A Pint Of My All Grain Courage Directors

Here is another piccy of my all grain home brew Courage Directors a few weeks on. Much nicer head formation and retention.

Sadly I've only got one bottle left :(
I will definitely brew this one again, it's been gorgeous from the first bottle.

All Grain Christmas Beer - Bottled

Well, after a week closed up in a secondary fermenting bin dry hopping along with a muslin bag of Bramling Cross hops I got my all grain homebrew Christmas Beer bottled.

Loving the smell and really liking the colour. A taste revealed subtle Christmassy flavours, not overpowering and very balanced with the maltiness and hops.

The bottles are spending a week wrapped up warm and will then be moved to the cellar to condition out of sight and hopefully out of mind until nearer Christmas.

First pint of my all grain Banks Bitter homebrew

I brewed this all grain Banks Bitter style beer back in September and here's a photo of the result so far.

All Grain Banks Bitter Home Brew

It's delicious and keeps a great head with a gentle carbonation lasting for the duration of the drink. As I thought it would be, it is darker than the original and as my memory of the actual Banks Bitter is fading I can't be too sure on the flavour being the same. Next time I brew it I will leave out the black malt, at the time I almost chose not to add any but instead stuck with the recipe.

The head remains on the top as well as any pub pint I've ever had and, having seen some rather shocking photos of other brewers beers, do put a lot of this down to the cleanliness of the glass. dishwashers totally knacker a glass in no time and even hand washed glasses NEED to be thoroughly rinsed with cold water and dried with a fresh dry cloth - better still after drying wipe out with a couple of squares of kitchen roll.

Nice hoppiness on the nose but not as hoppy as my memory of the original and so next time I will also dry hop with some additional Goldings.