General Cycling Discussion - What is the best beer for biking?

This may be just too off trek, BUT...

I am organizing a company department bike tour and I promised to bring some home brew for the apre' ride.

What do you think would be the best beer to brew up; dark, light, fruity, some special recipe?

It has to be the right beer for thirsty riders but something that will appeal to a large audience.

What kind of beer would you like to have at the end of a sixty mile day?

Personally I like Amstel Light. Next in line is Bass Ale, but that stuff is kinda expensive. Get something that will get everybody drunk after 2 or 3, then you will look like the best biker there!! HA HA
For those wondering, I got Amstel light for my birthday, and also, my dad's policy is,"if you don't learn to drink responsibly at home, where are you going to learn?"
So I drink, but no irresponsibly like most adults expect of teens. But then, I never did fit in with teens anyway.

I vote for a pale ale. Might be to bitter for some though. If so, try a Kolsh - German style ale - not as bitter, very drinkable w/o being watered down.

Just started drinking a batch. Shoot me an email if you want the recipe (it's all grain, but I have a formula to convert it to extract if you need it).

Cheers.

riderx@bcpl.net

Mike and Riderx,
Man, I want to be in YOUR bike club!

:beer:

Mmm. It all sounds good and reasonable so far.

Raymond, I wish you could join us as well. I'll toast to you. Anybody else want me to toast to them at the apre' tour party?

Rider X:
Sure, I would love the recipe. Please send it to me (e-mail or via the forum message network).

Fubar5, better wait 'till your dad get's transfered (along with your family) overseas before you start drinking. Drinking at 17 will get you in trouble in the States.

Oh well.
Toast to me mike!! And toast to Pete too, and you might not want to forget your doc, oscar.

Mike,
I didn't know I could get in trouble, I figured since my dad was always with me then everything would be ok, but I believe you, so I'll stop drinking till I'm old enough.
Thanks for lettin me in!!

I find a light bitter with a sg 4.3 -4.5 about right. Any stronger and it gets wobbly.
You can get bikes (from Denmark) specially made to carry barrels of beer around city centres from Brewry to pub. The barrel fits sideways inside the low recumbent-style frame.

Mike - I'll dig up the recipe and eMail you. Going to be brewing a belgian dubble next week.

Rainman - beer (especially homebrew) after biking is almost mandatory ;). I don't belong to a club, but I'm leading a ride next week - 23 miles (MTB) followed by a keg of the local Dunkle. Got to refuel after the ride, right?

Mike W. - I like the sounds of those bikes!

Fubar5, you are soooo right. Amstel Light is definitely the right brew. Okay, I haven't had any home grown brew, but I recently discovered Amstel Light at a conference last year, and that stuff is pretty damn smooth.

Man, I wish I was in your bike club, Mike! That sounds like a lot of fun. I'm sorely due for that stuff. I haven't done any solid drinking since November, so I'd say that I was due... :D

Mike,
where's your club, I will Join the club, Just give me the direction from Toronto, about the beer I would prefer a Molson Canadian, or Blue Light, I am with you 100% on beer drinking, after a good bike ride, although not to get drunk, just to quench the thirst..:beer:

Actually, Guys (that means you too, Technogirl), I am not part of a biking club. I just arrange tours/rides with friends and future friends. Maybe I should be be in a biking club, but ah well.

Our whole company is going to be off for a week in early summer, so I am trying to organize a bike tour for my department. So far, though, it is pretty skinny on the takers, so I might open it up to other departments.

I managed to score some very nice free lodging for us at the destination. There would be enough room for my department, but not the other departments, so I am in a quandry.

Anyway, BEER; oh that is the stuff after a hard ride. It must be the food value of the beer that makes it so good after a ride. I always drink plenty of water first before beer so that I quench my thirst first and then ENJOY a slow beer. Like Oscar says, you drink it for taste and enjoyment, and try to avoid getting buzzed.

Oh, yeah! The profuse perspiration of extended stenuous exercise causes loss of electolytes like potassium and sodium. Beer is an excellent source of fluid and electrolytes. At least that is what I used to tell my wife when I ran a lot. That's still my story, and I'm sticking to it. Don't bother to refute it with trivialities like chemical analysis. :)
MichaelW, here in south Louisiana, home of boiled crawfish and Mardi Gras, I could probably make money importing those bikes that carry a bottle of beer. Man, that's just a Cajun bottle cage.
Rainman

ok...i've got two things to say



first of all....i'm not impressed....cause now i want beer.....and i have an exam in 6 hours so i can't drink now.



and second of all.....beer is beer.....especially at the end of a sixty mile day.....any beer will be good when you`re tired like that....even puny light american beer would be good (i don't want to insult anyone...but american beer is really soft, i like good strong beer!)




that is all




gnein




once i saw a purple elephant with a bunny's tail....i was scared at first...but then i woke up and all was fine.

Right-oh Gnein! At the end of a day's ride the best beer is a cold beer to rinse off my dusty, pollen encrusted gullet. Now, maybe I'll start getting choosy come round two...

Well, this being Easter weekend and all, I had to start brewing for the bicycle tour that I am organizing for work.

Since the area we will be riding through is famous for it's fruit trees and since the trees should be in flowering bloom during our ride, I decided to make a beer that would reflect the area.

I made hopped apple cider (carbonated) and amber cherry beer. Both were made with juices from fruit of the area we will be traveling.

I've made both in the past and they are fantastic tasting.

Does that sound pretty neat?

Who wants to join us?

Of course! Only in spirit, as I live a bit far away...too bad!

Hey, if you're putting me on about the hopped cider and cherry-beer, after titillating my buds like that, you deserve nothing less than to...well, settle for really cheap beer.
:)

Not to big on the fruit beers myself. Ciders are all right, but they are pretty sweet for my taste. But, as I am a hop head I would be interested in the hopped apple cider. I assume you are talking about hard cider. How much hops and what type did you use?

RiderX, I know what you mean about sweet fruit beers. I don't think they are welcome on a dry throat after a long day's ride either.

I completely ferment my fruit beers "dry" so they are not sweet and use two different kinds of yeast to ferment most of the sugars. The fruit is mostly a bouquet.

As for hops, I use Hallertau which I grow organically in my backyard - bittering the beer just a bit more than the mass produced stuff, but not as much as most home or micro brewers.

This, I hope, will be delicious, nutritious, and refreshing to my bicycle touring friends.

-and, Pete, I'm talking the real deal here.

Has anyone ever had HEMP beer? I've had it once, and I really liked it. I don't drink very often, but if I had a choice I'd look for Rolling Rock...Mmmmh!

You are probably talking about Hempen Ale, made by our local MD company Frederick Brewing. Great summer time beer. They also do one called Hempen Gold.

http://www.fredbrew.com/

Guiness, It puts some nut in your balls. But when the funds are short, its all about horse piss beer and getting sh!tty.

I do not agree with consuming alchohol and driving or operating machinery. It impairs judgement, and dulls your reflexes. If you are going to drink do it when you are done whatever it is you are doing.

Hunter,

No one said anything about drinking and biking. It was Drinking THEN biking =)

riderx,
There was a beer that I tasted a few years back called Kentucky Hemp Beer. It was made from HEMP (which is illegal to grow in the Bluegrass State, but not illegal to make products out of...if that makes sense).
The company must have shut down; their homepage has shut down anyway.

Originally posted by Monkey Spud
Hunter,

No one said anything about drinking and biking. It was Drinking THEN biking =)

Nor did I. Go back and re read what I said.

Originally posted by mike
Well, this being Easter weekend and all, I had to start brewing for the bicycle tour that I am organizing for work.

Since the area we will be riding through is famous for it's fruit trees and since the trees should be in flowering bloom during our ride, I decided to make a beer that would reflect the area.

I made hopped apple cider (carbonated) and amber cherry beer. Both were made with juices from fruit of the area we will be traveling.

I've made both in the past and they are fantastic tasting.

Does that sound pretty neat?

Who wants to join us?
ME! ME!!

Gus, are you paying attention to the Brewmeister?

I'm a seasonal beer drinker. In the fall and winter, I generally stop in for a Guiness Stout when I have the chance. In the spring and summer I like a wheat ale called Big Rock Grasshopper. It's a little more refreshing than a stout.