Berliner Weisse - tasting notes!

After 3 weeks of carbonation, I couldn't help laying my paws on the Berliner Weisse. I was obviously not poisoned by it, but here are some of the tasting notes.

Black November & Mikkeller!

Nov-Dec is that time of the year when I get to make my dark, hearty beers. In particular, the keg of vanilla stout kicked so quickly last year, I decided to brew a double batch. It so happened that Mikkel Borg Bjergsø from Mikkeller was in town, and thanks to a fantastic arrangement made by my lovely friends I managed to get this year's vanilla stout tasted and critiqued by him.

Stolen off Nick & Natasha's blog! You can find them on the link on the right.

Gueuze - The Making Of ...

Hmm .. after the very unexpected win for this beer, I was left wondering how in the world an experiment could have turned out this way. I suppose it was a lucky combination of having judges who were able to appreciate the style (my family hates it) and having just the right sort of bugs in that mix.

My very nasty-looking culture of "house" bugs

"Esplanade Explosion" - what a blast!

This beer had been sitting in the carboy for 2 years. Yes - 2 YEARS. And I finally picked up the courage to taste it just one more time, and dump the whole load today.

Coming of Age - "Imperial" Saison

Just a little story to highlight the virtue of patience in brewing, especially for stronger beers. 

Back in November 2011, a bunch of us from the Homebrew Club were gathered for our inaugural Brew-Together session, hosted by Owen. It was interesting too, as I pitched my (comparatively) ghetto setup against the automated Spiedel Brewmiester. The recipe came from me, and it was to be a 8% ABV Saison, fermented in 2 different locations using Wyeast's 3711 Saison yeast. I tried a sip 2 weeks later - it was gross. Rocket fuel. Headaches. Nail polish remover. It was full of higher alcohols, or "hot" alcohols.

Tasting notes - Saison Dupont

Saisons are the perfect beers to brew in Singapore. The malt bill is simple, and most importantly, the yeast is perfectly happy at our local ambient temperature, unlike many other ale yeasts. It's the perfect drink for hot weather (it was historically made exactly for that - for farmhands to quench their thirst in summer) and I absolutely dig the flavours. When one thinks "saison", their first thought usually jumps to Saison Dupont, considered a classic example of this style.