Help with a recipe for a friend

[Llatour]

Hello everyone,
This is only my second post but I've been around for the last 8 months reading. I have my 10th batch in primary right now its a simple wheat beer. But now I need a little help with a recipe for a friend. I have a good buddy a former bud drinker that is now hooked on the homebrew. I brew it he drinks it and its a fun hobby for the both of us. Now for the problem after Dec. of this year hes not allowed to drink beer or anything with carbonation. Hes going in for stomach surgery. So im looking to brew him up a going away gift or a one last bang kind of brew. I want something to knock him off his ass. Im looking for any sugestions that would do him in.

Thanks
Rob

[Jordan303]

perhaps a wine or cider is needed?

sorry to hear about your friend

[BrewDog]

Depending on how much he likes hops, consider an Imperial IPA, or for something less hoppy, a DoppleBock (can you lager?) or a Belgian Trippel. All are great beers that taste like beer (he IS a recent BMC convert after all) and will knock you on your butt.

Whatever you make, let it age in secondary for a couple months at least or it will still be harsh.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[Mad Scientist]

Hmmm.....a barley wine would have just enough time to be ready by Dec.....will he ever be able to enjoy the malted barley goodness ever again?

[barleyburps]

For that time of year, I'd say maybe and imperial stout or a spiced christmas beer.

[Llatour]

Wow, thanks for the replys. My buddy is new to drinking the home brew. I started brewing this past dec. I only started because my uncle made some wine and came over for thanksgiven with it . The wine was good but It was more of a hard cider for the holiday season. I dont like wine so I looked into making beer and then I was hooked. I love the hobby. After bottleing 2 brews I was tired and went to cornys. Ok thats my story Now back to my poor friend. After mid dec. of this year the man cant have another carb bevarage. Its a shame because all hes had up until this past Feb. He Was a bud drinker the king of beer.>>haa . Now he loves this new world of brew but he cant enjoy it after Dec. I want to brew him up something thats going to knock him off his ass. I want it to be the last beer he drinks before hes done for life. I'll bring over 5gals. for thanksgiven and let him pound them down until his last day. He likes Octfest. Wheat beer but I know whatever i make he'll try and like. If not hes wife will finish it off. Im sorry if this a long post but Ive been drinking the Lemon Lingerie for about 6hrs. I need to finish off the keg for the next batch . Thanks eveyone i love this new life style. Its perfect for a married guy with kids that has a bunch of single friends.

Thanks
Rob

[Mad Scientist]

What is he ailment?

[barleyburps]

will he never be able to drink again?

For thanksgiving time, a spiced pumpkin ale might be nice.

[corkybstewart]

I don't know about what to brew for his last fizzy beer, but you should consider brewing a mead for him after his surgery if carbonation is the problem. There's lots of variety in the mead family and they are usually non-carbonated.

[Llatour]

MY buddys going in for gastric bypass surgery. His doc said after the surgery he cant have anything with carbonation.
Corky I'll look into something in the mead family. Do you have a good recipe, How long does a mead take?
Every recipe I find with a kick is a barley wine and I dont think it will be ready. Hes going in the first week of DEC. That gives me about for months to get it ready. If I dont find something I'll do a Oktoberfest for him.

Thanks Guys
Rob

[barleyburps]

whatever you end up making, I'm sure he will appreciate it and be left with fond memories.

[Llatour]

My buddys doing great now. He's down 125lbs as of today. He's down from 515 in Dec. I made him a few kinds of mead some cider and a lot of beer. I had had him good and drunk for about 6 months before his surgery. He loved the Oct.fest beer. He had a good rununtil the end. Now he likes to talk about making beer and things like that but he cant have it anymore. I feel i lost a brew partner or maybe just a good buddy that would drink anything when I said try it.
He said the next time he go's and see the Doc. Hes goingto find out if he can drink some kind of alc. brew maybe not a carb brew just a still cider or wine. If he can drink something still then I can help him out. Sorry everyone out there this is just me thinking out loud. I got a buddy who I opened up to a new world of brew and then it ended for him. Now I feel bad when we talk about it.

[dparsons]

Always nice to have a good friend.

[BrewGuy]

Charlie Papazian, in his book "The Home Brewers Companion", has a recipe for American Malta. It is a non-fermented malt drink that has malt, hops, and Irish moss. It is brewed similar to how you brew beer. I have not tried it, but you can always expect a good recipe from a Papazian book. I don't remember if he says to force carbonate or not.

[dparsons]

You can also brew beer and not carbonate it. The English like flat beer ... ;)

[Mad Scientist]

Like a cask ale....

[darylM]

Been doing research on English ale styles and found that the beer isn't flat but has really LOW carbonation. The max carbonation for English ale styles is 2.3 volumes. The mild I bottled is at 1.5 volumes. Typically American styles start at 2.3 volumes and goto 2.8 volumes.

You should be aware of this if you plan on serving English ales to your friend. BTW, I read your post and saw he lost 125lbs; good start to the rest of his life.