Gumbo, the ultimate Cajun food. It's really just a thick stew served with rice. This recipe uses chicken and sausage, but you can use anything that swims, flies, walks or crawls. Shrimp, alligator, turkey, ham, anything you like. This one is also a filé (sassafras powder) gumbo, which means no okra. If you prefer okra, you can add some, I just don't really like it that much if it's not fried. If you can't find filé in your area, it can be mail ordered, or you can leave it out, but the results will not be as good without it.

Okay, it's Friday afternoon. Time to wind the workday down and think about the weekend activities. What's going on this weekend? Football playoffs. That's what's going on. Bring on the chips and salsa, the chili, the buffalo wings, Hi-Def television, DVRs, Coopers homebrew, and lazyboy chairs (friends optional).

Speaking of lazyboy, I stopped by the local store on my way back from playing basketball and picked up a beer to try while I wrote this blog. Lo and behold, I found an India Pale Ale from Lazy Boy Brewing. As Matt Hendy quoted "It was their butterscotch ale mislabeled as India Pale Ale." This beer is loaded with diacetyl. So if butter is your thing, go for it. But I digress

Football. My predictions for the weekend are based solely on who I w ...

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This is the original spicy Buffalo chicken wings recipe from the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, NY. You can adjust the heat by adding more or less cayenne and Tabasco.

There are many Buffalo chicken wing recipes out there, but if you want to taste the "real" thing give this a try. The chicken wings are deep-fried in the original recipe, but the hot oven works fine for the home version.

Makes 6 Servings of Buffalo Chicken Wings (6 per person)

Please find the UPS ground shipping schedule from the MakeBeer.net warehouse. Please note that it takes one business day to process orders and that all transit times are businesss days.

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Check out this article on BBC which extols the benefits of alcohol.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8367141.stm

The new International series English Bitter was inspired by Adnams Bitter.  This beer emphasizes the roasted malts and lifts the aroma with Styrian Golding floral notes. What follows is a fairly accurate representation of Fuller's ESB.

Check it out!

Great Corona clone with Lime recipe (User submitted)

1 Coopers Mexican Cerveza kit

1 KG dextrose or even better Brew Enhancer 2

Made up to 23L

Kept in primary for 14 days at 18C

Day 10 added juice of one lime.  At the same time make up a homemade lime extract using the zest of three limes and two ounces of vodka in a cup, then covered with plastic wrap. The vodka extracts the green color and flavor oils from the lime zest which turns white after a few days. This extract smel ...

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A really strong beer (about 9-10%)

1 can Coopers Real Ale
1 can Coopers Unhopped Light Malt Extract
500 grams of Coopers Light Dry Malt Extract
2 kg Dextrose (2 boxes)
2 oz. Fuggles Hops
1 extra pkg. of Coopers yeast

Method:

1. Bring about 3 litres of water to the ...

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An easier way to empty the Home Brew can – this method removes the need for fiddling with the label and soaking the can in hot water. It also reduces mess with wet labels and glue.  A picture is “worth a thousand words”.

1. Remove the lid, yeast and instructions then stand the can upside down to allow the extract to drain from the end (even better, keep all cans inverted at all times).

2. Add dry ingredients and hot water to the fermenting vessel and dissolve.

3. Open the can all but the last centimeter or so, making a hinged lid.

4. Place the can over the spoon as per the picture and walk away to do other things (after about 10 - 15mins the can should be drained). Note: The extract is quite stable and may be left for short periods without risk of spoilage.

5. Rinse out the can with a small amount of warm water if you like.

6. The extract will be easy to mix with a ...

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"Wee heavy" is the colloquial term for the higher alcohol variant of a pale ale classification known as Scotch Ale. Compared to the commercial Coopers Pale Ale, this style tends to be higher in alcohol, somewhat darker, displaying complex malt/fermentation driven aromas (although, very little to no hop aroma) with similar or slightly higher bitterness. For me, the higher alcohol level makes it not really a a session beer but certainly good for a couple of glass while pondering the other 'scotch' things around the house: scotchtape, butterscotch, scoth whiskey, etc.

Scotch Ale

• 1.7 kg Thomas Coopers Sparkling Ale Home Brew Kit

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