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Review #15
Lillian’s Irish Red is an interesting beer. Not an ale but a lager so it is missing that beautiful ale fruitiness but it does make up for it in its sweet and clean profile. It’s a very easy drinker but lacks the complexity I tend to go for. 7/10
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Review #14
As much as I love Belgian Dubbels the Rochefort 6 just didn’t hit as hard as others I have tried. I prefer the Westmalle but wouldn’t be upset if I was served this beer. The Rochefort 8 is also a better beer in my opinion. 6/10
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Review #13
I have a lot of love for red ales and Smithwick’s Red Ale is a great representation for the style. They feel like a bridge between the pale refreshing ales and the darker brown ales or stouts with more complexity. This is a really solid beer that I had while hanging out with friends and think it’s a super easy beer to throw back and enjoy. Slight roasty darker flavors in the background but still very refreshing. 7/10
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Review #12
This is one of my favorite beers ever. It’s so sweet and malty and balanced. Samuel Smith’s Celebrated Oatmeal Stout absolutely should be celebrated. 9/10
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Review #11
Boddington’s Pub Ale is my first non-Guinness nitro canned beer. Interestingly smooth and creamy. Crushable to the highest degree. Not a ton going on in terms of complexity but a solid middle of the road beer. 6/10
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Review #10
I’ve had Chimay White on tap before and enjoyed it but think it’s better from the bottle. Maybe a yeast thing not sure. Love all things Chimay lol. 7.5/10
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Review #9
Samuel Smith is one of my favorite breweries. Their Nut Brown is a beer I’ve had a number of times and it never ceases to amaze me how balanced and tasty it is. This time around I got some strawberry notes which was surprising. Smooth, malty, not too heavy, complex and delicious. Great beer for a decent price. Soft 8/10
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Review #8
I wanted to try something new and found a can of Theakston’s Old Peculier at my favorite beer shop. Unbelievably delicious. Extremely malt forward with almost no hop character. Little carbonation but definitely something I will be purchasing again. 8/10
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Review #7
I admit, I bought a pack of the four different Chimay brews and got the chalice with it. Chimay Doree is a pleasant beer. Not a TON of character but remarkably drinkable. Way less alcohol than the rest of the Chimay line (makes sense given it is a Patersbier or single) 7/10
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Review #6
This is not my first time drinking La Chouffe. I am a huge fan of this beer and often buy it around Christmas. The weather was perfect and I drank this beer with my window open, enjoying the notes of clove and banana, while reading. 8/10
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Review #5
I am beginning to realize trappist ales are my favorite. This is a sensational beer. So fruity and balanced. Sweet and bright. 9/10
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Review #4
Went to a local brewery in Fishtown and tried their Blond Abbey. Insanely crushable. Source Urban Brewery will see me again this summer. Very light bodied but great ale flavors with the fruity esters taking over. Tiny bit of a yeasty after taste but otherwise worth the short trek. Also insanely good price for this beer. 6/10
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Review #3
Had a draft Chimay White. So smooth and so delicious. Not my favorite but definitely something I’ll return to. Only 9 bucks??? 7/10
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Review #2
Grabbed a Westmalle Dubbel and wow. This might take the cake as one of my favorite beers. Strong dark or dried red fruit flavor. Maybe some caramel as well. Beautiful color too. 10/10
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Review #1
Just tried a Leffe Blonde and absolutely loved it. Tons of clove and a bit of banana, perfectly balanced and greatly enjoyed on a warm summer evening. 8/10
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Brew #1 Kermode
May 4 2024
I decided to take some time to brew a blonde ale. I should have it wrapped up in early June just in time for the heat. Fingers crossed it turns out!
Idea was to have 2 gallons after the boil but ended up with just under 9 quarts. This means my final gravity was lower than I wanted but I get an extra quart of beer so I can deal with that trade off.
Grain bill:
89.6% 1285g Briess 2-Row (1.8° L)
7.5% 107g Briess Caramel Malt (10° L)
2.9% 42g Crisp Amber Malt (27.5° L)
Hops:
4.6g Cascade at 60min
3.5g Kent Goldings at 15.5min
Yeast:
1 pack of Wyeast 1056
Mashed for an hour at 155°F, raised it to 169°F for the mash out, and then boiled for an hour. Added my hops at the times above and then at 10 minutes left in the boil I added 1g Irish Moss and 1/4tsp yeast nutrient. My pre boil gravity was 1.029 and my starting gravity was 1.037 (.004 less than I wanted) so if this ferments down to 1.010 I’ll get a 3.5% abv beer. I really wanted 4% but that’s okay. Smelled and tasted great after the boil and it’s sitting in my fermentation chamber (mini fridge with an Inkbird hooked up) at 62°F. I'm hoping this lower temperature setting will give a more crisp and less ester forward flavor.
May 5th, 2024
Been close to 24 hours and already seeing some activity. Hoping to have the fermentation and cold crash finished at the 2 week mark. Then I’ll do some cold-side finings and bottle condition for a few more weeks! Hoping to crack one open the second week of June!
May 7th, 2024
I noticed a dramatic reduction in activity in my airlock today and decided at the almost 100 hour mark to do a gravity check. Opening the fermenter I was hit at first with fusels but once those reduced the smell of the green beer (post first fermentation) was quite nice and almost reminded me of pale ales I've tried in the past. The color was very light (SRM 2 or 3) which is lighter than I had thought it might be but that might change after it is racked off the lees and bottled. The gravity read 1.011 (maybe 1.012) so I decided to ramp the temperature up to 69°F over the next few days to ensure full attenuation (conversion of sugar to alcohol). After some time I'll check the gravity again and if we are down to 1.010 I will start to cold crash.
May 9th, 2024
Checked the gravity again after 48 hours at 70ish°F. The beer has hit a gravity of 1.010! Going to give it another 24 hours in the Maturation phase (yeast has finished fermenting but not settled to the bottom/flocculated). I've read that your Maturation phase should be about the same length as your High Growth Phase. After that I'm going to slowly crank the AC up and start cold crashing the beer. Hoping to throw the gelatin in on the 14th and bottle on the 15th or 16th. Hoping to crack one open the week of the 9th of June.
Color and smell were pretty much the same. I am interested to see what color the finished product will be after cold-side finings and bottle conditioning.
May 15th, 2024
Just added the gelatin! Planning to bottle tomorrow, giving the gelatin time to get some of the haze out! There is a slight smell of green apple that worries me a bit but it could also be the Kent Goldings' aroma. The color appears darker in the bucket so I'm very interested in what color the final product will be!
May 16th, 2024
Bottling day! Siphoned the beer off of the trub (not well, ended up getting more trub in my bottling bucket than I'd care to mention). Let the beer sit in the bottling bucket with 2.25oz of corn sugar for an hour to let those solids settle a bit and then bottled. Got 14 12oz bottles and whatever the big one ends up being (probably 16oz). 3 weeks of bottle conditioning at 70ºF where whatever solids that are in suspension will settle out of the beer and carbonation will occur. Might try one on the 30th but will definitely have a solid taste on the 6th. Color ended up being around a 3/3.5 SRM.
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