| Name | Erik Huntoon |
| Email Address | |
| Geographic Location | Naptown, Indiana, United States |
| Homepage | http://slayer420.spaces.msn.com/ |
Brewing Information |
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| Number of years homebrewing | 0 |
| Batch Size | 5 |
| Experience Level | Intermediate |
| Favorite beer style to brew | Undetermined |
| Tastybrew Journal URL | http://www.tastybrew.com/journal/Slayer420 |
Mini Interview |
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| My first homebrew... | Classic English Pale Ale kit from Brewer's Best I think. Beer turned out to be exceedingly good when finished but there was one major disappointment. Not realizing where 5 gallons comes to on my brew kettle, I guestimated and wound up with only about 4 gallons in the primary. Then of course lost beer racking, and when it was time to bottle, I only got about 3 1/2 gallons of beer. Minor irritation is the beer never got clear and stayed hazy. Not really a big deal, but always a distraction to me. |
| Homebrewing Story... | My first batch of beer went into the fermenter and the fermenter was stored in a spare room in the basement. By the second night, fermentation was really starting to take off. The next morning as I was getting ready for work, my dogs were going crazy standing at the stairs to the basement and barking like mad. After some coaxing I got them to slowly creep down the stairs to see what was the matter, and as they led me towards the spare room I began to realize. They were hearing the airlock on the fermenter "burping" behind the door and didn't know what it was. I opened the door and the airlock was bubbling away merrily and my oldest dog slowly crept towards it.. only to be scared back about 2 feet as it burped again. Quite an amusing way to start the day. |
| 3 favorite beers | 3 Floyd's Alpha King Hoegaarden White Ale Ballantine XXX Ale |
| Why I homebrew... | For an everyday beer, I like PBR, and that is cheap. But quite frequently I want to sit down with a quality ale or lager that has some bite, some real flavors, etc. Around Indy, those beers generally cost $7.99 minimum a sixer, and that means it is rare indeed that I treat myself to the finer pleasures. I am learning homebrew so I can handcraft beers similar to styles and brands I like and not file chapter 11. I also really like beers that have some spice, specifically winter ales such as Anchor Christmas Ale, and those run $10. Unfortunately around Indy, there is usually only about 2 maybe 3 of those winter ales that are really "spiced" with holiday flavors available and I would like to try to duplicate the efforts of the brewers that go out and try to make something really unique. Lastly I really enjoy beers in the Belgian style or German wheat, light and crisp with a citrus twang, but we all know what the cost of those is, and I am looking to experiment in that direction. I really want to play around with different styles of beer using fruit.. which is really something that is hard to find in the beer cooler at the liquor store. All in all, I homebrew to save money on the "quality" beers, but also to experiment with styles I like, or to make a style I am not as fond of in a way that I will enjoy. |
| Brewing Accomplishments | Brewed an Amarillo Red ale using 1oz of Northbrewer to start followed by 5 oz of Amarillo throughout the boil and another 1 oz of Amarillo to dry hop. That beer is absolutely fantastic and I am going to enter it into the Sam Adam's Longshot competition. (as much as I hate to part with 4 bottles of it) |
| Favorite Online Beer Site | http://www.tastybrew.com |
