In my post about homerewing, I posted pictures of a beer that was highly not my own because that is what I happened to be drinking at the time I was taking pictures for the post. I have been saving our homebrew for something wedding related (which I will not disclose at the moment since some of the people in my bridal party read my blog) and I didn't think I had any more to open and take pictures of.
Wouldn't you know it? I did.
I want to keep a record of the beers that we liked (or didn't like) and what was in them so down the line I can eventually conjure up my own recipes. You, my friends, are going to bear witness to my homebrew record. Hence, the homebrew review. First up, the Brewer's Best Summer Ale kit.
Name: Summer Ale
ABV: 4% - 5% (no idea if ours is anywhere near this, because I suck at reading the hydrometer)
IBU's: 18-20
Ingredients:
- 3.3 lb Pilsen LME (Liquid Malt Extract)
- 1 lb Wheat DME (Dry Malt Extract)
- 1 lb Pilsen DME
- 8 oz. carapils (the grains)
- a spice pack with bitter lemon and orange peel
- .5 oz bittering hops (I didn't write down what kind! Eff.)
- .25 oz. flavoring hops
- .25 oz. aroma hops
- Safale US-05 yeast
Package Description: Pleasant citrus notes come from the bitter orange and lemon peel. This beer finishes clean with lingering flavors of citrus and spice. Crisp and refreshing.
My take on it: It's definitely a bit citrus-y but not overwhelmingly so (like the Leinenkugel Summer Shandy IMO). That being said, this isn't my favorite on the beer flavor scale. It's a light bodied, blonde summer wheat, which I usually love in the summertime, but I think I want it to be a bit more hoppy or something, it's definitely not high on the hops scale. There is something about it that just doesn't pop. Since I can be a bit of a beer snob, I think the flavor is too "big box" for me. In truth, that could be for a number of reasons, so I'm not going to blame it on the kit or the ingredients - it's highly possible I could have done something wrong, after all, this was our first homebrew. All in all, it's not something that I wouldn't drink (I am sucking one down as I type this) but it's not my favorite. It sure does look pretty though!
Next up: Brewer's Best Imperial Nut Brown
