January 2012

[marathondan]

Good man. Look forward to reading about the first kiddy brew. I suggest you start them on milk stout and dark ales. Always a hit with the young 'uns.

Those sound a bit advanced for me yet. (For brewing I mean. I'm more of an expert at drinking them.) I'm still at the basic bitter stage. But I think the way to go is novelty ales, interesting to drink in their own right, but which won't provoke comparison with commercial brews of unattainable quality. So I'm planning to make a double batch of bitter, half to remain standard, half to be individually flavoured in bottles with experimental ingredients (apple, ginger, cinnamon, raisins, etc) to try and hit upon a quirky taste.

Talking of hits with the young 'uns, it's become apparent from the "country wines" I've been making that these are essentially fermented cane sugar flavoured with other ingredients, such as fruits or flowers. The alcohol is very much coming from the cane sugar, straight out of a packet. Which makes me wonder what you'd get if you didn't bother adding the flavourings... alcopops, I guess. Add some blue food colouring and you could probably make a tidy profit selling it outside the gates of a senior school...