I am less than two weeks away from spending a week in Orlando at Walt Disney World. The sacrifices I make for my daughter…
Scottish 60 Shilling and Dry Irish Stout
I have two batches of beer in carboys right now: a Scottish 60 Shilling and a Dry Irish Stout. Nothing to really say about either of these two right now except for the fact that the Dry Irish Stout went crazy the first couple of days of fermentation. How crazy? The krausen blew the bubbler airlock off the rubber bung. Wow! Everything appears normal.
Apparently, there is some urban myth going on with regard to porter and stout as styles of beer. This is one of the things that I dig about beer. There is little if any consensus about the history of beer that it makes for fun bar discussions.
Petitie Saison d’Ete
Damn. This beer really turned out well:
I could easily call this a smooth drinking beer, but that would be selling it short. The description from the good folks at Northern Brewer said that it would have pungent hop aroma, but I get none of that. Maybe that is a side effect of hitting the Surly Coffee Bender a little heavily lately. It might also have something to do with the slightly understated hop profile of Saaz and Styrian Goldings hops.
Unlike some of the stronger beers I have been drinking lately, this saison has a relatively mild level of alcohol and the bitterness is really restrained. As I develop my homebrewing skills and hone my palate, I have come to a few conclusions about my personal preferences:
- Restrained alcohol (< ~6% ABV) is better than the stronger beers (> ~8% ABV)
- Hops are a good thing, but the impact needs to be used with a judicious hand
- Color is irrelevant
Those are my beer truths. I am sure things are going to evolve as I continue to push myself as a homebrewer.
My Green Misadventure 