My Soldier-Brother... Beer for soldiers

[huaco]

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So at the family gathering today, my brother stands up and makes an announcement that his Guard unit will b re-deployed a third time in the last 8 years to fight the war on terror. The first two were to Iraq. This time, he is going to Afghanistan. He leaves for training in February and will leave for the battle field in May.

I would love to have him over for a brew day some time before he leaves. My plan is to make something that will keep/age 'till he and his guys come home. I will probably bottle all this brew and build some type of wooden crate for 6-packs with his unit logo on them.

Now, most of these guys are probably drinkers of yellow fizzy water. Anyone have suggestions on what I could brew? I just think it would be really great if my brother could give his guys a 'welcome home' 6-er that he helped brew before they ever left.

I know that most homebrew wont last that long, but the bigger the beer, the longer it tends to last, right?

[perogi]

Take him and his crew to a beer bar and have them try a bunch of different ones - see if they like one style over another. Converting someone from Bud/Coors to a super dark beer will be difficult but if they like an amber or something, that might be easier.

Have them stop over in DC to knock some sense into those imbeciles on Capitol Hill

[Sparky]

I have a good Pils/lager recipe that would be a great stepping-stone for those fizzy beer drinkers.
It definitely has more flavor and punch than those fizzy types. Would be a good one to brew with and share later.
Let me know if you want me to post it.

[huaco]

My concern is that a session beer would not be good after 13 months from being brewed and deployed. I am leaning toward a Barley Wine. However, I would need to brew 2 batches on my Keggle based system to make enough for him to share with all his soldiers.

[Likwid]

You can look into the first beer I ever made.

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/grand-cru-all-grain-kit.html

I recommend this for a few reasons

1. Its a big beer. It says to age it for 1+ years. I aged it 6 months
2. Me plus my friends were mainly light beer drinkers (I had a blue moon from time to time). We all loved it.


To this day I still get asked to remake this beer by my light beer friends.

[OMJ]

I think a big Belgian Trippel or something like that would be good for a group that likes fizzy yellow water. Barley wine while awesome is not for everyone.

[Sparky]

I like the Barleywine or Belgian Double/Triple way to go, but may be too over the top for fizzy beer drinkers.
How about a black IPA, like Stone 15th Imperial Black IPA? Would be able to hold up for a year and is quite drinkable.
Has the grain and hop bill to last.
There is a recipe on HBT.

[Tungsten]

I think you could definitely get away with an amber or something similar. Yes, it's a full year... but it's only a year. As long as you keep the bottles in cold storage for the year, I think you will be OK.

What I would do? If you have the room, brew an amber, and brew a barleywine or grand cru or tripel. Age both... if the amber is still good, give that to them and you've got some terrific aged beer on your hands. If the amber is no good, give them the tripel.

[huaco]

Wow... not quite sure how this 2 year old thread resurrected from the crypts of forum history. Looks like a post from Alison3492 drove it back to the top.

If you would like to know more about the progress of this idea and the 501(c)(3) Non-Profit that it has evolved into, please visit www.HB4H.org You can also find us on FaceBook by searching for "HomeBrew 4 Heroes" Like the page and you will stay up to date on our happenings!

Thanks,
Huaco - Founder, HomeBrew For Heroes

[Tungsten]