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!

Keg Outlet - BYO Magazine

The fine folks at Keg Outlet have a Mag Monday contest going on, and I was chosen as the May winner.  I'll be receiving a one year subscription to BYO (Brew Your Own) magazine.  Thank you Keg Outlet for the prize and I look forward to expanding my brewing knowledge with the magazine.

First Pour - White IPA (Seasonal)

Tried my first Mr. Beer seasonal flavor on Monday.  This is the White IPA.  While it had good carbonation, it didn't have much of a head at all, and it disappeared quickly.  The aroma was nice, with a spicy note that neither my wife nor I could identify.  It tasted very good and went down easily, with a peppery note on the swallow.  Very little hop bitterness noted, which is surprising for an IPA, but consistent with feedback from other brewers which have made this seasonal flavor.  While I don't yet have a hydrometer, I can tell the ABV was up in the 6% range as I sure could feel it after only one 12 ounce bottle.  Over all a very good beer, but one that shouldn't be considered an IPA.

Labels

How to label home brew seems to be a common question on the Mr. Beer forums.  I use removable labels from Compulabel, they are easy to apply and remove.  And 1000 for $20, a good bargain.  I use Labeley to generate the labels and print them out myself on my color inkjet printer.  Four of the labels I've created are shown to the right.  Once I get a photo of the other labels, I'll add it to this post.

First Pour - Bavarian Weissbier

First pour of the Bavarian Weissbier.  Has good color and decent head, nice aroma.  Taste was overshadowed by a bit of a sour note on the swallow.  I think it is just a sign of not being conditioned long enough as I didn't have any other indications of an infection when brewing this.  I don't recall any pronounced sour notes when I sampled this during bottling. Will let it go for another month before trying it again.