a little motivation especially for newbies

[brenmurph]

I thought I'd pop this in here first to report on our last few brews and brew-days but also a little inspiration for those hoping to do well at brewing, hope you enjoy:

as posted on the "South Kildare" section

      "HI all and for those at our last two brew days.
report on our Dusseldorf Altbier brewed April 20th.
All is great with this baby..reminds us of Dusseldorf, beautiful. Krausen (foaming) just settled today lots of life, smells exactly like an Alt with a hint of ale yeast which it would'nt have when drinking it! Colour perfect and cant wait to taste

re march 23rd brewday:

Our American Coffee stout is to me anyway just fab. The harsh roast barley and  coffee has mellowed  amazingly. I cant mistake the fresh Ponaire beans and the roast with a hint of aroma from the ekg and the but mild bitterness of the Galena hops coming through at the end with an "Irish coffee liquer" flavour to finish.

We also have the peated malt ale. Another cracker if you like a hint of peat. our blind taste tests resulted in few people guessing the peat but recognise it when I told them. Both Coffee stout and Peated ale are maturing and should be perfect by next brewday.

Belgian ale
My previous 3 months ago mash day we brewed a belgian ale and response to it was just incredible. I have half a keg and Im being mean with it, its a fab belgian ale with everything going for it according to my blind tasters. In fact at my late brothers in laws Months mind half the women were drinking it as well, I plan doin another version / batch of that at next brewday to teach ye this wonderfuull brew which was in great demand. Just yesterday one of my regular taste testers Andrew who knows his beer (he grows the whiskey and beer barley for minch maltings and a host of big distileries, Quote "its a good few years since I tasted anything that good from a bottle"

Other special brews. The lime wheatbeer.

I bought an MYOB  nut brown ale some months back from homebrewcompany.ie it was a great kit ale with no modds. I then tried the English Mild...6 brews of that and a dozen parties, funerals and other events later it is my house ale. I progressed onwards to try the Wheat beer version and I wasnt dissapointed again. I added a whole lime to one batch and its a wonderful spicy citrussy wheatbeer with an amazin head retention,  highly recomended.

Moral of the story:
WE had some great brewdays in Kildare over the past months and learned so much from all those who contributed e.g a dipstick which Justin recomended, beersmith someone wlse suggested and many other ideas, gifts and banter, its all great stuff!

With practise and dedication we can all brew  well and hit the mark perfectly on occasions ( definatly not all the time ) but when one is that good learn from it and go again!

keep on brewin and remember "god loves a tryer"  kep practising and experimenting with this fabulous hobby, social activity and a little competitiveness if it suits you. Get to your local events or national events and contribute whether novice or expert. Enjoy the process!

regards brendan