Thursday 22 January 2015

Scottish 80 - My first temperature controlled fermentation



When I was a beginner brewer, after I had learned the ingredients, the mash information and learned how to all-grain, after I had done a few all-grain brews and gotten my system down to repetition where each brew day went smoothly and I could churn out beers relatively easily, I thought that beer brewing was simple. Granted, it's easy to make drinkable beer, and not that difficult to make pretty good beer, but I never really admitted to myself that I wasn't making great beer. Sure, my stouts and IPAs were really quite good, but I chalk that up to having such strong flavored ingredients that they cover up many of the flaws of the brew. I still hesitate to say that I make great beer, but I truly think that as many have said before: controlling fermentation temperature brings your beer up by a big notch, and I am that much closer to making great beer.

Sunday 4 January 2015

Tasting - 12/12/12 Barleywine


I took a little break from writing for the winter break while I decompress from the last semester at university, but I'm back to writing for the blog now!

This beer had its genesis over 2 years ago now. I brewed it on 12/12/2012 as my last chance at brewing a beer for the line up of years and dates. It ended up being 12% ABV, and I bottled it a month prior to 12/12/13 so that I could drink the first bottle 12 months after making it. I didn't go overboard and make it with 12 malts or 12 hops.. I'm not that crazy, that's just poor craftsmanship for the sake of novelty.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...