Well after being bottled for almost 5 months, my Scottish ale isn't doing so well. Its lost almost all it's flavor. It's generically malty and not hoppy at all. Carbonation is very nice and 1/8" head remains even after 2/3rds of the glass is gone. It's not bad in any way, it's just not really great anymore. It is simply beer.
I have about 6 or so bottles left, so I'll finish those off and move on to something else. The honey wheat seemed to be well received last night. I'd like to give that one another try with some slight variations.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Newcastle Mini Keg
I like Newcastle beer. It's nice and malty and really fits the flavor profile I enjoy. The problem, they ship it in clear bottles and it skunks really quickly. Therefore, I only order it on draft. Most of the time that works out pretty well.
About a month ago I found a 5L mini keg with integrated CO2 at the grocery store. Price was a little high, but because it's in steel, it shouldn't be light oxidized. It was great. So convienient to just pour a glass whenever and it tasted fresh and wonderful. A resounding success.
Last week, I made a beer run, stopped in the local liqour store where they have a good selection and what do I see on the bottom shelf? That's right, a cold Newcastle 5L mini keg and it's $5 cheaper than it was warm at the grocery store. Boom, in my cart.
Tapped it last night. I am so dissapointed. It must have been improperly stored at some time. It's off. It doesn't taste fresh and has some wet cardboard smell / flavor going. Once again I'm going to have to get away from purchasing Newcastle unless its on tap. I'm so very sad.
I guess this means that I'm going to have to brew my own. The English mild I brewed is actually pretty similar in flavor. I'm sure a couple tweaks and some research and I could find a decent clone recipe. Seems a shame though. It's good beer when it leaves the brewery. Too bad that some retailers can't store beer in a way to help it continue to taste good.
About a month ago I found a 5L mini keg with integrated CO2 at the grocery store. Price was a little high, but because it's in steel, it shouldn't be light oxidized. It was great. So convienient to just pour a glass whenever and it tasted fresh and wonderful. A resounding success.
Last week, I made a beer run, stopped in the local liqour store where they have a good selection and what do I see on the bottom shelf? That's right, a cold Newcastle 5L mini keg and it's $5 cheaper than it was warm at the grocery store. Boom, in my cart.
Tapped it last night. I am so dissapointed. It must have been improperly stored at some time. It's off. It doesn't taste fresh and has some wet cardboard smell / flavor going. Once again I'm going to have to get away from purchasing Newcastle unless its on tap. I'm so very sad.
I guess this means that I'm going to have to brew my own. The English mild I brewed is actually pretty similar in flavor. I'm sure a couple tweaks and some research and I could find a decent clone recipe. Seems a shame though. It's good beer when it leaves the brewery. Too bad that some retailers can't store beer in a way to help it continue to taste good.
Monday, June 4, 2012
6/3/2012
Gravity was down to 1.009 so I bottled it up. 8 oz DME in 2 cups of boiling water for carbonation sugar, into bottle. 26 of the 12 oz bottles, 16 of the 16 oz flip tops and one bomber. It tasted just ok out of the fermenter, but I should mellow a little after bottle conditioning.
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