Yeah, me too. But you do seem to know beer!



25 words is fuck-all. Here's what I've come up with tonight. Decided to enter a second brew too, even though I'm not particularly impressed with it, and it's based on a Green Flash Hop Hed Red clone recipe, so it's not entirely my own recipe.

Bongin Bongin Bay Skull IPA
Pours an Autumnal coppery hue with a slightly rocky, creamy head. You’ll notice a mildly peppery, floral & citrus fruit aroma. The palate is hop forward, with notes of orange marmalade and spice finishing with a soft, lingering bitterness.
Hops: Motueka (NZ), Pacifica (NZ)
Base Malt: Perle
ABV: 7%
Perceived IBU: 75

Bongin Bongin Bay Woebegone Red IPA
Pours a deep, deep red with low carbonation & a creamy head. Malty, floral & citrus aroma. Roasty, dark chocolate/citrus palate with a warming, bitter finish.
Hops: Warrior (US) Amarillo (US)
Base Malt: Perle
ABV: 7%
Perceived IBU: 85


So would ya buy it based on that description?

Really appreciate the input I get here. It's funny, I'm a member here and the other forum, boths music forums, and I post more here about beer, and on the beer forum I'm also a member of, I post more about music!

Will post up the labels his week. They're due in on Friday, and the Fine-Arts degree'd Mrs. NCR has been procrastinating, which means she'll come up with something fabulous in 10 minutes. I'll also post up a proper critique that goes well beyond 25 words!

Cheers!

I'd buy your IPA over the Red based on those descriptions, much more specific in its description.
I think your confidence in that one over the Red is reflected in how you talk each up.

Good luck.

Both descriptions are good. However, refine the Red a bit. I'm not certain what to expect since you mention both malty and citrus on the aroma and on the palate. Would you say it's balanced where neither dominates? If it's balanced, let me know that. If one dominates mention that "...with a touch of citrus." It might be:

"Pours a deep, deep red with a creamy head. Floral and citrus aroma with underlying maltiness...."

The Skull IPA sounds more conversational, which makes it sound better. The word limit makes it tough, but it's probably to keep people from writing a book about their beer.

Trying my first barleywine, Avery's Hog Heaven. Pretty nice...kinda reminds me of a super hopped up imperial amber. Not necessarily a style I need to drink regularly but it certainly has its place.

Had a major beer contrast session yesterday, going from an uberhopped US IPA to a proper (and even more grainy than usual) UK bitter.

Yum.

Remembered that beer is essentially a grain drink, and that the hops are just a preservative!

Hops are more than just a preservative, IMO, and I am no hophead. The flavors they impart can make for some phenomenal beers.

They are now, but Gus is right that they were historically mostly used for their preservative qualities. Heck, lambics have purposefully used old hops so they only preserve and not embitter the beer.

I savoured one of these last night. A bitter, reasonably thin stout with a smidgeon of chocolate and coffee in there. Love it.



Still sort of recovering from a champions league semi/ Ufomammut/ shitty lager fuelled night on Tuesday. So one was enough for me.

Got the labels done. Jen NCR hand painted the images on the labels and I layed them out last minute style using a mixture of MS Word, scissors, glue, and some real basic photo editing software, because someone forgot to bring home the work laptop with Illustrator & Photoshop on it.

I've kind of lied about the ABV on both beers too, the comp's limited to 7%, and the IPA is 7.5% and the Red is closer to 8%.




Handing them in tomorrow.

Nice work, that red IPA has a lovely colour to it.

Cheers man, the pic does not do it justice. Even though it's only been bottle conditioning for 2 weeks, it's actually a lot clearer than the IPA. The little tea light I put behind it couldn't make it through the deep red.

Just showed the missus the Bath Ales logo you put up just before, and now she's apeshit to do something with a hare on the label. She collects rabbit & hare art/sculptures.

Right, I know that. I was just responding to the idea that they were just a preservative.

Forget descriptions...I'd happily drink that Red. Looks delicious. As does the IPA, whose bottle artwork is also pretty tight.

Yeah, I like the labels.
They've got some personality.
Beer looks tasty too.

Hehheeheh, that's alright, I was just being provocative.
It was drinking a beer with a really strong and tasty grain profile that made me stop and think about it for a minute. I'm big into very hoppy beers, but it's easy to neglect the other scope of flavour that a brew can bring one you go down that route.
There's beers that are grain brews made without hops but with other bittering and preserving ingredients, the constant is the barley/malt/other grain element.

Went out last night to a couple of locals, beer of the night was the Cheddar Gorge Best. Nothing fancy, just a good drinking bitter.

From here

Yup it's a beautiful place, and a tasty beer. Really pricey in the bottle round here, what did it cost you on tap?

I supped a couple of New Zealand Pale Ales last night from some Yorkshire brewery, very nice. Was looking forward to getting stuck into a couple from the West Berkshire Brewery (being the county of my birth and all) but there were too many of us for the tiny pub so we had to move on.

£3.30 on the pint. Up here in fancy London that is not too bad. The Tribute I had later on was £3.60 and the Gorge Best was better.

Bloody hell that's not bad, it's about that on the bottle round these parts.
Tribute's not bad, hard to get excited about a good bitter, but then if it's good it's good.

I ALMOST FORGOT HOW MUCH I CAN ENJOY A GOOD PILSNER

BOUGHT ME A 6PACK OF AMSTEL 1870 AND IT SURE IS LOVELY

Can't get too into Pilsners. I did try a local double Pilsner (from Odell) the other day and I did enjoy it, the extra malt made a big difference for me, but at 8% abv it kinda defeated the purpose of a pilsner for me, which I choose to drink when I am looking for a session type beer.



Currently enjoying my first Old Viscosity. Worthy of the hype, this one is really quite good. And it packs a nice punch.

Does this make me an idiot?
I just bought a beer I think I will probably not like.

It's a collaboration between 6 local brewers put together for the local beer festival, which is what sold it to me, but it's also a smoked porter, which doesn't really sound like my kind of thing.

Hopefully it'll burst all my preconceptions apart!

I'd say you're only kind of an idiot if you didn't also buy yourself a back up beer in the case your fears ring true ;) But otherwise, no. Always good to try new things and at least know what your opinion on them is rather than just assuming. And if you do like it there's always a good chance it becomes a new favorite.

I tried a smoked porter the other week....I did not like it at all. I might even go as far as saying it was the one style of beer I found most personally offensive. But that was just me, there's plenty of folks who seem to love the style.

Well, it was very good, better than most porters I've had in fact.
The smokiness was very subtle, had the first half unaccompanied, and the second half alongside a hot aubergine and chickpea curry, and it stood up well in both settings. Actually reminded me quite a lot of Hobgoblin, but a bit classier.

Just got back from San Diego. Arrived on Saturday and flew back today.
Got to meet our very own A.C.E. and his lovely wife over at Green Flash. Cool people. Wish I had more time to hang out with them.

I had a blast.
Saw a bunch of brewery people I normally only see during the Great American Beer Festival; nice to be on the other side of the bar for a change.

I won't remember everything, but some highlights:
Hanging out with Tomme Arthur/Lost Abbey and tasting some Track 4 and Track 5 from the boxset they're doing this year.
Hanging out with Chuck/Green Flash head brewer.
Walking into Alesmith and having the bar manager, Abbey, remember me from Beer Fest and asking me to paint a mural for them.
Cruising the harbor with the owner of Port Brewing and spending a couple of nights on his boat. His beer 'fridge had Sierra Pale and Red Poppy, a case each.
Having lunch at PPort Ocean Beach and drinking the 125th Anniversary ale.
Going to the Toronado and putting some Melvins on the jukebox.
Having lunch with Sean/Alpine Brewing and filling a couple of kegs to bring back for the bar.
Being waited on by Dr. Bill at Stone Brewing and meeting a couple of crazy Germans who've opened a brewpub in Munich trying to make, and sell, American-style beers.

I might post a few pics once I get my camera back.

If you make it out to Green Flash, go have your picture taken in front of the sign I painted.