Well, I have had a chance to taste the fruits of my labor and they taste good. Success and if I can, I’d say I’m impressed. I’d actually pay money for a six pack of this stuff. It has a resemblence to Lakefront Riverwest Stein but it isn’t right on. It has a sweet front end and a slightly higher hoppyness on the finish. I’ve shared my brew with about 5 folks and they all have good things to say, even those that don’t generally drink fully flavored beers (aka-prefer really cold light beers). There is a nice flavor to it with a natural grain taste, which makes you appreciate the higher quality ingredients. The exciting thing is that, with no disrespect to John Bull Lager malt/hop extract kit, I didn’t even buy the creme de la creme of ingredients, so it only gets better in my estimation.
I’m happy I got a good brew under my belt for the first experience. Understanding the process a bit more makes me eager to try steeping the grains and hops and trying other types of beer. I felt that the cleanliness factor could be the wild card spoiler. Microbiology is some crazy stuff and us egocentric humans take for granted simple chemistry in our daily lives. One thing folks have commented on is that the alcohol content is definitely there. Since the bottles are 20 oz and it is an unfiltered beer, you really need to pour the entire bottle at once, into multiple glasses or a big one for yourself. Otherwise, the dead yeast and protein on the bottom sediment will get stirred up and cloud the beer. I’ve heard that it doesn’t taste good and isn’t bad for you to drink.
So, now to decide what type of beer to brew next, but more importantly, it is time to just enjoy my first batch.
When will you be distributing Goosebrau in Iowa?
Governing laws forbid me to distribute to Iowans. Everyone else in the country can order
It is for pickup and consumption on brewery premises only.
Went to visit Biereigen (google this) Stephen on the last weekend September. The Biereigen opened a bottle of his first try at brewing to share with family. I found the beer quite refreshing. It was aromatic and pleasant to the taste. Having spent several years in Germany where truly good beer is made I enjoyed half a glass and let the beer sit until room temperature. Unbelievable… even warm it was delicious (many Germans prefer warm beer)… any chance I can get a “six pack to go?”
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Many thanks and keep up the great work (remember Christmas and my birthday are both coming in case you don’t know what to give
Ich bin froh Sie haben gemocht das Bier.
Fellow Brewmeister;
Sorry for the delay in commenting, I was having difficulties in finding the specs on what the beer is supposed to taste like. I was unable to find the style this was a copy of so I decided to just comment on the beer itself. I prefer that way anyway because in my opinion making beer is art and should not be held to boundaries of style.
With that said I did enjoy this beer my assumption was that it was an extract and for an extract I did not find that extra sweet taste. Characteristically though of a first brew that fruity flavor, though tasty, probably was not intended in this beer. I did not find it distracting in any way. I also thought it had a pleasant aroma, not too hoppy. The clarity will come with time and practice only the hefeweizens (wheat) should be that hazy or cloudy. It is this cloudiness and fruit flavors that made me want to verify the style.
All and all well done just the right amount of hops and your temperatures appeared to be right on. Good job keep up the good work.
Bill
P.S. I will be sending you a care package special delivery this week, don’t worry about style I have my own, I seldom follow any published recipe.
Bill, outstanding! Thanks for the comments and I look forward to my sampling.
Hi Bill,
So, thank you for the beers that my dad relayed me. My wife and I enjoyed them all. I’ll try to critique the best I can:
I poured the glass slow and admired the nutty brown coloring with hints of red rather than black. The aroma was nice and had nice subtle hint of caramel. My first sip was very pleasant, with the majority of flavor from a malt extract type taste. I’m guessing the hops used in this brew were added later in the boil, as it didn’t have much bitterness (most of the hop taste came at the backend of a sip) but rather, a calm complexity to it. The good thing was that it made me want another, and that is always my rule of thumb on judging a beer that I fundamentally like to drink.
Cheers and thanks!