Redhook ESB Original AleSampled on August 5, 2008
Has a grassy smell in the bottle and a bitter, hoppy aroma in the glass. Pours an orange-bronze color with a nice head that is gone quickly. Bitter taste with hints of sweetness and a mild alcohol bite to both the smell and the taste. This isn’t a bad beer but still a little too bitter for my tastes long-term. A nice intermediate brew for those wanting something on the bitter side but not overpowering.
Brou Czech Pils
Sampled on May 29, 2008
Sports a malty smell in the bottle and bread or malt in the glass. Appears the color of dark brass and presents a weak head that disappears quickly. Tastes like cardboard, otherwise nothing special. Though I won’t try it again, Brou Czech wasn’t too bad paired with grilled sausage and chicken.
Bridgeport India Pale Ale
Sampled on August 11, 2008
This IPA gives off a medium hop smell in the bottle and pours a nice gold-orange color with lots of sediment. There’s a surprising hint of citrus in the taste. I didn’t think IPA’s could be this good; pretty dry though. Bridgeport IPA has sort of a smoky hint at the finish. I’ll track this one down again.
Sampled on August 11, 2008
This IPA gives off a medium hop smell in the bottle and pours a nice gold-orange color with lots of sediment. There’s a surprising hint of citrus in the taste. I didn’t think IPA’s could be this good; pretty dry though. Bridgeport IPA has sort of a smoky hint at the finish. I’ll track this one down again.
Mr. Beer Update:
The red ale was transferred to bottles this past Sunday morning with maple syrup used as a priming sugar. Six liter bottles were filled along with six 12-ounce Gatorade bottles that seemed to be stout enough to handle the build up of carbonation.
The red ale was transferred to bottles this past Sunday morning with maple syrup used as a priming sugar. Six liter bottles were filled along with six 12-ounce Gatorade bottles that seemed to be stout enough to handle the build up of carbonation.
Almost immediately the bottles stiffened up as the gas/carbonation built up inside them. By the second day I notice with some alarm that the orange caps of the Gatorade bottles have developed a pronounced bulge on the top. I’m concerned that they may crack or split open and we’ll be out that beer. I may move them to lagering in the refrigerator a bit sooner than the PET bottles, which seem to be holding up well. All in all, things look hunky-dory and the contents of the clear plastic Gatorade bottles presents a nice brown-red color. I think this might work out!
6 comments:
It's ok to bleed off some of the excess carbonation. If the caps are bulging as much as you say, then you'll want to do that instead of cleaning up exploded bottles.
Although, cleaning up exploded bottles makes a really great story.
Did i ever tell you about the time...
Next time, maybe not so much syrup.
Did you get the Brou Czech at Trader Joe's? I think that might be one of their famour relabling of another beer.
The Brou Czech I tried once was completely awful, I think it was the green labeled one. Tasted like pennies!
-Matt
I'd recommend picking some 1-liter soda bottles at some point down the road. Soda is carbonated to a much higher level than beer, which means that they should be able to withstand the pressure pretty well.
Even if the plastic isn't any stronger, the caps are about half the diameter, which makes for about 1/2 as much force exerted on the cap. You should have about 12 psi in a properly carbonated bottle, which means you've got 18 pounds pushing on a 1.5" cap. cut that cap down to .75", and there is only 9 pounds pushing up...
That change could make all the difference one of these days.
Cheers!
Eric G.
Brewmaster @ Mr.Beer
What kind of bottles are those pictured in your maple syrup pale ale? You say they are PET? They're not standard soda bottles are they? Do Fizz Giz caps fit 'em?
Hi Mike,
Those are small Gatorade bottles and I wouldn't use them again for bottling a batch of Mr. Beer Nectar. I used the orange screw-on caps that came with them but once the fermenting process was well under way the caps began to bulge on top and I wondered if they'd crack or burst. I say again: I won't use Gatorade bottles for Mr. Beer production ever again. I appreciate you dropping in and hope you'll visit again.
Yeah, I thought so. Definitely NOT a good idea to use a bottle intended distributing a NON-pressurized NON-carbonated drink like Gatorade.
If you're gonna bottle something that's normally carbonated to 30-55 PSI (beer - to - soft drinks), best to use a bottle designed to handle it. BTW, the Fizz Giz caps R manufactured from soda bottle caps intended for 55-60PSI pressures.
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