Taste Tests - Brew 1, Brew 3

When I opened the fridge last Saturday, I wish I'd taken a picture. The entire fridge was filled with beer bottles, most with no labels. It was true a vision to behold. Many would say it was sad. Many would disagree. Personally, I took pride in the fact that not only was that fridge filled with beer that may actually prove to be not only drinkable but maybe even good, but I made it!

Yeah, sure, it was a kit. Whatever, I still made it, so shush.

So anyway..

Brew 1, the Red Ale
On the day the directions said it would be ready, it was... OK? It was not really much better than it had been on the last taste test, and we realized that the growlers were actually pretty much flat. It tasted like Apple juice that someone dipped bread in. The caps were bogus. I was rather disappointed in that fact. The bottles were somewhat better than the growlers. I'm finishing the last four bottles now actually, wondering what the last growler will be like, as it sits alone on the top shelf of my fridge in the basement. ...yeah, we're down to 1 growler and 4 bottles. We did extensive taste testing. :D

When I tell you that my digestive track was a little "off" the next day, I really think you need to read every possible interpretation of the description. The word "explosive" only begins to scratch the surface. It was like a trash bag that was inflated and filled with beef stew had exploded.

Now, honestly? I don't mind a few extra trips to the bathroom, and I, like every red blooded American male find flatulence hysterical. Fortunately I was by myself most of the day, so it wasn't an inconvenience. I should have recorded a few, cause... wow.

So over all, the Red Ale: not bad. It was a step above the fizzy yellow american "frost brewed" lagers, so that's a plus. However, I think if I had my choice, I'd go with a Bass Ale.

As far as the alcohol content, it seemed to be ok, if a little lower than most others of it's kind.

I would probably not buy that kit for the next Red Ale.

Brew 3, the Irish Stout
I realize it's a little early for brew 2 or 3, but the results of Brew 1 lead me to believe that 21 days isn't going to make too much of a difference from 17. It's Tuesday now, and Brews 2 and 3 are scheduled to open up on Saturday.

You may have already noticed, I didn't try anything early from Brew 2 tonight. So why Brew 3? You may remember from a previous post, Brew 3 is a little special, because my priming sugar got dumped, so in a beer induced haze, I guesstimated amount of sugar I needed, and used run of the mill confectioner's powdered sugar. I wanted to see how that was going.

While I have no "test samples" of what that particular kit could give you having used the right stuff, I have to say, I'm pleased. It's got everything a stout should have. I'm going to hold off on saying where it ranks among the "big boys" right now, cause it's still technically got another four days to sit, but I think it's safe to say that the powdered sugar isn't going to make a problem for it.

Brew 3.0 Irish Stout (5-22-10)

We've always been a big Guinness fan, so it was only a matter of time before we took a crack at the Irish Stout. Our little burner was still set up from Brew 2, so we got right to work.

The Irish Stout kit came with two different grains to steep. I regretted not getting a picture of the grain bag from Brew 1 so I made sure to get the picture this time. This bag would puff out black dust at the slightest touch. I held this very carefully until it was ready to steep, as I figured whatever was poofing out would probably be much better in the wort.

After adding the Extracts and hops, it started to TRY to boil over. It started to foam, boiled up to about an inch below the rim, and gave up. It settled back down to a nice rolling boil, and that was the end of it trying to get out of the pot.

That process however, was very interesting to watch. First, a think foamy skin formed on the top, and you could see the occasional bubble come up from underneath and get trapped under the skin. One by one, another bubble poked at the surface, until finally the boiling liquid broke through and started flowing over the skin like a new lava flow over rock.

It was really cool. Before long, there was a completely foam-less rolling boil, that smelled tremendous. It smelled much like molasses.

Pouring from the pan to the fermenter was difficult, as we purchased a strainer, which might be just a little but TOO fine. Getting this into the fermenter took a long time, because the strainer got clogged up rather quickly, and we had to keep rinsing it out.

I DID manage to remember to get a gravity reading on this one...

Brewing Gravity: 1.043 Which is right where the kit said it should be. (right on the low end. It's 1.043 - 1.045)

We also remembered to sample this wort. It was excellent. It was like a sweetened black tea with that slightly bitter aftertaste only hops can give you.