Saturday, September 10, 2005

Taste Test Report!

OK everyone..I have finally performed the tasting of Howie's Celebration Bier and the New Castle Brown Ale Clone and the results are in!

Howie's Celebration Bier is a very nice tasting brew. The color is about the same as for a Pilsner Urquell and is very clear and transparent with no chill haze at all! It starts with a nose of a slightly malty aroma and a distinct flowery hop smell that lures you into taking your first sip! After taking that first sip, your taste buds seem to switch to at first a little bitterness, then the taste of sweet malt, and ends with a very nice dry sensation of a combination of orange corriander and malt and a slight bitter taste. Needless to say, you just have to have another gulp!
This is a recipe that I worked up on my own and will be tweeking it here and there until I am satisfied with it. I will be entering this batch in 2 different brew-offs in Oct and Nov as well as the 3 other brews that have been or are already completed. My neighbors love this batch too and I am trying my best to avoid them at this point! LOL!!
Also, this recipe is my first attempt to create a lager like beer from using ale ingredients, and I am right on target with it! The carbonation levels were perfect! It came out better than I expected, but like I said, a little tweaking is needed.

The New Castle Brown Ale Clone was interesting but came out a little heavy tasting. It has a very nice beige foamy head that is supported by a dark brown beer with ruby red highlights. I personaly think that the color came out a little dark. The clairity of the beer as excellent. It has a very malty nose and taste followed by a slight bitterness and ends with just a touch of sweetness. It is a good recipe that I will need to adjust for my system, as my mash efficency is very good and am getting anywhere from 75 to 83%. My last calculation came in at 80% and was performed while brewing this recipe. It is still a very good beer and once again, I find myself hiding out from the rath of "the neighbors" !!!

I did take a couple of pics of these brews, and I will post them on this thread asap, probably by Tuesday the latest.

Also, the IPA was finally racked and kegged and primed as of a week ago, and it looked absolutely awesome. It had the color of a shiney new copper penny, and my nieghbor and I tried a small taste and it was just great! This one will be a brew-off entry as well. I will be doing follow-ups with this one and the Strong Scotch Ale that is currently in the last week of secondary fermentation. I will be kegging and priming it next weekend.

Well, that's all I have for now...and remember: "cabs are cheap....lawyers are not!!"

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