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!!"