Saturday, 27 September 2014
Friday, 26 September 2014
Countdown to the EuroBeerRoadTrip
On Saturday we (3 middle-aged men who really should know better) pick up the rented motorhome and head in the general direction of Belgium. That's up, turn right and then down again.
What could possibly go wrong?
O ye of little faith!
the distance. 10 countries in 10 days? Piece of cake.
In Training
Ah, the abject beauty of a ridiculously strong Belgian ale. Last one to Bruges is a big girl's blouse. Hurrah!
Monday, 4 May 2009
Coopers Wheat Beer - Holmesgaarden
I'm well overdue for a new brew and now that I've cleared some space in the garage, I mean MoltenHops brewery, I can finally get some beer on the go - just in time for the barbecue season. This time it's another Coopers extract; Wheat Beer from the Thomas Coopers Brewmaster Selection. This is the same range as the Pilsener that became my successful "Juborg".
I've plumped for a wheat beer this time to see how close it can be to the gorgeous ales I used quaff when I worked in Belgium all those years ago.
Here's the brewing notes:
2/5/2009
Extract BBE: 4/6/10
Yeast: Coopers 14008W
External temperature: 10 degrees
Fermenter temperature: 24 degrees
OG: 1035
3/5/2009
8am - Bubbling every 15 seconds. I was expecting better than this so I give it a shake .
Fermenter temperature: dropped to 22 degrees. I drop the brew belt a little.
10am - Bubbling every 6 seconds. That's better.
11:30am - Every 3 seconds!
1pm - 2 seconds!
4:30pm - Woohoo! Every second!
10pm - Every second. Still going strong!
4/5/2009
7:40am - Slowed to every 3 seconds.
Fermenter temperature: 22 degrees still. I drop the brew belt a little more to the 10 litre line.
3pm - Sorting and rinsing bottles. Bubbling slowed right down. Not much krausen.
5/5/2009
8pm - Hardly any bubbling. SG: 1014 so I guess that it's now reached secondary fermentation time.
6/5/2009
7pm - SG: 1012
9/5/2009
Sterilized all bottles - 20 x 740ml PET, 24 x 450ml Grolsch, 8 x 330ml Cobra and 3 x 500ml Buccaneer. SG still 1012 so that's stable for 3 days now.
I've plumped for a wheat beer this time to see how close it can be to the gorgeous ales I used quaff when I worked in Belgium all those years ago.
Here's the brewing notes:
2/5/2009
Extract BBE: 4/6/10
Yeast: Coopers 14008W
External temperature: 10 degrees
Fermenter temperature: 24 degrees
OG: 1035
3/5/2009
8am - Bubbling every 15 seconds. I was expecting better than this so I give it a shake .
Fermenter temperature: dropped to 22 degrees. I drop the brew belt a little.
10am - Bubbling every 6 seconds. That's better.
11:30am - Every 3 seconds!
1pm - 2 seconds!
4:30pm - Woohoo! Every second!
10pm - Every second. Still going strong!
4/5/2009
7:40am - Slowed to every 3 seconds.
Fermenter temperature: 22 degrees still. I drop the brew belt a little more to the 10 litre line.
3pm - Sorting and rinsing bottles. Bubbling slowed right down. Not much krausen.
5/5/2009
8pm - Hardly any bubbling. SG: 1014 so I guess that it's now reached secondary fermentation time.
6/5/2009
7pm - SG: 1012
9/5/2009
Sterilized all bottles - 20 x 740ml PET, 24 x 450ml Grolsch, 8 x 330ml Cobra and 3 x 500ml Buccaneer. SG still 1012 so that's stable for 3 days now.
Friday, 24 October 2008
Betty Stogs and Andrew Ridgeley. It can only be...
...Falmouth Beer Festival 2008!
Last night I died and went to heaven. Well, Falmouth actually. It was the "sponsors night" of the 2008 Falmouth Beer Festival and my mate (Graham who happens to run my local) and myself were guests of Skinners Brewery, one of the sponsors. Even better than that the owner himself, Steve Skinner, very kindly picked us up, gave us unlimited beer tokens to sample as many ales as possible, and took us home again afterwards! Result!
After picking up the larger-than-life-itself Betty Stogs on the way, (the great Fred Thomas in drag - top bloke, er, bird, er...) we headed towards the Falmouth Princess Pavillion - venue for the best annual beer fest in the county.
It was hugely busy and we just gaped at the vast amount of ales surrounding us. Beer heaven. Tasting glasses and programmes in hand we steadily, and then not-so-steadliy made our way around the different regional sections (Cornish ales, Up North ales, Down South ales, Celtic beers etc).
Sophie, Graham's Skinners account manager, kept us topped up with beer tokens. Whilst sampling the lovely Scotts 1816 from Copper Dragon I seem to remember that Andrew Ridgeley (for it is he, a keen CAMRA member apparently) did try to jokingly blag some of our tokens from Sophie but to no avail - she was far too loyal to us!
In the table below I've listed most of the beers we tried with the official ale festival description followed by our own comments made on the night. I think that we've created a new beer rating scale as you'll see. The late, great beer writer Michael Jackson would turn in his grave!
By the way, big thanks to Steve Skinner for a great evening!
Last night I died and went to heaven. Well, Falmouth actually. It was the "sponsors night" of the 2008 Falmouth Beer Festival and my mate (Graham who happens to run my local) and myself were guests of Skinners Brewery, one of the sponsors. Even better than that the owner himself, Steve Skinner, very kindly picked us up, gave us unlimited beer tokens to sample as many ales as possible, and took us home again afterwards! Result!
After picking up the larger-than-life-itself Betty Stogs on the way, (the great Fred Thomas in drag - top bloke, er, bird, er...) we headed towards the Falmouth Princess Pavillion - venue for the best annual beer fest in the county.
It was hugely busy and we just gaped at the vast amount of ales surrounding us. Beer heaven. Tasting glasses and programmes in hand we steadily, and then not-so-steadliy made our way around the different regional sections (Cornish ales, Up North ales, Down South ales, Celtic beers etc).
Sophie, Graham's Skinners account manager, kept us topped up with beer tokens. Whilst sampling the lovely Scotts 1816 from Copper Dragon I seem to remember that Andrew Ridgeley (for it is he, a keen CAMRA member apparently) did try to jokingly blag some of our tokens from Sophie but to no avail - she was far too loyal to us!
In the table below I've listed most of the beers we tried with the official ale festival description followed by our own comments made on the night. I think that we've created a new beer rating scale as you'll see. The late, great beer writer Michael Jackson would turn in his grave!
By the way, big thanks to Steve Skinner for a great evening!
| Beer Name | Official Tasting Note | My Tasting Note |
|---|---|---|
| Blackawton Cornish Gold (4.1) | Light golden ale fruity with a hint of vanilla. | Gold, bit bland. |
| Coastal - Golden Hind (4.3) | Classic style of India Pale Ale using four different varieties ofhop. | Ace! |
| Penzance Brewing Co - Gopher Gold (4.9) | Light golden hoppy ale brewed with lager hops. | Good. |
| Ventnor - Pistol Night (4.4) | Flowery hoppy bitter. | Shite! |
| Church End - Vicar's Ruin (4.4) | Straw coloured with initial bitterness softening to a delicate maltfinish. | Bit farmy. |
| Copper Dragon - Scotts 1816 (4.1) | Well-balanced copper coloured bitter with a dry hoppy finish. | V nice. Andrew Ridgley! |
| Kelham Island - Pale Rider (5.2) | Full bodied straw coloured pale ale fruity hoppy with a wellbalanced finish. | Little bitter. Nice though. |
| Woodlands - Bees Knees (4.5) | Light coloured beer laced with honey. | Honey. Got better. |
| Purple Moose - Snowdonia Ale (3.6) | Golden refreshing bitter with citrus fruit hoppiness in aroma andtaste. | Ace! |
| Barum - Breakfast (5.0) | Smooth tasting premium ale. | Nutty shite. |
| O'Hanlons - Port Stout (4.8) | A black stout with added port. Winner of many medals. | Lovely Jubbly. |
Sunday, 5 October 2008
First taste of Juborg
Right. First taste of my new brew. I suppose I could call these my "tasting notes" but that seems a bit strong. "Observations" maybe.
It wasn't stored cold though but I don't know if this will make a difference. Opened up and slight "Psst!" and poured pretty damn clear.
I just had a Grolsch so it's interesting to compare. My Juborg has that "fuller" flavour that's could be described as "fruity" I suppose (if I had half a clue about these things which I don't). This is an attribute that's not normally associated with lagers but since I prefer fruity and flowery beers like Skinners Ales then I'm very happy with the outcome.
Poured the second half of the bottle into a frosted glass which gave it a nice little white head which didn't last too long but it is a lager after all.
Tasted cold it loses a bit of its fruity taste but keeps its bitter aftertaste. That's bitter as in hops and not as in a bad way. Not too disimilar to the Grolsch I've just had actually. Oooh. Get me.
All-in-all I'm pretty damn happy with my second lager homebrew. Job's on.
It wasn't stored cold though but I don't know if this will make a difference. Opened up and slight "Psst!" and poured pretty damn clear.
I just had a Grolsch so it's interesting to compare. My Juborg has that "fuller" flavour that's could be described as "fruity" I suppose (if I had half a clue about these things which I don't). This is an attribute that's not normally associated with lagers but since I prefer fruity and flowery beers like Skinners Ales then I'm very happy with the outcome.
Poured the second half of the bottle into a frosted glass which gave it a nice little white head which didn't last too long but it is a lager after all.
Tasted cold it loses a bit of its fruity taste but keeps its bitter aftertaste. That's bitter as in hops and not as in a bad way. Not too disimilar to the Grolsch I've just had actually. Oooh. Get me.
All-in-all I'm pretty damn happy with my second lager homebrew. Job's on.
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