Blending different beers

[TopCat]

Does anyone on the forums blend different beers and if so why and what have the results been like?
My friend and I are nearly always over capacity by a Litre or so when we keg. Mainly because we eyeball the water volumes (one of the hazards of trying to squeeze four 25L brews into one day). The leftover usually goes into a mini keg or growler. I am thinking why not just siphon all the leftovers into one keg. After all when I worked in the pub all those years ago plenty of people were drinking pints of mixed.

Cheers

On tap - Sam Smith Nut Brown Ale clone
Conditioning - Old Pec clone, English IPA
Fermenting - Creemore, Lug Tread, Landlord, Smithwicks

 

[dan125]

yeah, I recently made a pale ale that was a bit too bitter - having gone for a hop burst style brew with all hops added in last few mins/post boil I think I miscalculated the IBUs.
Anyway when blended 50/50 with a maltier brew that I had to hand the result was better than either of the beers on there own.

 

[Simonh82]

There was a recent podcast on blending beers http://traffic.libsyn.com/basicbrewing/bbr12-17-15gruitblending.mp3. I've not listened yet and don't have enough beers in stock to make it worth while but maybe one day.

 

[Gaspode]

Not in the same vein as blending your own beer but I remember fondly the 7 years I spent living and working in and around Surbiton. Our regular haunts were the Queen Victoria in Surbiton or the Spotted Horse in Putney.

We only drank Ram and Special, Half a pint of Special (4.5%) with a bottle of Ram Rod (5%) to top it off. Bloomin' lovely it was.

It's been years since I was back in that neck of the woods so no idea if it is still an option in Young's pubs.

 

[Simonh82]

Not in the same vein as blending your own beer but I remember fondly the 7 years I spent living and working in and around Surbiton. Our regular haunts were the Queen Victoria in Surbiton or the Spotted Horse in Putney.

We only drank Ram and Special, Half a pint of Special (4.5%) with a bottle of Ram Rod (5%) to top it off. Bloomin' lovely it was.

It's been years since I was back in that neck of the woods so no idea if it is still an option in Young's pubs.

I'm just down the road from the old Young's brewery, now demolished and being redeveloped in to (yes, you've guested it) more luxury flats.

I'm very partial to a pint of Special and their standard Young's bitter too. I've not tried Ramrod but I will now.

 

[Gaspode]

As I remember, it seemed that every Young's pub I ever visited had a picture behind the bar of the Queen mum pulling a pint.

Are they still there?

I thought she was more of a Gin and Dubonnet type of girl.

 

[Simonh82]

As I remember, it seemed that every Young's pub I ever visited had a picture behind the bar of the Queen mum pulling a pint.

Are they still there?

I thought she was more of a Gin and Dubonnet type of girl.

Still around in a few of the less tarted up places. Most of them have been given 'the treatment', so that they appeal to the newly affluent inhabitants of Wandsworth. I don't think the Queen Mum survives. I think the spotted horse might be holding out as a proper boozer, although I haven't been in there for ages.

I managed to find a couple of bottles of London Gold last night that I'm hoping to harvest the yeast from. It's taken me ages to find them.

 

[Steved53]

A brown mixed was a popular tipple in the north west.

To my shame, the first time I went into a pub (age 14!), I asked for a half pint of brown mixed! How they didn't chuck me out I'll never know. A half pint bottle of brown ale and half a pint of mild - ah!

I have no proof, but as well as mixing those two ingredients, I was told that the mild was topped up with the dregs from the other overflowed beers. We'd have to be talking about wooden casks here circa mid 60’s. Anybody know anything definitive?

 

[TopCat]

"I have no proof, but as well as mixing those two ingredients, I was told that the mild was topped up with the dregs from the other overflowed beers. We'd have to be talking about wooden casks here circa mid 60’s. Anybody know anything definitive?"

I worked in a Tetley's pub in Bradford for a couple of different landlords and it seemed to be common practice that the bitter dregs would go back into the bitter keg and mild and the occasional stout dregs would go back into the mild keg.

 

[TopCat]

OK so it was kegging night this evening and I have around half a keg blend of an American IPA, Landlord clone, Lug Tread clone and Smithwick's clone. Once it is in the fridge & 'tapped' I will post an update.
:

 

[Steved53]

I've also read that breweries top up their brite tanks, and only remove a certain proportion, before topping up again. They use the same beer, but I guess this technique gives a consistency to the taste, and if there is a change, it is a gradual one.

 

[geetee]

"I have no proof, but as well as mixing those two ingredients, I was told that the mild was topped up with the dregs from the other overflowed beers. We'd have to be talking about wooden casks here circa mid 60’s. Anybody know anything definitive?"

I worked in a Tetley's pub in Bradford for a couple of different landlords and it seemed to be common practice that the bitter dregs would go back into the bitter keg and mild and the occasional stout dregs would go back into the mild keg.

I worked as a relief bar manager for S&N during the 80's and had to manage lots of pubs while the manager was on holiday. The practice in those days was to keep the beer from the drip trays and where possible put back into the cask beer as it was more difficult to add back into bright beer tanks (but not impossible). There was not many cask beers about in those days but S&N had McEwans 80/-, a lovely beer that I drank and I made sure none went in whilst I was there but it was common practise.

The worst I ever saw was one pub in the centre of Newcastle ( Hotspur) where the dregs, 1- 2 pints, were put on the cold shelf overnight for the pot collector (a local alcoholic) to drink the next day. Again I made sure he had a fresh pint and not yesterdays dead lifeless beer, not sure if he was all that bothered though!

 

[geetee]

I've also read that breweries top up their brite tanks, and only remove a certain proportion, before topping up again. They use the same beer, but I guess this technique gives a consistency to the taste, and if there is a change, it is a gradual one.

Again, confirmed, the bars I used to work in had 5 barrel tanks (180 gallons) and we would get through 1.5 a week for Newcastle Exhibition. I have known managers to switch to a new tank when the old one is approaching last 30 gallons and getting a bit flat and sales dropping. When there was enough space in the new tank then connect the old tank to and blow the beer across with gas. It freshened up the old beer and allowed the tank to be cleaned for next delivery

 

[Steved53]

Again, confirmed, the bars I used to work in had 5 barrel tanks (180 gallons) and we would get through 1.5 a week for Newcastle Exhibition. I have known managers to switch to a new tank when the old one is approaching last 30 gallons and getting a bit flat and sales dropping. When there was enough space in the new tank then connect the old tank to and blow the beer across with gas. It freshened up the old beer and allowed the tank to be cleaned for next delivery

I'm showing my ignorance here, but are you saying that pubs had brite tanks, and had bulk deliveries of beer into them?

I thought it was only the breweries (or brewpubs) that used brite tanks, and conditioned their beer in them for later filling of kegs, or in the case of brewpubs, possibly serving directly from the brite tanks.

 

[geetee]

I am talking about 1980s where the pubs I worked in were almost exclusively bright beer delivered weekly by a tanker, 180 gallons of McEwans , Scotch ale, Newcastle Exhibition and 90 gallons of Harp lager each week. These volumes dropped off in th 90s and pubs moved over to keg beer with the large tanks taken out and then later cask started to reappear.