The Beer Watcher: Hmmm, it’s beer….

Beer!

Well, here is is, real beer, the homebrew that I had a very modest part in. Actually, I first opened one of these babies late Wednesday night after we got back home after a long flight home from Florida. I mentioned it in an email to brewmaster Bill and fellow beer watcher Steve B., and Bill asked “Well, where’s the blog entry?”

Okay, here ya go.

A few more details, at least a rating according to this stuff on ratebeer.com:

  • Appearance: As you can see here in the picture, damn, it looks like beer. Real beer, the kind you might buy at a store and everything. When I opened it, it had a satisfying “thwack” sound when the cap popped off. Nice color (a wee-bit cloudy), nice head, and yes, the carbonation worked out great.
  • Aroma: Yep, smells like beer. A nice hoppy IPA, straight-forward though not over-powering at all.
  • Palate: I’m a little fuzzy on the directions for this category, but I guess I’d say smooth and gentle, full, rich, ah, beer-y.
  • Flavour: Who are these people at ratebeer.com, Canadians? Brits? What’s with the “u” in flavo(u)r? Anyway, it very much reminds me of Bell’s Two Hearted Ale, which was the goal of the recipe that we bought oh so long ago. There’s a sort of subtle sweetness there, and again, a pleasant richness.
  • Overall: Darn good beer, a brew that not only tastes great on its own terms, but it has what I would describe as a satisfying freshness. And hey, it doesn’t hurt that it’s homemade.

We’re having a party here in a couple of weeks, and it’s going to be touch and go to see if there is any of that beer left. Hmm, beer….

3 Replies to “The Beer Watcher: Hmmm, it’s beer….”

  1. Cloudiness is normal when you chill homebrew. It’s clear at room temps, though you usually want to drink it a little cooler than that. Doesn’t hurt it at all, as your review suggests. Just FYI.

    Myself, I’ve been too sick to try my batch. But I am looking forward to it!

  2. …shoulda said why…

    Could be a number of things. If it’s “chill haze,” that’s caused way back at brewing time by a chilling process that is not sufficiently fast. Hard to combat that one unless you have a fance wort chiller or a big-ass tub of ice water…maybe we can achieve this with our Weiss if we brew in warmer weather and can chill on the deck or in the yard.

    The haze could also be due to residual starches due to our specialty grains. Nothing much to do about those.

    Otherwise – there you have it. A bit couldy. But darn tasty.

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