BrewBrain Sports Investing

I decided late last night to open a bottle of the ESB to make sure carbonation was happening.  It has only been four days since bottling, but there is obvious activity taking place.  I got a very small pft when I popped the cap.  I drank most of the beer inside, too.  It is still a bit green tasting, but is coming around.  I’m positive this one will be a keeper.  I won’t be emptying it out so I can bottle a different beer like I did with my extract pale ale.  That said, I’m hoping the malt flavors will stiffen a bit.  At the moment, there is really no middle to the flavors.  I get light malt, then nothing, then the hops bitter kicks in.  It isn’t a real strong bitter, but with the malts being so light, the bitter really takes over.  I’d like more balance in a beer like this.  We’ll see.

I also downloaded a trial version of BeerSmith brewing software.  I quite like what I’ve seen so far.  I’ll be pulling the trigger on the pay version for sure.  I’ve already created an American Amber recipe and an IPA recipe within the confines of the defined characteristics of the styles.  My pre-software penciled out American Amber recipe was just an insignificant notch outside the style definitions without the software, so that was satisfying to see.  My initial run at an IPA was way overloaded with hops.  I say the hops guidelines are too low, but maybe that’s a west coast bias kicking in.  I’ll brew it and see what I think.  My recipe is right up against the top of the scale for IBU’s.

This software should make the brewing more even more fun.  Plus, I’ll be able to really dial in my efficiency calculations without making assumptions for certain items, like assuming Melanoidin malt is roughly the same as this or that, etc.  I can’t wait to start brewing and tasting beers of my very own creation.  For me, that’s what this is all about.  Plus, I’d really like to start sending bottles away to competitions when I feel like I’ve created competition-worthy beer. 

Drink Better Beer.

Brew Brain