The format of my blog server has changed and I don't feel that it is for the better. I am always amazed how companies who have a very good product can't wait to improve it by making it worse. Google has been very good at this over the years.
Most fine wines and whiskey are blends, so why not beer? First, why do we blend wine and whiskey? It is to add flavors that are not possible to make in a single batch while trying to maximize some other flavor. This leads to the idea of combining different "batches" to get a mix of flavors that would be impossible to get in a single batch. Simple idea, right? If that is so, why haven't we heard of anyone doing it? Real question which only us homebrewers can answer. I some of our biggest wine companies did not "blend", they would have to throw out a lot of wine and they don't want to do that. Once a customer finds a wine or whiskey that they like, they would like to be able to buy a similar bottle again in the future. To do that most big wineries "blend" their wine. I know a lot of smaller wineries who do the same thing. Now for us homebrewers.
It is not as difficult to do as you may think. Some time back, I brewed a batch of homebrew that was too bitter and heavy for most people. I did not know what to do with it, so I decided to blend in some lighter bodied homebrew. I did not have any light bodied beer on hand at the time so here is what I did. I went to my local liquor store and purchased the cheapest beer that they had. It was like water, but that is what I wanted. I opened the bottles and dumped them into the Corny Keg with my heavy bodied beer. This is not a problem for us homebrewers because we can always add the CO2 later. What I found was that my rejected heavy bodied beer was now better than good, it was very good. Later, I tried to make this same blend in a single batch like we all do and it was just not as good as the blend. Many of you have kegs of more than one batch and of different recipes on hand. Try you hand at blending with you own homebrew or with that made by your friends. Also, don't hesitate to mix in some store bought beer. You will be amazed what you can end up with. You can also add other types of flavors to your homebrew after it is made. Many flavors just will not hold up if they have to go thru the hour of hard boiling. Give it a try and let me know what you think.
