Home Brew - Amber Ale

Another trip to see the lads down at my local home brew shop lead to my 2nd brew of spring. This one is planned to be a Amber ale. I had some friends from Canada staying for a few days and they were very impressed with the whole process and the few brews I was willing to share from one of my best brews in 2011. It is always fun sharing the fine art of brewing with others..

Anyway, this brew was put down with a Crystal Malt Barley with a Amarillo Hop. the thing I did different with this brew was I used a different sugar to the norm. I used a 1kg bag of raw sugar as I have heard this works well with amber ales... time will tell

Attached are a few photos. The OG was 1050 so hoping to get about a 5-6% alcohol content out of this one. Will update with FG when bottled

3 Boys and an IPA

On a recent trip to Auckland I had some down time and a mate took me to an out of the way bar just down from the Viaduct. Always with an eye out looking for a new drop I have yet to taste I noticed a large 500ml bottle that was a 3 Boys IPA.

Brewed in Christchurch, NZ and at 5.2% this was answer that I was keen to taste. The aromas we're slightly floral and it was served quite cold.

The colour was a nice solid amber with a sea froth head. On the palate, not as bitter or strong on the hops as I thought it would be but had a nice citrus aftertaste. Being served at arctic temperatures suited my liking for this beer.

Name: 3 Boys: IPA
Type: IPA
Location: Christchurch, NZ
Alcohol: 5.2%
Price: $6.95 per 500ml bottle

Ratings:
Taste: 7
Aroma: 8
Drink-ability: 8

Overall Rating: - 7.5/10

First Brew of the Season

A few weeks ago I had time to pop down to my local brew store and stock up to put a few brews down over the coming weeks. With the weather and the temperatures pretty consistent at this time of the year, I find it a great time to get in a few brews.

Anyway, with the help of Gary I decided to try a Little Creatures Pale Ale style. I like the pale ale that Little Creatures have with the distinctive hops punch and the aroma so I wanted to give it a go and Gary was able to offer a few pointers along the way.

Everything went to plan and the aroma let off during the whole process almost made me want to drink it right away, but I managed to restrain myself.

The original gravity (OG, or some refer to as the Starting gravity) was 1054. Below are a few photos of what I used and the process

Update: I bottled this and the FG was 1012 making this 6.13%. The aromas as bottling this were enticing and I cannot wait to have a taste in a few weeks time.

Beer it up

Long Weekend BBQ Beer – Beez Neez

Over the long weekend I was at a mates house warming where there was a pig on the spit, riveting conversation and of course a few beers to be had. For the house warming I chose to try Beez Neez.

Beez Neez is a beer brewed in Tasmania, Australia. The Aroma of this lager based beer did have a distinct aroma of the added honey as noted on the bottle. On the palate this was not as dominant as I initially thought it would be and had gave the sense that this was a little watered down. The after taste was clean, crisp and refreshing. With this refreshing after taste that was given leads me to determine this as a beer better suited for the warmer months.

Name: Beez Neez
Type: Lager
Location: Tasmania, Australia
Alcohol: 4.7%
Price: $22.95 (6 pack)

Ratings:
Taste: 6
Aroma: 8
Drink-ability: 7

Overall Rating – 7/10