saw and bought the new full sail FS pub series ("nut brown ale") today. i've always liked full sail because they seem under the radar (in Oklahoma), as far as bars and restaurants are concerned, but they deliver bottles that are affordable and somehow, at the same time, variant and medium-high abv. like the last one i had was a darker lager that was 7% and delicious to a "meh" lager guy (me). so i'll buy any limited release from full sail, even if it says "we fermented full bedpans and bottled them."
anyway, i picked up their new "nut" brown today, first time i'd seen it. i chilled one for me and one for my wife. we poured it. smelled it. its nose was exactly like my first batch ever (a "nut" brown), which kind of creeped me out, 'cause i didn't follow the recipe. i added molasses, a little more hops at varying points, a pinch more grain...
so it, the full sail "nut brown ale," also TASTED very similar to my brown. my wife said ours tasted better. whatever, she's my wife, and she's not quite as obsessive about beer as i am, though she appreciates it equally. she would tell me if something sucked, and she pointed out that my brown was "better."
i took my last bottle of brown, which i had promised to a friend/bartender, along with a bottle of the full sail brown. we had a blind taste test. three out of three preferred mine. keep in mind that these are people who have hounded me to save them a bottle of my first batch because they know beer.
anyway, the full sail brown was lackluster compared to their usual 90 day ltd brews, but it feels good for my first batch of beer to be liked so much. my RIS is maturing well, too, but this makes me feel like i'm doing the right thing - being new but intuitive, deviating from the first recipes, feeling out what i want or what someone else thinks they want me to brew and then making a beer they'll like more.
anyway, my first five gallon batch has unanimously beaten the new full sail brown in a tiny, blind taste test. hope this post hasn't been too vague or redundant. it feels good.
oh, in primary i have my first recipe of my own. it was secondary rack-thirty a couple days ago, but i'm feeling it out. if this is anything like cooking food, i'm not sweating it. i think my intuition is good, but soon, when i upgrade, i'll have to be more disciplined, adhering to processes, etc. but for now, this is outrageous fun.
anyway, i picked up their new "nut" brown today, first time i'd seen it. i chilled one for me and one for my wife. we poured it. smelled it. its nose was exactly like my first batch ever (a "nut" brown), which kind of creeped me out, 'cause i didn't follow the recipe. i added molasses, a little more hops at varying points, a pinch more grain...
so it, the full sail "nut brown ale," also TASTED very similar to my brown. my wife said ours tasted better. whatever, she's my wife, and she's not quite as obsessive about beer as i am, though she appreciates it equally. she would tell me if something sucked, and she pointed out that my brown was "better."
i took my last bottle of brown, which i had promised to a friend/bartender, along with a bottle of the full sail brown. we had a blind taste test. three out of three preferred mine. keep in mind that these are people who have hounded me to save them a bottle of my first batch because they know beer.
anyway, the full sail brown was lackluster compared to their usual 90 day ltd brews, but it feels good for my first batch of beer to be liked so much. my RIS is maturing well, too, but this makes me feel like i'm doing the right thing - being new but intuitive, deviating from the first recipes, feeling out what i want or what someone else thinks they want me to brew and then making a beer they'll like more.
anyway, my first five gallon batch has unanimously beaten the new full sail brown in a tiny, blind taste test. hope this post hasn't been too vague or redundant. it feels good.
oh, in primary i have my first recipe of my own. it was secondary rack-thirty a couple days ago, but i'm feeling it out. if this is anything like cooking food, i'm not sweating it. i think my intuition is good, but soon, when i upgrade, i'll have to be more disciplined, adhering to processes, etc. but for now, this is outrageous fun.