A couple random things

A couple quick things:

1. I will be reviewing the new Summit Horizon Red Ale soon. My quick thoughts: I really like this new Summit and its an encouraging sign, since its probably the most aggressive of their beers. I think this beer is Summit's answer to the hoppier, more aggressive beers in the industry, especially the growth of Surly. I will write more on this beer this week, but I really like this hoppy, bitter, red ale.

2. I bottled my Irie Stout this weekend. Its been sitting in the secondary for a month to mellow out, and hopefully blend the flavors a bit more. Granted, it needs time to bottle condition, but I'm not overly optimistic about the turn out. I think I tweaked this recipe too much and combination of treacle (too much molasses flavor) and the 10.2% abv (very present at this point), right now it's not extremely drinkable. I know I need to give it some time, but the two previous Iries were drinkable at the bottling. This might of been the case of me overthinking, and trying to hard to get the beer to fit into a category, when before it might not have been stout like, but it was damn good. We'll give it some time though.

3. Speaking of tweaking, I also will soon get to my Gringo 09 review. This is my Hoppy Mexican Lagerish beer. I don't really know how to exactly explain the Gringo in terms of style. Its made mostly from Pilsner malt, I used the Cali 2112 yeast, and lagered it for a couple weeks. It's very smooth and crystal clear in color. I used 4 ounces of Centennial hops.I also added 12 oz of Agave Nectar in the secondary. Never using Agave Nectar before, I wasn't sure how strong of a flavor it would produce...the answer...a lot! 12 oz was entirely too much. There is a great smoothness and citrusy hoppy presence to the Gringo...once you get past the honey flavor (agave nectar is essentially a light honey). Its not undrinkable by any means, its light and crisp and sweet. Too sweet though, and I just keep thinking of how much better it would be with 1/2 the Agave Nectar. I'll post an official review and the recipe soon.

4. I'm submitting my labels into the annual BYO label contest this week. I've chosen 4 labels and will post about which ones soon. I think I've improved my label designs since last year, and for that reason alone it's nice to have a contest to better yourself for.

5. One quick beer thougt...I recently got some Troeg's beers sent to me. If you have the ability to buy Hopback Amber Ale, by all means do so. Such a damn good beer!

More to come...
Salud!
Bearded Brewer