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International Drink Comparisons
Dec. 30th, 2011 06:01 pmOne of the expected results of trying to brew beer is that already we know more about beer, not in a theoretical, have talked about it at a beer festival kind of way but in a practical, how would we go about making this kind of way. Also having lived in the Netherlands for even a short time, we've tried a broader range of beer styles, because all those Belgian beers that normally sit in a fridge looking expensive in the UK are now things we semi-regularly drink.
Right now we're lurking in The Spotted Dog, ex- The Hop Poles, one of the newest real ale pubs in Brighton (not what I wanted to be doing with the earlier part of this evening but it really is pissing it down in Brighton today) and comparing everything we taste with the flavours we know a lot more about now. Dark Star's Smoked Porter, compared to some of the Dutch smoke monsters like Rook & Vuur, tastes barely smoked at all, while anything even vaguely hoppy tastes like it would blow the Beneluxers' tiny little minds. Everything is much less sweet; the beers we've been brewing have been from an American recipe book so they're tending to the sweet side too.
And the American recipe book warns of the dangers of getting over-enthusiastic with the flavourings, of making something because you can rather than because you should, of producing a stunt beer rather than something you want to drink, but this is where good British beer comes in. They show that it's possible to make a beer with a subtle and integrated amount of a flavouring in. Chris is drinking Dark Star's Winter Solstice right now, and it's got an undertone of ginger and a whiff of cinnamon and generally just enough to remind you of the existence of mulled wine, without trying to make you drink an entire pint of mulled wine. This is, I think, a valuable thing to try and keep in mind. Although I'm going to try and make a ginger porter or a dandelion and burdock stout anyway.
Right now we're lurking in The Spotted Dog, ex- The Hop Poles, one of the newest real ale pubs in Brighton (not what I wanted to be doing with the earlier part of this evening but it really is pissing it down in Brighton today) and comparing everything we taste with the flavours we know a lot more about now. Dark Star's Smoked Porter, compared to some of the Dutch smoke monsters like Rook & Vuur, tastes barely smoked at all, while anything even vaguely hoppy tastes like it would blow the Beneluxers' tiny little minds. Everything is much less sweet; the beers we've been brewing have been from an American recipe book so they're tending to the sweet side too.
And the American recipe book warns of the dangers of getting over-enthusiastic with the flavourings, of making something because you can rather than because you should, of producing a stunt beer rather than something you want to drink, but this is where good British beer comes in. They show that it's possible to make a beer with a subtle and integrated amount of a flavouring in. Chris is drinking Dark Star's Winter Solstice right now, and it's got an undertone of ginger and a whiff of cinnamon and generally just enough to remind you of the existence of mulled wine, without trying to make you drink an entire pint of mulled wine. This is, I think, a valuable thing to try and keep in mind. Although I'm going to try and make a ginger porter or a dandelion and burdock stout anyway.
Posted via m.livejournal.com.