Friday 5 December 2008

The Year in Beer 08 - December

Little Cracker.

It's cold, it's wet and it's dark. And it stays like this for a couple of months. What better to do than keep good company, eat well and drink good cheer? That's what Yule is all about and I approve thoroughly.



The last of our 08 monthly specials is a bit different; though sweetish, from the relatively high level of residual sugars left unfermented, the use of a small portion of malted rye in the mash lends a lingering dry aspect, toning down what would otherwise have been cloying. The unusual mixture of unusual malts in the mix creates a distinctly 'spicy', 'other' kind of flavour that I've accentuated with green Bramling Cross hops. All this sits in front of a backdrop of traditional English bitterness.

It's certainly different. And I think it's Yule. And you'll be able to judge forself at most decent hosteries in East Kent in the coming weeks. And in the Monty (yes, the Montefiore Arms, Ben) tonight.

And I was taught English grammer in traditional fashion, but love nothing better than breaking rules.

6 comments:

Jo said...

That'd be grammar, I'm afraid. Granville (it was him, wasn't it?) will be turning in his grave.

Eddie said...

Sh*t. I hate making spelling mistakes and hate even more being caught out by you, Jo.

Granville? I think it was Jones who taught me that bit of grammar. Later King taught me to break the rules (wasn't a difficult job).

Jo said...

Sorry. But I couldn't resist.

Granville Parker, I was thinking of. He taught me all the grammar I needed to know till I became a journalist and had to learn some more.

Anyway, I have a beer related question. How do you *know* it's 5% ABV? Do you work out that that's what it'll be before you make it, or do you make it and then test it? And how do you find out? Please write a blog post about this, I have always wanted to know...

Unknown said...

The fall-down-o-meter tells with some accuracy the potency of any brew. Or more boringly you can measure the change in buoyancy of a calibrated float during fermentation. As the sugars turn to alcohol the fluid becomes less dense so the float sinks further in.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrometer

Unknown said...

The fall-down-o-meter tells with some accuracy the potency of any brew. Or more boringly you can measure the change in buoyancy of a calibrated float during fermentation. As the sugars turn to alcohol the fluid becomes less dense so the float sinks further in.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrometer

Eddie said...

Hey, thanks Bob - what a succinct explanation. I'd been planning a post on the subject, attempting to keep it as short as possible but you did the job for me.

I feel it is necessary to point out that a we can plan with a fair degree of accuracy the abv of the end product. Oh, maybe I ought to do a post after all...