Batch #3 Tasting #1

It hasn't been that long since I bottled it, but I've been pretty impatient so I decided to crack open one of the second batch during Andy/Kitty/Emily's birthday and give it a try. Jevon and Cecilia shared the bottle with me.


Shanks' Belgian White Tasting

This batch was more my batch than anything else I've brewed so far. I took a general guideline but improvised a lot more whereas the other batches I pretty much followed a recipe kit. Because of that I was really anctious to see how everything turned out.

Date: April 5th, 2008

Time Since Bottling: ~1 week

Color: Golden with a hint of orange.

Clarity: Slightly cloudy.

Aroma: Not much of an aroma, but a kind of wheaty smell.

Head: I poured a 12oz bottle into 3 small glasses for tasting, so it is hard to build up head, but there wasn't much there. There was some, just not a lot.

Tasting Notes: This was a pretty early time to taste it, but I am pretty impatient. KNowing that, I didn't expect a whole lot going into it and I also knew that it would probably change a bit over time. To start off, it had a sort of watery taste. That is, when you first took a sip, nothing initially hit you about it. It wasn't bad or good, it just was sort of absent. Shortly after though, you start to taste it. It had a very wheaty taste to it. You could get a hint of the coriander and sweet orange peel, but not very much. It will be interesting to see in a few weeks where the taste sort of settles, but if everything were to stay the same right now I would use a little less wheat (I would throw in some other grain that is lighter in color) and quite a bit more coriander and orange peel. I didn't really taste anything that I could quite identify as the orange blossom honey, so hopefully I will be able too in a few weeks.

All in all, I think the beer tasted a lot better than my first two batches at this point in their lifespan. I don't know if that is saying much for the recipe, but I think my technique is getting better. It is definitely identifiable as a wheat beer when it hits you, but I hope that the coriander and orange peel become more evident so that it will be more distinctively a Belgian White.

Batch #2 Tasting #2

Just very briefly I wanted to comment on how I tried my second batch again (the one I thought I messed up on). It was a little bit better after sitting for a while. I tried a bottle that has been in the fridge for at least a week. It was a lot smoother and had a little more head (still not as smooth or as much head as I would like, but an improvement.) I will be interested to see where this goes in a little bit more time. Also, I think I might crack open my first beer of Batch #3 tomorrow...

Colorado Mojo IPA Tasting

I went out to Silvercreek earlier today for their Appy-Hour, and decided to try one of their drink specials:


Colorado Mojo IPA

Their specials list had a few beers I haven't heard of before, which is what I've been trying to drink lately. I went ffor this IPA pretty much because I've been into IPAs and PAs lately.

Date: April 4th, 2008

Color: It was pretty light if I remember correctly, more of a golden orangish.

Clarity: Just barely cloudy. Not entirely clear, but not much cloudiness.

Aroma: Considering it was an IPA, I was surprised at how little aroma there was. I could smell some hops, but it wasn't much of anything.

Head: It was a good head. There wasn't a solid amount to start out with, but not a ton or anything. What I was really impressed by was how long in hung around. It retained the head very well.

Tasting Notes: It was just so-so. The side of the bottle said it used Amarillo hops which I like so I was excited, but I just didn't get that much hop flavor from it. Sure it was there, but it wasn't as overpowering as I've had from other IPAs. It also had a bit of a funkiness that just sort of hung around with you after a sip. Not bad tasting or anything, but the malt just kind of hung in your mouth, and it wasn't what I really liked. I would have preferred a smoother finish.

Rating: 3/5

Schlafly Beer Tasting

Since now that I've updated a lot of my previous brewing history to this point, I won't have that much to write about. I decided to write about other beers when I have them. Today I was at Schnucks picking up some fish to cook, so I decided to get a 6 pack of a pale ale. I settled on:

Schlafly Brand Pale Ale

I went for this one because I wanted a pale ale, and I saw it had bottles I could reuse. That was pretty much the extent of what went into my decision.

Date: April 1st, 2008

Color: A light amber, almost orangish color.

Clarity: Clear

Aroma: Nothing that particularly hits you if you weren't smelling for it. There's a bit of hoppiness, but it is very subtly if there at all. A more malty smell.

Head: Pretty solid head. When I poured it I got about 1", and it sticks around a bit. It doesn't seem to go away completely either, there's a little bit left hanging round for as long as it took me to finish.

Tasting Notes: It's pretty solid. It's the kind of beer that I would enjoy anytime, but not necesarily go out of my way to drink regularly. It has a good malt flavor and a little bit of a hop kick at the end. It goes down smooth. It's a good Pale ale.

Rating: 4/5