Archive for category Beer
Beer Review – The Master Pilsner
Posted by bradinator in Beer, Beer Tasting, Japan, Photography, Travel on July 28, 2010
Name: Asahi, The Master Pilsner
Origin: Japan
Style: Pilsner (5.5%)
Appearance: It pours with a medium head, that has decent retention. Its a dark gold, clear colour.
Taste: The aroma consists of copper and grasses. This is a very bitter beer, with strong herbal flavours, some earthy notes. It finishes bitter and ashy.
Mouth Feel: A sharp, strongly carbonated mouth feel. Light bodied.
Final Thoughts (2.0 out of 5): As far as canned pilsners go, this is no master.
Homebrew – Moved to Secondary, added oak chips
Posted by bradinator in Beer, Home Brewing on July 25, 2010
The lid on one of my plastic fermenter buckets is not the best. It does not make a seal so I am always hesitant to leave my beer in it for longer than a week. This is a good reason to move my beer to the secondary carboy, which will give me a cleaner looking final product.
I decided to take this as an opportunity to pitch 1/2 oz (about 10g) of french oak chips I had sitting in my bag of ingredients. I could not begin to guess how old they are, but being wood I doubt they go bad.
The gravity reading was a perfect 1.010. By the time I return from Japan this beer will be ready for bottling… Though I doubt I will have the energy to do this after the long flight….
Beer Review – Victoria Bitter
Posted by bradinator in Beer, Beer Tasting, Hiking, Photography on July 25, 2010
Name: Victoria Bitter
Origin: Australia
Style: Lager (4.56%)
Appearance: A dark gold lager that pours with a very short-lived small to medium head.
Taste: The aroma is mostly metallic and copper-like. VB is a very light tasting beer, with most of its flavours coming from its bitter, herbal hops. There are some very subtle grain-like notes. It finishes bitter and metallic, with a very short aftertaste.
Mouth Feel: A medium carbonated beer with a light body and short-lived aftertaste.
Final Thoughts (2.5 out of 5): This is a very plain-Jane lager. It’s not bad and its actually a very easy drinking and refreshing beer, but it lacks character. Still, its leaps and bounds better than Fosters. I gave it a +0.5 because it really hit the spot after spending the day in the sun on top of Old Goat Glacier.
A veiw of the valley carved by an Old Goat
Beer Review – St. Peters Ruby Red Ale
Posted by bradinator in Beer, Beer Tasting, Photography, Travel on July 23, 2010
Name: St. Peters Ruby Red Ale
Origin: England
Style: Ale (4.5%)
Appearance: True to its name this beer is a copper like, red-brown, with a short lived medium head.
Taste: It smells like copper and caramel. There are some notes of citrus initial, becomes more pine-like as it lingers on the tongue. There is definite notes of copper in the beer. Finishes bitter and ashy.
Mouth Feel: A sharp, medium body ale. Not filling in the least.
Final Thoughts (4.0 out of 5): Something can taste of copper, citrus and pine and still be enjoyable.
Brew Day – Mild Manner PM
Posted by bradinator in Beer, Home Brewing on July 19, 2010
It feels like its been a very long time since my last homebrewed beer. So before I leave on vacation I figured I would get another English Mild ready. By the time I come back it should be ready for bottles and shortly thereafter ready for drinking.
Here is the recipe
- 3.75lbs of LME (Draught)
- 1 cup of Light DME
- 1 cup of Demerara Sugar
- 1/8lbs of Black Patent Malt
- 1lbs of Vienna Malt
- 0.5lbs of 2-Row Malt
- 0.5lbs of Brown Malt
- Tettnanger Hops @75min
- Liberty Hops @75mins
- 1/2tsp Irish Moss
- 1/2tsp Yeast Nutrient
- 11g S-05 American Ale Yeast
As this was an attempt at a partial mash, I sparged the grains as best as I could though I doubt I really gained much extract from this attempt. The sparge was done at 80c, for 30 minutes. According to Beersmith my efficiency is still below 40% which is terrible.
Everything else went according to plan. Pitched the yeast dry at around 26c. Original gravity was 1.036.
Beer Review – Badgers Golden Champion
Posted by bradinator in Beer, Beer Tasting, Photography, Travel on July 18, 2010
Name: Badgers Golden Champion
Origin: England
Style: Ale (5.0%)
Appearance: A dark gold coloured ale, with a minimal head and very carbonated appearance in its glass.
Taste: It smelled of sweet citrus fruits. Like its aroma the taste is initially sweet and citrusy, mostly oranges. There are some small cracker-like notes. It finishes with a sweet orange aftertaste that is short lived.
Mouth Feel: Its very carbonated but neither sharp on the tongue, nor filling. A medium bodied, easy drinking ale.
Final Thoughts (4.0 out of 5): A deliciously fruity ale.
The quaint, yet popular town of Howth. Only 30 minutes by train for the Dublin.
Beer Review – Badger Golden Glory
Posted by bradinator in Beer, Beer Tasting, Photography, Travel on July 16, 2010
Name: Wells Bombardier Waggle Dance
Origin: England
Style: Ale (4.5%)
Appearance: A dark amber coloured ale, this beer pours with a minimal head and like so many other English ales, has a low life span (not that it matters at all).
Taste: Their is a very strong aroma of peaches and sweet apples. The initial flavours are sweet and peachy, with notes of melon. It becomes more malty and bread-like towards the end, finishing with a bitter, ashy aftertaste.
Mouth Feel: A sharp, strongly carbonated ale. It leaves a long-lived ‘coated’ feeling on the tongue which draws out the final bitter after flavours. Medium bodied.
Final Thoughts (4.0 out of 5): What it lacks in mouth feel, it more than makes up for in taste. A wonderful combination of fruity notes and more malty beer-like flavours, this is an excellent ale. My only real question is does it contain any actual fruits because this beer tastes strongly of them.
