Firstly, my first all grain brew went very well last week. My final gravity was 1.054 which was a little higher than expected so my mash tun must be pretty efficient.
I did have a problem where the Wyeast propagator pack needs to mature for a couple of days before use and I did not read that until brew day. With no activity the next day (not even co2 build-up) I pitched my other packet. The next time I checked up on the progress it was fine and bubbling away. I will transfer to secondary at a later date and I might add in some oak chips to see what happens.
I tried this Flensburger Weizen last week. It was one of about 14 beers I picked up at Drinkstore in Dublin.
It was a pretty decent German wheat beer but there was nothing special about it. There are very few German Wheat beers that stand out to me. Most of them have the same characteristics. Schneider Original stands out as a cut above the rest to me. This Flensburger offering was just a standard offering. I also tried a Flensburger Pilsner and it was also just like any Pilsner. The best thing about both beers was the flip top bottles that I can re-use.
Next up are two beers from Meantime and this is my first outing with beers from this brewery. The London Porter
The beer pours a dark but obvious ruby in colour with plenty of light passing through and showing off the colour. There was a nice little head too which died away.
There was sweet malt and slight roast coffee on the nose
This was a very malty stout, completely unlike an Irish stout in that respect. There is no roast barley for instance so the roastiness is more muted than a typical Irish stout. I would probably prefer the Irish style myself but this was a very nice stout and I would never turn my nose up at it. It is certainly nice to try a different style of stout and actually like it. I will be getting more of this.
This evening I tried my second Meantime beer. This is the London pale ale which does not seem to be listed on their site by that name so I am going to assume it is just this one?
This is a pale ale in the English style and not the American style I am more accustomed to these days.
On pouring I noticed it was very clear and had a small white head.
There was an obvious sweetness on the nose and it was of the honey variety. There was also notes of orange so I am going to assume there are Goldings in the hop list.
The taste started off a little sweet but in a nice way, then progressed to a nice bitter aftertaste with that little bit of sweetness lingering in the background. In a word that sums it up: yum!
This actually reminded me a little of my own Beggars Belief pale ale which is now matured very nicely so I opened a bottle to try side by side and sure enough, there are some obvious similarities. My pale ale is a little sweeter and its also much stronger at 6.1% as opposed to 4.5%.
So with two meantime beers under my belt I am anxious for more. I would definitely recommend people to try these beers. My wife even liked the Pale ale.
One other thing, I bottled the Raspberry beer last week. It should be coming up to the time for a 1 week taste test.
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