Tina's Irish Not So Red: Tasting

I brewed an irish red awhile back and just got around to doing a tasting for here. It came out really good, I except it came out brown instead of red. The lovibond on roasted barley I used was alot darker than what was specified in the recipe. I adjusted for it but not enough, Next time I will pull it back a little more. Overall I am very happy with this beer. The roasted character might turn off non-craft beers drinkers but this is still one of the better beers I've ever brewed.

Appearance – A clear reddish brown and a creamy off white head. Lots of lacing on the glass even though the head dissipates a minute or two.

Smell – A slight malty aroma.

Taste – A balance of malt and roast. Just barely any hop taste there, just enough to balance the crystal malt. Very happy with this even though it came out more roasty than it was supposed to.

Mouthfeel – A dry medium bodied beer. The roast sits in the back of your mouth after you swallow. A  slight prickle from the medium-low carbonation.

Brewing Notes -  Tina's Irish Red Ale

Tasting: Dueling Wits

I brewed my Session by Session Witbier and split the batch half on strawberries and left the other half alone. I bottled them last week and the are already carbonated.  I will check back in a couple weeks to see if they matured anymore in the bottle. Both came out lighter than the picture looks, coming as you could wish for using extract. The teaspoon of whole wheat flour I added into the brew kettle as advised in Randy Mosher's Radical Brewing added a nice haze customary to Wits. Overall the strawberry version is my definite favorite. 

Appearance – Both have nice creamy white heads, the unfruited version staying and the fruited beer loses its head after a minute or two. Probably because of oils  in the fruit.

Smell – The nose on the unfruited version has a yeasty wheat aroma. The berried version is a yeasty berry.

Taste – This is where I wish I could of found indian coriander instead of the normal grocery store variety I used, it comes through with a celery taste instead of the bright citrus taste I hoped for. Still tastes like it should, I am just not a big fan of coriander. The strawberry beer is came out exactly as I had hoped, a bright berry, slightly tart taste with a biscuit yeasty background.

Mouthfeel – Light body with medium carbonation, but they should carbonate a little more hopefully. Dry and leaves the mouth wanting more, perfect for a summer beer.

Brewing Notes -  Session by Session Witbier

Tasting Honey Pilsner Ale

I popped open one of the Honey Pilsner Bottles to do a proper tasting.

Appearance: It pours a nice blonde with a white one or two finger head that immediately diminishes into a small layer of foam. The ale keeps nice strong legs in the glass as you drink it.

Smell: A strong almost foral quality coming from the honey. No other real strong smells.

Mouthfeel: A smooth feel with a little bit of bite from the carbonation. 

Taste: An immediate strong honey taste that is followed by nice malt taste that seems to disappear the farther you get into the glass. I think next time I would pull back on the honey to let the hops and malt flavors come through more.

Tasted and Bottled. Blueberry and Honey Pilsner

I have bottled all of the Honey Pilsner ale into both bombers and 12oz bottles. It came out to a final gravity of 1.012. This makes it an estimated 4.61% abv.
We also tasted the blueberry wine I bottled awhile back and it tastes complex and smooth, with a very fruity blush wine taste. The only thing I am not happy with, is a sulfur taste. But hopefully that will fade with time.

Bottled and Kegged the Amber Ale

I tapped one of the mini kegs of American Amber Ale. I split the 5 gallon batch between two mini kegs and bottles. So at this point its been carbonating with priming sugar for a week and then force carbonated over night. It was a Brewers Best brand kit.

It poured a dark amber color and a small tan head that diminished after a couple minutes. The ale has a nice mild aroma with the hops really coming through more than anything else. Mouthfeel is thinner than I'd like and is on the bitter side with no real strong malt taste coming through. But the beer is definitely young at this point and I'm excited to see how it matures. Hopefully the malt will come through as it gets older and the bitterness will diminish.