Saturday, December 1, 2012

BEER SAVES MAN FROM AVALANCHE!!


We're all familiar with the term "breaking the seal", but for those who are not, it has nothing to do with getting the slippery buggers to confess. God knows the water-boarding doesn't work. Of course, it is the point in which you first take a pee after a round of drinks, and thereafter are peeing every 15 minutes for the rest of the night like it’s your job. Typically, it’s a real pain in the arse —the exact process one would never, ever expect to end up saving your life.

But, lo and behold, a Slavic gentleman named Richard Kral was driving through the Tatra mountains five years ago when his Audi was swallowed up by an oncoming landslide (serves him right I say for driving on a ski field).

Kral, realizing that digging his way out required more room for snow than his car offered, made use of all the beer he had stocked in his back seat by drinking it like there was no tomorrow (well, for him there wasn't) by pe
eing on the snow piles he packed under his windows to melt them. Blessed with intelligence from training his brain to kill only the weak brain cells by drinking lots of beer (therefore making his brain smarter in the process through survival of the fittest brain cells), he correctly deduced that drinking the beer would have the energy (beer's gift) from the beer metabolised into energy hence warmth, thus melting the snow where the beer alone would not. Why take a course in physics when beer will achieve the same with no more effort than repetitious elbow movement and subsequent manly belching??

Anyway, after a long, arduous, woozy drink and piss session, Kral eventually tunneled his way to freedom. Rescuers managed to find him on the same mountain four days later, kidneys hurting, still as drunk as Oliver Reed at a movie launch after-party.

As the immortal Homer Simpson once said "Is there anything beer can't do?"


Sunday, November 18, 2012

BEER REVIEW - Lord Nelson Brewery Three Sheets Pale Ale


The usual review I do is to say "good", bad" or "ugly", but I thought it's time I did a beer review all proper like, describing the beer according to fruit and spices which do not actually influence the taste of the beer (or even exist in the beer), but I must say that I really don't want to get all wanky in describing a beer in a way in which no one recognises.  Simply put, I don't want to be a beer tasting wanker, or any sort of wanker, come to think of it.

Like, for example, Dan Murphys review of James Squire's Four Wives Pilsner (when I hear four wives, all I hear is "four mother-in-laws"), which starts off with "In keeping with James Squires' bohemian approach to life". WTF?! They actually paid someone to write this crap?! I write crap, where's my commission? In any case, I do need to accurately describe what i'm tasting, so i'll have a crack at it based on some basic principles of beer reviewing, while doing my best not to come across as a complete knob.

Anyway, to the Lord Nelson Brewery Three Sheets Pale Ale.  Pouring the beer, i notice, unlike many pale ales, this one is actually pale!  A good pale golden colour, very much a "blonde", it is clear with a fine head and good head retention (not that there will be anything left to have a head on for much longer).



Bringing the beer to my nose, I notice a sweetish, fragrant smell, which is quite distinct, yet very much Australian.  It has a very floral hop profile, while the yeast is vaguely fruity.

Taking a deep sip of the beer (okay, a chug), the taste resembles the smell, with a pleasant lingering aftertaste that has me, wait...mmm, very nice.  Where was I?  Oh, yeah, the taste.  The hops balances out the sweet fragrance of the beer, but not to the extent that you can taste it.  Sounds to me like a perfectly balanced beer.  It really tastes like going back in time to when the Lord Nelson was a wee pub in the early 19th century, with beer served by real wenches, hopefully minus the smallpox.  I would go as far as calling this beer the quintessential Australian beer, even though I fail to visualise a single Aussie beer quite like it.  I quite love Coopers, but this is even better.

It's difficult to identify a feature of the beer, because it is not distinctly hoppy, malty, or yeasty (and thank god not watery!), but it has a balance of all three.  I find it better to concentrate on a particular feature when making my own beer, so that it can stand on that basis, but more so so it can succeed in one feature, rather than try to succeed in all three, and yet, this beer manages to do exactly that.  I in fact am trying to culture its yeast to try and replicate its distinct taste, but i'm a long way from achieving that.  Maybe if I have some more beer, it will reproduce the flavour profile out of sympathy for my worthy cause.  Wench, bring me more beer!!!  Wench?  Anybody?

More than being well-balanced, it is full-bodied, yet not too heavy, and smooth.  It's good enough to want twenty more of these to fully appreciate the taste (all in the name of research, of course), because I feel that this beer is not only a good accompaniment to a meal, but I this it would be a mighty fine session beer as well.  It is sufficiently carbonated, yet not overly so, making it perfect for having with a meal so as not to make you bloated (although the twenty after may do).  I think it would go quite well with fish.  Yes, I think fish would go very well, although I think beef, chicken, pork , duck, peanuts, stink bugs or pretty much well anything would go quite well with such a fine ale.

So, Lord Nelson, where's my free beer?  I said all the right things, and I even believed it!  Damn those bottle shops and their limited hours!  Can I survive until breakfast?

Anyway, overall, this is simply one of the great Australian beers, and anyone who criticises Australian beer based on Fosters, simply must taste this beer to make a fair judgement.  After all, we export it because we sure as hell don't want to drink it!

This beer is, quite simply, excellent.  As an unpretentious beer, this is worth every one of the four stars I give it out of five, and i'm being far too harsh.  Bugger it, four and a half!



As I polish off the last of this fine ale, I notice , surrounding the man himself, a motto that demands my attention - "Every man must do his duty".  How very true.  I must drink every last one of them.  Next!

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

(Distant) Happy Memories of Amato's Beer Tasting - Part IV

Well, I have to finish what i start (especially beer), so it's time i finished reviewing the multitude of beers I studiously drank some weeks ago at Amato's.

Where was I? Ah, Franziskaner Weissbier!



At long last, I get to this beer with high hopes.  615 years can't be wrong, and it didn't fail to impress.  Having once tried in the distant past, I had fond but faint memories of a fine beer.  I took one drink, which begat another, and I wondered out loud what that familiar taste was.  "Bananas", said the wench lady behind the bar table, and because it tasted good, bananas were good.  Some might run a mile hearing bananas mentioned in the same breath as beer, but having tried it, it was like they were meant to be together.  Not at all sweet, it was finely balanced, but had those great qualities of a fine head and smooth, pleasant aftertaste.  The best beer of the day.

What could possibly be better?  Franziskaner Kristalbier, of course!  The same beer, but filtered!  And yet...

It was not as good.  A fine beer, to be sure, but somehow the filtering removed not only the solids, hence cloudiness, but the taste as well.  No more bananas.  Surprisingly, this was disappointing.  This would probably more please the average punter, but beer is not water, and beer need not be clear to be fine, healthy, and pure.

That reminds me of a story my dear departed father once told me of his European tour of 1976.  In particular, Germany.  Dad went to visit his childhood pen friend, and upon meeting her father, Carl, they proceeded to the pub, as you do.  Dad, not speaking much German, and Carl not speaking any English whatsoever, proceeded to communicate through their common language - beer.

Asked what beer to be served, Dad shrugged his shoulders as if to say "any", but more likely "i have no idea what you are talking about".  After a couple of carefully enjoyed mouthfuls, Carl turned to Dad and tried to ask what he thought of the German beer he had been served.  Not readily understanding what was said, he eventually figured out that he was asking what he thought of the beer.  Perhaps realising that he could say anything as Carl did not speak a word of English, he replied..."water".

Carl looked at him blankly, trying to figure out what the reply meant.  "Water"?  Water.  A look of horror then appeared on Carl's face.  "Wasser?!  WASSER!!!?!  Thirty years of post-war reconciliation up in smoke.  Dad, perhaps foreseeing pitchforks, laughed and assured it was only a joke.  Nothing twenty pints couldn't fix, apparently.

Anyway, back to the beer.  Following one of the great beers was always going to be difficult, so I tried another German beer, Stiegl.  Clean and crisp, it was somewhat generic, and watery.  Uh-oh, there's that word again.  Just joking, my pitchfork-wielding Deutsch friends!

My virtual beer tour of the world continued, to the first table which I passed on my first round.  This table had beers from Spain and Cuba!  First up was the Estrella Galcia from Spain.  I didn't know what to expect, only that it might be similar to Mexican beers as its most obvious inspiration.  But no, Corona this was not.  Not a lemon or lime wedge in sight!  That of course is a good thing, as it indicates that the beer is confident in its own taste, not requiring fruit to give it some taste.  It had substantially more depth, was slightly cloudy from memory (or was that my brain that was by this stage cloudy?), and was refreshing and well-balanced.  A worthy beer.

Next, Cuban beer.  What could I expect here?  Rum-laced?  Bitterness that tasted like Cuban cigars?  The Bucanero Fuerte (translated to "strong Bucaneer") sounds like a great name for a beer.  What could possibly go wrong?

I partook.  Alcohol wafted from my nostrils.  The room swirled.  Angels sang.  The only thing clear by this stage was the haze that enveloped my being.  A beer indistinguishable from rum.  How apt.  My sobriety has indeed been pillaged.  No more beer tasting for me.  "At least until tomorrow", I slurred.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Happy Memories of Amato's Beer Tasting - Part III

Where was I?  Oh, yes...

Next along the heavenly path was the Little Creatures stand, however as much as I like these fine Australian brews, i am familiar enough with them to skip them and seek more mysterious ales and lagers.  No, not you, Fosters, stay overseas as far away as possible from our shores - there is a reason we export you.

Standing out like a beacon in a sea of pale ales was the White Rabbit White Ale.  An Australian craft ale that was not a pale ale?  Well, pickle me in alcohol and call me Irish (oh, please!), but my eyes were not deceiving me.  Here was something a bit more adventurous than the ubiquitous pale ale, an attempt at something beyond the ordinary.  It sounded suspiciously like a Witbier, which means both white beer and wheat beer, and can mean either.  They're a confused lot, the Belgians.  Probably something to do with producing over 600 beers in country a third the size of Tasmania.  Upon asking the keen custodians behind the stand, they assured me it was indeed based on the Belgian style in the manner of Hoegaarden, but in addition to the usual coriander and orange peel, juniper berries were thrown in for good measure.  Hell, i didn't even know juniper berries were real, let alone thinking of adding them to beer.  Ballsy.

I was pleased to find that they had avoided the temptation to reduce the volume of ingredients to being of no consequence.  They'd never get a job working for Carlton Cold, putting flavour in beer, no way, man.  I'm not sure what the value is of the juniper berries apart from differentiating it from Hoegaarden, but at least they were trying.  The result was a refreshing ale with a lingering, subtle aftertaste, worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as its inspiration.  This deserved a few more tastes, and some hearty discussion with the boys behind the stand regarding the merits of beer and other great profundities.  I think you blokes should crack another one.  Right on cue.  Cheers!

I may well have stayed there forever, but one of the world's great beers was calling me, so i tried a token Rogers beer due to its marginally lower alcohol content and the fact i'd never tried it before.  As a nod to traditional English ales, it was more distinct by its familiar Little Creatures hop profile, which is not a bad thing, but it is not Franziskaner.

Speaking of which, it was a callin' me from across the room, but standing in the way was a nasty looking beer from the old dart called Hobgoblin.  What harm could possibly come from such a beer?  At 5.2%, it seemed harmless enough, but packed a punch (thank god i proof read before publishing.  It originally said "packed a lunch"), less subtle than Fullers London Pride or Old Speckled Hen, but just as obviously drunkenly named.  It wasn't holding back, but what really promised to do me in was the Innis & Gunn  from Scotland, not so surprisingly aged in whiskey barrels.  Don't get me wrong, i like my whiskey, and my beer, even on the same night, or even alternating, but whiskey beer?  Really?  It sounds like some godawful idea dreamt up by some uni students after twenty schooners.  It's the beer equivalent of a deep-fried Mars bar.

Moving right along, i spy an old friend.  A very old friend.  1397 to be precise.  Mmmm...Franziskaner Weissbeer!  But wait! I've run out of time.  Part IV soon!

Burp!

Happy Memories of Amato's Beer Tasting - Part II

Finally I resumed my mission to rekindle my love of Lord Nelson Brewery beers, although to be honest I approached with some trepidation. You see, my memories were so fond, yet so blurred that I was possibly mistaken, or under the influence. Well obviously I was under the influence (1/2 dozen pints tend to have that effect), and my expectations ma
y well have been too high.

The trepidation was undeserved, as the Three Sheets Pale Ale exceeded my already high expectations. Fragrant, full-bodied and with an excellent head, the lingering aftertaste was a pleasant reminder of what had just passed my lips, and what needed to pass again and again. It was that good. In fact, it was so good I'm seriously considering piping it directly from the pub to my house. Tenders are currently being sought, so feel free to submit your bid! I bought a couple so I can do a proper beer review, and just because it was so damned nice.

Next was the locally made Arvo Australian Lagers, which came cleverly in a six-pack with three stubbies from two separate batches. Clever marketing, to be sure, but it was following in Lord Nelson's giant footsteps.

It was clean and crisp, but subtle in a watery kind of way. Certainly worth a try, and would make a good session beer, but lagers compliment their lightness with aromatic hops and/or fragrant yeasts, both of which were in short supply. Not bad, but in a crowded market it lacked differentiation. Still, it is worth a second try and may get a gong down the track with a full review, and of course it suffered from following Lord Nelson...

Monday, October 22, 2012

Happy Memories of Amato's Beer Tasting - Part I


I thought it important to share my happy memories of Saturday, lest i forget the taste of each of the 50-odd beers on display that fine afternoon, so following is a brief overview of the beers as tasted by The Beer Whisperer.  Even 50 small beers will write off your average beer taster, but throw in a few strong ones (and repeated tastings just to be sure) and your average beer taster will lose not only one's ability to walk, but also to talk of oneself in the first person.  Still, it's a long way since those heady days of the Kalgoorlie-Boulder pub crawl, where 50 beers were all full size, and even then we had extras and it took some dastardly alcoholic slurpies to deny me entry to the last pub.  Curse those evil slurpies!

First cab off the rank was the James Squire stand, which i presumed was vacant thanks to Chuck Hahn selling out once again at the expense of taste and quality, although i was assured he still held quality control as head brewer.  That was good enough for me, so unto the breach I go!  It is a pleasure to say that they have not gone the way of Hahn Premium, which eventually tasted suspiciously like Tooheys Red.  Maybe they got a batch wrong.  Or a brewery.  Whatever.  Anyway, the clean taste remained, along with the delicate aromas from the quality hops and yeasts, although the body of the beer seemed to have miraculously disappeared, a suspicious sign of sugar substitution for malt.  Ye old cost-cutting doth sour thou reputation, methinks!  Shame, Chuck, shame.  Still, they weren’t Hahn Premium, so there’s a tin lining there somewhere.



Next off the rank were a couple of famous pommie ales, strangely enough on the same stand as Samuel Adams from Boston.  If I was cruel (and I am when it comes to American beer.  Thanks, Bud), I could say they all tasted like the Atlantic between them, although to be fair they were a class above, which is a compliment for American beer, at least.  The Fullers London Pride was worthy of its fame, smelling distinctly of toffee, but fortunately not tasting like it.  Clear and clean with a smooth maltiness that was worth more than a mere tasting, it explemplified the best of British ales, and would have made for far better memories for the old man than the putrid Newcastle Brown Ale that followed him around England like a bad smell in the 70’s.  Drinking that stuff would do that to you, y’ know!

Still, the Old Speckled Hen arguably bettered that, with a more subtle yet complex flavour that demands another try.  Or three.  Anyway, I spy Lord Nelson commanding me to battle ye old ale, so I must continue my quest and pursue my destiny forthwith!

Making a beeline for the Lord Nelsons, an Italian gentleman materialised in front of me to distract me from my mission with some oxymoronic Italian beers.  Fortunately they turned out not to be at all moronic, although twenty of so of the strong ones could certainly turn me that way.  The Oro di Milano came in three strengths in the Belgian tradition of single, double and triple, as Pure Malt, Double Malt and the 8.5% "Reserva", Italian for "triple drunkenness".  In what can only be assigned to temporary insanity, i found myself preferring the standard strength Pure Malt, which had the distinctive Italian flavour of Peroni and Menabrea, but with more subtlety which would put it ahead of its famous peers.  What next, a German viniculturalist?  An Uzbek tequila master distiller, perchance? Nope, a genuine, you beaut, dinki di, true blue Aussie beer brewer of great fame and notoriety...

On to the Lord Nelsons and destiny!! In Part II.......

Friday, October 19, 2012

Amato's Beer Tasting Beer Preview!

Just getting a little practice for the taste testing tomorrow at Amato's Liquor at Leichhaardt In Sydney , and the beer isn't quite quenching the thirst created by the photos of beers to be tasted tomorrow.  As can be seen below, there is a wide range of beers for tasting tomorrow (there are others as well), of which quite a few demand attention.


The one that lit up my face the most was the Lord Nelson Three Sheets Australian Pale Ale, due in part to me drinking about twenty of them on my buck's night.  Oh, who am i kidding?  Ten years after that hazy night, i have no idea what i was drinking, only that it was a Lord Nelson beer, and that it was damned nice.

This will certainly top the list of beers to try, although the Endeavour 2011 Reserve Amber Ale sounds enticing, if only for the fact that it is not yet-another-pale-ale, of which all are desperately trying to "be different", by being precisely the same.  Would-be professional craft brewers take note - come up with beer style before getting maggoted in brainstorming session.  After all, it's not called a "brain-stupifying" session now, is it?  Maybe it is.  Besides, it works for me.

The Franziskaner Weissbeer is a traditional German wheat beer from 1397(!) which I have had before, but unfortunately do not much remember.  Alas, due to the intervening years beers, my memory is somewhat hazy, so i have little choice but to try it again, dammit.

The Old Speckled Hen and Fullers London Pride are famous beers which I have never tried, so I must of course do the honour and taste them.  Repeatedly.

Estrella Galicia is a spanish beer (I had to look it up), so that will be an interesting take.  The italian beer, Menabrea, is surprisingly good, and distinctly italian but still very much european, so it will be interesting to see what the spanish do with their cerveza.  See?  Ich spreche espanol (or is that yo hablo deutsch?  Damn, too many beers.  Again).

The White Rabbit White Ale sounds interesting too.  I'll just have to follow that one down the rabbit hole.  Ooh, the big one at the back must be tasted too, if only to have an excuse to drink yet another big beer.  Not quite a Darwin Stubby, but i like...big...beers.

Who am i kidding?  I intend to taste all of them!  Happy drinking tasting!

Burp!

Monday, October 15, 2012

Saison Ale Ingredients - Youtube Debut!

Check out The Beer Whisperer's debut video on Youtube!  This is the first video, of which i may add other videos taken on making the beer.

http://youtu.be/HJCD3h_hjAA



Please visit and feel free to comment!  (I need all the help i can get)

Friday, October 12, 2012

Memories of Orange Beer...

Looking back through my blog posts (all of a month), i read with reverence the legendary orange (for all the wrong reasons) beer. I became inspired to consider brewing it once more, but perhaps this time with the wisdom of hindsight.

I realised upon reading how to make the legendary Hoegaarden, that the coriander seeds are supposed to be  crushed prior to adding to the brew.  Who would have thought?  Next they will be telling me i need to cook the potatoes before mashing!  Oh, yes, my first potato mashing was something of a disaster, although i was a teenage boy all of 15 blessed with the infinite wisdom that blesses all 15 year-olds.  But i am renowned for my persistence, otherwise known as stupidity for expecting a different result, if only i had tried harder.

Apparently, the flavour of the coriander seeds are contained inside the seeds, not the outside hard shell!  Talk about counter-intuitive, but then again by this time i was much older than 15, so clearly my infinite wisdom had waned considerably by this time.

However, in acceptance of my declining wisdom, i will take the advice of so-called "experts" and crush the damned things before adding to the brew.  Well, if it imparts the flavour contained inside the coriander seeds, i will only have myself to blame.

As for the orange peel, it is supposed to be curacao orange peel, from some distant land, but my navel oranges did manage to impart enormous orange flavour the last time, so why would i change?  Oh, because the orange peel provides the extra bitterness of the beer, while the coriander seeds impart the fruitiness of the great Hoegaarden.  That is utterly counter-intuitive, so how the hell am i supposed to know that? By taking advice from experts?! Please!!

Okay, i'll try, but the result will be all their fault!  Curse you for your great tasting beer!  Oh, wait...

Free plug for Hoegaarden - http://www.hoegaarden.com/en-au/home.html

Thursday, October 11, 2012

The Only Reason I Wake Up Every Afternoon...

Saison Yeast Starter

YEAST STARTER

In preparation for my Saison Ale, i have created a yeast starter so it can both start fermenting straight away, and have yeast left over for a future brew! Usually a yeast starter is about twice the size to create enough for
 two batches, but i chose a smaller container to ensure sterility. Besides, much bigger and i'm likely to drink it.

As can be seen from the photo, there is yeast on both the top and bottom of the glass. Ale yeasts are top-fermenting, which explains the yeast on the surface, while the bottom contains a large amount of yeast slurry as a result of yeast already finished fermenting.

The fermentation is almost complete, as indicated by the lack of foam on top, however the beer is full of active yeast as indicated by its opaqueness. After fermentation, the yeast will all settle to the bottom and the beer will become clearer, however the volume of yeast (enough for 11 litres not including the reproduced yeast) is all included in about 250mls, so this may not become clear until fermented in a much larger volume of liquid. I'm just going to have to make 23 litres, dammit. Oh, how will i drink all that beer? Woe is me!

The test is ensure non-infection is by smell, which is strong and fragrant due to its concentration. It smells very good, however i may skim any remaining yeast off the top with a sterile spoon to ensure non-infection.

This yeast starter was created using half of the Saison liquid yeast, so there is enough to make a second batch. This starter appears to have bred sufficiently to use in an entire batch, which is important as yeast can suffer from stress if given too much work to do. I know the feeling, my babies!

Steal at Own Risk!

Beer tank. Pure awesomeness.

Beer Poetry

Some might say that this blog is, well, somewhat lowbrow. Well, we take such criticism constructively 'round these parts, so i've decided, bugger it, i'm going all hoity-toity and cultural like, by raising the standard of this site for youse all (cue grandma rolling in grave).

"Beer Poetry"

There you have it. I'm going to post some poetry. Okay, it's just a limerick, but i like limericks! Th
is has taken a great deal of effort, all of five minutes searching the net, and even that was interrupted often enough by my beer. Hey, it's thirsty work, don't bug me. I've actually made one up myself, but it's not suitable for this site, as it has nothing to do with beer. Ribald, perhaps, but beer-free, and this ain't no beer-free zone. Some sins are simply unforgivable.

On the chest of a barmaid in Sale
were tattooed the prices of ale,
and on her behind,
for the sake of the blind,
was the same information in braille.

There. Culture at its finest. That's it? Yep, the rest were crap.

Okay, now for something interesting. My yeast starter is going gangbusters! Saison here we come!

No, Heineken, no!


Next Brew Down to Two Choices

The choice for my next brew is down to two. I went to The Brew Shop http://www.thebrewshop.com.au/ in Peakhurst on Saturday and let the yeast decide!

Being a cheapskate, i went straight to the fridge and picked out the most recently expired Whitelabs liquid yeasts to help pick my next beer. Okay, they can't talk, but i'll talk to them all the same. Does that make me the Beer Whisperer? Anyway, i asked the experts there and with kindly advice i ended up with the following
;

Saison Ale yeast (WLP565) with Mangrove Jack's Munich Lager, plus 1kg extra light liquid malt and 1kg dextrose. I will probably use only half that to get to the mandatory 5% alcohol by volume (unless Raul is behind me egging me on to pour the lot in).

Saison, french for "season", is a non-specific style of Belgian beer originally brewed for farm workers for harvest season in the 19th century in the Wallonia region of the southern French-speaking region of Belgium. It is traditionally brewed in autumn or winter to prevent spoiling, and farm workers were entitled to five litres per day during harvest season (was that the best job of the 19th century? I think so!) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saison .

It was also a lower alcohol beer due presumably to its use as a thirst quencher. This style of beer was considered to be a dying style, but has recently had a revival, particularly in the US, however they typically brew Saison at a higher concentration of alcohol. As much as i appreciate the higher alcohol content, why would i copy a copy? If i was going to do that, i might as well mime some Milli Vanilli while i was at it.

While having some variety in its characteristics, it was commonly a light-coloured ale, of low to medium bitterness and characterised by spicy and/or fruity complexity. The use of the Munich Lager provides the low bitterness and light colour, allowing the Saison yeast to define the beer. Oops, i'm drooling again.

The second beer is using the Whitelabs Abbey Ale yeast (WLP530), of which Coopers Sparkling Ale was chosen for its pure awesomeness!! Again, this yeast requires a darker malt with not high bitterness to allow the yeast flavour to shine through. It is also well-suited to higher alcohol beers, of which Coopers Sparkling Ale is a specialist.

I bought 2 kgs of amber liquid malt to provide the right level of colour, reflecting the malt's level of roasting. This will put the alcohol level up to 5.5 to 6%. If it's a bit low, i will add dextrose to obtain the appropriate original gravity.

The Abbey Ale yeast should add an extra dimension to the Coopers Sparkling Ale, which in my view is by far the best mass-produced Australian beer bar none. A good yeast can turn an average beer into a good beer, and in this case, a great beer into a sen-bloody-sational beer!

Due to the mystique of the Saison which i have never brewed, i think it will be my first choice, but first i have to culture it to preserve the yeast for future brews! My next post will be about this process, and quite frankly, is much more fun (and practical) than growing vegies, which, let's face it - is like watching grass grow! Stay tuned...

CRISIS AT DAVE'S HOMEMADE BEER BLOG!


CRISIS AT DAVE'S HOMEMADE BEER BLOG! I am at my fattest EVER!! What shall i do to address this situation? Please note that as the blog owner, i have infinite votes, so don't bother voting for option 1.

Eat one broccoli head for each beer (longnecks, of course)
Increase car washing to bi-annually
Drink more beer (like!)
Drink marginally less beer
Male light beer
Eat the guinea pigs
Reignite my love affair with golf
Bug wife to make more salads

Why taste is more important than hearing.....

Democracy Reaches Dave's Homemade Beer Blog!


Dave's Homemade Beer Blog ditches tyrant, goes democratic! Which home brew kit should i brew next? Majority rules, drunkards!

Apple Cider
Brewferm Kriek (Belgian, lambic, cherry beer!)
Mangrove Jack's Belgian Ale
    Coopers India Pale Ale (strong, 6%)
      Morgan's Ironbark Dark Ale
        ESB 3kg Hoegaarden Style Witbier (gods, nectar, etc)