Anyway, there hasnt been a review in a while so Im going to try to do my part to kick that up a bit.

From Last night...

The Bruery's Saison rue

A-Cloudy golden color with a pearly white thick head a little bit of
lacing a nice thin head lasts all the way through.

S-fruity, citrusy, sour aroma, a bit yeasty even.

T-crisp almost champagne like carbonation. Spicyness from the
rye up front, then a bit of bretty sourness and finishes with licorice
on the back end.

Overall I really enjoyed this beer, I will certainly have it again. I may grab another and cellar it for 1yr+ and compare.

4.5

I'm probably a slow pony on this: but if you guys havent had a beer thats been carbonated with nitrogen you need to get out and getchu some.

Anyway you get a really super creamy head, which everyone loves.

absolutely agree on this.thats why guinnes tastes so much better in the UK.i really love this fluffy, smooth and dense mouthfeel.

Do they use nitrogen for anything other than Guinness? I've had Guinness with nitrogen and its delicious, but I'm skeptical it would work well with anything but stouts.

I believe there may be bars that will use nitrogen to dispense other beers, possibly due to nitrogen being cheaper? At least I heard that tossed around at the NHC conference.

I'm going to be brewing my first all-grain in a few weeks. Any go-to tips or tricks that you all could impart would be great

There's always a handful of non-Guinness nitro beers on tap around most cities (at least around here). Most of the time it's a stout, but I've certainly seen pales, IPAs, etc, represented.

Although much less common for us in the US, if you like nitro, def try to find a bar that serves beer on cask. Somewhat similar qualities, but much better imo.

Anyone ever had a Devonshire White ale? It's a rare style I have just heard of made with eggs and flour - it's been described as somewhat of a liquid sourdough. As far as I can tell it's pretty much only homebrewed if made anywhere today.

Yes I love cask conditioned ales. Most of the brewpubs in my area have at least one cask conditioned ale available. Usually its a bitter, but sometimes its a british style IPA or a porter. One place had a RyePA on cask and it was terrific.

Take notes on everything. Have two thermometers, and don't worry at all about nailing your mash temp. Clean out your mash tun during the boil, don't tell yourself you'll get to it another day.

Have a small area sanitized so you can put things (siphon tubes, stirring spoons) down on it without worrying about instant contamination. I also tend to spill something every time during the brew process so some towels to mop it up.

Super +1 on cask and nitro around the city. Most places that carry it will just have "whatever beer on nitro". I've had ESB's, reds, stouts, and pale ales on nitro and nothing quite works like stout though.

I love Old Rasputin Rusian Imperial Stout in bottle and was intrigued to see it Nitro'd at my local bar. Tried it with excitement, never again! Ruined it, yes it had a head but I'll forgo that any time for the chemical taste it impaired on the pint.

+1.

Also, things work much better if you have two people doing it. Brewing solo is very possible, but it's much more fun, and a lot easier, if you have a friend to help, even if they don't know much. That's how I learned.

Also, if you mash in stainless as we do, then give it a few minutes after stirring to stabilize, in order to get an accurate temp. Stainless is a fantastic heat conductor but that doesn't always translate to the middle of the mash.


Was in the mood for something hoppy here recently, so had a Bells Two Hearted tonight with dinner. I've had it before, but that was before my pallette became more refined. Tonight, along with the hops, I tasted the fruitiness (tasted apricot to me) and I found much more appreciation for an IPA than I ever had before (stouts, porters, and wheats are my favorites in case you are a lurker and not a reg, and missed earlier posts). I still have to be in the mood for an IPA, but now I can see them as more than just a "hop slam". Part of this stems from the NHC, I'm sure--although I still have no desire for the hard hop candy they passed out

Get my free fridge Monday night. Will have kegerator in place by following weekend. This I vow.

Ha ha that's fantastic!

Make sure you have beer on hand BEFORE you start your boil. Drinking beer while making beer is the most critical step. I heard that if you don't you are 99% more likely to get an infection :O

Brewed a Roggenbier with 6% smoked Rye yesterday, things went ok except that I set my thermometer on fire while heating my strike water. Good thing I had an extra!

I didnt taste much of the smoke, I wanted a faint hint but I wasnt getting much if any, but I smelled a little during the boil so it may shine after some aging.

My efficiency was worse the normal but not by a ton, Id like to get this figured out but for now Im chalking it up to my crush and will hope to get my own mill down the road.

OG 1.050, was hoping for 1.056

great note. Did you think it was slightly boozy on the finish at all? I've generally loved it, but the booziness has been slightly bothering for me. I haven't aged it though and I bet that would balance it out a lot

Yea it was a little boozy on the back end but not smack you in the back of the mouth, that may have been what I mistook for licorice. But to my palate screamed licorice, lol.

I will be getting another bottle to age, probably grab it this weekend. Speaking of that Im going to make a run to Total Win in Delaware and load up on a bunch of beer to cellar. I have a small collection, maybe 7-8 commercial and 10-12 homebrews aging but I wanna beef it up.

Here is their price guide

I have about 8 or so beers that id like to grab.

the higher abv ommegangs should definitely age but from a quick look, there's more stuff for more immediate drinking right now. But, I will say, if you haven't had any jolly pumpkin stuff, drop some coin on them and enjoy

North Coast Old stock is awesome with a few years on it.

Any of the well known belgium quads and stuff should also be good.

Jolly Pumpkin and North Coast were on my short list. I already have a handful of Belgian Quads and few from Ommegang cellaring.

I was hoping they would have Conscecration and Damnation there, I can get it at my local bottle shop but its a pretty penny. $20 a pop.

I had no idea Total Wine was so far spread. We have some here in Central Florida.

Class ended tonight with a beer brewing session and a football game on TV. Life is tough.

What did you brew?

I'm gonna brew today ... not sure what, but hope to bang out about 20 gallons ... anyone have a favorite recipe they want to slide my way?