little, we could now buy good stuff, like Falstaff, Old Milwaukee, Griesydiek Bros, Schlitz and a few more.

We attained adulthood, married and had children. We sort of grew up. One Friday night my Bro called and said one beer at the local Cheers type pub. I said OK, one beer. The difference was I had already eaten and his wife had sent him to Mom's to pick up a gallon of tomato juice and some whole tomato's for a big pot of chili. Being a good husband he drove to Moms and picked up a couple of gallons of juice and some whole tomato's. Then we met for one beer.

It was a nice lively Friday night, lots of folks there we had not seen in a while, we had to educate each other on our recent happenings, deer season etc. Educating friends takes more than one beer.

It was a wild and crazy night, his wife would call and demand the bar maid get him to the phone, he'd tell the bar maid he wasn't here. Don't you love the old pre cell phone days? After a few calls the whole place would yell, he ain't here.

Then he mentioned tomato juice and rolled into our youthful beer making days and spiking it with Mom's juice. Why most of those local redneck lawyers, businessmen and school teachers had never heard of tomato juice in beer. Bro ran out to his truck, winter time, the juice was frosty cold. We added it to everyone's beer. Well the bar maid liked this, those folks wuz draining their beer almost as soon as the juice hit the glass. Soon bro had to go get the spare gallon he nabbed.

We lost count on how many past one beer. Everyone there was now a disciple.

Then Bro's wife walked in. The place got sort of real, real quiet. We all would have put money on Bro if it had been a knife or gun fight, but it was a mouth fight. She whupped him in seconds. He secretly told me he slept on the couch for 2 nights. All over one little beer with some of Mom's tomato juice in it.

We had a side kick, Wild Bill, who spent 20 in the USAF in security and then did some of that contract stuff for a few years. He came back with a pocket full of money and bought a big river bottom farm next to our old one.

He was a Mom's tomato juice beer drinking disciple. He rounded up Mom's tomato canning procedure from one of our kids who had all of Mom's cooking stuff. He put in a hundred tomato plants. He's gonna have good red beer. I just hope they don't want me to make some of that rot gut bad tasting stuff to go with it.

I had some red beer Friday night, one with a Bud light and one with a Heineken. Dang, wasn't Mom's, it was Bloody Mary mix. Right smart tasting drink and I got all those vitamin boosters.

I guess if you want to put tomato juice in American beer go ahead as nothing will help the taste anyway but keep it out of the Heineken.

just to be clear keep the green stuff out of beer also

Why keep it out of the Heineken? It can only help that stuff.

During my drinking days (long ago!) the only thing I ever added to beer was whiskey. We'd order a beer and a shot, drop the shot, glass and all into the beer mug and chug it down. Made for some nights I don't remember.

Beer making is a science of sorts. Lots of things effect taste. You could have the best brew ever but if you forget to sanitize one little thing, even a spigot, your brew can be ruined. Then there is the recipe. Sometimes a little goes a long way. As beer ages in the bottle the taste changes. My first attempt at making cider was this spring. Everything seemed to be correct but the cider tasted off. I figured I had to wait longer for it to age a little bit.... like beer. I wanted another month and they seemed to be good. Unfortunately it slowly started to turn into vinegar. Somewhere in the process something wasn't on tight or there was a small air leak and either some bacteria or a different yeast strain got in and turned it into vinegar. So now I use it for marinades.

I have a brew going now that should be ready to bottle next weekend. Making an Orval copy but lower ABV. (for those who know beer).



After this I'm going to try to use the yeast cake for a second beer but this time a pale ale. This will be the first time I'll be reissuing the yeast

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In a past life we would make home brew. Fifty some years ago but seems like we used malt, sugar and yeast. It was good except the time my sister was washing the car we had her fill the jug out of the hose. The home brew tasted like a rubber hose and we poured it out. I expect it would have a waste of good tomato juice to mix it. Larry

In my Saturday gig I often end up with a few cans of beer as tips. I don't want to drink them while driving the bus, but by the end of the afternoon they are warm. In any event, they are not good beers to begin with, Bud Light, Busch Light and the like. Perfect for red beer.

If I have the ingredients, I will make a michelada: Clamato, Worcestershire, Tabasco and celery salt with maybe a little lime. It is a pretty good way to drink up beer that would otherwise be poured down the sink. Works okay with good beer, too, although Conchita agrees that for some reason the Trader Joe's bock beer she favors does not work so well.

On many a fishing trip, my brother and I drank Clamato and beer for breakfast.

Out on the lake, the sun cooking off the dawn mist, Osprey dive bombing encroaching boats, the strains of cursing in the distance as someone forgot to charge their trolling motor battery, the reflective glare of DNR spotting scopes, sippy-cup in hand.

It's a beautiful thing.

sheepdawg said:

Why keep it out of the Heineken? It can only help that stuff.

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I agree that stuff is horrible. Take a case of Budweiser leave it in the sun all summer, it will taste just like Heineken.

tops said:

In a past life we would make home brew. Fifty some years ago but seems like we used malt, sugar and yeast.

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Yep it used to be like that but a lot of the art was kinda lost for a long time. Many types of beers kinda faded out in favor of Lager or Pilsner. Hops for instance add a lot of flavor and smell depending on the type and when it was added to the boil. Then there's a second fermentation where you basically pitch the beer into a different pail on top of whatever it is you want to add. Say you want to add a citrus smell and taste but without bitterness. You throw a specific type of hops into the pail and pour the beer over it and let it sit for a few days - Infinity. The room temp beer will absorb the smells and some taste without being bitter because it hasn't been booked....which is when hops release their oils. Same can be done with cherries or blueberry. Just let the beer sit over it for a time (you can play with that to see what tastes better).

Then there is the yeast. Billion varieties. Take champagne yeast and a citrus hops and you'll get a beer that more Limbac (fruit, low alcohol, dry) style despite never actually adding fruit.

Many of these beers and ales have been around for hundreds, sometimes thousand years. It's just that they are now being rediscovered

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In my long-ago drinking days beer and tomato juice was known a a Bloody Mess.

We alcoholics called a bloody mary mix without vodka a Bloody Shame.

I'm only an occasional drinker, I never liked the taste of any alcohol. I had to force myself to drink it, and I will tell you up front, if you hold a weapon on me and make me drink 6 beers you'll be wearing them.

But I do like a beer while BBQ'ing. Folks question my drinking only 1 or 2 and can go months with out one remark. My wife tells them she's only seen me tipsy twice and it was no driving after a wedding at the hotel. I have to nurse beer a long time after 2.

I do like Clamato beer also, THe Bud clamato doesn't taste as good as mixing the two but I will drink it at BBQ time.

Marsh, you're clamato/mixing guide is one I too like.

I once bought a bottle of Scotch and was going to lean to drink it neat, heck I thought it would be sophisticated to be sipping this oil slick neat while smoking my pipe. That bottle sat around for years. Finally gave it to some one who said they would drink it. Probably mixed in some 2 stroke oil and cut wood with their Stihl chainsaw.

I will drink a bottle of Negro Modelo in faux Mexican restaurants if they have it.

I know very little espanol. Por favor Senorita/senora/senor pasame una Cervesa.