Nut Brown first pour

First pour of the Brewdemon Nut Brown Ale shows good color and minimal head. Aroma was very subtle worn nothing discernable to note. Taste was very good with some nuttiness, roasted notes and hints of caramel. A very tasty brew that I find to be surprising drinkable. It's got good body and mouth feel and this style of beer will become a regular in my lineup.

0009 - Nut Brown Ale

It's been awhile since I've had the opportunity to brew some beer.  I finally got the headboard finished and delivered, so my self imposed hiatus has been lifted.  Decided to go with the Brew Demon Nut Brown Ale as I currently have a light of lighter color beers in the pipeline.  Here's the Qbrew breakdown:

0009 - Nut Brown Ale
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Brewer: James
Style: Generic Ale
Batch: 2.10 galExtract

Characteristics
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Recipe Gravity: 1.041 OG
Recipe Bitterness: 19 IBU
Recipe Color: 11° SRM
Estimated FG: 1.010
Alcohol by Volume: 4.0%
Alcohol by Weight: 3.2%

Ingredients
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BrewDemon™ Red Horse Mellow Amber1.21 lb, Extract, Extract
BrewDemon™ Ye Olde Devil Nut Brown Ale1.21 lb, Extract, Extract

BrewDemon™ Ye Olde Devil Nut Brown Ale1.00 oz, Pellet, 5 minutes

BrewDemon™ 5g Dry Brewing Yeast1.00 unit, Yeast, High ABV: Temperature Range: 59°-75° F  Low attenuation  [Safbrew S-33]

Notes
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Recipe Notes:


Batch Notes:


Everything went well.  Here's a few brew day photos, enjoy!

Update: 2014/01/12:
Bottled this up today, got 21 bottles out of it.  Tasted a sample of it, it was pretty good but I had a hard time discerning any particual flavors out of it.  I suspect this is due to the beer still being green (young) and my unfamiliarity with nut brown ales.  I expect the flavor profile to enhance during the month of bottle conditioning.

First Pour - Prophecy Ale

Tried the Prophecy Ale for the first time a couple of days ago.  The taste was mild, decent carbonation but little head.  An easy drinking brew that is pretty balanced, at least to my palate.  It will be interesting to see if the flavor profile evolves over time.

Gone but not forgotten

She's gone, it was just a matter of time. Were there problems? Yes, I'll admit mistakes were made, this being my first and all. And her personality wasn't quite as bubbly as it should have been. But she had the looks, smell, and taste to make her a keeper. But after 16 1/2 liter bottles, she is gone, I've finished off my first brew. I look forward to making this one again, hopefully without the mistakes from the first time.

Brewing Pause and Mr. Beer contest win

Been taking a break in brewing lately, mainly as incentive to get a large woodworking project done and out of the shop.  It is taking up the walkway in the shop, and blocks access to where I brew.  The finish is going on it now, so hopefully it will be done in the near future.  The oil finish needs many coats with drying time between each and I have about 4 more coats to do.

On a related note, I recently won a contest Mr. Beer held on Facebook.  It is for a Deluxe Brewing Kit, which should be here on Friday.  This will give me my second Mr. Beer fermenter to go with my three Brew Demon conical fermenters.

First Pour - Blue Patriot

This is the first brew I was tempted to dump after tasting.  Didn't notice anything out of the ordinary while bottling, but it sure didn't age well.  It is much darker than it should be, and is so hazy, I can't see though it.  It has an unexpected element to the aroma, but I can't quite put my finger on what it is.  The taste is very bitter and has a almost burnt flavor to it.  I'm thinking I scorched the DME during the boil.  I'm also thinking there is a bit of oxidation going on, due to the air that was in the pureed fruit when I added it to the fermentor.  Need to figure out how to get rid of the air from the fruit next time I make a fruit beer.  I'll try another bottle or two before I decide, but this one may be going down the drain.

Update on 2013/12/30: Beer is getting better with age, the bitterness from the scorched DME is fading.  It's now drinkable, certainly not my best, but good enough not to dump down the drain.  Perhaps with more time it will improve further.

Sharing my brew

Took a big step and started shaing my brew with others.  Gave two friends bottles of the red ale the previous weekend, but they both left on trips before being able to sample it.  The inlaws were in town this past weekend, so my father in law tried the Bavarian I had in the fridge.  I wasn't too sure about it as this was the second tasting after letting it sit for an additional month.  Poured off two samples into little glasses and the rest into a regular glass.  He and I both tried the samples, he really liked it, so he got to finish it off.  He commented on how good it was, so I was quite pleased.  There were no sour apple notes in the sample I had, so the extra time conditioning has paid off.  Now I need to put another one in the fridge for me.

Updated: 2013/06/29:
Received feedback from one of the friends I gave a red ale to.  Here's his comments:

James - finally made time to try your Red. Excellent brew - very smooth, nice robust flavor. Looking forward to sampling more of your creations!