Welcome to the Creole Hops beer blog.I am an amateur home brewer who has an obsession with good flavorful beer. I plan to use this blog to post my recommendations, reviews, and trials of home brewing. The first ever batch of beer I made was the worst beer I had ever tasted. I made alot of mistakes. My intention was to make a Brown Ale (cant go wrong with that right? wrong!).
Mistakes:-Did not aerate the wort
-Not enough priming sugar was used
-Mash pot was too small (3 boilovers)
-Poor temperature management during fermentation
(Boil over)As a result I had a slightly acidic water-like substance with a hazy brown complexion.
The good news was I did not let that minor set back keep me from pushing on.
My next batch was perhaps the best one yet. It was a Sierra Nevada Pale clone. My gravity readings were dead on, I was meticulous with my preparation and temp management, and even utilized a Secondary for the first time. I had a dinner party the night i popped the first bottle (well second bottle) and I had to hide some beer to ensure that I would have some the next day.
(My first home brew)My latest concoction was a Raspberry Wheat kicked up to 7.1% abv. In incoperated a wheat extract, roasted grain, and caramel grain. My goal was to make a sort of desert beer that would have a raspberry chocolate flavor. I didnt quite reach my goal but I am pretty happy with the end result anyway. My biggest issue was with the carbonation. I can only assume that the priming sugar was again not properly distributed because the carbonation was hit or miss. About 20% of the bottles were flat.
In a few weeks I will be taking a trip to Brussels and hope to get my hands (and mouth) on some Trappist beer. I printed out a list of the top rated Belgium beer and 6 out of the top 10 are Trappist. I will post more information on Trappits beers and also my reviews of the beers tasted.
