Monday, February 2, 2009

Taste Test! And Weekend Recap


Twas a very busy weekend around these parts.


First, I bottled the Amber. Some of the bottles I used were old Newcastle glasses. Newcastle uses clear glass bottles for some reason. This normally lets a lot of light onto the beer and can give beer that skunky flavor it sometimes has. Fortunately for me, my beer is hidden away in darkness, so it shouldn't be affected too much by that. However, the clear glass bottles allow me to get a good look on how the beer really looks. It actually looks very light in color. Not quite as amber as I had hoped. More Golden in color.

With the bottling of the Amber, came the racking of Tyler's Pale into the Secondary. This is going to be a fun brew. It's almost yellow in color, mainly because of all the suspended yeast. Once it all settles out, this is going to be a very light beer.


Next came the taste test of the Porter, just prematurely.


I now give you: The Pink Circle Porter!


So, taste results: Well, first, it's not carbonated quite yet. It was still too early to really taste it. It made the nice pssshht sound when I popped the top, but it just hasn't aged long enough for the CO2 to really get pushed back into the liquid and carbonate it. Apart from the lack of carbonation, it tastes just like a porter. It's very malty with a slight roasted malt flavor. It's not overly hoppy but it's got a nice bit of bitterness on the back of the tongue. I plan on opening one every few days or so to see when it ages. Once it gets to the right amount of time being conditioned, it'll be ready for the public.


The Canes also won on Saturday. They came out like a team possessed in the first period and held on through the rest of the game to shut out the Atlanta Thrashers 2-0. It was a very fun game to be at, especially in the 1st period. If the Canes can play like they did in the 1st, there's no reason they couldn't make the playoffs and even make it past the 1st round. I just hope they can put that effort in consistently.



There was also some other game that went on on Sunday night as well. So it was a busy weekend.


Here's some random bird pictures I took while distracted from cleaning.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You need to add Trader Joe's to your "where to get good beer list". They have a good selection of off the wall microbrews.
-Puck

Alan McDougal said...

Well, it's not my map. It's from a site that rates stores that sell beer and local breweries and brewpubs. I just thought it was a pretty cool little feature to show on here. If you'd like, make a submission at this site: http://beermapping.com/location-submission/ and post Trader Joe's on there.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the info. Peace Street Market is suppose to be one of the best beer selections in town, so I'm told.
-Puck