Latest Taste Test

Well, my latest batch of beer matured in the bottle this weekend, so I popped a few bottles into the fridge. This is my Summer Ale, made from the kit which I bought at the brew store. I made some slight modifications to the package, as I am learning what does what in beer. For instance, I have been letting it ferment two weeks and then to settle for at least another week. Then, since my batch of Pale Ale came out so foamy, I cut back on the bottling sugar. This should reduce the amount of bubbles in the beer.

The Summer Ale turned out just fine. It is tasty and smooth, with no bad aftertaste, and it is clear, with no floaters. I think it tastes delicious, and may is close to the best I have made so far. I did particularly enjoy the Red Ale awhile back. This one also isn't as foamy as my previous brews, but I don't miss the foam as much as I did the time I thought I had messed up. I have learned that the amount of foam is a function of the bottling sugar and time in bottle. I figure the Summer Ale will be more foamy towards the end of the run.

I also finished off my last bottle of Brown Ale. This was the one that was designed to resemble Newcastle. At first, I thought it tasted better than Newcastle, but I came to a different conclusion after several bottles. I drank two bottles of Newcastle as a comparison, and the Newcastle was a bit more evenly flavored, and pretty smooth, like regular beer. It does have that dark beer taste, however. My Brown Ale had a syrupy background, although it lacked very little in the alcohol department. And it wasn't a chemical taste, but a sugary molasses-like taste. I'm not sure how I can avoid that in the future, because I did leave it in the fermenter for the required time.

At any rate, I have no beer in any stage of brewing, due to the summer temperatures. I do plan to pick up a kit here in the next few days, and start in on my eighth batch. I'm thinking of another Sumemr Ale, since it is warm out, but it's up in the air at this point.